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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2012)
SERVING INSIDE: Burlingame • Capitol Hill • Garden Home • Glen Cullen • Hillsdale • Multnomah Village • Raleigh Hills • South Portland • Vermont Hills • West Portland Metro Councilor Barbara Roberts previews South Corridor Project – Page 4 Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper Volume No. 20, Issue No. 4 www.swportlandpost.com Portland, Oregon Complimentary February 2012 Fulton Park Community Center on chopping block as park bureau faces cuts Bureau of Parks and Recreation has prepared a proposed series of budget cuts. Among the proposed cut items is closure of Fulton Park By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post Community Center. The proposed cuts, equal to four percent of the bureau’s budget, also In response to the directive from include closure of Buckman Pool in Mayor Sam Adams, the Portland Southeast Portland. Other cuts are reduc- tions in park trash re- moval, “scholarships” to residents who can- not pay normal fees, tree inspections, and “pass-through” grants to senior centers for recreation programs. Outdoor recre- ation programs will be eliminated and port-a-potties will be substituted for rest- rooms. Responsibility for SUN School recre- Fulton Park Community Center may be closed due to ation programs will be proposed budget cuts by Portland Parks and Recreation. given to Multnomah (Photo courtesy of Isabel Souza) County with $1.13 PARKS AND RECREATION million, $238,000 short of that pro- gram’s annual budget. If the system must be cut by six percent, the draft budget calls for closure of Hillside Community Center in the northwest hills, reduc- tions in landscaping, natural area maintenance and irrigation, and closure of elm disease prevention and operation of “splash pads.” Linda Robinson, a member of the bureau’s Budget Advisory Com- mittee, told The Post that the BAC had called for reductions in several areas, rather than elimination of any (Continued on Page 7) Snow Shelter No this isn’t Mt. Hood, it’s actu- ally the TriMet bus shelter at the intersection of Southwest Dosch and Pat- ton roads, Jan- uary 18. (Post photo by Don Snedecor) Senators Burdick and Devlin meet with voters at Hillsdale town hall Oregon must stop eroding its edu- cation funding even as it prepares to cut spending elsewhere, State Sen. Richard Devlin (Democrat-Tualatin) said at a recent town hall meeting in Hillsdale. “I think we are at a point where we say enough is enough,” Devlin told a group of about 20 like-minded Sen. Ginny Burdick Sen. Richard Devlin By Scott Mobley Special to The Southwest Portland Post Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2. The Southwest Portland Post 4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509 Portland, OR 97206 voters attending the Jan. 10 meeting. “We can’t diminish our resources in education any more. It’s a core responsibility.” Devlin conducted the meeting at the Watershed affordable senior housing center with State Sen. Gin- ny Burdick (Democrat-Portland/ Tigard), who has represented the Hillsdale area for some 15 years. But Hillsdale will fall into Devlin’s district under the new legislative map drawn up last year to reflect the 2010 census. The updated boundaries will go into effect after the November elec- tion when Burdick, Senate President Pro Tempore, faces an as yet un- known challenger for her fifth term. Devlin and Burdick met with vot- ers a few weeks before legislators go into special session to wrestle with a budget shortfall pegged at between $50 million. State service cuts will likely con- tinue, though not as severely as be- fore, said Devlin. He predicted the state, national and global economies will remain weak for three to four more years at least. Legislators paring spending must spare Oregon’s schools and univer- sities, where the long-term costs of cuts far outweigh any short-term cost-saving gains, the senators said. “We don’t do enough to make sure people succeed and when they don’t succeed, the public ultimately has to pay the bill,” Devlin said. “The primary determinate of whether a person will need government services in the future is education.” Oregon in the 1980s spent roughly 15 percent of its budget on educa- tion and eight percent on prisons, Burdick said. Those percentages have reversed since voters capped property taxes dedicated to schools and approved mandatory sentenc- ing, she said. Burdick called for greater focus on early childhood education to help keep people out of prison, and more emphasis on drug courts and transitional programs to prevent recidivism. “’Smart on Crime’ programs are so much cheaper than just lock- ing somebody up,” Burdick said. “You have to understand we can’t just throw these meth addicts in prison because it feels good. It costs $35,000 a year, way more than the amount of support we give for public higher education. Let’s send them to college, not prison.” Voters attending the meeting also raised concerns about economic development, health care reform and the future of Oregon’s senior property tax deferral program, gut- ted by declining home values. The legislature recently approved a $19-million loan to the property tax deferral program, designed to keep disabled and senior citizens in their homes. Hoping to stimulate the Oregon economy, lawmakers narrowed the state’s tax-credit program to better target small businesses. But the (Continued on Page 7)