Getting to Know Your Neighbors

When she became the principal of Sunnyside Environmental School (SES) last year, Dr. Eryn Berg says it felt like a homecoming. “I was born on Southeast 53rd St,” says Berg. “And my grandma used to have chickens. So last year when I moved my stuff over to the school and and heard the chickens, I was like, ‘I feel like I’m home.’” A former high school English teacher who also writes poetry, Berg is a huge fan of Sunnyside, the neighborhood, as well (though she currently lives in Roseway). With school starting on August 30th, she has her hands full with meetings and welcoming teachers back to SES but she took the time to speak to us in mid-August. 

What did you do before being principal at SES? 

I’ve been an administrator at PPS for 15 years. Before that I was a high school English teacher at the High School of Telecommunication Arts & Technology in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I used to live in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.  

Continue reading our full Q&A with Dr. Eryn Berg

Charter Commission Update

Recently, the Portland Charter Commission approved a plan to be voted on in the November election. This will be an opportunity for Portlanders to vote on the form we want our government to take and how our elections will work in the future. The Charter Commission has approved the following items in the measure:

  • City Councilors will no longer manage City Bureaus.
  • The mayor will no longer sit as a member of the City Council, but will have a vote to break ties.
  • The mayor will appoint a City Manager with day-to-day management responsibilities over the city bureaus. The City Manager appointment will be approved by a majority of the Council.
  • The mayor will not have veto authority over the City Council.
  • The City Council will include 12 members elected from four geographic districts, each having three members.
  • A ranked-choice-voting system will be put in place where voters may select multiple candidates running in their home district and order their choices. The top three vote getters will be elected.

The commission, arguing that these reforms work as a whole to increase representation, accountability, and improved governance, decided to place all of these measures into a single Yes/No ballot question.

We will have a member of the Charter Review Commission at our September 8th meeting to present the plan and answer questions from the community. This is an important and complex topic. Please bring your questions! The meeting will take place at SE Uplift, 3534 SE Main St. at 7 p.m.

You can read more at the Charter Commission website, https://www.portland.gov/omf/charter-review-commission.

September 8th, 2022 SNA General Membership and Board Meetings

Our Sept. 8th General Meeting will be held in person at SE Uplift (3534 SE Main St) from 7-8:30 p.m. We also have a Zoom link for those who don’t want to attend in person (see agenda for link).

Our guest speakers will be Melanie Billings-Yun and Vadim Mozyrsky. Melanie will speak in favor of the upcoming Portland Charter Commission ballot initiative and Vadim will present the opposition standpoint, so come prepared with questions.

This will be an important meeting because at the end, we would like the SNA membership to vote on whether or not to endorse the initiative. We need at least 15 members present in person or on Zoom in order to hold a full vote. If we don’t have at least 15 members, the board will vote on the measure, but we really want to have a larger neighborhood voice on this issue. So, please join us and bring a Sunnyside friend!

  • SNA General Membership Meeting from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
  • SNA Board Meeting from 8:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Both meetings are open to the public. 

Meeting Agenda. Times are approximate. Agenda items are subject to change.

Meetings will be held in person at SE Uplift (3534 SE Main St, Portland, OR 97214).

Both meetings will also be available via Zoom.  All attendees will be muted upon entry into the meeting.  In order to ask a question or make a comment, please use the “Raise Hand” feature.  If accessing the meeting via computer, tablet, or smartphone app, you can do so via the “Raise hand button” in the “Participant” menu. If you are calling into the meeting via phone, please dial *9.  You can learn more about how to use this feature here: https://www.techjunkie.com/zoom-raise-hand/

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88591402049?pwd=YytraUR1VUxUWkhyS2ZYY01qYU5DUT09