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neighbors get together
for summer concerts
in the parks
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 19, Issue No. 10
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
– Page 4
August 2011
Former SWNI employee Virginia Stromer
indicted on 11 counts of theft by deception
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
In July, the Multnomah County
District Attorney’s office indicted for-
mer Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.
Operations Manager Virginia Stromer
on 11 counts of “theft by deception”
Virginia Stromer (Multnomah County
Sheriff booking photo)
relating to her work with SWNI. The
indictments covered Stromer’s employ-
ment from 2003 to 2010, and the funds
involved amounted to $130,000.
The indictment capped a nine-month
investigation by the Portland Police
Bureau following Stromer’s abrupt
resignation after 15 years on the job.
After an arrest warrant was issued,
she surrendered to authorities, pleaded
not guilty to the charges, and was re-
leased on her own recognizance. No
trial date had been set as The Post went
to press.
SWNI Executive Director Sylvia Bo-
gert told The Post that her first indica-
tion of problems occurred on October 5,
2010 when a check drawn from a SWNI
account bounced because of insufficient
funds. A quick check revealed other
financial problems.
Bogert left a phone message for
Stromer after work hours saying the
matters needed to be discussed. The
next day Stromer sent an e-mail saying
that, on the advice of a lawyer, she was
resigning due to “some major errors
and me.” Stromer later sent one of her
sons to take her personal property from
the office. Bogert said she hasn’t spoken
to Stromer since then.
Stromer worked in the office since
1995, and had responsibility for book-
keeping, the SWNI newsletter, The
Southwest Neighborhood News, and com-
munications with neighborhoods. “For
most of those years we were a three-
person team” (with Leonard Gard,
program manager) Bogert recalled.
“Ginny was a very hard worker,
always the first one in the office. She
seemed to love her job and the people
she worked with. She had first-hand
knowledge of how hard volunteers
worked to create a better community.
She seemed very excited about the
projects we were working on.”
She had no indication, Bogert said,
that Stromer had a desperate need for
funds. “What I saw was a hard-working
mother of two,” Bogert said. “She took
on a paper route in addition to her job
here to bring in extra money. But I had
every indication she was a trustworthy
employee.”
At times in tears Bogert, who herself
has worked for SWNI for more than
30 years, said of Stromer, “It was in-
conceivable to me that the individual
I knew and trusted could betray not
only my trust and the office’s, but the
community’s, that someone who saw
firsthand how hard people worked to
raise funds could be involved in some-
thing like this.”
In addition to reporting the matter
to the police, SWNI consulted with a
lawyer, Katherine Heekin, and a foren-
sic accountant, Bill Douglas. The two
have also been working on seeking a
theft insurance claim on SWNI’s behalf.
This was complicated by the fact that
SWNI changed its insurance coverage
during the period in question. On SW-
NI’s behalf, Heekin is seeking a claim
of about $72,000. “We went back as far
as our policy would allow and the data
could support,” Bogert said.
Bogert shared the revelations with
her board and, although it wasn’t as
personal for them as it had been for
her, they too were shocked. Lee Buhler
of South Portland said, “I knew Ginny
personally, and I would never have
expected this.” Don Baack of Hillsdale
said his dealings with Stromer were
“very pleasant. There was no reason
to suppose there was a problem at all.”
The board quickly mobilized to deal
with the situation. They set up an ad hoc
Finance Committee to make the best use
of remaining resources. Their actions
“allowed us to pay all our bills and
meet all of our obligations,” Bogert said.
“All of our scheduled events came off
(Continued on Page 3)
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The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Public officials pose at the groundbreaking of the new Portland to Milwaukie
light rail line. (Post photo by Lee Perlman)
Groundbreaking ceremony kicks off
Portland to Milwaukie light rail line
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
With some funding details still to be
worked out, TriMet and its partners
officially began work on the Portland
to Milwaukie Light Rail project.
The $1.5 billion venture will extend
the existing Green Line from its current
terminus at Portland State Univer-
sity through downtown into the South
Waterfront to a station at Southwest
Moody Avenue and Porter Street.
From there it will cross the Willamette
River via a new bridge serving rail
transit, buses, bikes and pedestrians to
a station at Southeast Sherman Street
near the Oregon Museum of Science
and Industry (OMSI).
It will continue southward through
the inner southeast into Clackamas
County. It will have 10 new stations.
The project was delayed to some
extent by some late second-guessing
about the location of the bridge.
It was initially proposed to cross
at Caruthers Street. However, there
was strong lobbying to bring the west
terminus further south, near the Or-
egon Health and Sciences University’s
proposed aerial tram and its proposed
future development.
Another issue occurred when the
Federal Transit Administration agreed
to provide funding to the project, but
at only 50 percent of its cost rather than
the hoped-for 60 percent, leaving a gap
of more than $100 million.
Since then TriMet and its partners
have both identified new funding
sources – including a new charge on
new development near the line – and
cuts to elements of the project. One of
these is a connection between the ter-
minus of the new streetcar extension
at OMSI and the new bridge.
Proponents are seeking to restore this
to the budget, arguing that it would
cost twice as much after the bridge is
completed.
The project began life in the 1990s
as the South-North Line, a single proj-
ect linking Vancouver to Clackamas
County. A series of statewide public
votes on both sides of the river killed
this venture.
However, persistent lobbying by
transit advocates kept the concept alive.
Today the Yellow Line extends north
from downtown to the Expo Center
near the Columbia River. The link to
Vancouver is an element of the pro-
posed Columbia River Crossing Project.
At the June 30 groundbreaking cer-
emony at OMSI, near the east side ap-
proach of the bridge, several speakers
mentioned the project’s history.
Metro Councilor Carlotta Colette,
who lives on the edge of Milwaukie,
said her neighbors have been calling
for light rail since she began her career
as a neighborhood activist and, quoting
Jerry Garcia, said, “What a long, strange
trip it’s been.”
Mayor Sam Adams said, “The route
is pretty straightforward, but the route
to get here took a lot of twists and turns.
It’s taken persistence. We were required
to come up with more resources at the
end, it put the project in jeopardy, but
we came through.”
Congressman Earl Blumenauer,
referring to the project’s history, said,
“Build no line before its time. There
were bumps along the way, but it meant
that when it happened, the community
was ready.”
Congressman Kurt Schrader, refer-
ring to redistricting processes then
under way, said, “Welcome to the other
side of the river, which I represent – for
now. I wondered when the south side
would get its turn.”
He credited State Rep. Mary Nolan
with securing state funding for the
project. “It was not at the top of the list
of most people’s things to do, but this
was a critical project,” said Schrader.
“There were occasions when (former
Gov. Ted Kulongoski) pushed back
pretty strongly, but we prevailed. I
hope this will show that infrastructure
spending is not just spending, but creat-
ing the future.”
Gail Acterman of Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation noted that her
agency is no longer just concerned
with highways. “We will really build
(Continued on Page 3)