Street roots., April 01, 2011, Page 3, Image 3

Street roots
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April 1, 2011
Commissioner Amanda Fritz
leads listening session
City Commissioner Amanda Fritz says she is
listening to the concerns of the people, which is
why she has launched a new listening series
designed to help people listen better in listening
sessions.
About 30 people attended the initial session of
Listening Closely and Carefully to Improve our
Community Listening Group, which began with a
listening exercise to fire people up. But there were
many points of interruption that followed. In one
outburst, a participant wondered aloud to the
group about how difficult it was to hold down a
full-time day job and attend critical listening
sessions on yard waste disputes, outdoor lighting
hours, TriMet poetry rewrites and public odors.
"Listen, people," said Bob Brisbane, a paramedic
from Southeast Portland. "I missed seven meetings
this week because of work and scheduling conflicts
with other meetings. I don't want to stop .
listening."
As he trailed off, Commissioner Fritz gave an
understanding nod as the rest of the audience
paused and listened.
"Everyone in the audience feels we should move
toward action on this issue," blurted out Ramona
Windsor from North Portland. "But it's hard to
listen and do things at the same time.." : \
Fritz nodded, and with à commanding look,
instructed her assistant to make a note of what was
happening.
The speaker was cut off by a chorus of
understanding eye rolls.
The listening session is held the third Friday of
each month in the Rose Room at City Hall. It is
open to the public.
City Hall bans fragrances
City Hall took bold action last month, creating a
fragrance free workspace after several city
employees were using Axe body spray to cover up
the smell of skunk weed in their backpacks.
The City voted 5 4 to create the fragrance-free
.worksj&acg. whkh ^ S Ï ^ m p loyees to "refrain"
from wearing perfume, cologne and after-shave
and "avoid" strongly scented deodorant or other
hygiene products.
In protest, several city employees at the housing
bureau stopped wearing deodorant or taking a
shower in silent protest of the new law. ;
"Just because my co-workers smoke weed and
can't control thé Axe, doesn't mean I should be
punished with Bill's natural scent," says one water
bureau employee. "Let's see, Old Spice, or that,
disgusting pee smell. I'm at a loss. You tell me."
Erik Sten gets basement storage
area at RAC named after him
The new Bud Clark Commons, also known as
the Resource Access Center, also known as the most
expensive affordable housing project in town, also
known as the last new homeless project in
downtown for another decade, aslo known as a key
strategic tool in the 10-year plan to end
homelessness, announced that a basemanet storage
area will be named after former Housing
Commissioner Erik Ste m - who helped move the
project forward in 20.08.
"The city and service providers really appreciate
the people that came before, especially the people
that helped create this project," says one provider
who sat on a blue ribbon committee to help name
the storage area. The center will provide a one-stop
shop for services, along with transitional housing
for more than 100 individuals:
"Erik Sten has done a lot over the years, and its
fitting that the storage area is named after him. It's
a really important honor to the person that got this
- thing started from the ground up."
Mayor announces he's running again in 2012
BY LIL' JOHN HOGG
STAFF REPORTS
▼ "Vortland Mayor Sam Adams announced
1-^ today that he plans to run again in
JL 2012.
“Fve thought long and hard about it, and
it feels like all the pieces are in place,” says
Adams. “I have a personal trainer and
everything.”
In an exclusive interview withSR last
week, the mayor told us about his sweet'
tooth, and his turbulent battle with Voodoo
Doughnut’s clearance rack, “I’m going to
start out by laying the ground work for the
upcoming run.”
People close to the Mayor says that he’s
more focused than ever on making sure that
his announcement to run, and running the
city won’t be a distraction. “I think Sam has
learned a lot oyer the past two years, and I
would be surprised if he wasn’t able to
compete in a half marathon by the end of
his term in office,” says one insider.
One of the biggest questions is whether
his former personal trainer will stand by
him after jumping off the wagon with all the
Snickers, and sweet treats over the past two
. years. Nobody wins in politics in this town
without Mark Wiener’s running program,”
says a City Hall staffer who wished to go
unnamed.
Asked if his former personal trainer will
be standing by him in 2012, Adams declined
to comment And while to date, Adams
hasn’t been lifting any heavy weights, there
has been a lot of equipment being moved in
and out of the mayor’s office.
Not to be outdone, other possible
mayoral candidates are expected to follow
suit in the coming weeks, and unveil
ru n n in g p ro g ram s o f th e ir own.
Steve Novick, Charlie Hales, Jim
Francesconi, New Seasons’ co-founder
Eleen Brady, and others are thought to be
recruiting personal trainers around town.
All have been seen flexing their muscles at
local facilities.
Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen,
caught by this reporter at a local salad bar,
said he’s been running for years, and feels
in top shape to run toe to toe with anybody,
even the mayor.
Bike advocates including the Bicycle
Transportation Alliance questioned the
wisdom of Adams running again in 2012.
“The mayor has done a lot for our two­
wheeled community,” says Rob (we can’t
ever spell his last name right) Sadowski.
“Announcing to run this early might be a
little risky. We would have loved to have
C E N T R A L CITY
concern
Changing Lives
Building Communities
Creating Opportunities
been involved with the conversations about
the mayor’s training plan, and the benefits
of cycling.”
A spokesperson for the Portland
Department of Transportation declined
comment.
One of the questions still lingering is
whether the mayor will go with the mote
p ow erful N ik e, w h ich is b a s e d i^ B e a v e r to n ,
’’o r T n e ^ a A n o i^eA d id as^w h 'i'cT iT ias’i t s " ’’
North American headquarters in North
Portland - close to Adams running grounds.
Asked which shoe company Adams will be
endorsed by, the Mayor says, “It’s hard.
Both Nike and Adidas do so much for our
community. It’s still too early to determine.
It’s possible, I’ll wear one of each - creating
a swoosh-like striped base that would be
hard to beat in 2012.”
“The reality is, I have a vision and that
vision includes running again,” says Adams.
“Sometimes you get sidetraked. The last
couple of years have been trying times for
our city, and I’ll be the first to admit it. I
haven’t exercised my best judgement at
times. Saying that, I’m more excited than
ever to lead Portland into the future, one
race at a time.”
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