LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
Date October 8, 2020
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Penny Wilson (Vice President) Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Bob Field, Doug Morrow, Moe Murphy, Amanda Johnson, Ed Marihart, Todd Littlefield, Doug Bertsen, David Ashton, Neola Larsen
Guests: Suzanne Hayden - Counsel to US Attorney Billy Williams, on Community Engagement & Strategic Enforcement and Erica Hurley – PPB Commander
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Vice President Penny Wilson
o Announcements: WestRock Cleanup – October 10, 2020 at 7:30 AM
SEE VIDEO FOR REMAINDER OF MEETING NOTES
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary October 9, 2020
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
Date August 13, 2020
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Penny Wilson (Vice Chair) Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Marilyn Thomas, Pete Thomas, Mary Oxford, Doug Morrow, Moe Murphy, Jo Jennings, Bill Bates, David Powell, Ed Marihart, Cynthia Lang, Donald Johnson, McKenzie Mills, Joel Rebik
Guest Speakers:
Rich Thallheimer – PBOT Inspection Officer Parking Enforcement
Lance Hamel – President of Rapid Response & Nick Schaefer – Supervisor of Cleanup Crew
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Vice President Penny Wilson
Announcements:
WestRock Cleanups – Every Saturday from 7:30-8:30 AM – 6328 SE 100th Avenue, Portland, OR 97266 - Please check Facebook or Website for date & time – subject to change depending on weather
Support Rally – Saturday August 15th at 3:30 PM – East Precinct - 737 SE 106th Avenue, Portland, OR 97216
Unscheduled Cleanup – 97th & Glenwood - Please check Facebook or Website for date, time and more information on this event
SEE VIDEO FOR REMAINDER OF MEETING NOTES
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie August 22, 2020
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
Date July 9, 2020
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Penny Wilson, (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Pete Thomas, Cindy Lang, Don Johnson, Bob Field, Moe Murphy, Doug Morrow, Doug Armstrong. Neola Larsen, David Ashton, Bill Bates, David Powell, Jo Jennings, Ed Marihart
Guest: Deputy Chief Chris Davis, Portland Police Department, Tremaine Clayton, Community Healthcare Assessment, Team Coordinator at Portland Fire & Rescue | Portland Street Response, Raven Russell, Director of Data & Major Project – Helping Hands Reentry Outreach Centers - Bybee Lakes Hope Center
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
§ WestRock Cleanups – July 11, 2020 at 7:00 AM
§ SOLVE Cleanup – July 11, 2020 at 10:00 AM
SEE VIDEO FOR REMAINDER OF MEETING NOTES
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary July 17, 2020.
OUR MARCH 12TH MEETING WAS CANCELLED DUE TO THE WARNINGS OF THE CORONAVIRUS
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
February 13, 2020
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Penny Wilson (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Alex Migdol, Bev Enders, Bob Field, Brian Jeanseau, Carol Rasey, Claire Irvan, Cynthia Lang, David Oberston, DJ Antlitz, Dominque Lewis, Don Rasey, Donald Johnson, Doug Morrow, Ed Marihart, Jim Barnhart, Juanita Swartwood, Kathi Gibson, Ken Rueck, Lance Hamel, Marilyn Thomas, Marionette, Mark Reynolds, Mark White, Moe Murphy, Nancy Tannler, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Pete Thomas, Richard Christman, Samantha Hamel, Tracy Braun
Guest Speakers: Margaret Ott – Recruiting Assistant at U.S. Census Bureau, Matt McNally – Hardesty’s Community Outreach Coordinator, Kristin Johnson Hardesty’s Financial Policy Advisor, Tremaine Clayton, Portland Fire & Rescue, Bob Cozzie, Director of Bureau of Emergency Communications, Greg Townley, Portland State University - Portland Street Response, Raven Russell - Director of Data & Major Projects - Bybee Lakes Hope Center
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
§ Barb Stuva – accident and update - attached
§ WestRock Cleanups – Please check Facebook or Website for date & time – subject to change depending on weather
§ N2N – Saturday from 8:15 AM – 12:00 PM
§ Monthly Breakfast – American Legion Hall - 8329 SE 89th Ave, Portland, OR 97266 – 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM – supports the VFW
SEE VIDEO FOR REMAINDER OF MEETING MINUTES AND NOTES REGARDING ARTICLE ON BARB STUVA & PORTLAND STREET RESPONSE
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8i:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie February 20, 2020
This is the beginning of our meeting. Thanks to Hans Ogren for providing this portion of the meeting with video.
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
Date January 9, 2020
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Penny Wilson (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Alyssum "Aly" Gilbert, Betty Manning, Bev Herman, Bob Field, Brian Jeanseau, Cynthia Lang, David Ashton, Donald Johnson, Edith Starling, Fox Guenther, Ken Herman, Linda Konevitch, Marilyn Thomas, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Pete Thomas, Richard Christman, Zeke Guenther, Richard Kiely, Barbara Kerfoot, Laura Kealiher, David Nelson, Haley Adams, Allen Field, Claire Colsky, Dennis Hopkins, John Doe, Kevin Richardson, Kelly Meck, James O'Ryan, Nick Lee, Henry Woodson, Mark White, Pat Kimbrough, John, Joan Lager
GUEST SPEAKERS: Jack Kerfoot – candidate for City Council Position 4, – Mingus Mapps - candidate for City Council Position 4, Alyssa Vinsonhaler - candidate for City Council Position 4
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
Weekly WestRock Cleanups – Weekly Cleanups - Please check Facebook or Website for date & time – subject to change depending on weather
N2N – Saturday January 11 from 8:15 AM – 12:00 PM
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266Monthly Breakfast – American Legion Hall – Sunday January 19, 2020 at 8:30 AM 8329 SE 89th Ave, Portland, OR 97266
***SEE VIDEO FOR AUDIO RECORDING***
Our Camera Man had some minor difficulties with the camera - THANK YOU Hans Ogren for sharing the audio recording with us.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie January 14, 2020
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
Date November 14, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Robert Santangelo (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Betty Manning, Bev Enders, Bob Field, Bonnie Kittleson, Cynthia Lang, Doug Morrow, Moe Murphy, Penny Wilson, Renee' Dutton, Linda Konevitch, Stuart Schmaltz and DJ Antlitz
Guest: Sharon Meigh-Chang, PTA Clothes Closet, Jackee Duvall, PTA Student Aid and Tashia Hager, PPB Commander of East Precinct
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
WestRock – November 16, 23 & 30 at 8:00 AM – 9935 SE Woodstock (SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO WEATHER)
VFW Monthly Breakfast – November 17th at 9:00 AM - American Legion Hall - 8329 SE 89th Avenue
REMINDER –PACKING BOXES & DELIVERING THANKSGIVING DINNERS ON THURSDAY NOVEMBER 26TH @ 9:00 AM TO EVENING – MEET HERE IN THE COFFEE HOUSE
Sharon Meigh-Chang – PTA Clothes Closet
It was founded in 1964 because of two boys who would come to school every other day. When asked it was disclosed that the father couldn’t afford two pairs of shoes so the boys had to share one pair of shoes between them. (see attached flyer for more details)
Jackee Duval – PTA Student Aid
They are able to provide eye glass, hearing aids, hearing aid batteries as well as emergency bus passes among other things. (for more information see attached information sheet)
Commander Tashia Hager – PPB East Precinct
Been in East Precinct since February - 25-year veteran
Police are short staffed between 100-130 officers. That’s over a 10% reduction in staffing bureau wide. There will be another reduction coming between August and January this next year. This impacts our timeliness for service. There are barely enough officers to answer the radio calls. If an incident can be reported on line please use the on-line reporting system. https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/cor/ Because of the understaffing it may take several hours before a police officer can come out in person and take down you police report. As far as crime goes in East Portland – many times our data is not reflected accurately because many people don’t report crimes. You can access our website to see the recent crime statistics https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/71978 Please take these numbers with a grain of salt because there are several crimes that are not reported. Historically we had 5 precinct and we are now down to 3. We had a Southeast Precinct over on 47th & Burnside and a St. Johns Precinct both have been shut down. East Precinct is about 36 square miles with a population of around 225,000. Right now there are 125 officers that work 24 hours a day 7 days a week trying to provide services to that number of people.
