Testifying as to who the LNLA is. Below is the testimony I intend to read in front of City Council.

Please come out and support us.

My name is David Potts and I am the President of the Lents Neighborhood Livability Association, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH the City funded, city recognized Neighborhood Association.  We are a 501(c) 3 whose mission is to serve, engage and inform the citizens of Lents. A big difference between us and the City recognized neighborhood association is that we are financially self-supporting.  The LNA uses its taxpayer money to fund board members private business, social enterprises and pet projects, $2,000 at a time.

Since our inception in September 2017 we have been accused of being NIMBYS and violent towards the homeless population.  We are just the opposite.  We have helped people by taking them to the emergency rooms, talked to them as people and recently assisted a homeless person navigate the registration process and got him into services.

Our first project was a cleanup around the Oliver P. Lents grade school.  Our first and last city grant was for a neighborhood cleanup which wasn’t reimbursed to us until a year and a half later.

We have helped several neighbors in Lents remain in their homes by doing minor as well as MAJOR repairs such as rehabbing an entire kitchen that was infested with rats.  We removed the remains of a neighbor’s burnt down garage, which had been set on fire twice by squatters. She subsequently received code violation letters from BDS and the fire department, and through our assistance avoided being fined.

We built entry stairs for another couple, helped do yard work & interior painting for Portland Homeless Family Solutions (PHFS), spent days clearing the brush and weeds from the Lents Monument, helped paint one woman’s house who could not afford to hire a professional painter. We regularly partner with a local church’s Neighbor to Neighbor program.  Many of their care receivers are referred to them by the Bureau of Development Services due to code violations.  The model is to build a rapport with and give ongoing assistance to the homeowner so that BDS will remove them from their violation list.

We have provided Thanksgiving dinners to needy families for the last two years.   The first year we provided 22 families with turkeys.  Last year we provided 25 families with entire meals.  This year we will provide 50 families with entire meals.

We regularly work with law enforcement, Central City Concern and Rapid Response to report criminal activity, arrange for wellness checks and haul off bags of trash we collect while cleaning the streets and alleys in our neighborhood.

Thank you for listening and I hope you have a better understanding of who we are.  If you are ever interested to find out more about us please feel free to join us at one of our events or our annual community potluck Christmas Party on December 12th .   We would like to be part of making Portland a better place to live.