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Author Archives: Web Manager

LUTC Update – Smell pollution? There’s an app for that

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News, Land Use & Transportation

By Garlynn Woodsong | CNA Board Member, SW1, CNA LUTC Chair

Concordians may smell a foul odor in the air from time to time – especially when there’s an inversion layer that traps a layer of warmer air next to the ground underneath a layer of cooler air, preventing pollution from escaping upwards.

Concordia is located near:

  • Two major arterials
  • A major transcontinental freight railroad line frequented by many hardworking diesel locomotives that are not subject to any meaningful pollution regulation
  • An industrial zone that is home to many polluting uses, including propane tank facilities prone to leaking
  • The airport, which is a hive of petroleum-burning activity, especially aviation gasoline and jet fuel – both of which are exempt from any meaningful emissions regulations
  • Many other emissions sources, both fixed- and mobile-source

This foul air quality, although it is usually invisible, can have very real, long-term impacts on our health and quality of life. We, our children, our friends and our families all breathe in this air. If our air smells toxic, then we are likely inhaling toxins.

It can be frustrating, overwhelming and demoralizing to walk outside, breathe a foul odor, and to feel helpless and unable to do anything about it.

Now you can use a new free smartphone app, provided by Portland Clean Air, to crowdsource reports of pollution odors traveling through the neighborhood. The app also helps track down sources of industrial air pollution incidents.

You can download the app today and make a smell report – even if you walk outside, smell a beautiful clean-air day and, as a result, the smell report is positive.

Portland Clean Air has been working with app developer Beatrice Dias from Carnegie Melon University and with Seventh Generation to launch the app city-wide in Portland.

The Smell MyCity app crowdsources community reports of pollution odors and visualizes the city’s air quality. You can help with the launch of the app by downloading it today and making a smell report. This is a better alternative than your complaints being ignored by DEQ, or floating around Nextdoor.com.

Portland Clean Air now has a toxic smell response team with monitoring equipment, and data from nine agencies to help pinpoint the source so negotiators can be sent in to help reduce or eliminate the emissions source.

Find the Smell MyCity app free on the App Store and on Google Play.

SmellMyCity.org makes smell report data accessible publicly and easy for all residents and community groups to explore. It includes a map visualization page of how smell reports are distributed across the city over time. And it offers a data access page to download smell report data for further analysis.

Smell, submit, share!

There’s love in the details at new lounge

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News, Local Businesses

By Marsha Sandman | CNA Media Team

Joe Cawley gave Sarah King and Blest VonWeter free rein on designing Rosie’s Lounge, across the street from his Alberta Rose Theatre. Pictured here, they didn’t disappoint. Photo by Marsha Sandman

As if the Alberta Rose Theatre isn’t fabulous enough. Joe Cawley, owner and purveyor of all things amazing, has opened Rosie’s Lounge right across the street.

It’s a cocktail lounge, restaurant, late night spot and a perfectly warm and inviting oasis. Guests say they are impressed immediately with the delightful décor which is, of course, dominated by roses.

Both warm and engaging – Blest VonWeter, manager, and Sarah King assistant manager – are longtime Concordians. You might recognize Sarah as the singer with The Nowhere Band at the Alberta Rose Theatre. They are the creative talent behind the interior design.

Blest produced the cocktail offerings and Sarah helped to build the dinner, happy hour and late night snack menus for the 4 p.m.–1 a.m. lounge.

Blest and Sarah have been friends for more than 30 years and business partners for five as interior designers and owners of Gold Dust, which was once located inside the Alberta Rose building.

Joe appreciated their design aesthetics and knew they were the perfect pair when he learned Gold Dust on Alberta Street at 14th Avenue will close soon.

He gave them complete artistic license in the remodeling and design of the former Stella Taco at 2940 N.E. Alberta St.

“It’s decadent, colorful, glamorous, romantic and welcoming,” Sarah explained. Gilded mirrors and larger-than-life roses grace the walls. Blest built the beautiful and abundant crystal chandeliers.

The new solid walnut bar is an excellent spot to enjoy libations. This is not your typical minimalist Portland bar. Rosie’s Lounge is Portland proud with 90% of the décor sourced locally. “Love is in the details,” Sarah pointed out.