Open to question and answer – for those comments please watch the video.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie, November 18, 2019
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
OCTOBER 10, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Robert Santangelo (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Betty Manning, Bonnie Kittleson, Kathi Gibson, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Renee’ Dutton, Marilyn Thomas, Pete Thomas, Linda Korevitch, Richard Christman, Juanita Swartwood and Edith Starling
Guest: Shannon Conley with the Law Offices of Nay & Friendenberg to discuss Wills & Estate; Bandana Shrestha with AARP to discuss their programs available to the elderly, Luba with Plenty Food & Deli and Bryan Smith our latest addition to East Precinct Parole & Probation Office
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
N2N – October 12th at 8:15 AM – 10603 SE Henderson Street
WestRock – October 5, 13, 19 & 26 at 8:00 AM – 9935 SE Woodstock (SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO WEATHER)
VFW Monthly Breakfast – October 20th at 9:00 AM - American Legion Hall - 8329 SE 89th Avenue
See video OF MEETING ABOVE for remainder of meeting minutes.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary October 18, 2019
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Robert Santangelo (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Bev Herman, Bob Field, Craig Rogers, Doug Morrow, Edith Starling, Erik Benson, Fox Guenther, Juanita Swartwood, Ken Herman, Kristy Benson, Lara Storke-Bosch, Mary Oxford, Michael Bosch, Moe Murphy, Neola Larsen, Pat Kimbrough, Renee' Dutton, Zeke Guenther
Guest Speakers: Daryl Turner, President of the Portland Police Association, Angela Orr, Director of Communications for the Portland Police Association and Chris Davis, Assistant Chief of the Operations Branch, Portland Police
Special Appearance: Captain Craig Dobson, PPB Officers Jonathan Kizzar, Hank Hays, Robert Brown, Matt Bigoni
Media: Andrew Bisser – KOIN TV
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
N2N – Sept 14 at 8:15 AM – 10603 SE Henderson Street
WestRock – Sept 15, 21 & 28 at 7:30 AM– 9935 SE Woodstock Court
VFW Breakfast – Sept 15 at 9:00 AM – American Legion Hall - 8329 SE 89th Avenue
See video OF MEETING ABOVE for remainder of meeting minutes.
Help support this idea of using Wapato as a viable solution to the people living on our streets. Write the city and county commissioners.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie, September 14, 2019
Members of the Lents Neighborhood Livability Association met Thursday night to discuss homelessness and heard Daryl Turner of the Portland Police Association talk about using the vacant Wapato facility
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
August 8, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Robert Santangelo (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Betty Manning, Bev Herman, Brian Jeanseau, Carol Rasey, Cynthia Lang, Don Rasey, Doug Morrow, Ken Herman, Moe Murphy, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Renee' Dutton, Robert Schultz, Marilyn Thomas, Pete Thomas, Linda Konevitch, Tracy Braun, Laurie Hansley
Guest: Sherri Devlin – Multnomah County Aging and Disability
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
Get Well Card for Officer Ryan Mele
N2N – August 10th at 8:15 – 10603 SE Henderson Street
WestRock – August 11, 17, 25 & 31 – 9935 SE Woodstock Court – varying times – check calendar on website
Lents Fair – August 11 – 92nd & Harold – 11:00 – 4:00 PM
Sunday Walks – August 11, 18, 25 – various locations & times depending on weather – check calendar on website
Johnson Creek Cleanup – in partnership with Johnson Creek Watershed Council – 6201 SE Overland Street - 8:00 AM
VFW Breakfast – August 18th at 9:00 AM – American Legion Hall - 8329 SE 89th Avenue
See video for remainder of meeting minutes.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie on August 15, 2019
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
July 11, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Robert Santangelo (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Bev Herman, Brian Jeanseau, Cliff Whitmore, Cynthia Lang, Doug Morrow, Frank Miley, Joel Rebik, Julie Whitmore, Ken Herman, Moe Murphy, Penny Wilson, Renee' Dutton, Tina Knell, Sharon Vachal, Jo Jennings
Guest: NO GUEST SPEAKERS
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Ideas & thoughts:
1) Attending City & Council meetings
2) Walking every Sunday
3) Create cards or sheets that have key call numbers (something larger than a business card) –
Post-paid reply card? – magnet strip on the back?
