Hosted by: Roses Ice Cream
5011 NE 42nd Ave.
Friday March 25
9-10:30am
Featuring Local State Representative Lew Frederick.
Agenda includes:
Please RSVP via phone (971.361.9923) or email.
By Susan Trabucco, CNA Media Team
Stepping in the door to land use attorney Spencer Q. Parsons’ office, one gets a decidedly different vibe than that of most law offices. No dark-paneled wood or receptionist counter barring the way to casual entry here. Instead, visitors to this recently opened law office will find a smiling Parsons jumping up to greet them from within a light and airy office finished in mostly subdued and soft tones. From the washed concrete floors, natural-wood window and door trim and creamy walls to the surprising blast of candy-apple green drapes framing the many large windows, the overall effect creates an atmosphere of approachability.
A Portlander of 23 years, Parsons is a Concordia resident who lives with his family near NE 31st and Ainsworth. His office is only a few blocks away in the Fox Chase business district of the Concordia neighborhood, located on the bottom floor of a vintage brick building that had been condo-ized for sale. His wife, Maria Los, owns the retail vintage clothing shop, Half Pint. By 2014, Half Pint outgrew the space, and Los moved the operation to North Mississippi Avenue, leaving the spot available for Parsons. Two years of remodeling work done largely by Parsons, and the space was ready for the debut of his private practice last month.
Parsons earned his undergraduate and law degrees from University of Oregon. After graduating from law school he began practicing at the Portland firm of Beery, Elsner & Hammond and worked with many local governments, including Happy Valley, North Plains, Fairview, Hillsboro and others. Much of this work involved land use issues. Parsons then worked as Assistant County Counsel for Columbia County, providing legal counsel to the county’s Board of Commissioners; Planning Commission; Land Use and Planning Department; Forest, Parks and Recreation Department; Road Department; and the Office of Animal Control.
Now on his own, Parsons’ primary practice area is real estate and land use law. He works to help clients understand existing land use law – how they can – or can’t – legally address a perceived problem, and how to interpret land use law for a desired project.
“People will say they don’t like what they are seeing happen in their neighborhood, but they don’t know what, if anything they can do about it,” said Parsons.Parsons sees himself as a kind of “translator” and a liaison for clients who have to navigate a complex land use process. “I think of myself as a peace-maker. I advise my clients to tell government staff to drop the jargon and talk to them like they are an eight-year-old,” said Parsons. “My hope is to focus on the nexus between the law and land use.”
Parsons’ secondary law emphasis is working on behalf of clients who have the need to address government in any matter.
“If someone has to go before city or state government, it can be intimidating; my aim is to inform and get people through the process.”
On the government side, he might provide assistance with applications for small business contractors, the public contracting process, city permit requirements, or even barking dog problems.
Find Parsons at his office located at 5400 NE 30th Ave., Suite 106. For more information call (971) 279-2018 or visit his website, www.SQPLaw.com.
Susan Trabucco is a business communications consultant. She lives in the Beaumont Wilshire neighborhood, just a few steps from Concordia. Reach her by emailing susan@trabucco.biz or call (503) 440-7732.
By Laura Waddick, Community Engagement Manager, Our 42nd Avenue
It was an exciting year in 2015 for the economic development agency —Our 42nd Avenue. Small business activity by our clients and community partners was significant, with Morel Ink opening its first retail quick-printing and mailing services shop and Red Sauce Pizza launching in what was formerly Bob’s Rocket Pizza. Also, Cat Six Cycles, which sells and repairs bicycles, celebrated its second year in business!
New late last year is GO42, Our 42nd Avenue’s space for small business start-ups on the corner of 42nd and Sumner. Kristen Dilley brings Nightingale Acupuncture to the neighborhood; Inger McDowell brings With Love, From PDX; Vida Djorgee opened Essential Quality Care, and Rachel Hestmark brings Hestmark Designs. Rachel also runs a youth entrepreneurship program to teach kids concepts such as product development and marketing. Contact Rachel at hestmarkdesigns@gmail.com for more info.
In other business-related news, Our 42nd Avenue hosted business breakfasts featuring Mayor Charlie Hales and PDC Chair Tom Kelly, and 180 community members were able to connect with employers through the twice-annual Fresh Chance Career Fair, in partnership with Straight Path, Inc. Additionally, the Cully Farmers Market closed out its 4th successful season with new-neighborhood serving programs including senior volunteer vouchers, neighbor vouchers, double-matching SNAP benefits, and a pop-up library.
Early last year Our 42nd Avenue launched the Read Ahead Literacy Initiative in partnership with Rigler School, which trained and deployed 32 reading tutors across the community.
Plans for 2016 include the groundbreaking of 42nd Avenue’s first community plaza in February, a process that began in 2015 with the gathering of community input.
Also, Mulu Terefe, the neighborhood’s employment and training advisor, will be hosting job clubs and employment related workshops throughout 2016! Job seekers should contact Mulu by calling (971)722-2140.
