Friends of Last Thursday will convene a meeting of its various subcommittees and Steering Committee this Thursday, April 21st beginning at 6:00 pm. The Kennedy School Community Room will be the venue. Participation is open to all. FoLT is seeking volunteers to fill out its many open committee assignments.
Category Archives: Alberta Street
Take the Alberta Street Survey
From Alberta Main Street:
Catlin Gabel high school’s urban studies class, part of the PLACE (Planning and Leadership Across City Environments) program is working with Alberta Main Street to inform future improvements to our district. Please take a minute to take their survey!
Here is the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7ZYJRPT
Also: So far we have over 60 people of all ages signed up to help with the Alberta Street clean up from 10-2 PM on Saturday April 23rd but there is still room for more! All of the details and the pre-registration form are on our website http://www.albertamainst.org/whats-happening/. In addition to the clean up, we’ll be having lunch by the Burgers or Bust Cafe, the debut of the Art on Alberta Mobile Gallery, now known as Red Rover, the 1st annual Golden Garbage Awards and the raffia cutting ceremony in front of our garbage can prototype! It’s going to be a great day and hopefully make a dent in the garbage and graffiti on Alberta Street.
Mailing address: 1526 NE Alberta Street, #205 | Portland, OR 97211
Office address: 2828 NE Alberta Street | Portland, OR 97211
www.albertamainst.org
Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/albertamainstreetFollow @albertastreet on Twitter
SALT Committee to Discuss FoLT Agreement
The new community leadership organization (Friends of Last Thursday, or FoLT) which seeks to lead the planning of Last Thursday with city mentorship is seeking community members to serve on its steering committee. Last week FoLT distributed an agreement for prospective members to sign indicating that they are supporters of the event and will work to keep it going without additional regulation. A number of community members have expressed concerns that the bar for participating with FoLT in an oversight role as laid out in the agreement is too high.
The FoLT steering committee is apparently down to six members at present, after two of them, Bill Leissner and Jeanne Giles, were removed due to their refusal to sign the agreement. Mr. Leissner said in an email that he and Jeanne were the most outspoken members concerning neighborhood impacts and that he understands that the Community Impact Committee has been eliminated. There will be a discussion of Last Thursday issues at the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods’ SALT (Safety and Livability Team) meeting tonight, Monday April 18th, 6:30 pm at NECN, 4815 NE 7th avenue.
View the calendar announcement here.
Read the Friends of Last Thursday agreement here.
Mayor Adams Pledges City Help for Last Thursday, Neighborhoods
Along with Commissioner Fritz, Mayor Sam Adams sent his own letter to KNA regarding the city’s policy with regards to Last Thursday. The two letters, which arrived in close succession, present a window into a strategic city policy that aims to avoid having the city take sides. The city, those who put on Last Thursday, and the people who enjoy Last Thursday’s unique flavor would like the festival to continue to play it’s role in keeping Portland weird.
Toward the end of giving Last Thursday non-city governance, Friends of Last Thursday is an organization being formed with help from the city to make the event resolve its issues while still being of the community. The city is establishing its own Last Thursday Coordinating Team consisting of representatives from Friends of Last Thursday, members of Mayor Adams’ and Commissioner Fritz’s staff, and an event coordinator who will be a paid city employee.
The mayor pledged that all city agencies will work together to make sure the event meets expectations for safety and livability. He states that the city is developing new procedures to ensure enforcement of parking and fire safety regulations.
A “Global Good Neighborhood Bar Agreement” is being developed to deal with impacts that result from the high concentration of liquor licenses on Alberta and other streets in the residential neighborhoods. He promises that the city will work closely with the OLCC to with alcohol issues.
Finally, the four affected neighborhood associations are asked to join the governing board of Friends of Last Thursday by selecting a delegate to the Steering Committee. The KNA eagerly awaits the coalescence of an organization able to fully address neighbors’ concerns about this monthly festival.
Commissioner Fritz Touts FoLT as Progress Toward KNA’s Concerns
Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz sent a reply to the King Neighborhood Association’s request for better governance and oversight of the monthly Last Thursday street fair. Ms. Fritz acknowledged the ongoing concerns yet pointed to recent efforts to develop a nascent, all-volunteer, Friends of Last Thursday, as well as a collective agreement between the city and district bar owners as mitigating neighborhood concerns.
It is clearly the city’s position that Last Thursday is overwhelmingly popular and should be interfered with as little as possible. Indeed, when the event draws over 10,000 visitors in a summer month’s evening, it cannot be said that it is unpopular overall. Attendees on those nights likely outnumber the entire population of King and certainly the population in the high impact areas along Alberta in King, Vernon, Sabin, and Concordia. The letter directs those who would have a say in Last Thursday to participate in the steering committees under a community governance model.
She said that the city will continue to enforce the laws with regards to safety and livability and that if problems were to continue, an earlier event end time should be considered. Managers of the event should deal with trash issues and the OLCC should deal with alcohol-related concerns.