4) Update of markings on roadway for bikes from Scott Baston with PBOT
5) Reporter looking for neighbors who live near Pickles for input
6) Vote to order 10 more safety vests
Benefits to current meeting place:
Parking
Running water
Restrooms
Full Kitchen
Conflicts with old location:
Church holding meetings there and wanting facility the same evening as our meetings
Remodeled room and changed locks not sharing with KingPins
Interrupted meetings waiting for us to leave
Lack of parking
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie July 20, 2019
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
June 13, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Robert Santangelo (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Bob Field, Brian Jeanseau, Cathleen Casey, Carmelina Wills, Cliff Whitmore, Doug Morrow, Frank Miley, Julie Whitmore, Marilyn Thomas, Moe Murphy, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Pete Thomas, Renee' Dutton
Guest Speaker: Karen Quinn-Andrus, Community Relations Officer, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
o Announcements:
WestRock Cleanups this month – June 15, 23 & 29
VFW Breakfast - June 16 - 8329 SE 89th Ave, Portland, OR 97266
Community Connection Center – June 16 – Root Beer floats
Neighborhood cleanup - June 22 - 10603 SE Henderson St, Portland, OR
Volunteers for the Neighborhood Cleanup (form on table)
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie June 14, 2019
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
May 9, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Robert Santangelo (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Barb Stuva, Bob Field, Bob Stuva, Brian Jeanseau, Cliff Whitmore, Cynthia Lang, Donald Johnson, Doug Morrow, Julie Whitmore, Moe Murphy, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Renee' Dutton, Sarah Rose Endi
Guest: Robert Gibson, Palindrome, Alison Wicks, Prosper Portland, Scott Batson, PBOT Engineer
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcement:
N2N – May 11 – 10603 SE Henderson Street – 8:15 AM
WestRock Cleanups – May 12th, 18, & 25th at 8:30 AM – around 101st & Foster
VFW Breakfast – May 19th at 9:30 AM – American Legion Hall – 8329 SE 89th Avenue
Prosper Portland and Palindrome presented this slide show. Watch the video above and view the slideshow below at the same time as each slide is presented and explained. The slide that reflects the actual layout showing blocks D, E & F is the most enlightening. Block F is being sold back to the City to create 100% affordable housing while blocks D & E are being retained by Palindrome who will be building a 200 unit / 5 story high rise with 10% affordable housing.
Scott Baston – ODOT Engineer
Presented four pages of graphs reflecting Lents Neighborhood auto speed, speed on Mt. Scott Blvd. as well historical traffic volumes for Mt. Scott Blvd., which is currently being updated.
UEB applied for the permit to do the sidewalks on 92nd Avenue and they are the responsible party for making the repairs to the streets.
I have included their website in case anyone is interested in following up on the completion of the project on 92nd.
https://ueb.net/index.html
None of the streets in Portland that don’t have curbs or sidewalks will be posted any higher than 30 MPH.
Question: Do you have any plans to put sidewalks along Mt. Scott Blvd?
Answer: As the city goes it doesn’t have a lot of crashes on it and the city’s focus right now is called Vision Zero and that’s to look at the corridors that have the greatest number of crashes and to focus almost all of our energy on getting those worse case streets fixed streets like Mt. Scott are usually developed when the adjacent properties are developed and it falls on the developer to make those improvements. The city does not have the funds at this time to put in sidewalks anywhere. Current focus is 174th & 167th. Sidewalks along two sides of the streets cost around $1 million a mile. That’s a flat street that doesn’t contain any curves or retaining walls.
Comment: Mt. Scott Blvd. intersection of 105th & Mt. Scott gets an average of 420 cars an hour. That’s only half of the traffic coming off 112th. Those cars are coming down the hill 50-60 MPH. There have been three people killed on Mt. Scott Blvd. over the last 5 years. A brick retaining wall in my yard was taken out by someone trying to pass another vehicle coming down Mt. Scott Blvd. My other neighbor had a hedge taken out. In another incident a car flew off the road and landed onto the roof of a bedroom. Do you have all of that information?
Question: Are they counting cars yet?
Answer: The collections have been ordered. (which have been in place now for 2 weeks as of the date of this meeting)
Question: Does the city still have available the radar vans?
Answer: The Portland Police has radar vans. You can call 503-823-7233 (SAFE) and request that. They need a place to park.
Comment: When I called a year ago, they were a year out in providing that service.
Answer: I know they are seriously understaffed and didn’t plan for the retirements. The traffic control section has maybe only ever had 12 officers for the entire city and that’s for three shifts.
Question: So, you’re are going to make Division a pedestrian mall. East of 82nd and West of 182th?
Answer: I know they are going to remove one of the lanes.
Comment: They are doing it on 162nd too.
Answer: I think that’s in part preparation for Tri-Met.
Question: What can we do to get the speed limits decreased?
Answer: We have already reduced the speed limit on about 100 miles of city streets. We are working with ODOT because they designate the speed limits throughout the state, if it’s not a statutory speed, like a residential zone, then it has to be a speed order that ODOT decrees.
Question: How do we get the trucks driving down 100th to slow down?
Answer: From what I understand the requester needs to document the vehicle and time of day and if they can the owner of the vehicle or the company or whatever and with sufficient information and data the city can contact them about their behavior. Alternatively, as a group you could contact them as well to discuss your concerns. I will go ahead and order some data to see how fast the general traffic is going and review the signs in the area. If you have a suggestion of what signs you would think would be appropriate for the area I can check to see if we even have such signs in inventory. I can tell you a NO TRUCK sign doesn’t apply to a truck making a delivery.
Comment: WestRock is willing to haul in the drivers and give them consequences. The problem is, if it’s a private contractor and they are hauling their own loads they don’t have any leverage.
Answer to traffic concerns: Might be a future potential option to install “truck traps”, which are obstacles that trucks cannot maneuver around. We have had companies fund these obstacles as part of the good neighborhood agreements. I would advise against speed bumps because it causes more vibration as they drive over them.
Question: Is there some way to post NO PASSING signs along Mt. Scott Blvd. between 101st & 112?
Answer: We have a sign that states for violating that it is a $260 fine. It’s not a common sign and I don’t know if it’s kept in inventory on a regular basis.
Question: How do you coordinate with noise control?
Answer: I don’t know if we can involve nuisance control because that only applies between the hours of 10:00 PM – 6:00-7:00 AM. They are only invoked when there is construction that might cause unusual noise. For general traffic noise they don’t have any general enforcement.
Question: We have photo radar at the golf club on 104th & Marine Drive, 138th, 149th on Division, are these experiments?
Answer: Those are high crash corridors.
Question: How much does a photo radar pole cost?
