City to Hold Spirit of Portland Award Event at Center for the Performing Arts

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newmarkpic2The popular Spirit of Portland Award Ceremony will be held at the prestigious Portland Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA) this year. It will be held Thursday, Nov. 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. City officials have chosen the new evening time so more people can attend.

The event, which usually draws a standing‐room‐only crowd of supporters and well wishers to the Council Chambers at City Hall, will be held in the Newmark Theatre, one of the PCPA’s three theatres. The new venue was selected to comfortably seat everyone who wishes to attend. A reception with cake and beverages in the spacious lobby will follow.
The PCPA is sponsoring this year’s celebration of Portland’s finest and has generously donated the use of their facility. The Newmark Theatre is located downtown, inside Antoinette Hatfield Hall, 1111 SW Broadway at the Main Street intersection.
Celebrated since 1985, the Spirit of Portland ceremony is an important way the city recognizes those who make a positive difference in our community. Please send in your nominations if you know the perfect candidate to receive this honored award. All nominations are due at the Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI) office by 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18.

Nomination forms are available at ONI, Room 110 at City Hall, 1221 SW Fourth Ave or at any of the seven neighborhood district coalition offices. Forms can also be downloaded from the web at Spirit of Portland 2009.
Phone: 503-823-4519 • Fax: 503-823-3050 • www.portlandonline.com/oni
The Council passed a resolution last year creating the Commissioner’s Spirit of Portland Award. Now the Mayor and each commissioner can select one individual and one group for recognition.
The public can nominate in the following categories: Emergency Preparedness; Public Involvement (city staff or community member); Community Policing/Public Safety (city staff or community member); Humanitarian; Independent Spirit; Community Harmony; Large Business;
Small Business; New/Emerging Community Leader (person or group); Business Association; Non‐Profit Organization; Neighborhood; Outstanding Partnership; Employee Volunteer; and
Youth Volunteer.
New categories this year are Business Association of the Year and New/Emerging Community Leader.
Winners in the above awards are chosen by a Selection Committee made up of representatives from the Mayor’s and City Commissioner’s offices, the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, the Neighborhood District Coalition offices, Business Associations, non‐profit community organizations and past award winners.
The PCPA is a premier arts and entertainment venue in the Pacific Northwest. Nationally recognized as one of the top 10 performing arts centers in the nation, the PCPA hosts more than 900 performances and events each year.
Its 880‐seat Newmark Theatre was designed to emulate the Edwardian‐style theaters of Europe. Home to a variety of productions, this theater is refined and elegant, providing an intimate theatrical experiences with no seat further than 65 feet from the stage. The theatre is fully ADA compliant with wheelchair seating and assisted listening devices.
The ArtBar, restaurant in the PCPA complex, will be open for those who would like to have dinner at the theatre before the awards ceremony.

I-5 Columbia River Crossing Wants Your Thoughts on Tolling and Traffic

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CRCThe CRC is a long-term, comprehensive transportation project that will replace the aging Interstate 5 bridge, extend light rail to Clark College in Vancouver, improve seven highway interchanges and include a better pathway for bikes and pedestrians. The project will be funded by federal and state governments, as well as from tolls.

Tolling will also help manage traffic congestion by improving travel speed and reliability for drivers. Tolls will be collected electronically to avoid the need for toll booths and to keep traffic moving.

The project’s Tolling Study Committee wants to hear from you. How should we use tolling to help fund the project in a way that is best for taxpayers, users of the bridge, and nearby communities? Your input will be provided to the Oregon and Washington legislatures in January 2010.

Learn more at http://tolling.columbiarivercrossing.org and share your feedback in the following ways:

Survey

Take a five-minute Web survey at http://survey.columbiarivercrossing.org.

Tolling Study Committee

The Tolling Study Committee includes the chairs of the Oregon and Washington transportation commissions and the directors of each state’s department of transportation. The public is invited to the committee’s October meeting to learn early results of the online survey and provide comments. Meeting details will be posted online once they are available: http://tolling.columbiarivercrossing.org.

