Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

Author Archives: Gordon Riggs

Concordia University Regents Endorse Learning Center

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The Concordia University Board of Regents voted to recommend that Concordia University begin construction of its 74,000 square foot learning center in May of 2008. Their recommendation will move forward to two governing bodies of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod for final consideration in early 2008. The new Concordia University learning center will double the capacity of the current library, and expand space for academic program centers, meeting rooms, and faculty offices. The estimated cost of building construction is $15 million.

Concordia University officials have made a point of including community interests in all its plans for campus development. Neighbors will have access to library resources and meeting rooms in the learning center, and a new athletic complex will also be open to community use.

“This project will transform our campus and our neighborhood community,” said Concordia University President Chuck Schlimpert. “Our ability to develop the learning center supports the vision that a university engaged in the community can provide expanded opportunities for its students and help its neighborhood thrive.”

The learning center will be built on the current site of the University’s soccer and baseball fields, and construction will finish in August 2009. Concordia will temporarily vacate its current athletic field until the new athletic complex is complete in March 2010. The athletic complex will occupy the two blocks north of campus that are currently used for married student housing. The first home will be moved offsite by the end of October 2007. Concordia is developing plans to add new student housing along 27th Avenue.

Project Suggestions Needed

Posted on by Posted in Archive, CNA, Volunteer Opportunities

[The following is a reprinted letter to the editor, originally published in November’s Concordia News.]

As a newcomer to Portland it is difficult for me to identify a community need that is not already being dealt with by some group or individual. In the six months I have lived in Portland I have been impressed by the awareness, determination, and creativity of citizens in finding solutions to the problems found in their communities.

I am an AmeriCorps volunteer through the Northwest Service Academy this year. As part of that program I will lead a Community Action Project. The only requirements for this project are that it has to serve a need of the community, and I have to lead the effort. I can do anything from leading a team to clean up a park, to coordinating a community event, to planting a garden. My job placement is with Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition, which is great, but I really want this project to happen in my own community in Northeast Portland.

I have spent some time over the past few weeks trying to think of a way I can help my neighborhood with this project, but then it occurred to me that maybe a better approach would be to let the neighborhood suggest to me what there is a need for. I will be attending the Concordia Neighborhood’s General Meeting on November 6th to introduce myself and to listen to suggestions and ideas for the community project. I hope anyone who has an idea will come talk about it with me to help me make the most of this opportunity to do something helpful with my new community.

Tim O’Neal
NWSA AmeriCorps Volunteer
503-232-0010 ext.313
tim@southeastuplift.org

Neighbors Challenge Boeing Emissions Dump

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As reported here previously, Boeing Aircraft has asked Oregon’s DEQ to give it permission to dump 99 tons of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds = hazardous waste) into the airshed of Northeast Portland. From April through October, neighborhoods like Concordia, Cully, Woodlawn, and Vernon are directly in the line of prevailing winds that come from the two huge hangars located on Cornfoot Road in the Columbia Slough, where Boeing’s planes are painted.

About 35 neighbors, primarily from Concordia and Cully neighborhoods, all concerned that what looked like a good move for Boeing might not automatically be good for nearby residential livability and health, crowded a first public hearing in September. Their questions and challenges prevented a quick rubber stamp approval of the permit, and sent both DEQ and Boeing back to their drawing boards.

More public meetings are planned, but those same concerned residents met recently to plan strategies on how laymen with limited resources and experience can challenge a major international corporation with billion dollar profits. Political pressure through our elected officials and local institutions might work. Volunteers going door-to-door might be worthwhile. Challenging Boeing to present studies and information on the effects of the hazardous emissions on public health might be productive. Solutions will take a lot of volunteer work; a lot of Davids are needed to confront one Goliath, a Goliath with unlimited financial resources and paid staff.

What do these residents want? First, for DEQ to deny the permit. Boeing already dumps 39 tons of VOCs on us, and with additional hazardous waste produced by our close-in highways, trains, airport, and the industries along the Columbia Corridor, we are already heavily saturated. Second, if the permit is granted, they want Boeing to install the best available control technologies (called BACTs) to capture 100% of the emissions. Boeing claims that the technology is not required by Oregon and is too expensive, but other states require it, and other similar industries meet those standards now. It comes down to what value Boeing is willing to place on our lives.

Interested in being part of this process? Contact Robin Denburg at NECN: 503-823-4135; robin@necoalition.org. Let him know if you want to get involved now. Also plan to come to our next major working/planning session on Wednesday, November 7 at 7 P.M. at NECN in the King School building on NE 7th Avenue. Help convince Boeing to be a good neighbor.

CNA Board Elections – November 6

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It’s November, and that means election season.