Answer: $35,000 per camera and installation and state law requires that it be on the top 2% of our crash corridors.
Question: Is the city still using the substandard paving material?
Answer: NO ANSWER – just smiles – to properly repair the roads you have to take it all the way down to the base. Many people wonder why we resurface or fix that road and leave other streets alone. It depends on the condition of the road. If the road is not too bad, we will spend the money there to make those repairs rather than spending the money on the more deteriorated roads that will continue to deteriorate regardless of the repairs we make. We delay the really bad road 2-5 years then go in and do a complete repaving.
Question: How many streets in SE Portland are the City’s responsibility versus the state’s responsibility, 82nd for example?
Answer: 82nd is the States from curb to curb, the freeways belong to the state, Powell Blvd is the State’s, but I believe it is property line to property line. The only exceptions would be pedestrian facilities. Like on 82nd we built those islands and marked the crosswalks. The city is responsible for the pedestrian crossings and maintaining those markings and signs.
Question: I thought at some point the State was going to give 82nd to the City?
Answer: The State would LOVE to GIVE 82nd to the City. The City won’t accept it unless it comes will a nice little bit of change. The City wants to make sure it’s up to snuff before they accept ownership of 82nd. Unless it receives funding for upgrades before the handoff, which I believe is the same situation with Powell. That’s why we have been so involved with the Powell reconstruction to make sure we get built what we want built versus what they want built before the City takes ownership.
Comment: So last summer on 112th a concrete truck dumped concrete going up the hill and it’s still there. (it’s now a speed bump)
Answer: That would be an 503-823-SAFE call. Have someone come out and take a look at it.
If you have any traffic concerns, something that can be fixed by a sign, or that needs maintenance or general traffic control issues - call 503-823-7233. That number also handles the intake for the police bureau.
To get the most use out of parking patrol call them if you know someone is illegally parking on a regular basis and they can arrange for someone to be in the area. The caveat is because there are few of them and it’s a bit far out to go, once they come out to a service call, they will look for more things to enforce.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie, May 23, 2019
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
Date April 11, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Robert Santangelo (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Barb Stuva, Bob Stuva, Bob Field, Bonnie Keenom, Brian Jeanseau, Cathleen Casey, Char Pennie, Christee Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, Cynthia Lang, David Potts, Denise Douglas, Donald Johnson, Doug Morrow, Fox Guenther, Gary Walker, Julie Whitmore, Jo Schmaltz, Marilyn Thomas, Penny Wilson, Pete Thomas, Renee' Dutton, Stuart Schmaltz, Zeke Guenther
Guest: Tammy Mayer & Kim Roark, PPB Body Cam Program, Officers Robert Brown, Joseph Young and Commander Craig Andersen of the NRT Team, Larissa Gordon, SOLVE
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements
N2N Community Event – April 13 at 8:15 AM – 10603 SE Henderson
WestRock Cleanup - April 14th at 10:00 AM – around 101st & Foster and every Saturday through the rest of the month
VFW Breakfast – April 21 at 9:30 AM – 8329 SE 89th Avenue
WestRock Permit Hearing – April 24th at 6:00 PM – Waddles
Unlimited Choices – Brenda called and said they still have extra money to spend in Lents. If you know of anyone that will qualify for this program please give her a call or have that person call her – 503-234-6167
Stuart Schmaltz – Announcing Neighborhood Cleanup – June 22nd – focus on Johnson Creek
Larissa Gordon
SOLVE
Our mission is simple: to bring Oregonians together to improve our environment and build a legacy of stewardship.
As SOLVE turns 50, we have a lot to celebrate. A half-century of bringing people together, from all walks of life and every corner of the state. Of getting people out and answering the call. Cleaning up our beaches, parks, neighborhoods and natural spaces. Reaching out, digging in and picking up. By restoring vitality, planting new beginnings and keeping invaders at bay. Developing diverse relationships. By partnering, collaborating and engaging. Honoring the pioneers of our past and building on their legacy. Together. With an unstoppable force of volunteers, thirty thousand strong and one hundred percent committed. We are individuals, businesses, neighbors, families and friends. These are our communities. Our unique places. Our rivers and streams, lakes and mountains, land and sea. Our pride and joy. It’s in our nature to protect it for generations to come. Together, we are taking care of Oregon.
The Bureau has completed 15 community meetings and is in the process of drafting the Policy to be used during the pilot test. Once drafted, the policy will be negotiated with the PPA and PPCOA and then reviewed by the Stakeholders Group and released for public input prior to being presented to City Council.
The ordinance requesting the release of the Request for Proposals (RFP) has been postponed and we will update you once it is back on the agenda for City Council.
Tammy Mayer
& Kim Roark
We are also brainstorming ideas for performance measures and survey questions for both officers and the community. If you have any recommendations, feel free to email them to us at bwcfeedback@portlandoregon.gov.
Program Manager: Tammy Mayer
Executive Sponsor: A/C Chris Davis
Agenda
• Definitions
• Background
• Why Now?
• Goals
• Timeline
• Where to start
• Notification, Retention, and Release *
• Public Demonstration *
• Mandatory Activation *
• Prohibited Activation *
• Deactivation
• Discretionary or Temporary Activation
• Officer Review
• Supervisor Review
• Follow Up
* Denotes there is Oregon Law regarding this topic
Definitions
• BWC – Body Worn Camera
• DOJ – Department of Justice
• RFP – Request for Proposal
• CAD – Computer Aided Dispatch
Background
• 2013 – A survey of 500 police agencies found less than 25% used BWCs
• 2014 – President Obama voiced support for BWCs and the DOJ provided $23.2M in grants for agencies to pilot the systems following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO
• Washington DC, New York City, and Los Angeles began pilot programs
• 2015 – A survey found 88% of Americans supported police use of BWCs
• 2016 - 2018 – Some local level surveys looking at a variety of effects from BWC; conflicting results, more studies needed
• PPB began looking at BWCs in 2014
• Community Forums and on-line feedback 2015
• City of Portland FY2016-17 Adopted Budget package provided funding (5 FTEs, $834K one-time, $1.6M on-going)
Why now?
