September 12, 2012
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Page 3
FredMeyer
What's on your list today?.
O pinion
pages 6-7
F ood
M
E
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page 8-9
R
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Marching for Peace
page 11
C alendar
page 12
F all F un
G uide
A large group of community residents, including Rev. Renee Ward (from left) and Asianique
Savage, the daughter o f 2002 murder victim Asia Bell, took to the streets Saturday in an annual
tribute to all victims of violence. The ‘Senseless Violence Leads to Silence’ march and rally
started at Irving Park and concluded at Alberta Park with motivational speakers, music, food and
games for kids.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Neighborhood Activist Loses Job
Northeast
Coalition votes
out its executive
director
page 13
by L ee
P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
ENIEIMINMENI
pages 13-15
C lassifieds
page 18
T h e N o rth e a s t C o a litio n o f
N eighborhoods, w hich represents
several neig h b o rh o o d s in m ostly
inner northeast Portland, has parted
w ays w ith its ex ecu tiv e d irecto r
Paige C olem an.
T he reason for the em p lo y m en t
term ination is at best a m atter o f
s p e c u la tio n , C o le m a n say s th e
g ro u p ’s ex ecu tiv e com m ittee m ade
it clear that they w ere dissatisfied
w ith her, but never presen ted her
w ith an explanation,
“I d o n ’t go w here I’m not w anted,”
she told the Portland O bserver.
Paige Coleman
C hris L opez, ch air o f coalition,
declined to specify w hat the cause
o f the p ro b lem s w ere. A sked if
C o lem an w as told about perceived
problem s and given a chance to
rectify them he said, “ I’m not sure.”
M onday, the board asked form er
N E C N staffer S hoshanna C ohen to
serve as a part-tim e tem porary e x
ecutive directo r w hile a search for a
perm anent d irecto r is conducted.
T h e N o r th e a s t C o a litio n o f
N eighborhoods is one o f five co ali
tions run by volunteer boards m ade
up o f representatives o f neighbor
hood associations and oth er inter
ested parties. T he system has oper
ated in P ortland since 1974, and in
that tim e only tw o neighborhood
office directors have been fired, both
tim es at N EC N .
Joseph S an to s-L y o n s w as term i
nated in January 2008 and, on that
occasion, the board (w hich then
included C olem an as a representa
tive o f the B oise n eighborhood)
deliberately chose not to supply a
reason for its actions.
C o lem an notes that as director
she increased the c o a litio n 's inter
action w ith n eighborhoods, in addi
tion to standing co m m ittees dealing
continued
on page 4