Author Archives: King Neighborhood Association

Safety & Livability Update for our ‘hood.

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Celeste Carey, neighborhood crime prevention specialist for King and surrounded n’hoods, writes us:  “Starting in September, I will present the concept of Livability Teams to Neighborhood Associations, Neighborhood Watches and Foot Patrols, informal neighbor groups and the NECN Safety & Livability Team. Community members will organize to report and remove graffiti, remove litter, observe and report other issues in the area related to crime, safety and livability. Teams can volunteer for projects, for a few hours, for specific tasks, and supervised youth are welcome too. Stay tuned, or if you’re really interested, call me, your friendly neighborhood Crime Prevention Coordinator, for more information at 503-823-4764.”

The city’s 2012 Gun Turn-in will be next Saturday, August 18th, from 10 am to 2 pm, at Memorial Coliseum. The reward for a turned-in gun is a gift certificate to Fred Meyer. For more info, get in touch with the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation at 503-220-1669.

Do you know a corner that needs a streetlight? Here’s how you can get the city to install one – http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/192894. Neighbors are required to ante up $500 to help pay for the light, and form a neighborhood watch.

At this past Wednesday’s King NA meeting, we voted to write a letter to the manager of the MLK Safeway, asking for vigilance on the part of store staff in keeping the parking lot and surrounding grounds clean. If you have ideas about how we can keep our neighborhood clean, and partners who can help us do it, please let us know.

In case you didn’t catch this, here’s a video of the M.O.M.S. walkers coming across a police stop of youth in an automobile, along MLK, as filmed by a member of Portland Copwatch.

 

KNA meeting agenda, for this Wednesday evening, & upcoming events

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Here’s what King NA will be talking about on this Wednesday evening:

 

  • Crime, safety, and policing in our neighborhood
  • Enrollment balancing and school reconfiguration and possible closings – Trace Salmon, King School PTA
  • KNA elections (in September), by-laws, and decision-making process
  • A request for sponsorship of the MLK Loaves & Fishes jambalaya fundraiser in September
  • Continued groundskeeping work at the King Facility
  • Neighborhood events! KNA’s movie in the park; the Two Plum Park potluck; and the Block Party at 10th & Mason

We meet at NECN’s office, 4815 NE 7th, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

 

Events of note, coming up this month:

— August 7: National Night Out.

— August 11: Alberta Street Fair.

— August 12: Salad potluck at Two Plum Park, beginning at 4 pm.

— August 18: Vernon’s Movie in the Park at Alberta Park – “Super Eight.”

— August 20: NECN’s land use and safety/livability committees host a joint meeting on Coal export terminals in the PNW, from 6:30 to 8.

— August 23: Outside taco dinner sale at Whole Foods, 15th & Fremont, from 5-7 pm. Proceeds benefit the Northeast Backpack Lunch Program.

— August 24: ReRun’s movie in the parking lot, at dusk.

— August 25; Block Party at 10th & Mason.

 

See you Wednesday eve!

Jefferson Cluster school reps, NECN to address school boundary changes

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Two meetings this week will delve into the long-term changes planned for the schools in North and Northeast Portland that lie within Portland Public Schools’ Jefferson Middle College dual-enrollment zones. Although Jefferson was converted from a neighborhood comprehensive to a middle college focus program in the high school redesign, PPS administers this area separately from the neighborhood high school areas.

At issue is the wide variance in enrollment between various K-5 and K-8 schools in this area. PPS has already closed Humboldt School and Tubman Young Women’s Learning Academy this spring. PPS seeks to resolve the issue of persistent low enrollment at King School and Ockley Green schools while possibly changing some school configurations from K-8 to K-5 and/or creating a new middle school. King’s enrollment of 285 is far short of the district’s goal of 500. PPS also does not project any growth in the PPS student population in King.

On Wednesday July 25th, from 6-8 pm at the King Neighborhood Facility will be thhe enrollment balancing planning meeting. Director of Enrollment and Transfer at PPS, Judy Brennan, will meet with school community members to discuss the public outreach process and identify stakeholder groups in the reconfiguration process. Light dinner and child care will be provided.

The purpose of the meeting is for District staff to share information about enrollment challenges and opportunities at schools in the Jefferson Cluster, and to receive advice from community members on conducting a respectful and productive community process around these issues/opportunities this fall. The overall goal is to have recommendations for School Board action by winter that will be implemented in September 2013.

More than 20 parents and community members representing numerous schools, partner agencies, and neighborhood representatives have been invited to participate.

On Thursday, July 26th, from 6:30-8pm, the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods’ Schools Committee will meet at the King Facility as well. This meeting will follow up on the discussion of the previous night. Special guests will include Rep. Lew Frederick and his staffer and former school board member, Sue Hagmeier, for a discussion about how to support inner North and Northeast Portland’s neighborhood schools.

Wanted: Community members for Metro review committee

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Metro is seeking volunteers to serve on the agency’s new Public Engagement Review Committee (PERC). The committee will meet twice a year and serve as a key component of Metro’s ongoing efforts to develop and implement successful public engagement processes.

The PERC will include at least three at-large community members along with three individuals from local community organizations, either staff or board members. The committee will also include a public involvement staff member from each of the three metropolitan counties, Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington.

In selecting PERC members, the Metro Council will seek a mix of members that demonstrate:
• a commitment to community involvement
• skills, knowledge or experience that support the public engagement principles adopted by Metro
• an ability to represent the geographic and demographic diversity of the region.

The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. For more information, visit www.oregonmetro.gov/engage.

The PERC is part of a multi-track strategy to ensure that Metro’s public involvement is effective, reaches diverse audiences and harnesses emerging best practices. In addition to the committee, Metro will convene public involvement peer group learning sessions, hold an annual stakeholder summit, conduct online surveys and develop an annual report of Metro’s public involvement practices.

The updated public engagement review process was adopted by the Metro Council in May following a two-year process to replace the Metro Committee for Citizen Involvement that previously oversaw the agency’s public engagement activity.

Metro, the regional government, crosses city limits and county lines to build a resilient economy, keep nature close by and respond to a changing climate. Representing a diverse population of 1.5 million people in 25 cities and three counties, Metro’s directly elected council gives voters a voice in decisions about how the region grows and communities prosper.