SERVING Burlingame • Capitol Hill • Garden Home • Glen Cullen • Hillsdale • Multnomah Village • Raleigh Hills • South Portland • Vermont Hills • West Portland INSIDE: Celebrating 20 years of continuous Southwest news coverage! Volume No. 21, Issue No. 8 www.swportlandpost.com Portland, Oregon Wilson High School choir wins first state championship – Page 5 Complimentary June 2013 Portland City Council votes in favor of Barbur Concept Plan PDX Bike Breakfast By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post Commuter cyclists treated to breakfast: May was PDX Bike Month, and what better way to make the commute a little nicer by filling up with some goodies from local merchants in Hillsdale. Over 100 bicyclists rode by in mid-May with many stopping for breakfast burritos (Food Front), scones (Baker & Spice), and coffee (Starbucks). Organized by the Bureau of Transportation, staffer Dave Johnson, helped coordinate the annual Hillsdale event. More information is available at www.pdxbikemonth.com. Johnson reminded everyone that the Southwest Portland's Sunday Parkways (in which many roads are closed to automobile traffic) is scheduled this year for September 29. Pictured: bike commuters including Olaf, David, Emma, and Kim along with PBOT's Dave Johnson take time to enjoy some Hillsdale hospitality. (Post photo by Erik Vidstrand) The Portland City Council passed the Barbur Concept Plan on April 24, and engaged in a debate as to whether it should be a guide for current use or put on a shelf until the rest of the City catches up. The Barbur Plan, by the Portland Bu- reau of Planning, is a subset of Metro’s larger Southwest Corridor Plan, which is considering the placement of light rail or other high capacity transit through the area. The Barbur Plan, and similar efforts in other jurisdictions, is looking at the sort of development that would be appropriate on Barbur Boulevard [between downtown Portland and the City of Tigard] and adjacent streets, and what zone changes or public improvements would be necessary to bring them about. (Continued on Page 7) Mayor Hales’ budget cuts include neighborhood small grants CITY HALL By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post Mayor Charlie Hales published his draft City of Portland budget last month. It produced sighs of relief in some quarters, sighs of regret in others. The budget ax fell less heavily on Portland’s neighborhood system, and the Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. (SWNI) coalition specifically, than ear- lier reports might have been led them to expect. The Office of Neighborhood In- volvement (ONI), through which most neighborhood funds are funneled, was asked to prepare a fiscal year 2013-14 budget 10 percent below its previous one. Hales’ budget cuts ONI’s budget by just three percent. Among other things, ONI will not have to eliminate one of its 12 neighbor- hood crime prevention positions. Nevertheless, there will be pain. The budget eliminates the popular Neigh- borhood Small Grants program, which allocated a total of $200,000 citywide to coalitions for use in special, one-time neighborhood improvement projects. For SWNI, the cut will mean not just the loss of the program but of its part-time administrator and Outreach Coordinator, Payal Razdan. There will also be cuts to communication funds citywide, which could affect the district- wide Southwest Neighborhood News newsletter. In years past, a frequent target for budget cuts in southwest has been the SUN School after-school activi- ties programs. This year the City and Multnomah County were providing funding for the Jackson Middle School and Markham School SUN School programs. However, the Robert Gray Middle School program as well as those for two east side schools – Buckman and Sabin - stood to be eliminated. Then, hours before the first of three hearings on the proposed budget, Hales announced a deal between himself and Multnomah County Commission Chair Jeff Cogen that would restore funding to a variety of social service programs. As part of this, Cogen agreed to ab- sorb the three endangered SUN School programs into his budget. Also facing cuts is the Portland Development Commission. The draft PDC budget calls for cutting more than $30,000 from its appropriation to Venture Portland, a non-profit which provides support services to local neighborhood business associations in much the same way that ONI and SWNI aid neighborhood associations. Venture Portland executive director Heather Hoell told the Portland City Council at a public hearing last month that the proposed cut would force them to reduce grants to business groups for special projects by half. Randy Bonella of the Multnomah Village Business Association support- ed Venture Portland’s bid to restore funding. Bonella credited them with helping area businesses survive the disruption caused by sewer work on Southwest Multnomah Boulevard and told the (Continued on Page 2) Safeway construction scheduled for completion by Halloween Workers on the roof take advantage of the sunshine in early May to meet the October deadline for construction of the new Safeway supermarket at Southwest Barbur Boulevard and Capitol Hill Road. The store will be al- most 40,000 square feet, featuring an outdoor deck with a view of Mt Hood. Built in 1968, the classic, curved roof structure on the previous building was demolished last year but many parts were reused or recycled. (Post photo by Erik Vidstrand) Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2. The Southwest Portland Post 4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509 Portland, OR 97206