Author Archives: Web Manager

Hello Neighbor,

Thank you for checking back in.

First I want to state how impressed I am with our CNA board members who have been working tirelessly on our neighborhood’s behalf. I have worked with many boards of directors, in both the private and public sectors, and can say with total confidence this board is as capable as any corporate board with which I have ever worked. The board has been discussing oil train spills, toxic air and soils problems generated by industry, Summer Concerts at Fernhill Park, neighborhood Clean-Up day, and assisting Concordia University’s Community Outreach programs by offering the opportunity to reach our readers via the pages of Concordia News. We are pleased we can provide this venue to help Concordia University in its effort to make a positive impact on our community.You will find updates to some of these topics in this issue of Concordia News, and I encourage you to dig deeper for information of special interest to you.

Opportunity to input on neighborhood land use plans
At the June 14 board meeting we heard from our own Land Use & Transportation Committee and from Mary Kyle McCurdy, staff attorney for 1,000 Friends of Oregon. Mary gave us an update on potential changes to City of Portland building code. Mary Kyle has been advocating on behalf of ͞Portland for Everyone,͟ whose focus is to provide community input to the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability to help balance the need for increased density with the quality and character of existing neighborhoods.

There is probably nothing that will impact our neighborhood more in the near and far future than the upcoming building code changes, so please keep an eye out for updates. Most importantly, give your voice a vote in the decision making process. This is no time to sit on the fence to see what happens. The board is only one voice amongst many stakeholders, so we need each one of you to voice your opinion. The public outreach phase is now kicking off.

Looking forward, we have serious challenges and opportunities in which your board can play a vital role in affecting positive change, but we can only do this if we hear from you. Sad to say, but over the last six months I’vereceived only seven comments or requests for topics to be added to the board agenda. So we are working on what we believe to be your most important issues, but given the limited input, we’ve had, we might be missing something that’s important to you.

This request for input is not just for board consideration, it also affects what we pursue as relevant news͟ when publishing Concordia News.

Amanda Fritz likely at September General Meeting
Amanda Fritz, City of Portland Commissioner, has tentatively accepted the board’s invitation to attend CNA’s September 12th General Meeting. We will be asking her what Concordia neighborhood –relevant agenda items she will focus on during her upcoming city council tenure. Hearing directly from Commissioner Fritz, and helping her understand what is important to us, provides an opportunity for all parties to insure we are working together for the benefit of our community. I invite you to attend this important General Meeting. Please let me know if you have specific questions you would like put to the Commissioner.

Thanks again,

Isaac Quintero
Chair/Concordia Neighborhood Association

Late last year, Alberta Main Street received a grant from The William G. Gilmore Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation to fund Equitable Alberta Street. The project aims to expand the organization’s capacity to address issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion on and around NE Alberta Street, and to ensure that underserved populations are informed about and supported in their efforts to access social and economic resources available to them.

Specifically, the grant provided funding to hire a part-time Equity and Engagement Coordinator. AMS recently chose Kenya Budd for the position. Budd will support the organization’s work on three goals:

1. Adopting policies and performing outreach to diversify the base of committed volunteers and skilled community leaders;
2. implementing projects that create greater economic and social opportunities for local minority residents and youth, and
3. providing technical assistance and AMS financial support to underserved populations.

Budd identified the means by which she will approach those goals.

“My work will include forming relationships with the variety of people and cultures that represent our diverse community,” she said.

Budd brings over 10 years of experience as an educator and consultant, training senior leaders and developing measurement tools for businesses to help improve diversity outcomes.

While her efforts will primarily focus on the commercial corridor, Budd hopes area residents will play a role in addressing inclusion issues as well. She cites the need for residents to reach out to each other; to be welcoming, but she acknowledges the challenges to that effort.

“Because of systematic disinvestment and displacement, mistrust has grown over the years. To rebuild trust will take time,” she said.

Budd also encourages neighborhood newcomers to become more knowledgeable about the history of the area to understand the displacement that has occurred over the years. To learn more, she suggested visiting Alberta Main Street or the Research Room at the City of Portland Archives & Records Center (1800 SW 6th Ave, Suite 550). Some information is also available online on the Main Street website and the City Auditor’s website.

Budd lives in the Overlook area of North Portland. Reach her Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Alberta Main Street office (1722 NE Alberta Street), by email (kenya@albertamainst.org) or call (503) 683 – 3252. she said. Budd brings over 10 years of experience as an educator and consultant, training senior leaders and developing measurement tools for businesses to help improve diversity outcomes.

Welcome back Neighbor,

I’ve been asking myself: As a community so far from the world stage, can we really make a difference? Considering even our legislators can’t agree on the time of day much less promoting goodwill abroad, I wasn’t so sure. But then I took a close look at our community and realized we can have an impact in the world just by being friendly and approachable. We can start with the foreign-born students attending Concordia University; they are our portals to the Middle East, Asia, South America and beyond. These students should be our ambassadors, telling the real story of America upon returning home.

So I ask you, what would happen if each one of us extended ourselves to these visitors in the same way we do with those who live here? You might ask how we do this. The answer is to just say “hi” and smile. A smile is the same in any language, the rest will follow. It is a start and if we do it enough, we can positively impact the world.

Paid, Part-time staff for Concordia News

Now back to business matters. At its last general meeting, the CNA board was presented with the concept of paying for professional assistance in producing the Concordia News. The board agreed to do so, starting with the July issue. I for one strongly support the idea of part-time, paid staff people, as I believe the Concordia News is the single most important avenue of communication within our neighborhood.

CNEWS is looking good now, due to the efforts of professionals who have been volunteering over the last several months. And, over time, it’s projected to pay for its production costs. But I believe the newspaper will cease publication if we do not retain the skills and time dedicated by professional staff. Visit www.concordiapdx.org/get-involved/ open-staff-positions for information about the available positions.

New treasurer needed

Also high on the CNA agenda is our search for a new Treasurer to replace Robert Bowles, our outgoing Treasurer. He has served for much of the past decade. As modest as we are, CNA actually has a rather large budget compared to most other Portland neighborhood associations. Robert has done a wonderful job shepherding our finances, but he’s moving on to new challenges. If you, or anyone you know, have basic accounting skills and a few volunteer hours to devote to your neighborhood, we’d love to hear from you.

Bighouse site talks break down

Lastly, the ongoing discussion with Ascend Holdings, the developer of the Bighouse site at NE 30th & Killingsworth, has hit an impasse. (See article by Spencer Parson’s on page 7 for more information.) The developer’s representative recently told the CNA Land Use & Transportation Committee (LUTC) that Ascend is moving forward on construction of a 4-story apartment building, as submitted originally, to the Portland Bureau of Development Services. The rub is that LUTC had made suggestions to make the project more “neighborhood friendly.” The developer, however, had issues with the suggestions and would not provide a response to LUTC, nor did Ascend want LUTC to have any formal say in its plans.

I became involved in the LUTC/Ascend Holdings issue after their communication broke down. I cannot go into specifics, but I do know there was no one bad guy involved. I am hoping the developer will come back to the table to consider our concerns as a model of how to work with a community. It could be a re-start, but our experience is telling us that CNA – and the City – must provide all developers with not only the building code, but also a profile of neighborhood sensitivities. Doing so would be a positive approach to avoiding problems in advance of final plans.

While we are a diverse community with a variety of people and opinions, we expect compromise. We are not looking for an “I win – you lose” situation but for win-win. The only way that happens is by talking to each other. I will continue my discussion with Ascend and keep you up to date. Or come to CNA Land Use Committee meetings and follow along.

Isaac Quintero
Chair/Concordia Neighborhood Association