NE Swap and Play Finds a Home

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Northeast Family CooperativeKing resident Maggie Bermingham has secured a space for her new swap-and-play near NE Alberta Street in part of the former Victory Outreach Church building. The non-profit will provide a play space and an exchange for children’s clothes and other items. Parents will purchase memberships and will be able to drop in during open hours. The organization is officially known as the Northeast Family Cooperative (or NE Family Co-op is fine) and the space will be referred to as the Swap and Play Cafe, 4932 NE 30th, 97211 (half block from Alberta).

The Co-op will start enrolling members starting Sept. 15th and the cafe will be open Oct. 1st. There will be open house hours in October so people can stop by and check it out. The open house hours will be listed on the website which should go live very soon. Website address is www.nefamilycoop.wordpress.com
Until that time, people can email questions or comments to nefamilycoop@gmail.com

PDC’s N/NE Economic Develpment Initiative Raises Doubts

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Via the Sentinel:

Mistrust, doubt unleashed by N/NE urban renewal
Submitted by Sentinel News Service on Wed, 09/02/2009 – 3:45pm.

“I’m not sure the PDC has the guts to change what’s going on,” said James Poise, owner of the E-Mat Cafe on Northeast MLK Jr. Boulevard. Posey, one of Northeast Portland’s longtime African American residents, stands before a packed room at the Elks Lodge on North Tillamook Street. It’s a sweltering night in August, and over 50 residents have turned out to give the Portland Development Commission a piece of their minds.

“We got nice bike paths, but right down the street we have people living on the streets,” Posey continues. “The priorities are all screwed up.”
One after the other, residents tell the same story: Decades before, urban renewal bulldozed the heart out of this once predominantly African American neighborhood and left only vacant lots and abandoned buildings in its wake. Recently, investment has come, but many longtime black residents don’t see their lot in life improving.

“I’m wondering what PDC is really doing for the neighborhood,” Adron Hampton wondered. “I don’t see a thing done in this community.”

Since last December, the PDC has been considering consolidating or modifying the two vast urban renewal districts that cover North and inner Northeast Portland. Together, the Interstate Corridor and Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Areas (ICURA and OCCURA) comprise some 3,769 acres. This year those zones will set aside approximately $47 million in neighborhood tax dollars for regional and local improvement projects.

On Aug. 19, the first of 11 citizen advisory meetings convened to discuss just how to divide, expand or extend the city’s urban renewal areas in this huge swath of territory.

Read the full story at:http://www.portlandsentinel.com/?q=node/5095

http://www.pdc.us/four/nnestudy/default.asp

Community Building Donations Accepted on NECN Website

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The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods is pleased to announce that we now have increased our capacity to accept donations for multiple community building efforts in North and Northeast Portland Neighborhoods.

Visit www.necoalition.org and click on “Donate to the NECN”.

You will find a donation page with a few options to donate to NECN General Fund, Community Building Fund, FoodShare Fund Northeast, as well as any one of our fiscal-sponsored projects including:
o Blue Door Project, neighbors helping neighbors
o CHOMPER, a entrepreneurship program connecting youth and farms
o Good in the Neighborhood Multicultural Music and Food Festival
o Kukatonan Childrens’ African Dance Troupe
o Next Generation of Leaders, youth leadership program
o Northeast Family Cooperative
o Northeast Portland Tool Library

There are two ways to donate:
1. Use the donation form that can be printed out and mailed in with a check. Simply follow the instructions on the form.
2. Use the donate button to contribute by credit card through our PayPal account.

Upon receipt, the donor will receive a big THANK YOU and the donation will be directed to the appropriate account, fund, association or project.

Please check this out and let us know how it works for you or others. We are always interested to learn how we may be able to improve the donation process.

We look forward to increasing the funds available to support our shared efforts to build more livable neighborhoods in our community.

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,
Paige S. Coleman, Masters of Sustainable Business Administration
Executive Director
Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods
4815 Northeast Seventh Avenue, Portland, OR, 97211
503-823-4575 main office
503-823-3151 direct line
503-823-3150 fax
paige@necoalition.org
www.necoalition.org
Building livable communities since 1974