2016 Candidate Forums: March 10 & April 14

Elections for Portland Mayor and Commissioner are happening May 17, 2016. The Buckman Community Association is holding election forums to encourage dialog between residents and candidates. These forums have been very successful in the past. All candidates who have filed for office have been invited to participate. The Commissioner Candidate Forum is Thursday, March 10, 7 pm–9 pm. The Mayoral Candidate Forum is Thursday, April 14, 7 pm–9 pm.

Both forums will be held in the Commissioners Board Room of the Multnomah County Building, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Refreshments will be provided. This is a free event and is open to the public.

The format typically includes: 2–3 minutes opening statement from each candidate Questions from the audience* and prepared topics 2–3 minute response from each candidate 1–2 minute rebuttal Closing statements 1–2 minutes

*Questions from the audience: each candidate will have the opportunity to answer the questions. No questions will be directed at a specific candidate.

Eastside Village to Present at June 12th Meeting

A presenter from Eastside Village, PDX will be on hand at the June 12th BCA meeting. Bill Bond, LCSW, GCM will talk about the non-profit, predominantly volunteer, aging in place village forming in SE Portland that will begin to offer services in early 2015.

A “village” is a group of like-minded people in a geographic area who come together to figure out and develop the resources they will need to age comfortably in their own homes.

The purpose of villages is to enable people to age in place as well as they can for as long as they can for as little as they can. Villages do this by providing the services and support people need to be able to age in place, but can no longer safely do themselves.”

The Eastside Village PDX service area will cover all or part of these 12 neighborhoods: Buckman, Kerns, Laurelhurst, Sunnyside, North Tabor, Montavilla, Hazelwood (west of 122nd), Hosford-Abernethy, Richmond, Mt Tabor, Mill Park and South Tabor.

Come join us to find out more about this exciting movement and its opportunities:  www.eastsidevillage.org or attend the next Buckman Community Association meeting, June 12, 7–9 PM, Multnomah County Board Room, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

Buckman Community Association Land Use Meeting, October 18th

This Thursday, October 18th, a Buckman Community Association Land Use Meeting will be held to discuss proposed development at 2607/2625 SE Hawthorne Blvd.  The meeting will be in the Multnomah County Board Room, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 7-8:30pm.

These two magnificent and grand 106 year-old historic houses were purchased at the end of last month.  The new owners plan to build a 4-story, 77-unit apartment building where these homes (currently full of commercial tenants) now lie.  Here is what they currently look like.

The tenants were unaware the property was being sold and were all given immediate 30-day eviction notices.  The former owner, who has held these properties for decades, has said he feels sick about the plans to tear them down and did not know this was planned.  These properties are now in real danger of being demolished imminently to make way for this new, large development..

The developer, Aaron Jones, and SERA Principle Architect Kurt Schultz have been invited to the meeting so they can hear concerns about this proposal, and give information to community members.  Concerned members of the community are asked to attend.  Ideas, suggestions and proposed solutions to save these important properties are welcome and wanted!

For more information on the proposal: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/10/developers_are_planning_a_77-u.html

If you are unable to attend, but are interested in saving the buildings, please contact myself and/or Tim Askin, BCA Secretary and Co-Land Use Chair (tim.askin@gmail.com).  You can also contact the entire BCA Board anytime at buckmanboard@googlegroups.com.

Thank you,
Susan Lindsay
Chair, BCA

BCA Mayoral & City Commissioner Candidate Forum, Thursday, October 11th

Still having trouble deciding who you should vote for in the upcoming Mayoral and City Commissioner elections? Come bring your ballot and figure it out at the Candidate’s Forum on Thursday, October 11th, sponsored by the Buckman Community Association. We’ll be asking Charlie Hales, Jefferson Smith, Amanda Fritz, and Mary Nolan where they stand on such topics as:

• The Coal Train
• Parking requirements (or lack thereof) for new apartment buildings
• Fees associated with building permits and historic reviews
• Access (or lack thereof) to the Public Involvement Process
• Funding and support for neighborhood associations

There will also be an opportunity for attendees to submit their own question to the candidates. Here are the details:

What: The Candidate’s Forum
When: October 11th, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Where: Multnomah County Headquarters Building, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Commissioners Board Room 100

Position 1 Commissioner’s Forum
Amanda Fritz and Mary Nolan
7:15 – 8:00

Mayor’s Forum
Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith
8:15 – 9:00

Pizza and light refreshments will be provided.

BCA seeking new board members!