• State of Oregon Legislation since 2015
• ORS 133.741 – Video Cameras Worn by Law Enforcement Officers
• ORS 192.345 – Public Records Exceptions
• ORS 181A.250 – No Information Gathering
• ORS 165.540 – Recording Notification
• Advantages to not going first
• Many articles and studies available to help us define our policy
• Standard specifications for equipment
• Lessons Learned
• Best Practices and Key Trends
• Recommendations
• Local agencies using BWCs: Beaverton, PSU, OSP, Hillsboro, WCSO
Goals for BWC:
• To strengthen Community Trust and Relationships
• Promote Officer Safety, while safeguarding the rights and privacy of community members and employees
• Transparency and Accountability
• Enhance complaint resolution and improve quality and reliability of investigations and criminal prosecution
• Improve training
• Research Partner – The bureau will use an outside research partner to help us develop performance measures and evaluate the impacts and outcomes of the investment into this technology
Original Timeline – this did not happen (City Council was not going to approve this program so the Mayor set if off until he could explain to them what this program would do for the city)
• Jan – May 2019: Policy discussions / Community Engagement|
• Follow-up after the pilot and full implementation
• Mid Mar 2019: City Council Report
• Follow-up after the pilot and full implementation
• Late Mar – early May 2019: RFP posted
• Mid May 2019: Vendor demos
• Summer – Winter 2019: Pilot test (top 2 vendors)
• Early 2020: Final selection
• Late Spring – Fall 2020: Full implementation
Policy: Where to Start?
• Reviewed policies of other agencies giving special attention to those agencies under a DOJ settlement agreement.
• Baltimore, Albuquerque, Oakland, New Orleans, Seattle, Newark, Cleveland, Ferguson, East Haven, and Chicago
• We looked at:
• Similarities
• Differences
• Trends
• The goal for this session is to capture your feedback on policy considerations
Notifications, Retention and Release*
• Oregon Laws:
• Notification: Officers will announce at the beginning of the interaction that the conversation is being recorded unless there is an issue of safety to the officer or other persons or it will unreasonably impair a criminal investigation
• Retention: Minimum 180 days retention on recordings; maximum depends on statute of limitations for the crime. 30 months if not related to court proceedings or an ongoing criminal investigation
• Release: Prior to videos being released publicly, faces of all persons (including officers) must be blurred and unidentifiable
• Videos can only be released publicly when it is in public interest
• Timing of video release depends on Grand Jury (for critical incidents)
Use during Public Demonstrations*
• Oregon Law: No LE agency may collect or maintain information about the political, religious, or social views, associations or activities of any individual group, association, organization, cooperation, business or partnership unless such information directly relates to an investigation of criminal activities and there are reasonable grounds to suspect the subject of the information is or may be involved in criminal conduct
Mandatory Activation*
• Oregon Law: be set to record continuously, beginning when the officer develops reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe a crime or violation has occurred, is occurring or will occur and the officer begins to make contact with the person suspected of committing the offense
• Majority: activate at the beginning of an incident (a call for service or a self-initiated activity), continue recording until the event has concluded
•Includes but is not limited to:
Traffic Stops
Searches
Arrests
Field interviews
DUIs
Domestic violence calls
Encounters that turn confrontational
Operation of emergency vehicle
Custodial transports
• Outliers:
• Albuquerque: Not complying with officer’s commands, and appearing to pose threat to self or others
• Oakland: Assessment or evaluation for psychiatric detention
• New Orleans: Advisement of Miranda rights
• Newark: Motor vehicle safety checkpoint, aiding motorist or pedestrian
• Cleveland: Citations or accident scenes where video can help document
• Ferguson: Suspicious vehicles, seizure of evidence
• East Haven: resolve or prevent a dispute, self-initiated calls where LE action can reasonably be anticipated, motorist assists
Prohibited Activation*
• Oregon Law: provides exceptions based on reasonable privacy concerns, exigent circumstances or safety of officers and other persons. Recordings are only for legitimate LE purposes
• Majority: reasonable expectation of privacy such as private residences, restrooms, locker rooms, hospitals/treatment facilities, non-duty related personal activities, interactions with confidential informants, and private conversations and administrative activities among department personnel
• Outliers:
• Baltimore: sexual assault victim interviews, strip searches, court proceedings, within 500 feet of bomb threat scene
• Albuquerque: DWI checkpoints
• Newark: on break, when engaged in police union business, disciplinary proceedings
• Cleveland: entertainment venues that may have prohibitions against recording event or facility
Deactivation
• Majority: at the full conclusion of the event or encounter or incident, member has left the scene and anticipates no further involvement in the event, has completed transport of a civilian or arrestee. When a higher-ranking member authorizes deactivation
• Outliers:
• Newark: Where the member is actively engaged in collection of physical evidence
• Oakland: discussing administrative, tactical or LE sensitive information away from the community member
Discretionary or Temporary Deactivation
• Discretionary:
• Seattle: Natural death scenes, death notifications, cultural or religious objections. Must state on the recording why they are stopping
• New Orleans: If an officer believes it would impede or limit the cooperation of victim or witness during investigative contact. Must get permission from a supervisor
• Temporary:
• Oakland: between individuals giving statements, so that each statement(s) are individual file captures
• Seattle: If a person with legal standing denies permission to record in a private residence where no crime is in progress
• Newark: When requested by a community member where it reasonably appears that the person will not provide information or otherwise cooperate
Officer Review
• Majority: Most allow officers to view recordings for routine report writing to assist in quality and accuracy in their reports. Review for critical incidents varies
• Baltimore / Albuquerque: do not address critical incidents directly, however they do state review is allowed prior to investigatory interviews
• Oakland: Once interviewed, investigator will show member their video and audio and they are given an opportunity to provide a supplemental statement
• New Orleans: Are permitted to review their own BWC prior to providing a recorded statement or completing reports
• Cleveland: Agency reserves the right to limit or restrict based on the circumstances surrounding the incident
• Ferguson: Officers shall not be questioned about critical incidents before being given an opportunity review the recordings, including use of force or accident causing injuries
Supervisor Review
• Majority: For misconduct complaint investigations and resolution, and compliance with policies
• Outliers:
• Baltimore: Restricted from viewing without cause
• New Orleans: Shall not be used to conduct administrative investigations without approval of Superintendent
• East Haven: Supervisors shall review all recordings of incident involving injuries to prisoner or an officer, uses of force, vehicle pursuits, or misconduct complaints
• Ferguson: For the purpose of training, performance review, critique, early intervention inquiries, civil claims, and administrative inquiry
Follow-up
• Web page: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/78485
• Slides
• Meeting minutes
• Policy comparison
• On-line feedback
• Email list for updates
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary April 23, 2019
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
March 14, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Robert Santangelo (Vice Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Robert Santangelo, Renee' Dutton, David Potts, Char Pennie, Bob Field, Mary Oxford, Cliff Whitmore, Julie Whitmore, Zeke Guenther, Fox Guenther, Barb Stuva, Bob Stuva, Bob, Frank Miley, Joel Rebik, Brian Jeanseau
Guest: Officer Ryan Mele, Portland Police Bureau – Neighborhood Response Team, Officer Nicholas Bianchini, Portland Police Bureau – Neighborhood Response Team, Brook Muller, Professors of Architecture and Natalia Sabrina Ortiz, Graduate Student
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
Appointment of Robert Santangelo as Vice Chair (need consensus)
Upcoming March cleanups – March 16, 23 & 30
VFW Breakfast – March 17 – Special will be corned beef hash
Assisting Nancy Shannon with Keller Williams Realty Red Day on May 9th
Brian Jeanseau added an announcement of the silver ashtray that will be placed outside the door on the night of our meetings
Bob Field announced Neighborhood Cleanup Day happening this year on June 22nd (they have 5-7 30-yard dumpsters)
Ryan Mele – NRT Officer - nearly 10-years on the job as a police officer – NRT officer for a little over 4 years
Craig Andersen is the new Sergeant who took over Randy Teig’s position
Question: Ryan you took over Randy’s position?
