SERVING
Burlingame • Capitol Hill
• Garden Home • Glen
Cullen • Hillsdale
• South Portland
• Multnomah Village
• Raleigh Hills • Vermont
Hills • West Portland
INSIDE:
Lake Oswego to
Portland streetcar route
passed by both city
councils
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 19, Issue No. 7
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
– Page 3
May 2011
Oregon Humane Society opens
adoption center on Macadam Avenue
friend.
The Dennises arrived early for the
grand opening of the Oregon Humane
Society’s westside adoption center. Lola
waited along with dogs and cats that
When Rob and Nanci Dennis spot-
will help end petlessness forever.
ted Lola, their sorrow turned to joy. In
The new facility is located at 6100
fact, nobody could stay sad around this
SW Macadam Ave., next to Starbucks,
spunky Terrier mix. And, they didn’t
inside LexiDog Boutique & Social
have to drive far to find their new small
Club. It provides
animals waiting for
new homes a taste
of paradise.
The dogs play at
daycare all day be-
fore a warm dip in the
therapy pool. Vol-
unteers walk them.
They eat only the
finest. Meanwhile
cats, like Hermione,
find homelike rooms
with nooks, crannies
and everyplace to
climb.
“In 26 years of
m a r r i a g e , we ’ ve
Nate Zoucha and Nancy Tonkin stopped to admire Boss, had a total of four
a three year old Chihuahua who is looking for a forever days without a dog,”
home. (Post photo by Polina Olsen)
Nanci Dennis said as
By Polina Olsen
The Southwest Portland Post
Nanci and Ron Dennis with their new family member Lola. (Post photo by
Polina Olsen)
she pulled a sweatshirt hood around
Lola’s head. The pink showed off the
dog’s licorice nose.
“We just lost a dog Tuesday. Our
hearts broke but in her honor, we want-
ed to adopt again,” said Dennis. Like
other pet humans, they found perfect
accessories out in the lobby boutique.
“We bought everything in pink. She
looks like Anna Nicole.”
Hundreds of people and a dozen
dogs milled around as volunteers
passed out lemonade and cake. David
Lytle, the OHS Public Affairs Manager
strolled among the crowd.
“For a long time, we wanted to ex-
pand to a location in the Southwest,”
Lytle said. “Here, the dogs get in this
social area with lots of other dogs , and
their personalities blossom.”
Lytle emphasized adopters receive
the same services they would find in
the Northeast Portland OHS facility.
(Continued on Page 6)
School tax measures debated at Multnomah Center forum
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
At a forum last month, two speakers
said Portland couldn’t afford the Port-
land School District’s proposed $548
million bond measure. Two others said
we can’t afford not to pass it.
The debate took place last month
at a forum sponsored by Southwest
Neighborhoods, Inc. About 30 people
attended the event, held on April 15 at
the Multnomah Center.
The District is proposing two mea-
sures with different purposes. A five-
year, $250 million levy will be used to
maintain staff at the district, reducing
(but not eliminating) the need for laying
off teachers and increasing class sizes.
The bond measure, spread over 20
years but with the heaviest assessments
coming in the first six, would be used
to rebuild nine particularly deteriorated
school buildings and upgrade 86 others.
The levy will cost property owners
$.74 per $1,000 of assessed value (in
addition to a $1.25 per $1,000 levy still
in effect) for the first year, and $1.99 per
thousand for four years after this.
The bond measure would cost $1.99
per thousand for the first six years, $.15
per $1,000 for the next 20. It would be
the largest tax measure in Oregon’s
history.
Barbara Smith Warner, parent of two
children in northeast Portland’s Beverly
Cleary School, said she favored both
measures. Because of the economic
downturn and reduced state funding,
PPS stands to lose $350 per student,
she said.
“Will the bond measure fix this?” She
asked. “No, it won’t, but it’s the best
option we have now, and we need it.
None of this will go to administration.
The school board has determined that
we can’t afford not to do this. Our aging
schools are continuing to deteriorate.
“This is an investment in our future,
and like all investments it will generate
returns,” Warner said. “It will keep us
competitive with other districts. It will
give us stronger neighborhoods with
higher property values.”
According to Warner, “Businesses
will come and stay in Portland because
of our commitment to our schools.
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Will Fuller, SWNI Schools Committee chair, at the School Tax Measures Forum
at the Multnomah Center, April 15. (Post photo by Lee Perlman)
This is Portland, where we believe in
studying problems, and coming to
conclusions.”
Lindsay Breshauer, a former con-
struction company owner, came to a
different conclusion about the bond. “I
know what happens when you try to
build with inadequate funds,” she said.
“When you take on a project of this
magnitude, you need a 20 percent
contingency. By the time you’re ready
to break ground, you’re lucky to have
five percent contingency left,” said
Breshaur.
“The district is starting with a 12
percent contingency, and by the time
you go through public involvement,
you will have zero.”
“These are old schools,” Breshauer
continued. “Where will funding for the
inevitable changes come from? You’ll
have to take some proposals off the
table. Imagine how you’ll feel when
you’re paying $300 to $400 more (in
taxes), yet see your school swiped off
the list.”
As to the levy, Breshauer said, “I op-
pose it on principle. When you have a
$19 million budget hole and you have
to lay off 350 teachers, you don’t go
around and write pay increases for the
rest. It’s bad policy.”
Mike Roach, Hillsdale activist, owner
of Paloma Clothing and father of a Lin-
coln High School graduate, said, “This
is our opportunity to give back, as our
parents and grandparents did. There
are real safety issues, and the bond will
address them.”
The Seattle School District recently
went through a similar process, and
Portland can learn from its successes
and failures, Roach said.
Eric Fruits, an economist, Laurelhurst
resident and father of four, is part of the
(Continued on Page 7)