Dear Buckman Neighbors,

We wanted to let everyone know that the Buckman Community Association will be holding board elections at the June 14th monthly meeting. The BCA is the registered neighborhood association for the area bounded by SE 28th, E Burnside, SE Hawthorne Blvd., and the Willamette River.

The BCA is involved in many ongoing projects, including our annual and always fun Picnic in the Park, to be held this year on Sunday, August 5th in Colonel Summers Park. We also are engaged in ongoing sustainability projects, land use reviews, transportation and safety issues, historic preservation, getting a community center built, and helping neighbors connect with and get results at City Hall.

The BCA Board is a nine person body with two-year electable terms. Terms are staggered, so each year half the positions are open for election. All persons who live, work or have a special interest in Buckman are welcome to become part of the Association and to serve on our Board.

Next month, we will hold elections for four 2-year and one 1-year terms. Please consider serving your neighborhood and running for the Board!  We welcome new volunteers!

The election will be 7-9pm, Thursday June 14th in the Central Catholic High School library. Refreshments will be available!

Susan Lindsay
BCA Board Chair

New meeting location for July/August

A quick note about the BCA’s monthly meetings: because we lose access to Central Catholic High School during the summer months, our July and August meetings will be held in the Multnomah County Board Room, located at 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd. The dates of those meetings are July 12th and August 9th (both Thursdays). Starting in September, we’ll return to our usual location in the library at Central Catholic.

TONIGHT: Meeting at SEUL about proposed new Portland Housing Bureau policy

This in from Christine Yun, a Buckman resident and Buckman Historic Association member:

The Portland Housing Bureau is proposing new areas to receive incentives that would expand a program that gives private developers 10 years free of taxes when they build new market rate apartment structures as long as they include some affordable housing.

The new areas include significant portions of Belmont and Morrison Streets in Buckman. You can see the map here.

This topic will be discussed tonight at the month SE Uplift Land Use and Sustainability Committee meeting. Details below:

SE Uplift
3534 SE Main Street
7:00pm

This is a link to a page on the Portland Housing Bureau’s website with more information on the tax incentive policy: http://www.portlandonline.com/phb/index.cfm?c=57699.

Update: We’ve received an info sheet with more details on the PHB policy.

Call for Participation: Newsletter Articles, Candidate Forum Questions, Summer Picnic

Opportunities abound for you to get involved in the BCA, in a variety of ways! Read on for more details.

Newsletter Articles

Planning is underway for the next paper edition of our newsletter, which, like this blog, is called the Buckman Voice. We’re currently soliciting articles on any topic you think would be of interest to your neighbors. They don’t have to be long; even just a few paragraphs is fine. Examples include: a group or organization you’d like to publicize, a new local business that you think people should know about, a neighborhood cause you’d like to stump for, etc. To pitch us your idea, simply send an e-mail to buckmanboard@googlegroups.com. Articles are due by Thursday, March 8th. You can download PDF versions of past issues of the Buckman Voice from our website: http://www.buckmanpdx.org/newsletter.

Because we hand-deliver copies of the Buckman Voice to every home in the neighborhood, we’re also always on the lookout for volunteers willing to help with the delivery. It’s a great excuse to get out for a stroll and perhaps meet some new neighbors. Volunteers are encouraged to e-mail us at buckmanboard@googlegroups.com.

Questions for our Candidate Forums

We’re in the midst of election season, and the BCA is getting in on the action by hosting candidate forums at our next two monthly meetings. At our March meeting, which will be held on Thursday March 8th, we’ll be inviting the candidates for the two City Council seats to come and take questions from our members. At our April meeting, on Thursday April 12th, we’ll be doing the same with the candidates for mayor. Of course, you’re encouraged to attend both meetings in person, where you can ask questions of the candidates, but if you can’t make it for any reason, you can also submit questions to us via e-mail at buckmanboard@googlegroups.com. You can also feel free to post questions on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groups/50481109906.

Picnic Organizers

We’re 6 months away from our third annual Summer Picnic in the Park, to be held on Sunday, August 5th. We’re looking for volunteers to help with the picnic planning and organizing process. It’s a fun and easy way to get involved in your neighborhood by helping to put on this great event. Interested parties are welcome to e-mail us at buckmanboard@googlegroups.com.

October BCA Meeting: Thursday, 10/12/2011, River’s East Building

Finding a consistent meeting spot for the Buckman Community Association has been a bit of a bugaboo the last year or two, so we apologize for any confusion and/or inconvenience this has caused you. Our goal is always to maintain stability in our meeting locations, to make it easier for people to participate.

