Don’t be surprised if
4,000 goblins show up
for Halloween in the
Village – Page 8
Lower bridge will
carry bikes and peds
from the westside
trail to the south
side of the Sellwood
Bridge – Page 7
THE COUNTRY STORE
Paint Pots has
closed after 20 years
in Hillsdale – Page 4
The Southwest Portland Post
Volume No. 24 Issue No. 12
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
October 2016
Homeless camps, crime in South Burlingame drive community action
By Jack Rubinger
The Southwest Portland Post
According to Lisa Conrad, the South
Burlingame neighborhood has had
an increased number of burglaries
lately. One of Conrad’s neighbors went
searching one day down under the
Terwilliger Bridge ramps.
Her neighbor found several homeless
camps full of garbage, waste, heroin
needles and stolen items such as garden
equipment, a surfboard, a laptop
computer, and packages with addresses
of neighbors and prescriptions.
Conrad’s neighbor alerted the
neighborhood on Nextdoor and posted
many pictures. It was also discovered
that her neighbor across the street had
someone come into their backyard with
knives demanding food, water and
clothing.
Conrad and several neighbors
contacted the Portland Police Bureau
and the Oregon Department of
Transportation many times.
Conrad helped organize neighborhood
work parties and
cleared out an
enormous amount
of overgrown
vegetation that
ODOT had let go,
picked up garbage
and painted
over graffiti.
Neighborhood
businesses donated
materials to help in
the clean-up efforts.
On Sept. 8, the
South Burlingame
Neighborhood
Association held a
board meeting.
The
main
discussion at the
meeting focused
on the discovery
of these homeless Portland police officers comb through a homeless camp underneath the Terwilliger Bridge.
(Photo courtesy of South Burlingame Neighborhood Association)
camps under the
soon after the police left. Since the
Terwilliger Bridge and highway access
from the neighborhood, including
posting on Nextdoor of discovery
ramps south of Interstate 5.
prescription drugs.
T h e s e c a m p s c o n t a i n e d d ru g
of the camps, neighbors organized a
Police were called, no arrests were
(Continued on Page 2)
paraphernalia and stolen items
made, but the camps were vacated
Policy advisor to Mayor-elect Wheeler attends neighborhood association meeting
MULTNOMAH NOTEBOOK
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
Nathan Howard is Mayor-elect Ted
Wheeler's policy manager.
Portland Mayor-elect Ted Wheeler
doesn’t take office for another three
months but his office is already
participating in listening sessions
around the city. His staff was invited
to the September Multnomah
Neighborhood Association meeting.
Policy advisor Nathan Howard,
who was Wheeler’s deputy campaign
director, sat and listened quietly
to a barrage of issues afflicting the
neighborhood.
A short film began the presentation.
It was created by local resident Ken
Klein featuring the neighborhood
association marching in the Multnomah
Days parade. Chair Carol McCarthy
then gave Howard an overview of the
century-old neighborhood.
“These neighbors, leaders, and the
generations who have lived here before
us,” McCarthy began, “have been
fighting City Hall and the ongoing
struggles with the latest rezoning plans.
“Environmental plans are void,”
McCarthy added before opening up
the floor to comments. “Neighborhood
associations are no longer the active
groups of participatory democracy.
They aren’t even mentioned in the city’s
proposed comprehensive plan. Put us
back in!”
Joe Zender, a local neighbor, was
first to speak up. “We’re not against
density,” Zender said. “Lots under 5,000
square feet are not protected under the
tree code.”
McCarthy interjected: “We need a
better process. The city asks for [our]
input but then ignore us. It’s like water
boarding us with thousands of pages
[of documents] to review.”
“Is it intentional?” Howard asked.
“Yes, but then there are illogical
sequences,” land use chair Jim Peterson
replied. “There are last-minute meeting
notifications and items added in without
our knowledge. The comp plan is not
fully approved yet but already a party
is being planned,” said Peterson.
McCarthy said that city planning
committees are stacked with people
with vested interests and said that
the Multnomah neighborhood would
work with the state next on these issues
afflicting the area.
After several more comments about
the city’s plans for the neighborhood,
Howard spoke.
“This is one of the most organized
neighborhood associations I’ve seen,”
Howard commented. (By the way, the
mayor-elect is still the state treasurer and
is at a national treasurers’ conference.)
However, we have absolutely no
Bremik Construction demolishes the former Children's Center at Southwest 33rd and
Capitol Highway. Multnomah neighbors have dubbed the planned 71-unit, four-story
building to be constructed on this site as "the tower," a symbol of the association's
opposition to high-density infill. (Post photo by Erik Vidstrand)
resources from the mayor’s office,”
Howard said. “We receive over a
thousand emails and 25 phone calls
a day.”
Howard explained there are only
two staff at the moment but so far have
met with over 40 associations, with 55
more to go.
Howard said that Mayor-elect
Wheeler plans to attend neighborhood
meetings once a year.
(Continued on Page 4)
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
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Portland, OR 97206