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INSIDE:
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 16, Issue No. 6
www.multnomahpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Trail advocates seek
safe crossing of
Boones Ferry Road --
Page 5
Complimentary
April 2008
Peace march, rally
commemorate 5 th anniversary
of U.S. invasion of Iraq
By Polina Olsen
The Southwest Portland Post
More than 4000 people gathered on
Portland’s South Park Blocks for the
March 15 World Without War action
camp, rally, and peace march. Com-
memorating the fifth anniversary of
the U.S. invasion of Iraq, all attendees
wanted to stop the war and bring U.S.
troops home.
In addition, supporters represented
causes for freedom and justice around
the world ranging from Falun Gong
persecution in China to anti-immigrant
legislation here at home.
Presented by PDX Peace (www.pdx-
peace.org), more than 100 local organi-
zations and businesses co-sponsored
the event; grim statistics brought the
crowd despite rain. The Washington
Post, sites 4,461 U.S. military deaths in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Final costs could
total $3 trillion.
“I’m here because I want to see an
end to the war,” said Anne Bryant, who
lives in the Ashcreek neighborhood of
Southwest Portland. A volunteer for
the Portland Peace Coalition, Bryant
arrived at 8 a.m. Busy children coloring
their own signs surrounded the long
tables in her tent.
“This is an opportunity for people
to express what they would like to see
funded if the money spent on the war
were spent on other things,” she said. I
just talked to some small children who
said they’d like to see their family move
into a nicer home.”
With pouring rain interrupted by
brief sun breaks, people huddled under
covered booths or tracked through the
mud-soaked ground. Leashed dogs
walked under their owner’s umbrellas.
Colorful signs, streamers, and costumed
demonstrators brightened an otherwise
gray-looking day. Police on bicycles
watched from the sidelines. There were
no arrests or serious incidents.
One young Nepali carrying a drum
wore a jeweled headdress and shirt
emblazoned PEACE. People wear-
ing white, grotesque papier-mâché
masks and black capes strode by; oth-
ers dressed as clowns chat with the
crowd. Blaring rap music provided
background for discussions. “He’s a
revolutionary who lives and breathes
hip-hop,” the announcer said as she
introduced one band.
“I’m Sophie Liu,” a young woman
Demonstrators march for peace in the South Park Blocks, March 15. (Post photo by
Polina Olsen)
said in heavily accented English. She
explained how she escaped from a Chi-
nese concentration camp as she passed
out Falun Gong brochures. “People
are murdered, and they take and sell
their organs,” she said. According to
Liu, members of this self-cultivation
practice are primary targets of atrocity
in China.
A Catholic Priest, Father John Mark
Gilhousen, came to advocate univer-
sal healthcare, and the War Resister’s
League urged people to avoid paying
war taxes. Rachel Hampton from West
Hills Friends, located in the Maple-
wood neighborhood, wanted to “let
people know about Quakers. We are
all pacifists,” she said. “We’ve been
going to these things since before the
war started.”
At 2 p.m. the crowd gathered for the
rally and cheered. The seven speakers
included a Gulf War veteran, and Bob
Watada, father of the first commis-
sioned officer to refuse deployment
to Iraq.
Barbara Dudley, Professor in the Hat-
field School of Government at Portland
State University and former executive
director of Greenpeace USA, said “The
invasion of Iraq was not a mistake. It
was deliberate, -- and it was illegal.” She
urged the crowd to follow the lead of
(Continued on Page 2)
Park bureau to develop new South Waterfront open spaces
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
Portland Parks and Recreation is
pursuing the development of two
new public open spaces in the South
Waterfront.
The bureau will hold one more ad-
visory committee meeting February
8 on implementation of plans for ex-
tension of the Willamette Greenway
into the South Waterfront’s Central
District, according to project manager
Patty Freeman.
The result would be an area about
100 feet wide and about five blocks
long, centered on the foot of Southwest
Gibbs Street, containing a combination
of natural habitat, recreation facilities,
and continuation of the greenway’s
bicycle and pedestrian paths.
The bureau will also officially apply
for design review for the project next
month, Freeman said. The bureau hopes
that it can commence work on the proj-
ect within the “fish window,” the period
(July 1 to October 31) when work is
permitted near “fish-bearing streams”
(such as the Willamette River) that are
home to endangered fish species.
At the moment the bureau has as-
sembled a total of $3.7 million in fund-
ing for the project, Freeman said. This
would be sufficient to do most of the
work, but might not cover three fea-
tures: a boat dock, a shade pavilion, and
an “overlook structure” (from which
people could view birds and other wild-
life.) The cost for these features would
be $580,000, $120,000, and $560,000,
respectively.
Meanwhile the park bureau is plan-
ning the district’s Neighborhood Park,
a 2.1 acre parcel surrounded by planned
high-rises and bounded by Southwest
Moody and Bond avenues and Curry
and Gaines streets. The city has al-
located $2.8 million for the park’s
development.
According to project manager Sandra
Buttzos, project designers have drafted
four possible development schemes for
the space:
The first is called an Event design
in which much of the space would be
devoted to a natural amphitheater, suit-
able for concerts or other performances.
The second is called a Landscape design
in which about a third of the land would
be a lawn or grassy area, and the rest
would be landscaping.
The third is a Neighborhood design
that would include a playground,
benches, gardens, and other features
geared to the immediate neighborhood
rather than the region. A Hybrid design
would combine features of the other
proposals.
The four designs were displayed last
month at an open house, the second put
on as part of the project, last month, and
the bureau received comments from
about 50 people, Buttzos said. There
will be a third and final open house
from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. April 22 at the
Oregon Health and Sciences Univer-
sity’s Center for Health and Healing,
3303 S.W. Bond Ave. At this session the
bureau will present its recommended
design.
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
7825 SW 36th Ave Suite #203
Portland, OR 97219