The Leroy Blocks

Leroy Sly Scott, who passed away two years ago in May, now lives forever as part of our neighborhood. You may have known Leroy as a charismatic fellow who told a joke or sang a song from his stoop behind the Belmont Market. For years Leroy would sleep on (or nearby) his daytime throne on 34th Street before he got housing for what turned out to be his final year on Earth after 34 years of living outside. This stoop continues to be a place of gathering of all sorts of neighbors in Sunnyside. Now as you sip your coffee from Stumptown or walk your dog down to the playground, there is an image of Leroy there to greet you and to remind you that “All around the world, people are singing the same song.”  (A shortened version of this was Leroy’s favorite expression, inspired by the Digital Underground song.)  

The Portland Street Art Alliance and a group of local artists and community members came together last December to create a mural to honor Leroy. Thanks to artists Kyra Watkins, Caleb Ruecker, Sarah Farahat and Tammy MacKinnon who together designed and painted the mural, and to Tony Booone, a community member and Street Roots vendor who helped out. 

In the coming months visages of some of Leroy’s friends and community will be painted above the Tao of Tea and “The Leroy Blocks” will be complete. If you would like to contribute to this entirely community-generated and community-supported art, please do so here: https://leroymural.causevox.com. A big thank you to the Portland Street Art Alliance for their dedication, care, and skill in beautifying our neighborhood with the history of its neighbors. 

SNA April General Meeting + Candidates Forum

The SNA General Membership and Candidates Forum will be held Thursday, April 14, 2022, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in person at the Sunnyside United Methodist Church (3520 SE Yamhill Street) and also virtually via Zoom.

  • SNA General Membership Meeting from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
  • Candidates Forum from 7:25 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.

SNA General Meeting & Candidate Forum Zoom Link:

Both meetings will be conducted via Zoom and in person.  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/

If you are unable to attend the meeting virtually by Zoom you can email the board at [email protected] for a copy of the meeting minutes or request further assistance with attending the live meeting. Please bring your own mask if you would like to follow Covid precautions. If you need assistance with internet access the Board will do their best to help facilitate appropriate resources to join. 

Last Month’s News. This Month’s Plans.

During March’s Sunnyside Neighborhood Association meeting we welcomed a group of interested neighbors who joined us to hear from guest speakers Erik Dorrset and Bob Thompson from TVA Architects (https://tvaarchitects.com). Erik and Bob walked us through their development project at 4406 SE Belmont St., and followed up with a round of questions. Prior to the presentation our organization had a brainstorming session on developer questions to have on hand for future presentation requests. We based our guidelines on what would best represent the neighborhood and how to apply a DEIA lens when addressing development concerns. These questions will be in the March SNA General meeting minutes online (https://sunnysideportland.org/board/meeting-minutes) if you’d like to learn more about what we discussed. 

Matt Lembo, SNA Board Member, shared pre-planning details for our upcoming Candidates Forum which will be hosted during the SNA’s April General meeting. Details are in a separate article in this newsletter. We’re anticipating a great turnout and look forward to having you join us. The event will be held both in-person and virtually. If you need assistance to join the forum, please reach out to [email protected] for support. 

The SNA will spend time during May’s General meeting to further develop our Community Agreement Statement that we started to outline in February. I encourage folks to participate in helping us create this document. The intent of this statement is to create welcoming guidelines on best practices and establish the organization’s roadmap for a code of conduct during meetings.  

We are still seeking a Land Use & Transportation Chair as well as a Newsletter Communications & Advertising Coordinator. To learn more, please reach out to [email protected]. 

A big thank you to our recent Sunnyside newsletter donors. We greatly appreciate your generosity and goodwill. We will continue to have a newsletter donation link live on the SNA website for folks who would like to contribute to the newsletter’s expenses. Our goal is to work towards the yearly production costs of $6,000. (https://sunnysideportland.org/donate-to-our-newsletter). We look forward to continuing to bring you up-to-date information and resources. 

The SNA April meeting will be held at the Sunnyside United Methodist Church (3520 SE Yamhill Street) on Thursday the 14th. Meeting details and the agenda will be posted on the SNA website (https://sunnysideportland.org) on Tuesday the 12th. The General meeting will be from 7:00 – 7:30 p.m. with the Candidate Forum to follow directly after from 7:30- 9:00 pm. We look forward to seeing our Sunnyside community.