After you’ve settled in, you’ll be wowed by the dinner and drinks menus. Blest is a master mixologist who promises seasonal changes.

The impressive dinner menu was designed by the owner, head chef Dee Dee Hopkins, and a group of other talented chefs, in addition to Sarah. It’s a unique and interesting menu intended to please all palettes.

Next spring Rosie’s plans to offer a brunch service with outside seating. Promised is a menu with seasonal changes and all food is, like its surroundings, sourced locally.

Facebook.com/rosiesloungeportland and Instagram’s @Rosie’sLounge offer evidence of the popularity of Rosie’s Lounge since it opened in December.

After living east, south, north and west, Marsha Sandman is home at last. And she wants to hear your story. Contact her at MarshaJSandman@gmail.com.

Become our partner?

Posted on February 5, 2020 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

Are you involved in an organization or business that is committed to this community prospering in all ways – especially in equity and inclusivity?

Do you agree with the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) board of directors that working in partnership with each other, the effectiveness of each entity can be maximized?

If yes, then mark your calendar for Wednesday, March 4. The CNA board invites you – and all individuals – to its quarterly general meeting. The discussion will focus on how the various groups in and near Concordia can work together to further education or advocacy toward the goals of equity and inclusivity.

“We’re looking for partners to increase our own efforts – and theirs – to further and more effectively serve the community at low or no cost,” explained CNA chair Astrid Furstner. “We want to help increase outreach and communications opportunities here in Concordia and with people and organizations in neighborhoods next door.

“As a neighborhood association, we believe we can help be a catalyst for collaboration,” she added. “Let us know how you think that might work best.”

If you cannot attend the meeting, but want to explore the concept further, contact Astrid at Chair@ConcordiaPDX. org.

Thanks for the memories

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

The Dec. 11 CNA Holiday Party was a smashing success with an estimated 250 guests making merry at Cerimon House and enjoying entertainment and food provided by nearly two dozen businesses and organizations.

The food courtyard came alive with the international flavors of Aladdin Café, Alecocina, Angel’s Donuts & Ice Cream, HOTLIPS pizza, Los Pepitos Locos, Lovejoy’s Tea Room, Seastar Bakery, Teote Mezcalería and Vita Café.

Vernon School Band and Faubion School Choir entertained Concordians during the evening, which was culminated with the high energy Andean and Latin American music of Grupo Latitudes.

Raffle sales raised $275 for Northeast Food Pantry, and guests also donated plenty of food and clothing.

Raffle prize contributors included Aladdin Café, Frock, Lovejoy’s Tea Room, Mathnasium, Miss Zumstein’s Bakery and Coffee Shop, Mud Bay and YesYes Healing Garden.

Additional food and decoration items were donated by Fred Meyer and Whole Foods. The Kids Corner – complete with crafts and activities – came alive with materials donated by collagepdx, faithful volunteer Elizabeth Keenan and Mathnasium.

A big thanks to everyone who helped in every way, and to all of the Concordians who took time out of their schedules to attend.

If you missed the party, don’t worry. There’ll likely be another late this year.

Look for details next November and December in CNews and on Facebook.com/groups/ConcordiaPDX.

Thanks for asking – Have you heard of National Freedom Day?

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

By Karen Wells | CNA Media Team

Have you heard of National Freedom Day? It’s celebrated Feb. 1, commemorating a congressional resolution built from the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.

Feb. 1 also ushers in Black History Month, a time to focus attention on the achievements and contributions of people of the African-American diaspora.

In February 1865, President Abraham Lincoln presented Congress a signed resolution proposing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution changing the legal status of more than three million Americans of African ancestry from “slave” to “free.”

A nine-year-old child of African ancestry living in Georgia as a slave grew to become an officer in the Spanish-American War, banker, distinguished educator, college president and civil rights activist.

His name was Maj. Richard Robert Wright Sr., founder of National Freedom Day Association. Under his leadership, the association repeatedly lobbied Congress to establish a national observance commemorating the signing of the 13th Amendment, which outlaws the practice of applying property law to people.

