The Pearl District Neighborhood Association Executive Committee will meet Aug. 30 2010 at 4:00 pm, at 2257 NW Raleigh.

The agenda will include regular business.

The committee will then enter Executive Session for preliminary review of a grievance filed by Sheila McMahon et al.

The Executive Session is closed to anyone other than the Executive Committee members, staff and the press. Neighborhood members and the public (including the individuals who filed the grievance) are not permitted to attend this preliminary meeting, which is governed by the Pearl District Bylaws (Article VIII, 8.2) and ONI Standards for Neighborhood Associations &c (Section VII B. and Section VIII D. 2, f.)

Results of the session will be publically available within three business days of the meeting, and will be forwarded to the Pearl District Neighborhood Association Board of Directors for consideration at its September 9th regular meeting.

For those of you who are tech savy and have an iPhone, their is an easy way to help us report new graffiti to the city through City of Portland Citizen Reports. It is a free iPhone app developed by the city of Portland’s Bureau of Technology Services.

City of Portland Citizen Reports is a new way to interact with the city concerning problems or issues with publicly maintained infrastructure. The application is compatible with any model of iPhone running iPhone OS 3.1.2 or higher and may be downloaded for free from iTunes. Note: The link will only work on computers that have a current version of Apple’s iTunes software installed.

Our goal is to get a group of people trained on how to use the city app and to go on walks around the neighborhood to help the city document new graffiti incidents.

The app is extremely useful to the city because it takes a picture of the offending graffiti, locates the exact GPS location of the graffiti, and the report is properly filed and stored in the city database and records office.

For details on how to use this app go to the Bureau of Technology Services website.

If you are interested in going on a group walk with some of your fellow neighbors with iPhones and City of Portland Citizen Reports iPhone App email:

JT Tarantino – JT@pearldistrict.org and Jan Valentine – jan.grammy@gmail.com

Article From NW Examiner, written By Allan Classen.

After considering alternatives to a 24-hour Portland Loo at Jamison Square for almost a year, it seems the community really never had any options.

The Pearl District Neighborhood Association voted to accept the city’s specially designed public toilet last month, despite about 10 other ideas offered by neighbors at a meeting attended by 70 people two days earlier.

Sandy Ammerman, the primary spokesperson for neighbors opposing the Loo, said the board’s decision “was a foregone conclusion” affirming a PDNA position taken last year.

Although residents of condominium buildings surrounding the park insisted that these other options be explored, none of their suggestions came with the requisite funding and authorization from the affected property owners. Some neighbors favored doing nothing, but the idea of providing no means of relief for the thousands of children and adults who flock to the park’s popular water feature was unthinkable to most board members.

Stripped of euphemism and generality, the objections centered on fear that an overnight restroom would be used by homeless people and lead to a clustering of anti-social behaviors that would make the area feel unwelcome or unsafe.

“If you build it, they will come,” said Sheila McCoy, a PDNA board member who lives in the Streetcar Lofts. McCoy said she hears people pushing shopping carts past her windows until 3 a.m., suggesting to her that it would not take a strong magnet to cause them to congregate in or around the park.

“You’re absolutely right,” said Officer Carl Weldon, who has tracked behavior around the city’s first Loo, located on Northwest Glisan by the bus station. Weldon said he has found drug paraphernalia in and around that Loo, and arrests are high in the vicinity, although he admitted that it is impossible to separate the public restroom from other contributing factors in the vicinity.

However, Portland Police Chief Mike Reese has said he considers the Loo experiment on Glisan Street a success. “It is my opinion that the Loo makes sense in Jamison…

Square,” said Reese, who was commander of Central Precinct at the time. While neighbors at the meetings complained about the unsightly or odiferous nature of public toilets, they would not have pushed for Porta-Pottys, as they did, if these were overriding considerations.

Pearl board members sympathized with those who feared a Loo might become an attractive nuisance, and several had pleaded unsuccessfully with Leonard to allow it to be locked overnight.

“I have tried like hell, and I did not win that argument,” said PDNA planning chair Patricia Gardner. Given an all-or-nothing choice, the board voted 10-2 for the Loo. But not before some soul-searching about the necessity of accepting 24-hour operation.

Jan Valentine, who chairs the PDNA Livability Committee, wondered why Leonard had the power to dictate that a restroom never close when the park itself has a closing time. “I don’t accept that we cannot negotiate with a commissioner,” said Valentine.

Several past and present board members supported the Loo even though they would have preferred that it be locked at night. Former PDNA President David August assured neighbors that “we have a superb record of going to the city” when livability issues arise and achieving solutions. August said the city is more likely to be responsive if and when there’s a documented problem instead of just a fear that something bad might happen. Advised of the neighborhood association’s decision and expectation of help if and when needed, Commissioner Leonard revealed no latitude.

“People need facilities to perform basic human functions 24 hours a day,” Leonard told the Examiner. “The Loo was specifically designed to minimize the opportunity to use the Loo for illicit activities and has in fact been demonstrated to do just that in its current location on Northwest Fifth and Glisan, a neighborhood with an overwhelming number of homeless men and women.”

The city approved $500,000 to design and build several Portland Loos. About $1,200 has been set aside for daily cleanup and maintenance. “There are problems throughout downtown Portland with some of the issues you identify,” Leonard continued. “To suggest that installing a 24-hour Loo would somehow create those kinds of issues where they otherwise would not exist is unfair and, I believe, not accurate.

“If any negative issues arise as a result of the new Loo, we will address those issues. However, I do not think limiting the use of the Loo would be one of the options we would entertain.” Ammerman vowed to challenge the decision at city hall.

“We will not give up, and we will not give in,” she said. “The neighborhood’s quality of life, and the success of our businesses, are literally at risk. This small neighborhood park is an entirely inappropriate place for a 24-hour-a-day Loo.”

The Portland Police Department puts out monthly crime statistics through their Crime Mapper website. I’ll be posting the monthly statistics for our neighborhood here. The statistics are very detailed and are broken down to type of crime. These statistics are often reported to the PDNA board at our monthly board meetings by a police officer so the public or the board can inquire more details.

Here is the link for all the details. The link takes you to the summary page, be sure to click on the links for the different Crime Sections to get more details. I believe the stats are updated to 7/31/2010.

I hope you will join me and Senator Suzanne Bonamici at two town hall meetings scheduled for later this month. As the new session approaches and the financial situation remains bleak, we believe it is increasingly important to communicate with our constituents. These meetings will highlight critical issues for the upcoming session; health care reform, protecting human services, job creation and Oregon’s economy.

On Monday, August 23rd Sen. Bonamici and I will host a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. at the Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center auditorium, located at 1040 NW 22nd Ave. Dr. Bruce Goldberg, Director of the Department of Human Services and Director Designate of the Oregon Health Authority, will discuss DHS’ important programs and how the agency is responding to budget cuts. He will also review the role of the newly formed Oregon Health Authority in developing the next steps in health care reform in Oregon.

On Tuesday, August 24th Rep. Chris Harker will join us at a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. at Providence St. Vincent Hospital, located at 9205 SW Barnes Road, in the East Pavilion Classrooms near the fountain entrance. Special guest Tim McCabe, Director of Business Oregon, will discuss what Business Oregon is doing to help build the economy and to create jobs in Oregon.

There will also be plenty of time at these sessions for you to share your concerns and ideas with me and Senator Bonamici. We look forward to seeing you there.

Mitch