The good news is that, starting next month, we’ll be returning to one of our regular locations, Central Catholic High School. For the October meeting, however, we’ll still be at the River’s East Building, our usual summer home. Below are the details:

October
Thursday, October 13th
River’s East Building
Mt. Adams Room, 3rd floor
1515 SE Water Avenue, Portland

Starting in November
Central Catholic High School
2401 SE Stark Street, Portland

As is always the case, meetings are on the second Thursday of every month. The BCA board meets from 6-7pm, followed by the general meeting from 7-9pm.

And here’s the tentative agenda for this month’s meeting:

6pm Board Meeting

• Call to order, review agenda, introductions
• September 2011 meeting minutes review and approval, Secretary Anna Preeble
• Treasurer’s update, Treasurer Adam Zucker
• Update on finding a new meeting location (proposed by board member Khris Soden)
• $46,058 in Neighborhood Small Grants Funds are available (info: http://www.southeastuplift.org/content/neighborhood-small-grants-program)
• Communications Forum update (proposed by Khris Soden)
• Buckman Voice: Deadline for next issue? Content for next issue?

7pm General Meeting

• Introductions
• Portland Police Bureau update
• We hope to have a representative from Portland Streetcar Inc. to talk about fare questions for the Loop
• SE Uplift update from Leah Hyman
• Central Catholic update
• Announcements/new schedule for next meeting

Time & Place for September BCA Meeting

Just a quick update to let you know that September’s Buckman Community Association general meeting will take place this Thursday, September 8th, in the River’s East Building, located at 1515 SE Water Avenue. The meeting will be held from 6-8pm in the Mt. Adams Room, which is located on the 3rd floor. There is free parking available in the building’s parking lot.

The BCA meeting for October is also currently scheduled to be held in the Mt. Adams room, on October 13th at 6pm.

TONIGHT! – Historic Designation Meeting

Tonight is the monthly Buckman Community Association general meeting. This will be a special meeting, as we’ll be turning over the bulk of the agenda to the Buckman Historic Designation Committee to talk about their effort to establish a National Register Historic District in the oldest part of Buckman.

We encourage to join us and learn more about just what it means to own property in a historic district. Speakers will include:

• Ian Johnson, State Historic Preservation Office
• Dave Skilton, Bureau of Development Services
• Liza Mickle, Bureau of Planning
• Art deMuro, Venerable Properties
• Stephen Zylstra, Ladd’s Addition resident
• Cathy Galbraith, from the Architectural Heritage Center/Bosco-Milligan Foundation, will say a few brief words

There will be time for questions from the audience.

The meeting with take place from 7-9pm at Central Catholic High School, located at 2401 SE Stark St. We normally meet in the library at Central Catholic, but due to the size of the planned event, we will be meeting in the cafeteria.

The BCA Board will meet prior to the main meeting, in the main floor conference room at 6pm.

WAMO Meeting Re-Scheduled…again

The meeting scheduled for Thursday, February 24th to discuss the status of the Washington High School community center project has been rescheduled for Monday, February 28th to avoid a conflict with the BCA monthly general meeting on the 24th.

New meeting date/time:
Monday, February 28th
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Commission for the Blind
535 SE 12th Ave

Childcare is available; please request childcare no later than February 18th by e-mailing elizabeth.kennedy-wong(at)portlandoregon(dot)gov.

Soap Box Derby!

In the spirit of community-building, collaboration and FUN, SE Uplift is offering to facilitate a coalition soap box team to enter in the annual August PDX Adult Soap Box Derby at Mt. Tabor Park.

On Monday, January 31st, SE Uplift will host a meeting to explore the feasibility of a SE Uplift Soap Box Derby Team. We need, at minimum, 10 volunteers to commit to involvement between March and August. Expectations and roles will be decided on as a team. SE Uplift will serve as a teammate, organizer and facilitator, as needed – but individual teammate commitment, reliability, and follow-through will determine the fate of the SE Uplift Soap Box Derby team. Other than planning and building meetings (scheduled by the team), teammates will participate in the mid-April registration process, as well as the actual Soap Box Derby itself in mid-August.

If you are unable to attend this meeting but you are interested in participating on the team, please email soapbox(at)southeastuplift(dot)org. For details on the 2010 Derby, view the Racer Packet here.

We look forward to creating, building, toasting and laughing with you!

Meeting: Monday, Jan. 31st, 7-8pm, SE Uplift offices (3534 SE Main St.)

