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Southwest
SUN School program
funding threatened
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 20, Issue No. 7
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
– Page 4
May 2012
City Council candidates address neighborhood issues at local forum
By Lee Perlman and Don Snedecor
The Southwest Portland Post
Candidates Sharon Meieran, David Gwyther and Scott Rose talk shop at the SW
Candidates Fair at the Multnomah Center, April 10. (Post photo by Don Snedecor)
Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.
joined with the Multnomah Neighbor-
hood Association and Neighbors West/
Northwest to stage a candidates fair on
April 10.
They questioned and heard from
a total of ten candidates running for
Portland City Council Position 1 and
Position 4. Other politicians showed
up to informally meet and greet people.
About 65 people came to listen.
The candidates were divided into
two panels. Moderator was Richard
A. Clucas, a political science professor
from Portland State University. The
questions were different for each panel.
The first panel consisted of City
Council Position 1 candidates Bruce
Altizer and David Gwyther, and City
Council Position 4 candidates Scott
McAlpine, Brian Parrott, James Rowell
and Mark White.
City Council Position 1 candidates
Amanda Fritz and Mary Nolan were in
the second panel, as were City Council
Position 4 candidates Steve Novick and
Jeri Williams.
Twenty minute neighborhoods?
Amanda Fritz: Asked about creating
“20 minute neighborhoods,” Fritz said
the concept was impossible in some
areas, but could be brought closer if
the City would require sidewalks to
be built in concert with new develop-
ment.
Mary Nolan said the City should use
areas such as Multnomah Village, Hill-
sdale and Corbett-Terwilliger, and use
transit systems “to link them together”
and “include everyone.”
Steve Novick said he would call on
employers to “devise strategies” to
deal with health care costs. Some ar-
eas, such as Multnomah and Hillsdale,
already have 20-minute neighbor-
hoods, but elsewhere you would have
to work “neighborhood by neighbor-
hood.”
Jeri Williams said she had lived in
Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill for 14
years and that it was not a 20-minute
neighborhood; she added that this
concept has different meanings for
parents with young children and the
disabled.
(Continued on Page 4)
Barbur Concept Plan open house set for May 3 at Cedarwood School
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
The City of Portland’s Bureau of
Planning and Sustainability will hold
a public open house from 5:30 to 7:30
p.m. May 3 at Cedarwood Waldorf
School, 3030 SW Second Ave., to ac-
quaint the public with the work of the
Barbur Concept Plan so far and receive
their input on it.
The Plan is an examination of what
sort of development and redevel-
opment should occur on and near
Southwest Barbur Boulevard, and the
rezoning and physical improvements
necessary to bring such redevelop-
ment about.
It is related to, although separate
from, another effort – the Southwest
Corridor Study, which is considering
transportation improvements for the
corridor that may include a new light
rail line.
The planning staff is looking at
eight “focus points” – Gibbs Street,
Hamilton Street, Terwilliger Boule-
vard, Capitol Hill Road, 26 th Avenue,
Barbur Crossroads (the Southwest
Barbur Boulevard-Capitol Highway-
Interstate 5 interchange), and Port-
land Community College’s Sylvania
campus.
Those who come will be shown
graphic representations of what
various sorts of development at these
locations might look like, and give
their reactions. If a light rail line is
built on Barbur, these are likely station
locations.
The South Portland Neighborhood
Association has officially protested the
designation of Gibbs as a focus area.
The City should try to preserve the
vintage single family homes in this
area, part of the Lair Hill National His-
toric District, rather than encourage
their demolition for redevelopment,
the neighborhood group said.
Planner Morgan Tracy said the City
would continue to study Gibbs as a
focus area at this time. However, he
told the Post, South Portland’s posi-
tion is “just the kind of feedback we’re
looking for.”
Gibbs was included, he said, be-
cause the presence of the Aerial Tram,
and the pending Gibbs Street Pedes-
trian Bridge and a trail, make this a
key connection between the Oregon
Health and Sciences University and
the South Waterfront area.
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
BEFORE and AFTER: Southwest 13th Avenue at Barbur Blvd. (Photo and
illustration courtesy of Fregonese Associates)