The CNA General Meeting on November 6 is election night for the Concordia Neighborhood Association’s next Board of Directors. If that is not enough to convince you to attend CNA’s General Meeting, the Association is also throwing in free beer for attendees. The meeting starts promptly at 7 PM in the Community Room at the Kennedy School.

Now is your chance to be a leader. The Concordia Neighborhood annually elects members of our community to serve on our 13-member Board of Directors. We want you to join us on the board. There are also opportunities to get involved with our various committees.

We have four positions open for the upcoming board election. These positions include:

  • One at-large member
  • One position for the East quadrant
  • Two positions for the SW quadrant

The Concordia Neighborhood is fortunate to have had a strong neighborhood association
historically, with great folks in leadership positions.

Your commitment is two meetings a month. Hopefully you will want to join a committee that is of interest to you. If you have any questions about the election or what the board position entails, please email Katie at kugolini@earthlink.net.

Neighborhood Mural Workshop, October 20

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In Estacada, Jenny Joyce and Kolieha Bush paint as members of Artback (an artists collective). The group paints one large-scale, outdoor mural each summer. Artback’s mural-in-a-weekend is a featured attraction each year as part of the town’s annual Estacada Summer Fest, a 3-day city-wide arts festival that features music, crafts, activities for children, dance performances, and food booths. The town’s enthusiasm for the first mural (over 12 years ago), led directly to the growth of the arts in this small town.

Both women exhibit their personal artwork in area galleries and are recognized for their more that 20 years of experience in doing community murals. On Saturday, October 20, they will host a workshop featuring a slide presentation of Estacada’s murals and some recent Portland murals.

Where: Concordia Neighborhood Community Room, McMenamin’s Kennedy School
When: October 20th, 10am to 12:30pm

There will be time for questions and answers and refreshments will be provided. If you are thinking about doing a mural in your neighborhood this workshop will help you begin to think about the how’s and whys of doing community murals. Grant opportunities are currently available through the Neighborhood Small Grants Program that may accept community arts projects as part of a community building project in the neighborhoods.

Proposals are due on November 1, 2007.

To learn more about the small grants program visit Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement.

Gentrification Restorative Listening Event, October 15

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Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement sent us the following information about a local forum for learning about the impact of gentrification on long-time residents of the community.

Restorative Listening Circle

October 15, 2007
7:00 pm
Moore Street Salvation Army Community Center
Classroom A and B
5325 N Williams Ave., near N Killingsworth

Restorative Listening Events are based on the principles of Restorative Justice which hold that those most impacted must be heard, acknowledged and an effort made to repair the harm for a community to be made whole again. Once the following questions are answered – what happened? Who was harmed? How were they harmed? How can the harm be repaired? – can a way to move forward be found.

You can also learn more about Gentrification Restorative Listening Events or download a flier.

For more information contact:
Judith Mowry
Office of Neighborhood Involvement
503.823.4112

Everyone Eats! Community Forum, October 11

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This Thursday the volunteer members of the Everyone Eats! volunteer team will facilitate an open forum to discuss the results of the “Everyone Eats!” community food assessment of areas of north and inner northeast Portland, sponsored by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Interfaith Food and Farms Partnership (IFFP). The forum will be held at St. Andrew’s Catholic Community Center, 806 NE Alberta St.

The forum will be conducted by volunteer members of Everyone Eats! Leadership Team and also by Jocelyn Furbush and Sabrina Kosok, L.I.N.K.S. AmerCorps members with IFFP.  They will talk about what they learned from interviewing 200 neighbors on matters of access to nutritious, local and culturally appropriate food. Attendees will have the chance to give input on the next steps for projects to get more fresh local food to north and inner northeast low-income communities. A light dinner will be provided.

The food assessment survey, combined with focused community conversations about food issues in three languages, indicated that many low income residents of north and inner northeast Portland lack access to affordable fresh, local produce. Many residents of these communities expressed dissatisfaction with their options and access to food. IFFP is committed to increasing food security by bringing more fresh, local and culturally appropriate food to these communities. We are asking for community input to insure that potential food access projects are effective and appropriate to the communities they serve.

New Feature! Online Community Calendar

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The purpose of the CNA website is to keep residents informed about and offer a forum for discussing events related to the Concordia neighborhood. As a result, we receive enough notices about neighborhood and Portland area events of interest to quickly overwhelm even the most diligent newshound. Rather than limit posting to a select few items, we have created a Google Calendar with dates, times and locations for events that might be of interest, including those that we haven’t had a chance to post directly to the blog. Here’s a link to the calendar, but you can also get to it from the “Community Calendar” link at left.

Recent additions to the calendar include:

  • PSU Brown Bag: Oregon Land Use Planning, October 10
  • Fashion by Flashlight: Late evening shopping on Alberta, October 11th
  • Friends of Trees’ Second Annual Fun Run October 14th