That former slave died in 1947. The following year, President Harry S. Truman signed a bill proclaiming Feb. 1 National Freedom Day, a precursor of Black History Month.

His life overlapped that of Carter Godwin Woodson, historian, scholar, educator, activist, journalist and publisher. In 1926, the historian launched a celebration of Negro History Week the second week of February.

He selected that week to honor the life of social justice activist Frederick Douglas, whose birthday is Feb. 14. Fast forward to 1969, Kent State University’s (KSU’s) Black Students United, supported by KSU African-American professors, proposed changing the name from “Negro History” to “Black History” and extending the observance to the entire month.

1970 was the first year Black History Month was observed in academic and cultural centers of Portland, and across the nation. In 1976, Black History Month garnered national support during the U.S. bicentennial when President Gerald Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history. ”

From the early 1900s to the present, African American Portlanders have served in the military. African Americans in military service demonstrate patriotism, and more important, contest the myth of white supremacy.

In 1918 50 African Americans were drafted by the Selective Service System to travel 110 miles north for training at Fort Lewis. They were the first of many black men deployed to the front lines of France in World War 1.

Black Concordians have served in military conflicts and crises since then. Is Portland’s history punctuated by black Concordians’ achievements and moxie? Thanks for asking.

Editor’s note: Karen consulted several sources for this piece and shares them with you on Facebook.com/groups/ConcordiaPDX. Do you have a cross-cultural question for her? Send it to CNewsEditor@ConcordiaPDX.org

Karen Wells is a retired early childhood community educator, health and safety trainer.

CNA LUTC Agenda: Jan 15, 2020

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Web Manager Posted in Uncategorized

This Wednesday, January 15th, 2020, we’ll have two guests at the CNA LUTC meeting:

First, we’ll be talking about the redevelopment of the Dekum Court housing project with Pamela Kambur from Home Forward.

Then, we’ll be discussing the Columbia Lombard Mobility Plan with Bryan Poole from PBOT.

Please join us! 7-8:30 pm in the Community Room in the SE Corner of McMenamins Kennedy School.

 

CNA LUTC_AGENDA_Jan_15_2020_DRAFT

Leaven embraces changing the community

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

By Mischa Webley | Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods

Mira Ayala (left) and LaVeta Gilmore-Jones lead the Leaven Community, a nonprofit incubated by the Salt and Light Lutheran Church to serve the community in changing times. Photo by Mischa Webley

On Killingsworth Street, across from Vernon Elementary School, a small, modest building is evidence of a solution to a changing community. This is the home of Leaven Community, a nonprofit incubated by the Salt and Light Lutheran Church, previously Redeemer Lutheran, which has been in the northeast community for decades.

Starting in 2010, church members began to rethink everything.

Seeing the neighborhood change rapidly around them – and the feelings about church and religion changing with it – they decided the answer was to lean into the change wholeheartedly and embrace it.

To do that, they hired a community organizer and spent three years soul searching and simply listening to their neighbors: they knocked on doors, held public meetings and heard about what holes in the community they could fill.

They had decided the key to moving forward wasn’t to serve the community in a one-way relationship. Rather, it was to build a platform that could become whatever it was the community decided it should be.

The result was Leaven Community. It’s an organic and constantly evolving project that, among other things, hosts a variety of grassroots community organizations as well as the Salt and Light Church of Christ. The change has been an undertaking that’s much bigger than a single church. In fact, most of the groups are not faith-based at all.

“It’s a practice-based community,” said Mira Ayala, a Leaven Community member and organizer with Oregon Synod, the regional arm of the Lutheran church. “It’s about practices, not an expectation to subscribe to any set of beliefs.”

The groups on-site are diverse, and decidedly agnostic:

  • The Portland Tool Library, which loans out tools to neighbors
  • A Buddhist meditation group
  • A feminist women’s group
  • A food collective
  • An innovative Salt and Light program called Intercambio
  • An intercultural language exchange that hosts dinners for people who speak different languages to come together and learn from one another

It’s all part of a broader philosophy that defines the role of the church as providing the journey, but not necessarily the destination.

