The DEIA Committee attended the Belmont Street Fair on Saturday, Sept. 11th with great success. The fair had a strong turnout and our committee members engaged with lots of folks in the community, signing up 20 fairgoers to help volunteer for upcoming projects. We have a good list of ideas of what the community of Sunnyside would like to see from the organization. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, October 5th at 6:30 p.m. Virtual meeting details will be posted on the SNA website on Monday October 4th. We look forward to new attendees and welcome ideas on ways to build a more diverse, equitable, and accessible community.
Sunnyside Piazza Update
The Sunnyside Piazza committee had a strong turnout for the voting process with 102 community members helping us select the Sunny Sunflower winning design. We will be painting the piazza October 2nd and 3rd and look forward to welcoming back this Sunnyside Neighborhood historic landmark.
Community Cares (SNACC) Committee Updates
The SNACC committee met on Thursday, Sept. 16th after a long hiatus. Jes Maran is stepping down as chair. Board member Emily McCadden offered to co-chair (for the time being with Jes) until someone else volunteers to co-chair with her.
We gave brief updates on the shower project, which has recently been blessed by a lot of donations of both funds and toiletries, and we discussed the possibility of a vaccine mandate for those who come for showers. 20+ shower volunteers participated in a super awesome de-escalation training in September, led by Zack Hart from Hygiene4All. Hannah helped organize a vaccine event on September 30th for the houseless at the Sunnyside Methodist Church. We also discussed rolling out the “Get on the Sunnyside” campaign that a group of U of O grad students helped prepare for us
last year as part of a class project. This would entail some work on the website, but the posters are already made. The focus of the campaign is to acknowledge the need for a neighborhood that is healthy, safe and welcoming for all who call it home. We encourage anyone who is interested in these efforts to attend our next SNACC meeting on Thursday, Oct. 21st at 6:30 p.m. Meeting details will be posted on the SNA website the week of October 18th.
Neighbors and Transit Riders Work to Get Fred Meyer’s Hawthorne Pedestrian Entrance Re-opened
The Fred Meyer grocery has been an anchor on our vibrant Hawthorne Boulevard for over 70 years with a main entrance opening onto the street. But in the last 6 months the Fred Meyer Hawthorne grocery, owned by Kroger, has closed or restricted the use of its only entrance onto Hawthorne Boulevard.
As a “Transit Street Main Entrance”, these doors are required to be open onto the sidewalk (for entry and exiting) by Portland’s Zoning Code to “promote walking and the use of transit.” The closure is burdensome for all users, but is especially inequitable and concerning for seniors and disabled people. The only entrance is now on the opposite side of the building–through the parking lot. In addition, this closed entrance has created a “zombie block” which significantly reduces foot traffic and has a negative effect on the vitality of the Hawthorne shopping district.
The city has notified Fred Meyer that this closure is a violation of city code and started fining them $700 a month since May. After the notice of violation, Fred Meyer submitted an application to permanently close the Hawthorne pedestrian entrance.
Inner Southeast Action (ISEA), a local community group focusing on land use, transportation, climate and equity, along with Oregon Walks, a state-wide pedestrian safety group, met with Fred Meyer local and corporate management about alternative solutions. One suggestion was to post a security guard at the entrance, but Fred Meyer insisted closure is necessary to stop theft and for “safety concerns”. It is interesting to note that both the New Seasons and Safeway grocery stores have managed to keep multiple entrances open onto the Hawthorne sidewalk.
ISEA and Oregon Walks have launched an awareness and advocacy effort to persuade the city to deny Fred Meyer’s application to permanently close the pedestrian entrance and to persuade Fred Meyer to fully re-open this entrance. The groups have launched a petition to get the doors reopened. The petition has over 425 signers so far, and will be sent to the Mayor, Commissioner Ryan and the Director of Bureau of Development Services. You can add your name to it here: https://bit.ly/3CWjH2N
The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association will discuss the situation and a possible neighborhood response at their next meeting on October 14th.
Emergency Preparedness and the SNA Board Meeting
Emergency Preparedness for all Sunnysiders? ?
Is there a ‘one size fits all’ for emergency preparedness? No, there is not. However, the advice remains the same–getting prepared is much much better than doing nothing and hoping that an earthquake won’t happen anytime soon. Hmmm….
There are multiple ways to make preparedness more appealing. In my mind, it is the ways that each of us can help to build neighborhood resilience
and a sense of place in Sunnyside that will result in all of us getting to
know each other better. And to help each other get ready…
Questions, comments? Weigh in please via email to [email protected] and thank you.