DRAFT Minutes Center Neighborhood Association Monthly Meeting
April 17, 2007 7:00 P.M. @ The Shogren House Museum
INRODUCTIONS:
Board Members Present: Robert Jordan, Shirley Nacoste, Judy Kennedy, John Rusoff, Marsha Hahn, Sean Besso,
DyLynn Robertson
Neighbors & Guests: Ruth Ball, Bert Boehm, Martha Westgate (Outreach Committee), April Burris (Outreach
Committee), Mart Hughes & Louise Shorr (City of PDX Parks Dept.), Leon Lindstrom (Rep. Cannon’s Office),
Officer John Fulitano (S.E. Precinct)
ACTIONS:
Approved minutes from the March 2007 meeting. (All in favor.)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Next C.N.A. General Meeting will be held on May 15, 2007. May will be Center Board Elections time and
officers will be nominated in June. We will plan to have tables with information about C.N.A. committees and
projects of interest to residents. Conversations continue about a “Board Retreat” in June, after the elections.
Feedback on the changes in the C.N.A. bylaws need to be directed to Robert ASAP as these will be voted on
at the General Meeting in May. These will be posted on the Neighborhood Link website with a link noted in
the Spring issue of C.N.A. newsletter.
Neighborhood Clean-Up will be held on May 19th, the Saturday following the General Meeting. Sean will
follow-up with details.
Discussions of a new meeting location after the General Meeting continue and suggestions such as e-mailing
“contacts” about meeting site, using a phone tree and gathering e-mail info on the sign-in sheets were made.
Robert noted that Shogren House was broken into after our last meeting – though apparently not related to our use
of the building.
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS & PROJECTS:
Officer Fulitano mentioned a reduction in budget/positions in the special units such as the Stolen Vehicle Task
Force. He stated that there was an “above average” amount of criminal activity in area recently but that it was of
the “P.S.S.” kind of crime (Pretty Stupid Stuff) and that local youth were frequently involved. Neighbors asked
about specific incidents such as stabbings, graffiti, metal theft, union protests, etc. and the officer did his best to
answer their questions.
Leon Lindstrom from Representative Ben Cannon’s office (our District 46) invited Center residents to join Ben in
discussion at Sound Grounds Coffee House on Saturday, April 21 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. He left contact
information for Mr. Cannon who is the youngest member of the State Legislature and who sends out e-newsletters
on a regular basis to keep folks informed.
COMMITTEES:
Treasurer: $1,387.86 checking and $5398.52 in the money market account. Still outstanding checks from
donation to Sullivan’s Gulch project and upcoming newsletter, Clean-up and General Meeting expenses.
Land Use & Transportation: Sean continues to work with neighbors near the Laurelview development at 47th &
Burnside. Latest C.N.A. endorsement of an adjustment request by the developer was “pulled” due to a reworking
of plans and a new proposal is in the works…having to do with height.
Sean will keep us posted on this and other developments such as the North South Max Line and the Sellwood
Bridge renovation.
SEUL Liaison: Shirley and DyLynn were able to attend the City Council hearing on the ONI budget. The public
comment period on the City’s Budget is open until May 10.
Shirley shared reports from recent Southeast Uplift meetings. SEUL offered a reminder that it is time for the
Citywide Neighborhood Clean-Ups and that Block Party season is just around the corner. SEUL can assist with
planning for both.
Several trainings are coming up through SEUL and ONI. See websites or call SEUL for info (503) 232-0010.
The SEUL Board and committees have had opportunities to discuss the May 15 elections and the survey by the
League of Women Voters as it pertains to the proposed changes to the City Charter.
SEUL’s strategic planning includes improved communications and support to neighborhoods in the coming year.
Look for their new website this summer as well as opportunities for our own site to be developed through
them…later in the fall.
Connections/Outreach: Met on April 3 and discussed Rosemont Bluff Grant process with guest, Tim Nacoste
from Juvenile Justice Complex. Next meeting is May 1 at Center Commons.
Rosemont Bluff: April Burris (Outreach Committee) invited Mart Hughes and Louise Shorr from Portland
Parks to discuss our plans/efforts to restore Rosemont Bluff. Louise is the Natural Resources Volunteer
Coordinator and reported that she helps schedule the crew from the Juvenile Justice Complex for a once a month
clean-up of the area (Thanh Dang is the contact at JCC). Mart is with the City’s Nature Program and talked about
Rosemont Bluff as part of the large inventory of Portland’s natural resources. Next efforts include working with
the PDX Parks Dept. to develop a “Stewardship Agreement” with Center Neighborhood as well as drawing more
people or groups, such as Montavilla Neighborhood or schools into the effort.
Newsletter & Communications: Have great submissions to the newsletter. Robert and Candice Jordan walked
with DyLynn along Glisan to invite businesses to advertise. Many board members and neighbors wrote articles.
DyLynn has maps of area if you can help with distribution on last weekend in April (28-30th).
Annual Clean-Up: Scheduled for May 19 in the “usual place” on Glisan at N.E. 53rd. Needed to find last year’s
door hanger and turned out that Apollo Graphics, just across I-84 on 52nd had it on file! Contact Sean to volunteer
on the day of the event or DyLynn to help distribute door hangers/newsletters.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Notes submitted by DyLynn Robertson, C.N.A. Secretary
May 14, 2007