In the words of LaVeta GilmoreJones, Leaven Community co-executive director, “We create spaces for people to be who they are through the exploration of their spiritual journeys and to act together out of our stories and the love we have for one another to do systemic and structural change so that we have more thriving neighborhoods.”

Editor’s note: This story was reprinted with permission from NECN’s Hey Neighbor! newsletter. See more stories at bit.ly/NECNHEY

LUTC Update – Government, banks took big toll

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News, Land Use & Transportation

By Garlynn Woodsong | CNA Board Member, SW1 | CNA LUTC Chair

The book “The Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein makes the case that constitutional violations have been committed by the federal government – and perpetuated by state and local governments – to create and enforce racial segregation in the United States.

That’s true especially after World War II, using the instruments of the Federal Housing Agency, Fannie Mae, single -family zoning, and other housing policy tools.

Urban renewal and freeway-building policies also served this agenda, to concentrate black Americans into small areas using zoning policy, then to systematically destroy those neighborhoods using urban renewal and highway building efforts.

This story played out in Portland with the use of single-family zones and mortgage redlining to concentrate most black Portlanders into a handful of neighborhoods. Those areas were then targeted for urban renewal projects, including: construction of I-5 through north Portland, and demolition of whole swaths of the neighborhood around Vancouver and Williams avenues north of Russell Street for uses related to Emmanuel Hospital.

Our Concordia neighborhood included areas that were redlined, where mortgage lenders refused to issue government-backed mortgages because the neighborhood was not all white.

I’d like to tie together these historical policies today using a website created by an associate of mine: NeighborhoodPulse.

For instance, in 2010, black people comprised 18.7% of Concordia’s population, compared to 7.8% of all Portlanders. Yet, 70.7% of Concordia homes were owner-occupied in 2010, opposed to only 53.7% of all homes in Portland.

Our neighborhood may have had single-family zoning imposed on it during the mid-20th century. But not soon enough to prevent it from remaining a diverse enclave within a whiter surrounding city.

This diversity made it the target of racist actions – including redlining – that prevented many Concordia homeowners from gaining access to low-interest, federally-backed mortgages to purchase or to access equity-backed credit.

The latter 20th century thus saw much of Concordia’s housing stock deteriorate, as owners had difficulty accessing credit to pay for maintenance and upgrades. Yet, against this adversity, neighborhood residents persisted. They founded the Concordia Neighborhood Association, and they worked diligently over the decades to overcome obstacles presented by lingering policies related to institutional racism.

The low housing prices in Concordia at the dawn of the 21st century made it an attractive place to settle; however, as new people moved in, many long-time residents moved out.

Today we have a mix of people young and old, long-time residents, new arrivals and folks who have been here awhile but not that long.

There are a variety of remedies that could be sought at the federal level. After reading “The Color of Law,” it seems locally there is a case to be made that constitutional violations have occurred as the city continues to act as a regulatory instrument that may be perpetuating ongoing economic and, potentially, racial segregation. Single-family zoning must be reformed to prevent it from inflicting further harm.

Adopting and enacting the zoning code updates proposed as a part of the Residential Infill Project represents our first, best chance to do so as a city.

This will not be a silver bullet to erase the harms imposed by racial segregation, but it will be a first step in the right direction.

Garlynn Woodsong lives on 29th Avenue, serves on the CNA board and is an avid bicyclist. He also is a dad who is passionate about the city his son will inherit. He is the planning + development partner with Cascadia Partners LLC, a local urban planning firm. Contact him at LandUse@ ConcordiaPDX.org.

Criticism of OCCL process earns 3-year delay

Posted on December 15, 2019 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

By Nancy Varekamp | CNews Editor

You haven’t heard the Office of Community & Civic Life (OCCL) has plans to change the ordinance that governs Portland’s neighborhood associations, neighborhood coalitions and business districts? Where have you been?.

“It is a complicated story we’re trying to share with you,” Suk Rhee told about 40 Concordians at the local neighborhood association’s annual meeting early last month.

She’s the OCCL director, hired two years ago, and is trying to assure all Portlanders the opportunity to participate in their city government. The original 1974 ordinance – which created neighborhood associations – carried several requirements. They must hold open meetings, take fiscal responsibility and provide the opportunity for anyone who lives or owns property within their boundaries to participate.