WAMO Status Meeting Re-Scheduled

We posted recently about an upcoming meeting hosted by Portland Parks & Recreation to discuss the status of the Washington High School community center project. We learned this morning that the meeting, originally scheduled for this coming monday, January 17th, has been postponed. Here’s the scoop from PP&R Community Engagement and Public Involvement Manager Elizabeth Kennedy-Wong:

As many of your already realized – Monday is a holiday.  This meeting was intended to coincide with the completion of the Washington High School Community Center Report.  Completion of that report was delayed.  It will be complete and available for public review by Monday, January 24th.

Additionally, PPS will have completed its work on the contracting process and we will have a better sense of how that work may impact this project.

New Meeting Date/Time
Thursday, February 24th
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Location TBD

Childcare is available – please request childcare no later than February 17.

We’ll keep you posted on the meeting location when we’re updated.

Update On Portland Plan

Dear fellow Portlander,

Thank you for your interest and participation in the early phases of the development of the Portland Plan.

As director of the new Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS), I am truly excited about the opportunity to develop a plan that promotes a healthy, prosperous and environmentally sustainable community. A quality plan absolutely must have the involvement of a broad base of Portland residents and businesses. To that end, I am writing you to bring you up to date on the Portland Plan.

The Portland Plan process started two years ago and built on the important work done through visionPDX. Through that effort, an impressive amount of information was gathered. Much of that can be reviewed in the Community Input Summary, which captures 17,000 comments from a wide variety of Portlanders and is available online at http://tinyurl.com/inputsummary. We also developed the Portland Plan Outreach Chronicles to summarize what we heard during the public meetings and summits in May and June 2008 (http://tinyurl.com/outreachchrons).

More recently, Mayor Adams appointed a Community Involvement Committee for the Plan. This committee was formed to help design and monitor the public involvement efforts for the Plan. The committee will met for the first time today, July 8, 2009. In addition, at least two other advisory groups will be established to provide advice on the content of the Portland Plan and Central City Plan. Members for these committees will be drawn from the Mayor’s cabinets and other organizations to evaluate the technical work of staff.

Over the next three months, BPS staff, under the leadership of Chief Planner Joe Zehnder, will provide background information on key trends, conditions and issues facing Portland. This information will be available by mid-August and then be merged with provisional citywide goals and indicators in a Baseline Report due out in September.

Later this fall, Portlanders will be able to roll up their sleeves and work with each other to develop components of the Portland Plan. BPS will hold a series of community workshops where you will be able to discuss key issues and test “what if” scenarios that help describe the characteristics of the Portland you want to see in the future. I hope you will join us at these workshops and bring your neighbors, friends and coworkers to these events. The more people you bring along to participate, the more the Portland Plan will be a true reflection of our community.

As we move forward with the development of the Plan, I will send out quarterly updates and you can visit the BPS website any time for news or information at http://www.portlandonline/portlandplan.com.

So stay tuned, and stay involved. Your participation is essential.

All the best,
Susan Anderson
Director
Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

July 14th Washington HS Meeting Location Changed

The Portland Park Bureau announced today, Friday July 10th, after 5pm that the next Washington High School Community Center Committee meeting scheduled for June 14th, 6pm at Matt Dishman has just been moved to Southeast Uplift, 3534 SE Main St.

The reason for the last minute change was given as lack of meeting space at Dishman.  The meeting will focus on approving project objectives and meeting with the architecture team (SERA), as well as hearing about the public outreach products.  There will be no designs at this early date.  A future 2nd open house for the project is planned for early August.  Date and time will be published as soon as details are finalized.

Oak Basin Sewer Work Delayed to Spring 2009

Environmental Services has designed a series of sewer improvements and stormwater management projects in an area of southeast and northeast Portland known as the Oak Basin (see project area map below). The work will alleviate basement flooding problems, and replace more than 8,000 feet of sewer pipes that are in poor condition. Some sewers in the area are more than 80 years old.  The upgrades will increase sewer system capacity, improve reliability and help control combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to the Willamette River. The work was originally scheduled to start in the summer of 2008, but has now been delayed to spring 2009.  The project will take about 18 months to complete.

The original project included replacing or refurbishing the existing sewer pipe in SE Oak between 18th and 10th.  This included work on Buckman School grounds and at St Francis Parish.  That work has now been pulled from this project and will be rescheduled later.  Included in the future project will be additional Green Street facilities in an area east of the School.