Our 42nd Avenue is a community-driven program that ushers equitable and inclusive economic opportunities to community members, including many of the people who live in the community around 42nd Avenue. We organize activities and resources related to employment, business development, land development, and community engagement. Visit 42ave.org to learn more.
When you walk by the Black United Fund’s building at 28th and NE Alberta you can’t miss noticing a recently completed 25 x 100 ft mural that swirls across its west side facing wall. The vibrant mural honors iconic women of the civil rights movement.
Vox Siren, a Creative Change Agency that focuses on promoting gender equity and ArtUprising, a non-profit that connects artists and non-profit organizations working to dismantle institutional oppression partnered with the Black United Fund of Oregon on the mural.
The Black United Fund of Oregon is the only black-owned, community specific nonprofit that operates and owns its building and property on Alberta Street. The organization’s mission is to assist in the social and economic development of Oregon’s low-income communities and to contribute to a broader understanding of ethnic and culturally diverse groups.
Kimberlee Sheng, the Executive Director of Black United Fund provided leadership in the creative design said, “As a child growing up the women depicted on this mural were major inspirations in life; they embodied the vision I held for myself, and the determination that was required to create real and lasting change.”
Artists Eatcho and Jeremy Nichols collaborated on the mural that features historical figures of Coretta Scott King, Ruby Bridges, Ruby Dee, Angela Davis, and Maya Angelou. “These women, along with countless others- some who will never be named, opened many doors of opportunity for both women and men, and have had a tremendous impact on how communities of color navigate “systems” of inequity,” Sheng said.
There is another important person represented in the mural: a young girl stands below the image of Maya Angelou and reflects on her predecessors. She represents a generation boldly ready to continue the legacy of powerful leadership. Sheng said, “In our more than 30-years of operation, the organization has always been lead by women therefore it is fitting that this mural would pay tribute to a few of the iconic black women of the civil rights movement. Upholding a beacon of hope for all, these historical women stood alongside our brothers and numerous communities involved in the struggle, just as we still do today.”
The mural was supported by the Public Arts Murals Program, administered by Regional Arts and Culture Council. Watch a video “A Voice to be Thankful For” created by Vox Siren about the mural.
There’s more murals to come for the building. Alberta Art Works, an organization that supports the neighborhood’s art, artists, performers and creatives, commissioned six 8 x 8 foot murals for the building’s Alberta Street side.
From the moment you pull up to Red Sauce Pizza, Concordia neighborhood’s recently-opened pizzeria, it’s evident that something good has happened. With a newly painted exterior, crisp, white curtains in the windows, and a brightly-lit, purposefully-upside down sign announcing “PIZZA” – it’s apparent that a new business is in operation at this location that has long been home to pizza-making operations. It also announces the owner has made an investment in the neighborhood.
Located at Concordia’s eastern edge on the west side of 42nd Avenue near Old Salt Marketplace, Red Sauce is the brainchild of Shardell “Shar” Dues. Dues has called Portland home for 20 years, and is comfortable in this ‘hood – her most recent employer was New Seasons Concordia, where she worked in the meat department. With Red Sauce, Dues combines her knowledge and love of meat with her passion for pizza to bring soul-satisfying pies to this emerging urban district and its surrounding neighborhood.
Dues is no amateur when it comes to pizza-making – she earned her chef stripes at Apizza Scholls – one of Portland’s most revered pizza eateries. At Apizza Scholls, Dues learned the fine art of pre-fermenting and hand-tossing pizza dough, which makes for a sublime crust that’s crispy and chewy all at once, and perfectly moist inside. Customers often mistake her crust as wood-fired for its texture, but it’s not, Dues says.
“We bake our pies with a 1971 General Electric oven that I bought off of Slabtown bar in NW Portland a year ago. It was completely overhauled by my electrician and best friend Nancy Boyce of Power Tech. It works like a dream and gets hot, hot,hot,” Dues exclaims.
That blistering oven cranks out pie after perfect pie; from plain cheese to creative combos such as pepperoni with pineapple and jalapeno, or pepperoni and house-made chorizo; salami, chili flake, grana and “arooogula,” and another with spinach, goat cheese and red onion. Dues makes her own sausage, too.
The only white sauce pizza offered at Red Sauce is for mushroom aficionados, who will find a piping pie generously loaded with fresh fungi and a slight drizzle of truffle oil that serves to tantalize your taste buds and provides a little aroma-therapy at the same time.
Build-your-own pizza options include toppings such as capicola ham, anchovies, mushrooms and various cheese choices including a jersey cow ricotta.
The names of each pizza were inspired by the loyalty of friends and family who helped Dues get the restaurant ready for business. For example, the “It’s Me, Nummy” is a nod to her Mom, Elaine, who goes by the nickname Nummy.