According to media reports during the past six months, the draft revisions omitted all mention of neighborhood associations and any geographic representation of Portlanders.

During the past year of conversations with residents of diverse Portland groups, Suk said she heard from residents who believe there is racial, disability and social injustice in participating in government.

“We need to meet community where they’re at,” explained OCCL staffer Sabrina Wilson. “We need to go beyond the current network to where they’re at: youths, native Americans, houseless communities, the aged.

She said ordinance authors considered, “How do we open the doors even wider? It’s not to take away and give to anybody else.”

Several Concordians took exception to the concept neighborhood associations can’t represent the diversity of Portlanders

“We’re a model for the country for citizen engagement,” pointed out Bob Boyer, one of Concordia Neighborhood Association’s (CNA’s) founders, former CNA chair and former state senator.

Another Concordian scoffed at the results of a survey that engaged just 1,000 people in a city of 650,000-plus.

Ike Harris, CNA board member, also cast doubt on the process, and he criticized the absence of input into the draft from neighborhood associations. “Why did [city commissioner Chloe] Eudaly not meet with neighborhood associations herself, as opposed to doing this in a clandestine way, sneaking it in?”

Kelvin Hall recommended the commissioner visit the neighborhood associations and work with them. He believes city leadership has gone afoul. “This process will be and continue to be in conflict until they clarify their vision.”

Following the local meeting, the city announced the brakes have been applied to changing the OCCL governing ordinance.

For detailed coverage on OCCL’s plans for the next three years, visit the Portland Mercury at: bit.ly/33U4nCB.

Nancy Varekamp is semiretired from her career in journalism, public relations and – her favorite work engagement – writing and editing targeted newsletters.

Part-time Concordian writes

Posted on December 14, 2019 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

By Tamara Anne Fowler | CNA Media Team

Peter Chilson learned the power of words at a young age. He teaches college students how to use them powerfully, and he demonstrates the craft in the books he writes.

Peter Chilson wanted to be a writer ever since junior high school. He can’t recall wanting to be anything else.

When he was 14, he read a column in the local weekly newspaper in Aspen, Colorado, that painted an unflattering portrait of teenage youths in town. Peter, being one of those teenage youths, wrote a response in the form of a letter to the editor.

The experience brought him a small amount of attention. He learned something about the power of words and the power of story. He has been writing ever since.

The newspaper invited him to contribute a regular column on youth life in town. Peter helped found the monthly newspaper in his high school, and he went on to become sports editor.

“We appreciate the work you do at Concordia News. I owe my career to small newspapers,” Peter said.

His favorite writing class was with a teacher named Bob Wiley. Later in high school, Peter was in the history class of a teacher named George Burson. “He read everything we wrote closely.” The budding writer learned from the teacher to make every word count.

Now Peter works as a Washington State University English professor in Pullman while his partner, Concordian Part-time Concordian writes Laura Gephart, works in Portland at the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. He commutes back and forth regularly between Concordia and Pullman.

“I’ve been doing this for 17 years, and I love traveling between the rural and urban West.”

A favorite subject, Peter has been writing about Africa since he was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Republic of Niger in the mid-1980s. “Africa is a wonderfully diverse and welcoming place, and the people there have taught me so much,” he said.

He has written three books about the continent, including travelogue “Riding the Demon,” short fiction collection “Disturbance-Loving Species” and an e-book about the civil war in Mali, “We Never Knew Exactly Where.”

“Now, I am writing about immigration, focusing on this debate in my own country.”

Peter has a fourth book out with Joanne Mulcahy, a Lewis and Clark College assistant professor. It’s a writing guide for travelers, “Writing Abroad: A Guide for Writers.”

Peter loves the warmth of the people in Concordia, the walkability and the quirky nature of the neighborhood and Alberta Street.

“Concordia is like a small town, with Alberta Street as the downtown.

Tamara Anne Fowler is Edit Kitten, a writer with 20-plus years of experience offering a sof ter, gentler approach to editing and coaching. Her personal editors — Armani, Max Factor and Spicey’D — are also her cats. Visit her at EditKitten.com or contact her at Tamara@EditKitten.com.

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