News from the President

Hi Sunnyside and welcome to March! We made it through the heart of winter and spring is on the horizon. Personal YAY!

In February we had a special off-cycle General Meeting to hear from our local state representative Rob Nosse. First, I would like to thank Rep. Nosse for taking time out of his busy short session legislative schedule to meet with us. I’m so glad that we were able to hear his thoughts on such important issues as reforming Measure 110, the governor’s housing plan, the chronic underfunding of Oregon schools and his own bill to improve arts funding. By the time you read this, we will know where the legislature landed on these issues. Rep. Nosse was inclined to support some form of re-criminalization of drug possession, while continuing a focus on getting people into treatment as an alternative to the criminal justice system. He also seemed in favor of the general outlines of the housing package, noting that Portland’s urban growth boundary would most likely not be affected. Instead, the boundaries around suburban and exurban locales such as Gresham and Sandy could expand to support housing development.

Also in February, we welcomed the newest member of the SNA leadership team! Nathan Broden has joined us as our liaison to the Sunnyside Environmental School (SES) PTSA. He teaches gardening at SES and is a Sunnyside resident. Thanks for taking the time to contribute even more to the community, Nathan!

In March, we will be hearing about an endorsement request from Inner Eastside for All which is seeking a change in the zoning of inner eastside neighborhoods, including Sunnyside, to enable increased denser development inside neighborhood borders. You can read more about this effort below. Please join us for this discussion. Bring your questions and help the SNA Board decide if this is an effort that we should support.

One final note, our annual Board elections are coming up in May! Do you think you might want to join the Board to help shape city policies, manage projects for the neighborhood and meet a lot of awesome people? Please join us! If you have questions or think you might be interested, you can reach out to us at [email protected] or directly to me at [email protected].

Recycling Event

Save your hard-to-recycle items! New Seasons Market, Ridwell, James Recycling, and Recycling Advocates are sponsoring a one-day recycling event where you can bring items you can’t normally put in the good ol’ recycling bin at home.

Where:
Revolution Hall parking lot SE Portland
When:
Saturday, September 11th, 10am – 12:30pm

Sunnyside Piazza Update

We are introducing a new member to the Sunnyside Piazza Committee, Will Grimm, who is going to help us with the restoration project. Will successfully completed a mural design and painting project at the intersection of Lincoln St. and 30th Ave. and we plan to use the same collaborative design strategy for the intersection on Yamhill St. and 34th Ave. He has helped Sunnyside launch a design board for our community to submit ideas for the next Piazza mural. You can follow along and share your creative input at https://tinyurl.com/xpfjcfb6. We’ll be tracking design submissions through the month of July and early August and selecting the top 5 designs for an in-person vote at SE Uplift on August 31st at 6:30PM. We will be sure to include the original sunflower artwork as one of the top 5 designs. Submission guidelines are posted on the design board, and we encourage the community to participate and take action in helping us restore the 20 year old landmark. The painting of the mural will take place in late September; we’ll share more details in the September newsletter, on the Sunnyside website and Facebook Page.

You can contribute towards the restoration of this beloved landmark by donating to the campaign’s GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/sunnyside-piazza or via the SNA website homepage. We’re trying to raise $1,500 to cover our expenses. Follow the Sunnyside Piazza Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sunnysidepiazza) for up-to-date details and ways to get involved.

Adopt One Block Update

[See a more recent version of this map at https://sunnysideportland.org/adoptoneblock/]

As of June 28th, 80% of the blocks in Sunnyside have been adopted through Adopt One Block. We have 128 blocks adopted and only 32 blocks still seeking adoption. This is close to three times as many blocks adopted than when we started our neighborhood outreach in early April. We had 43 adopted blocks then. The areas marked in grey on the map have been adopted; areas in black still need adoption.

More information about Adopt One Block (including an updated map as well as information about how to adopt a block) is available at sunnysideportland.org under the Volunteer menu.

If you have adopted a block, please let our Cleanup Coordinator know so we can improve collaboration and coordination among block ambassadors as well as offer local support. So far, block ambassadors covering 40 blocks have made themselves known. Those blocks are identified with a thin white line on the map. Your contact information will not be shared publicly, but knowing about you will allow our Cleanup Coordinator to privately connect adopters of neighboring blocks if they both choose.

To make yourself known to the SNA as a block ambassador, or if you ever need help with disposing of excess trash, dealing with larger items that have been dumped, needles or biohazard cleanup, please contact Vincent Dawans, SNA Cleanup Coordinator at [email protected].