Since opening, Red Sauce has added lunch on the weekends, and also serves “Ruthless” sandwiches with intriguing names and ingredients, such as the Tony Soprano, with capicola, pepperoni, finnochiona salami, provolone picante, black olives, mama lil’s, pepperoncinis, romaine, oil and vinegar, oregano; and the Uncle Paul, with arooooogula, pommodoracio tomatoes, goat cheese, herbs and kalamata olives.
With a few months under her entrepreneurial belt, Dues is encourage and pleased with the reception.
“It’s been great – busy, busy, busy,” she says. She is appreciative of comments from folks in the neighborhood, too. “They tell us to just keep doing what we’re doing; we get nothing but great feedback from the community.”
Red Sauce is located at 4935 NE 42nd Ave. Hours of operation are Wed. through Sun. from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. , and Fri. through Sun. for lunch from Noon to 3:30 p.m. The restaurant also serves beer and wine. To encourage neighborhood walk-ins, Red Sauce does not take reservations. For more information visit www.redsaucepizza.com or call (503) 288-4899.
Neighbors have requested that the Concordia Neighborhood Association take a look at lowering the speed limits on Alberta and Killingsworth within the neighborhood.
There have been complaints that, for Alberta Street, 25 mph is a bit too fast in a situation where cars are parked right up to every corner, every intersection has two crosswalks, there are mid-block alley crossings, bicyclists are sharing the lane with cars, buses, and larger vehicles, and parallel parking maneuvers are a routine fact of life.
Similarly, Killingsworth at 30 mph represents a dangerous barrier, preventing easy crossings from the south to the north side of the Concordia neighborhood. One neighbors’ family had their car totaled when pulling out on to Killingsworth, where vehicles parked right up to the intersection along the curb block the view
of fast-moving oncoming traffic. Bicyclists have been hit while trying to cross from one side to the other of Killingsworth, and it represents a scary crossing for pedestrians as well, especially with signed and marked crosswalks few and far between.
In December, the LUTC recommended, and in January, the CNA Board unanimously adopted, a proposal to ask the City to lower the speed limit through the neighborhood on Alberta from 25 to 20 mph; and on Killingsworth from 30 to 25 mph. The 20 mph on Alberta would thus match the 20 mph on Fremont through Beaumont Village, in keeping with state law that requires 20 mph through commercial districts. The 25 mph on Killingsworth would more closely reflect its status as a mixed use pedestrian and bicycle corridor.
Concordia residents interested in discussing this or any other issue related to land use and transportation are invited to attend the Concordia Neighborhood Association Land Use and Transportation Committee (CNA LUTC) meetings at 7pm on the third Wednesday of the month, in the Community Room in the SE corner of McMenamins Kennedy School. To join the LUTC mailing list, send an email to: pdx_ cna_lu_and_t_committee@googlegroups.com
Ambassadors: A pair of Ambassadors are assigned a 2 block area during the street closure (6:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.) to help in the education of vendors, musicians, and participants. They keep doorways free and clear and aid in moving vendors along at the close of the event, among other tasks. They are a link to city agencies if needed or they can step in to help mediate. duties include: check food vendors for licenses, address public safety concerns/wheelchair access/clear sidewalks, communicate LT expectations, mediate disputes, put friendly reminder notes on cars for parking problems, encourage break down at 9:45 and at 10:00 join in walking the street to re-open
Ambassador Training is May 25, 6:00-7:30, St. Francis Community Center, 806 NE Alberta St.
Street Operations: the group that places/removes bins for trash/recycling, trash and recycling, bathrooms, and looks at the basic infrastructure of our temporary fair. duties include: set and take down street barriers, placement of port-a-potties, placement of trash/recycling, disposal of trash, assist in clearing the streets at 10:00p.m. Street Ops meets at the Fuel Cafe, 1452 NE Alberta St., at 4:00 on Last Thursdays.
SHIFTS:
2-5 pm Help direct and assist vendors with how to set up
4-6 pm Street Ops set out garbage and recycling cans
6-8 pm Event begins, general education to attendees to keep the peace & respect neighborhoods
8-10 pm Ditto
9:30-11 pm Help vendors break down, Street Ops collect bins
Help make Last Thursday great!
Sunday April 29 at Alberta Rose Theater
Silent art auction open to all
ACT I
3-4p.m. FREE
Music by Uncle Yascha juggling by Rhys Thomas!
balloon tying, caricature artist, kids crafts
ACT II
4-6p.m. $5 kids, $7 adults, $20 family deal
Plum Sutra-alternative jazz
Miriam’s Well rock
Slam poets
ACT III
7-9p.m. $15 presale $20 at the door
Wanderlust Circus and Friends
rope tricks by Leapin’ Louie, acrobatics by Kazum, comedy by Tommy Twimble, juggling by JPeace the Clown
http://www.albertarosetheatre.com/tickets.html Get your tickets now