Answer: No. I’m still just your same old police officer that works for NRT
Question: (Santangelo bending over showing his rear-end). Ryan wasn’t this usually Randy’s position?
Answer: Yeah…I cannot confirm or deny
Question: Is there a replacement for Randy?
Answer: Craig Anderson. Craig was a North precinct NRT officer before his promotion to Sergeant – contact Craig.Andersen@portlandoregon.gov
Question: Are they doing away with the quads?
Answer: No…but we originally had 6 ATV’s; 2 of them got crashed and wrecked, one was old and they took it and said it was going to be replaced but has not been replaced, another one was also getting phased out; so we are currently down to 2 ATV’s. We have a UTV or side-by-side. It’s the one where you sit in them. They’re an off-road vehicle. Sort of like a 4x4 golf cart. They’re great but the environment out here in SE is not conducive to using them. They don’t fit between the posts that are at each end of the SWC while the ATV’s are made for this purpose.
Question: Are you guys involved with the camps down here on Flavel?
Answer: The new IGA allows the City to post and clear the camps.
Question: Referring to the campsite down the hill…there’s a huge operation in used bicycles When we call about cleaning this area up the City says it’s not their responsibility, they tell us it’s the police’s responsibility
Mele: Who do you call at the City?
Answer: Illegal Camping phone number
Mele: You need to reach out to the One Point of Contact
Comment: They clean the campsite fairly regularly, but the illegal operation moves back in a few days. There are 50-60 bikes down there along with bike parts. It seems like a crime if you find that many bike parts
Answer: The stolen stuff is huge. I do the VIN inspections. The problem is when I go do a VIN inspection there are serial numbers all associated with one vehicle. The problem with bicycles is that if you scratch it off it is gone. There are no more numbers. The higher priced bikes sometimes have hidden numbers. The problem is, is that the owners are not keeping a record of that serial number. In the 10 years of doing this job I have probably found three stolen bikes that were actually register.
Comment: I heard for every 1,000 bikes that you guys recover only about 200 of them are claimed.
Mele: That seems even high to me. We have one guy who is the bike taskforce. His name is Dave.
Comment: It’s so obvious down there, you can see (which I’ve personally seen) a nice new Cadillac pull up take four bicycles and money changes hands. Yesterday or the day before a gray sort of station wagon pulled up and again bicycles where loaded into it.
Question: Did you get plate numbers?|
Answer: No. I was along side of it
Mele: If you guys can get plate numbers of these vehicles it will better equip us so we can do a follow-up
Question: How about the alley on 82nd & Foster by Hing Ming’s Restaurant?
Answer: Yes, we have been dealing with that alley
Question: Can we fence it off?
Answer: ODOT & PBOT are very particular about what appears to be easy fixes. As you know Roger & Carol down at 82nd & Crystal Springs (Cartlandia) they have been fighting that battle to get that area under 82nd gated for years. Just now it’s starting to get momentum. We have notified ODOT that the gate is broken around 92nd & Flavel and so the homeless can freely walk back in there. We have nick-named that area the jungle. I have also noticed they are now taking the cement bricks on the overpass and creating a cobblestone pathway to their camps.
Comment: As far as I know that’s an interstate. There’s some Federal jurisdiction there. That should be addressed by Homeland Security.
Mele: I agree
Comment: I’ve reach out but they say…and who are you?
Mele: I’ve said the same thing to ODOT and they are like…well…That’s actually going to be transit now for the MAX line, but it’s not really part of transit but…
Question: Is there anybody that can deal with Johnson Creek to keep it from poisoning the fish?
Answer: I would love to meet them
Comment/Question: I have lived at the corner of 105th & Mt. Scott for the last 15 years. Back when we moved in there might have been 4-5 cars driving down Mt. Scott in a 15-minute period. That has increased to roughly 17 cars a minute to 23 cars a minute going up and down that hill at 55-60 miles per hour. There are no shoulders for people walking. It is marked with double lines for no passing but cars still pass. What can we do about it? How can we slow it down?
Answer: Send e-mails to our traffic enforcement guys. When e-mailing use the key-word “Traffic Mission”. Give them the statistics you just gave me and let them know that the traffic is not abiding by the posted speed limit. That’s all you need to let them know. We instituted a plan call Vision Zero. This plan has not slowed people down.
Suggestion: Can you cut the cord off a hairdryer and spray paint it black and stand out there? (laughingly)
Mele: I would not advise that.
Comment/Question: At one time there were radar guns available to the association. Can a module be rolled out there on wheels?
Answer: Yes...those just record the speeds it doesn’t take photos. If you see a van those can take photos.
Comment: From 140th to about 190th it is a zoo…of people in dark clothes and baby carriages crossing, not at the crosswalks in the middle of night.
Mele: I hope none of you have to see some of the stuff we have to see because it is not at good thing to be a part of at all.
Question: Is there anything you can tell us about Cody?
Answer: We personally knew Cody and ran into him when he was around 15-16 years old. We ran into him hundreds of times. Super nice kid, not a mean bone in his body. It’s really sad.
Question: Any idea what happened? Somebody has to know what happened?