Sewer Construction Techniques

The Oak Basin Sewer Project will require both open-cut trench construction and trenchless techniques to rehabilitate existing sewers. The project also includes construction of a new large interceptor sewer line in SE 10th Avenue and an access shaft at 10th and SE Oak Street to connect the new line to the sewer system. Construction will affect traffic with both travel lane and street closures. The city will provide traffic control updates during all phases of construction.

Sustainable Stormwater Management– Green Street facilities

The Oak Basin Sewer Project includes construction of several Green Street facilities along SE Ankeny Street between SE 16th and 20th avenues. Green Streets are vegetated curb extensions or streetside planters that collect stormwater runoff from the street and keep it from flowing into the combined sewer system. Green Streets slow stormwater flow and allow water to soak into the ground as soil and vegetation filter pollutants. This sustainable stormwater management technique treats stormwater at the site, protects water quality and helps replenish groundwater supplies.

Coordination with Burnside – Couch Project

The City of Portland Office of Transportation (PDOT) is designing roadway improvements for the Lower East Burnside and Couch Reconfiguration Project. Environmental Services is coordinating with PDOT to complete sewer construction in the PDOT project area before road construction begins.
For More Information

Call David Allred at 503-823-7287 for additional information or to arrange a presentation for your organization or business. To receive email updates, send your email address to david.allred@bes.ci.portland.or.us. Learn more about the Environmental Services Sustainable Stormwater Program at www.portlandonline.com/sustainablestormwater.

David will also be giving a presentation and be available to answer your questions at the November 13th general meeting at Buckman School.

Amanda Fritz at Historic Association Meeting

City Council candidate Amanda Fritz is coming to speak and hear Portland’s neighborhood concerns Monday, October 13th at the monthly meeting of the Buckman Historic Association.  Come hear her at 7 pm and then stay to find out more about the Association.

The Buckman Historic Association is forming a cross-neighborhood coalition to address development policies in support of sustainable neighborhood growth, preservation of existing historic neighborhood character and livability, creation of walkable and green neighborhoods, compensation of increased density with neighborhood amenities, enforcement of development policies, and more.

The meeting will be held at Hinson Memorial Baptist Church, SE 20th & Salmon St.

Janus Youth property at SE 16th & Morrison

Male youth offenders currently housed in Tigard will be moved into the Janus property at 16th and Morrison for approximately 4 months while their Tigard facility is being remodeled.

Persons with questions and concerns should contact Janus Youth at 503-233-6090 and attend the October 9th BCA Meeting where the Executive Director, Dennis Morrow of Janus will be there to answer your questions.

Zoning Changes Being Considered On Hawthorne

The Portland Planning Bureau is working on a project to look at non-conforming commercial uses along Hawthorne Boulevard to consider changing the zoning to Storefront Commercial (CS), consistent with the current building uses and the commercial zoning along other parts of Hawthorne Boulevard.  18 properties between SE 15th and 34th Avenue have been identified that have existing commercial uses with multi-dwelling (R1) residential zoning.  These uses are non-conforming, which can make it difficult for property owners to expand existing businesses and prohibits new businesses from being created in new developments.

The Planning Bureau has initiated a study to consider changing the Comprehensive Plan Map and zoning to bring the zoning into conformance with the commercial uses. One of the key factors is determining if the zone change will have any significant adverse impacts to the transportation system.  Although the CS zone has the same maximum building height (45 feet), it can enable larger mixed-use buildings with more units than the R1 zone.  Therefore, this study will include a traffic impact analysis to determine the potential impact to the signalized intersections along Hawthorne Boulevard.  Tom Armstrong from the Planning Bureau will be at the October 9th general meeting to discuss this study.

Once the traffic impact analysis is completed, there will be a community meeting in late October or early November to discuss the findings and decide whether or not to proceed with the proposed zone changes.  For more information, contact Tom Armstrong, Planning Bureau, 503-823-9140 or tom.armstrong@ci.portland.or.us.

The BCA has some distinct questions and concerns about these proposed changes that go beyond the City’s interest in creating a more dense urban landscape and the Hawthorne property owners desire to redevelop their lots. Any new development under these changes could not only increase traffic but would also triple at least the density of the properties and there is be no required parking called for in the plan as Hawthorne is a transportation street. For those Buckman residents on Hawthorne, Madison and Main, this proposal may have some significant impacts both positive and negative.  We will discuss this proposal at the upcoming BCA land use meeting on Sept. 25th in preparation to the City’s presentation in October.