Local News
River
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sun and 80-degree temperatures.
Last year’s event set sail under a cloudless blue sky. Pho-
tos show participants in costumes (one man wore a ballet
tutu and an Elmer Fudd hat); large, wildly-shaped inflata-
bles, including two friends with giant seahorse-shaped pool
toys; and one floater playing blues music on a handmade
dobro.
Still, what most people want to know about the Big Float
is: Will you die from EColi if you get in the Willamette?
The answer is: absolutely not.
Completion of the Big Pipe sewage project in November
of last year is a major reason for the upswing in Willamette
River health – at $1.4 billion in money paid completely by
city taxpayers without any federal or state assistance, it is
considered the biggest public works project in Oregon his-
tory and took some 20 years to complete.
Community organizers add that many, many people have
worked hard for years promoting bioswales, green roofs
and water gardens to limit road and pesticide runoff into
storm drains.
“The river is dramatically cleaner than it was and the
opportunities for water contact and recreation have bal-
looned,” says Dean Marriott, director of the Environmental
Services for the City of Portland.
Marriott’s bureau keeps a table on its website that tracks
the results of weekly bacterial tests at key points in the
river; for each one, green numbers mean the bacteria levels
are considered safe by federal standards – red means
unsafe.
Since the Big Pipe was completed, Marriott says, there
have been three combined sewer overflow events triggered
by heavy rains – two in January and one on Memorial Day
weekend, which saw an inch of rain fall in less than an hour.
“Before completion of this project, we would have had
raw sewage in the river on about 100 occasions a year,”
Marriott says. “The majority of winter days would have
been above the bacterial safety threshold.”
He, too, took his family down to the Big Float last sum-
mer.
“It was a magic day, blue skies,” Marriott said. “I think
this is an indicator of how the city’s relationship with the
river has changed.”
Rick Bastach, of the City of Portland Office of Healthy
Working Rivers, says his staff is small, and their charge is
big: helping coordinate a slate of priorities established to
maintain the Willamette as a working harbor; bird-dogging
development along the river and the issues that brings; mak-
ing livability a priority for river neighborhoods; and just
generally making sure that all parts of the city that touch on
An estimated 1,300 people participated in the Big Float last year; as many as 3,000 are expected in
2012.
Still, what most people want to
know about the Big Float is: Will
you die from EColi if you get in
the Willamette?
The answer is: absolutely not
river systems coordinate in the interests of clean water.
And if you’re interested in learning more about the Port-
land Harbor Superfund site, Bastach’s website is a
goldmine.
The Office of Healthy Working Rivers regularly holds
free activities including a River Walk with Oregon Histori-
cal Society Chair Emeritus Chet Orloff on July 24 –
picnicking encouraged.
“We have become kind of disconnected from the
Willamette, especially as a city,” Bastach says. “In a way
it’s understandable because for so many years the
Willamette was a river of problems, and now it’s a treasure
more than it is a problem.”
Bastach noted that the Portland Bridge Swim, held this
year on Sunday, July 22, and covering 11 miles through the
Willamette – has already been up and running for some time
without a lot of fanfare or hang-wringing.
In fact the Bridge Swim participants – who organizers say
come from all over the country – will be wrapping up at the
St. John’s Bridge during the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival.
“The idea is that we now have a river worth reconnecting
to, and that’s why we’re helping a little bit with the Big
Float — because it’s a direct fun introduction for a lot of
people,” Bastach says.
“We get a lot of pushback saying, ‘you’re just sort of try-
ing to minimize problems and greenwash what has
happened,’” Bastach says.
“There are enough facts out there for people to make up
their minds about whether they’re ready to think of the
Willamette in the way I would think of the Rogue River.
“Let’s take a moment to appreciate what we have as we
get ready to recommit to making it better.”
For more information go to www.thebigfloat.com.
Center
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A committee set up to create a legacy to
Jordan decided proposed to rename Univer-
sity Park Community Center as the Charles
Jordan Community Center. Built to house
shipyard workers who arrived in Portland
during the 1940s, the center is a relic of
Vanport, the low-income multi-racial com-
munity lost to flooding when a dike broke
on the Columbia River.
When Jordan became Parks director in
1989, the center was a run-down building in
a crime-ridden neighborhood. Against
advice to tear it down, Jordan sought money
to renovate the building, and turned it into
one of the best-used community centers in
the
city.
“He was determined to make sure the fami-
lies who came to that center felt that they
had a safe place to play that was as good as
any in the City,” the committee wrote in its
proposal. “He often walked the halls of the
center to watch the children play and to
show that this place was special, just like
the children who played there.”
A towering figure at 6ft 8’ tall, Jordan was
a talented basketball player. He won a
scholarship to Gonzaga University, where
he earned a bachelor of science’s degree in
Education, Sociology, and Philosophy. He
also served in the U.S. Army.
Earlier, he spent much of his youth living
on a reservation near Palm Springs. The
experience gave him a special feeling for
the natural landscape, as well as a burning
desire to make sure other people of color
had opportunities to feel the same sense of
ownership and belonging.
As city commissioner, Jordan created
Portland’s first police accountability body,
the Police Internal Investigations Auditing
Committee (PIIAC). He brought police into
Jordan didn’t back down, but in a now-
familiar process, the officers were rehired.
People were at the heart of all Jordan’s
projects. He was the force behind land-
marks such as Pioneer Courthouse Square,
the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center,
Delta Park, Southwest Community Center,
renovations to Tom McCall Waterfront Park
As police commissioner, Jordan fired two officers
for dumping dead possums outside an African
American-owned restaurant
schools to create positive relationships,
pushed for equity in city recruitment, and
championed citizen involvement. Charged
with the Fire Bureau, Jordan created an out-
reach training program to recruit people of
color.
As police commissioner, Jordan fired two
officers for dumping dead possums outside
an African American-owned restaurant.
That spurred a police march on city hall.
and Matt Dishman Community Center and
more. He helped bring about popular pro-
grams, such as, Pot Luck in the Park,
Movies in the Park and too many youth ini-
tiatives to mention.
Famously, his love of young people
fueled
his
work.
“I am in the business of crime prevention,”
he said about his mission at the Parks
bureau. “I challenge any police bureau in
the country to beat me at crime prevention.
We have thousands of young people playing
on fields and courts, and when they are with
me they are not hurting themselves or any-
one else.”
Last year, Portland won the National
Recreation and Parks Association’s top
honor – the National Gold Medal Award for
Excellence in Park and Recreation Manage-
ment. Fish says he and his team wouldn’t
dream of taking all the credit. The award
was 150 years in the making, and many
people contributed. Jordan was one of the
most significant.
A big picture thinker, Jordan’s charisma
also placed him on the national stage. His
legacy includes five years as parks director
for Austin, Texas, and five years at the helm
of the Conservation Fund. Wherever he
went, he fought to bring people of color to
the
table.
“He was the person who took Portland
Parks and Rec. to the next level,” Fish says.
“He was a first in terms of his public serv-
ice here in Portland. He was a champion for
the environment and conservation
statewide. And he was a national leader for
the Conservation Fund in making sure that
historically significant African American
sites were preserved and protected for
future generations.”
July 18, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 3