Answer: We’ve been putting feelers out with people we know on the trail. It’s a matter of time. I hope that person seriously gets caught (Officer Bianchini showing picture on his phone of Mele & Cody). Relates story of coming up on a group of kids drinking beer and everyone ran but Cody. Cody made the comment “I don’t run from the cops!”
Comment: That’s why I can’t see someone doing that to him.
Mele: No… and Bob when we heard about this that was heartbreaking. Let’s not talk about that anymore. Yeah that’s a rough one.
Mele: You have to reach out to me. I go from I-205 West to 39th to the Clackamas County border all the way to I-84. You gotta let me know, because if I don’t know about it…
Comment/Question: So, I think the fairest thing to say is if you see something get that reported. Report through the One Point of Contact so things get more quickly handled. There was someone casing our block. We as neighbors felt comfortable approaching this individual and told him to move on. If you are not feeling comfortable confronting someone, what is our best course of action?
Answer: If you know your neighbors I think “Be Seen Be Heard” is appropriate.
Comment: My neighbor after seeing this individual continue casing cars and houses on the block told him to “get the hell out of here”. The individual then answers…”I’m going to call the police”…his response was “fine…call yourself an ambulance too!”.
Mele: I don’t advocate violence. I have to say that…(looking at the camera)
Question: I just want to know what to tell my neighbors. Do we call non-emergency? I see these calls all the time on Twitter. Do these calls go anywhere?
Comment: There’s something that bothers me. When there’s a little issue going on and you guys are out there and you get called for some little stupid thing while there’s a BIG crime going on.
Mele: It’s an interesting time in the bureau. You can look at the stats and compare the 90’s to today. We are seriously understaffed. You need to talk to people other than myself because right now we are fighting an uphill battle. I don’t want to go this political route.
Comment: I will….Hardesty does not want any more money to be spent on police officers. They want to cut it down and talking about setting up a system where they have social workers doing your job. That’s who I want to depend on.
Mele: I have worked my entire career in Lents and SE. We need your help.
Question: More calls come in, does that show them that we need more help?
Answer: They’ve done surveys (the stats are out there) and they know that we are understaffed.
Bianchini: This district down here is called the 90’s district. South of Foster, East of 82nd all the way out to the borders of Gresham. This whole area gets one officer…Maybe! It doesn’t get staffed if we are shorthanded. This is the first district that gets zeroed out.
Mele: When we first started, we would usually have two and then the district 20’s which is West of 82nd down from Holgate to Clackamas County border to 39th, that was staffed with three. Now it’s two maybe?
Bianchini: The staffing’s so low this is the first area that gets gutted. I worked this area for about 10 years and use to have a cover car with me at all times. Now when I’m working it and I’m up on the hill dealing with a stolen car, full of bad guys I’m up there for 15 minutes waiting for back up and I’m by myself. Physically too this is one of the better areas in East Precinct that’s why it doesn’t get staffed and other areas do.
Comment: You need to get those body cams, get your union to fight for those with the City.
Bianchini: I wouldn’t mind. I would accept that.
Mele: Honestly, I think there’s like this random misconception that the cops don’t want the body cams. We would love it because it would be so easy for us instead of saying our word against their word, we could just say go get the footage.
Question: Is there any help from Multnomah County Sheriff’s?
Answer: There’s the inmate crews that help clean up but as far as the deputes goes they work the Troutdale – Fairview – Corbett area. They have a huge area as well, so no they don’t help out in Portland. They sometime drift into Gresham.
Question: Don’t they actually contract with a couple of the smaller cities? Where the county actually provides their patrol officers?
Answer: Like Fairview and Maywood Park, which is its own City and it’s patrolled by Multnomah County.
Mele: I know people have reservations about the IGA agreement but Lucas Hillier is doing a bang-up job. Rapid Response is all over the City digging through and picking up the trash.
Question: What does IGA stand for?
Answer: Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Portland and ODOT. It’s actually really good because it allows us to work the trail.
Question: What do the powers that be feel is going to be the ultimate solution for the homeless? Do they actually have a plan or are they just going to continue moving them around like they are doing now?
Answer: If I had that answer I would probably be upstairs making decisions.
Question: So, they don’t have a plan?
Bianchini: San Francisco has a really good plan for dealing with the problem. Every social worker will have a client and talk to them to see if there’s anybody they know or family member that can take them in for a little while, while they get back on their feet and we’ll pay for your transportation out there? So that social worker will get that family member on the phone and verifies that they have a place to go and then hands them a ticket.
Question: That’s actually happening?
Bianchini: It’s happening…it’s actually working. The success rate is pretty high for these clients that are going out and living in these stable environments away from the life that they had.
Mele: We have a similar program called Forward Home. It was taken advantage of. We would provide bus tickets to people who had family elsewhere but then they would have a tendency to come right back. The rumors that you have heard about people coming straight out of prisons and coming straight to Portland is true. We have heard from people on the trail that while incarcerated they heard that Portland was the place to be because you can basically live out here for free. Again, I want to stress all the “positive” things that are happening and yeah there’s a laundry list of things we can fix.
a) We have addressed the squatter houses (which turned into RV’s)
b) We have addressed the dilapidated RV’s
c) Parking Enforcement on board to help us tag & remove the RV’s
d) The RV’s are now turning into more homeless camps
This is a revolving loop that you need to stick with it. Two of us in our area called 89-50 which is very large. I have JOIN in my district which is an interest site.
Question: So, we need to contact Sergeant Andersen for dumped cars or anything dumps off by chop shops?
Answer: No, that’s my forte’ right there.
Question: What about the RV’s that are parking under the I-205 (MAX tracts) overpass on 92nd?
Answer: One Point of Contact
Mele: If you see us out there wave to us. It lifts our spirits.
NOTE: The 7-Eleven on 82nd & Powell will be closing.
Brook Muller - Professors of Architecture
Working on a project in Lents (that hasn’t started yet) and looking for feedback. The curriculum for this cover’s construction, building materials, insulation, energy efficiency. We’re one of the top programs known for energy conscience design in the country. We’re been following the Oregon Solutions project. I think the end proposal for that was $94-million dollars and whether it was actually going to deal with the flood problems adequately or create more economic opportunities for the neighborhood. There were all kinds of questions about that so we wanted to come in and look at it from a fresh perspective and an alternative point of view.
