Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

Petition to Oppose New Emissions

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You may have already seen the petition included in this month’s Concordia News opposing approval of Boeing’s request to dump 99 tons of pollutants into our airshed. If you haven’t had a chance to act, here’s an easy one – you can sign the online petition. Leave a comment here as well if you like – we’ve noticed that the website has been getting a little traffic from both Boeing and Oregon DEQ servers lately, so this is your chance to speak out.

For more information on the Boeing issue, see our previous stories, archived here.

4th Annual Tannenbaum Madness Begins November 29

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The 4th Annual Tannenbaum Madness event will open during the upcoming Last Thursday, November 29th. Sponsored by Art on Alberta, businesses up and down NE Alberta Street will create a walking tour of whimsical, artistic, and unique holiday trees on display in their front windows.

This year’s trees include Frock’s “Glitter Dolls,” “Le Petit Prince” at Tour de Crepes, “Silly Faces” at Guardino Gallery, “Tinseltown Tree” at Videorama, “Puestos de la Loteria” at Random Order Coffehouse, “All Things Bright and Beautiful” at Onda Gallery, “Tree for World Peace” at Enterbeing, and “Haute Hanukkah” at Foundation Garments. A complete list of participating businesses, as well as where to find printed directories will be available at the Arts on Alberta website.

Take a tour of this community celebration, and make sure to vote on your favorite tree during opening weekend. Ballot boxes will be distributed throughout the event with special prizes awarded for the top three trees. This event will run through December 31st.

Annual CNA Holiday Party, December 4

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Mark your calendars for the annual CNA Holiday Party! The party will be held Tuesday, December 4, 2007 in the Community Room at the Kennedy School in lieu of our December General Meeting. This year the festivities will begin at 6:30 pm instead of 7:00 pm. There will be food, children’s activities, free prizes from local businesses, and plenty of good cheer and conversation. We are also pleased to announce that the Portland Recorder Society will be performing for our listening pleasure. Everyone is invited to come out and meet your neighbors in a fun and festive atmosphere! Please contact Katie at 503-296-7839 if you are interested in helping with the Holiday Party.

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.