Sunnyside Neighborhood Association

Q&A with Denis Behrens, our new Treasurer!

Dennis Behrens was born in Los Angeles but spent his childhood in the Portland Metro area. He married his high school sweetheart, Phyllis Gersetenfeld, and they moved to Lincoln, Nebraska so she could attend grad school at the University of Nebraska. Under the pen name Kim Fielding, she writes best-selling fantasy and romance novels, novellas, and short stories. After living in Turlock, California for 31 years, the couple and their daughter, Quinn, moved back to Portland last summer, settling in Sunnyside. Behrens, a long-time accountant, recently joined the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association Board as our Treasurer. 

What’s the feeling of Portland now?

Dennis: A lot better. It seemed grittier when we left in 1989. A lot of gang violence. I worked for Portland Bottling Company delivering 7Up all over the city—from Gresham to Forest Grove. It’s all gentrified now. There are five-story apartment buildings and lots of restaurants and people out.

Do you feel like part of why it’s better is because there’s new money here?

Dennis: That’s part of it, sure. But I always felt like, certainly with my mom and my family, it seemed like there were good people here trying to make things better. It just took 36 years. I think there seems to be a lot more people in tune with the community. There seems to be a lot of sole proprietors, so tons of small mom and pop shops. I hope that means that they care more about the community they live in.

Would you say that small businesses are the backbone of the communal nature of the city?

Dennis: I think so. Depending on what neighborhood you’re in, each neighborhood has its own special vibe and quirks that make it unique and enjoyable.

Are you a businessman?

Dennis: I have a business degree. My concentration was finance and accounting.

And now, you’re taking those accounting skills and applying them to the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association! What is it you enjoy about accounting?

Dennis: It makes sense. It’s all logical. You know, there’s a box for everything. So everything goes where it’s supposed to go. Numbers don’t lie.

Would you say that accounting is your passion?

Dennis: Yes. A lot of people find the numbers very dry and boring, but I always find a story in the numbers. I’ll give you an example. I was a senior accountant at a fire station for five years. We found out that the fire guys were turning the air conditioning down to around 65 degrees, including when they were out on runs and nobody was in the firehouse. That spiked our electricity costs. That was kind of funny. The chief was not happy. What we did was put in Spark thermostats that controlled the temperature at a central location. The accounting tells a story.

What story are you hoping to tell with Sunnyside?

Dennis: I’m hoping that we can foster cooperation in the community. I’m hoping that the story here is a positive one that makes Sunnyside attractive to visitors and businesses alike, and that it fosters a good community.

Where does this desire to foster a good community come from?

Dennis: I always thought it was important to reach out, make friends, and be a part of something bigger than just yourself. We were in California raising kids in a very suburban environment, and it was really all about the kids. You’re fostering relationships with your kids’ friends, their parents, trying to make sure they develop well in school and do extracurricular activities and stuff like that. There’s a void now that my youngest has graduated college.

Through wanting what’s best for your family, you’ve learned that branching out and creating a community has been an invaluable resource. What are you discovering so far about the Sunnyside community?

Dennis: I love the neighborhood. When we were looking for a house, we felt the vibe of this area fit us the best. It’s eclectic cool. Like the Bagdad Theater—this beautiful historic building that they’ve obviously restored. And then all of the little restaurants, coffee shops, bars—there’s something fun and different in each one. Just the sheer volume of restaurants; you can eat out some place different every night! That’s the eclectic part.

Now that you’re part of the Sunnyside Board, are there any projects that you’re hoping to dip your toe in?

Dennis: There’s a building at 30th and Stark [owned by Laurelhurst Village]—the one that has been boarded up for 10 years. That could be an interesting project. Maybe we could work with the city and do something with it. 

Would you say that of the different issues affecting the community, you’re most interested in land use?

Dennis: I’ve always had a passion for real estate. My mom had rentals; she owned a house at 37th and Belmont. This was when I was living here as a child, and I would help her with the rentals. I think that sparked my love for real estate.

What are some potential things we could do with neglected real estate?

Dennis: I’m sure there’s opportunities to do low-income rentals if you partner with the city. But just improving a building brings up the values for everybody in the neighborhood. If you have a giant eyesore at the corner, that brings down everybody’s real estate values. So every time you can improve a particular parcel, you are helping elevate everybody in the neighborhood.

What’s your impression of being on the Sunnyside Board so far?

Dennis: What I expected – a group of passionate people who live in the neighborhood, who want to do fun things and promote the neighborhood.

Circling back to how you originally found your community values, you found that in promoting the well-being of your family, you could promote the well-being of the world around you?

Dennis: Yeah. My little way to contribute is to start at home and try to make connections with people. I like to think that it’s an opportunity for me to contribute something back to the community I live in.

How do we spread that? The desire to give back to the community.

Dennis: Well, I think it’s like, pay it forward. If you can do a good deed for somebody, then hopefully they can take that and do a good deed for somebody else, and hopefully, it snowballs.

Have you been the recipient of many good deeds?

Dennis: Yes, I’ve been really lucky to have a really good support structure from my family, and especially my mom. As a single mom, it’s tough to raise a kid all alone in Portland, and she was able to help me with college costs and things like that.

So in being lucky, you now want to be other people’s luck.

Dennis: Absolutely. I always feel like if you can put positive energy out into the world that it will help create more positive energy.