Garden Home
History Project
celebrates century-
old homes
– Page 8
Sears Shelter is
nice, dry, safe place
for a homeless person
to come home to
Yves Le Metour
is fighting Portland
City Hall for permits
to reopen the
French Quarter in
Multnomah Village
– Page 7
– Page 4
The Southwest Portland Post
Volume No. 24 Issue No. 3
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
January 2016
December storms bring flooding, landslides, record rainfall to Southwest Portland
By Jack Rubinger
The Southwest Portland Post
If you think the weather has been
particularly wet and wicked this
December, you’re not imagining things.
At the height of the storms, 25 roads
were closed in Portland.
Relentless rains hit Southwest
Portland hard for the first half of
December causing severe flooding, bus
delays, and damage to homes. At press
time, sandbags and sand were available
at Gabriel Park (Southwest 42nd and
Vermont Street).
According to Dylan Rivera, Portland
Bureau of Transportation, there were
reports of more than three inches of rain
in one 24-hour period. “We typically
get about five inches of rain during the
whole month of December,” said Rivera.
“The 24-hour road hazards hotline
took more than 500 phone calls for 3
days,” said Rivera. “We normally field
about 80 calls a day this time of year,
but with the bad weather, we addressed
roadway hazards, flooded roadways,
backed up storm drains, damaged
traffic signals, landslides and downed
trees.”
Rivera’s staff fields calls at 503-823-
1700, which is staffed 24/7/365 with
live dispatchers.
“The latest storms provided a one/
two punch. First, the intense wind
ripped off shingles from our roof, and
next – the heavy rains have managed
to take advantage of the first storm
– to cause some leaks we have to get
repaired,” said Mark Paul of AutoAp
in Beaverton.
While there fortunately were no storm
related fatalities or injuries in the city,
Southwest Portland at the time of this
article had two of the three remaining
road closures. Southwest Montgomery
Street from Vista Street to 14th Avenue
was closed due to a landslide that took
out a 25-foot section of the shoulder.
“Want to come to my backyard,
where the wind and rain blew down
an entire section of fence, breaking
posts out of the concrete?” asked Barb
Anderman, who lives at the crossroads
(Continued on Page 3)
A tree lands on a car and takes down a power pole at Southwest 28th Avenue and Custer
Street. This photograph was taken the morning of Dec. 9. (Photo courtesy of Gregory Quick)
School district faces overcrowding; boundary issues discussed at forum
increase of student enrollment in
the coming decade.
The district is expecting 5,000
more
students by the year 2025
If one watches Portland Public
and
needs
to come up with a plan
Schools’ video Growing Great
to
address
the
enrollment increase.
Schools, one gets the impression
Many
schools
are overcrowded
that many schools in Portland are
a
n
d
r
e
q
u
i
r
e
m
ore teachers to
n o t a d e q u a t e f o r t h e p ro j e c t e d
p ro v i d e a c a d e m i c
programs. Some
schools are building
portables and others
are cramming
people in spaces
not conducive to
learning.
But many people,
especially parents,
are skeptical at
yet another set of
changes proposed
for schools across
the district.
O n N o v. 2 3 ,
Portland Public
Schools officials
came to Markham
Elementary School
for a community
forum to discuss
these proposals
with approximately
75 parents, teachers,
students, and most
surprisingly, people
without children in
the school system
at all.
Some schools are
under-enrolled and
Bridlemile Elementary School Foundation member Brad Nelson need extra funding
and his fourth-grader Chloe stop to get warm at the annual t o o f f e r c o r e
Bridlemile pancake breakfast and Christmas tree sale. Their academic programs
which limit the
school could be impacted by upcoming boundary decisions.
range of electives
(Post photo by Erik Vidstrand)
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
available.
Portland Public Schools has
proposed changes in some
kindergarten through 8th grade
schools. Some are drawing boundary
lines around neighborhoods.
“This analysis,” said Judy
Brennan, Enrollment Director for
PPS, “is not a measurement of
which schools are not doing well,
nor will every school experience
a change. It’s just a snapshot of
the current conditions and allows
for a discussion about possible
improvements.”
A 26-person committee called
the District-wide Boundary
Review Advisory Committee was
e s t a b l i s h e d w i t h p a re n t s , P TA
members, administrators, and
community leaders to review
all comments and submit
a recommendation to PPS
Superintendent Carol Smith by
mid-January.
Te s t i m o n y a f t e r t e s t i m o n y
pleaded with school administrators
to leave the system alone. One
of the schools most impacted by
the plan is Bridlemile Elementary
School, a kindergarten through
5th grade school built in the 1950s
north of Beaverton-Hillsdale
Highway.
The district has proposed that all
Bridlemile students that live north
of Patton Road will attend West
Sylvan Middle school and then go
onto Lincoln High School.
“This has been the way it
has always been for nearly 30
years,” commented Brad Nelson,
a Bridlemile Elementary School
p a re n t o f t w o . N e l s o n , w h o i s
part of the Bridlemile Foundation,
took time recently at the annual
Christmas tree and pancake event
to speak to The Post.
“The plan call for students who
live south of Patton [Road],” Nelson
explained, “to attend Robert Gray
[Middle School], and then go on to
Wilson High School.
“PPS has even said that in five
years,” he continued, “Lincoln
[High School] enrollment will be
at about 1,200 and Wilson [High
School] to over 1,800.
“We proposed a voluntary dual
a s s i g n m e n t w h e re t h e f a m i l i e s
decide where their child goes onto
secondary school.”
I t ’ s c a l l e d a f o rc e d s p l i t a n d
parents and students alike are upset
at breaking up friendships forged
in the early years. Sarah Beagle,
another Bridlemile parent said that
this forced split will cause more
p ro b l e m s , n o t d u e t o a c a d e m i c
changes, but with relationships.
“These friends will be split up
with different paths to different
schools, maybe to never interact
a g a i n , ” s h e s a i d . “ Yo u m u s t
investigate other options.”
Hazel, a fourth-grader at
Bridlemile, bravely stood up in
front of the imposing crowd reading
from her speech about leaving the
boundaries alone.
Other changes include moving the
Odyssey program from Hayhurst
to East Sylvan, building more
portables at Capitol Hill, and not
reopening Smith Elementary School
[in Ashcreek] any time soon.
Scott Anthony, a D-BRAC member,
was on hand at Markham to just
listen.
(Continued on Page 3)