Natalia Sabrina Ortiz - Research Assistant
We became interested in this area because of the flooding solutions and how Oregon Solutions and the City was looking to address that. What we found was there was more than just one issue. There were concerns about restoration and is it going to get trampled and the use of the trail because of safety concerns. You’ve mentioned of making nice places and making people aware of your presence through design. Particularly we will be looking at the large scale. Zoning and where will things go. Where will the shops go, where will there be eyes-on-the-street.
Question: If you are still doing this area can you look at WestRock and come up with some sort of design?
Answer: Yes. That’s what we do. We do studios every quarter so there’s only so much we can do so that could be a longer-term deal.
Brook: This quarter we are going to focus on the Pick-N-Pull. It’s a real interesting site that’s between Beggar’s Tick and Foster Floodplain. We have residences to the Northwest you have industry on either side. We know Oregon Solutions was looking at whether it could be flood storage or economic redevelopment. We’re thinking it could be a cut and fill operation where you connect the natural areas with cut then you use that fill to create high and dry sides for business that might provide living wage jobs. Another idea is to create public spaces along the Springwater where people could hang out. Maybe someplace to eat and once people start hanging out there it creates more eyes on the trail. There’s not a lot of money vested in keeping the Springwater beautiful because they are concerned with trampling. So, it’s all kind of connected.
Comment: There are a lot of major crossing and choke points that could support this kind of development.
Brook: Michael Singer will be presenting at Leach Botanical Gardens on April 7th from 12:00 – 3:00 PM. He will also be giving a talk on April 8th at the White Stag Building.
Sabrina: The presentation will include maps and we are looking for concerns you might have and what areas you would like us to focus on. It can be small or big, something like where do we need a crosswalk? It’s going to be interactive and fun but hopefully very informative and motivating that you have a say and that you get to be a part of how we re-imagine this area.
Brook: We are just starting so we are not going to be coming with already developed plans.
Question: So, when you guys put all this effort and community involvement where does it go from there?
Answer: So, there’s a couple of things. There’s a Natural Marine Fishery Biological opinion to think about building in the floodplain. There’s a student team that want to re-envision the Green Loop which has now just made it into the 2035 vision plan. Our plan is to create more jobs and social environment with less money than Oregon Solutions proposed. Our designs could have some impact.
Question: Did they ever do anything with that?
Answer: Just from word of mouth, I haven’t seen anything official, it was too big and too expensive. Our projects are to re-imagine a smaller space.
Question: How long has it been since this area has actually flooded?
Zeke: It’s been a while. Since they did all the snaky excavating on the South side of Foster it’s been pretty decent.
Question: Did it have any effect on the amount of water that went into the Willamette that created this Combined Sewer Overflow?
Bob F: I don’t know
Brook: The way we approach it is there’s a lot of variables and the fun thing about design is you have to figure out how to put all these things together. You can’t have 27 things solving 27 problems when you can only afford three things that can solve 27 problems. That’s just our approach. We’re going to think of water and water quality; and we’re going to think about jobs and economic development and we’re going to think about safety and what that Springwater Corridor could be. Then produce some visuals that we hope would have some impact.
Question: What did you say about little stops on the trail where people could hang out?
Answer: That’s just one idea but if there’s places to do stops – destinations along the trail; where those could happen. Maybe there’s somewhere that is vacant. Even if there’s a tenant down there that wants to do something with that spot. We would tell them to go for it.
Sabrina: We really need your support so please get involved.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie March 27, 2019
Captain Jason Gates
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
FEBRUARY 8, 2018
KingPins Bowling, “Chalet”
3550 SE 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 pm
Minutes approved March 8, 2018
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer/Secretary)
Attendees: Arlene Hunt, Betty Manning, Char Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, Cynthia Lang, David Potts, Doug Morrow, Erik Benson, Gary Martin (Primack), Ken Herman, Moe Murphy, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Robert Santangelo
Guest: Captain Jason Gates - Multnomah County Sheriff, Sgt Matt Jordan –- Multnomah County Sheriff, East Precinct Officer Matt Bigoni
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Approve By-Laws: A motion was made to adopt the Amended By-Laws. Passed by consensus
Introduced and distributed the Participation Agreement.
Topic of Discussion: The handling of the homeless situation
Sheriff Matt Jordan with HOPE Team that handles outreach for homeless to find out what their goals are. Works on building trust between homeless, social services and law enforcement
Q: What do you do with the people who don’t want help?
A: Original idea was to do big camp sweeps. This way it became someone else’s problem. Didn’t have resources to handle situation. Goal is to get homeless housed. Holding them accountable to move on. We use enforcement as the last resort.
Q: Is there an agreement with ODOT and police/sheriff’s?
A: Sheriff’s office works with ODOT using inmate work crews. We do enforcement for ODOT. Current legislative proposal to get the two in line with each other.
Q: Discussion about old Woodshed homeless shelter. Riddled with needles in parking lot and kid playing in toilet while mom on phone.
A: Shelters are not ideal places, they are depressing, victimized and unsafe. Our idea is to get them into housing, not shelters.
Q: The only thing that prospers in this neighborhood is crime
A: Would like shelter to be a place to get away from crime. Number of factors that shelters with the number of drugs and alcohol does not make it feasible.
Q: What are you guys doing about the drug use? Easier to buy drugs than candy.
A: How long someone stays in jail is left up to the D.A. The police are doing a good job of arresting and investigating but it’s left up to the legal system to prosecute. In 1992 we had 2,500 beds and today we have only 1,200 beds and the population has just about doubled.
Q: Why not put the alpha personality in charge getting them together with neighbors to work on solutions?
A: We are working on reducing that tension between the homeless and the housed. Identify the underlying reason for homelessness and get them help to help themselves.
Q: Why are they not required to clean up after themselves?
A: Civil rights violation
Q: Get the alpha personality together and make them responsible for their pod.
A: Not likely to happen because the alpha personality already has a responsibility to supply drugs or whatever their position may be.
Q: Why are crimes not prosecuted? Is it lack of jail space?
A: Prosecutors take cases they know they can win. Measures taking place to change this system. Over capacity – The jails are at 95% capacity which we can’t over.
Q: How do they not get arrested for having stolen bikes?
A: Not enough proof to prosecute. Homeless are protected citizens so several crimes are not prosecuted because it would be considered profiling to arrests based on assumptions.
Q: Can we legally shoot someone who is in our house?
A: If you are in eminent danger you can do whatever you feel comfortable doing to protect yourself but you can’t legally shoot someone.
Q: Can you recommend anyone who we should reach out to?
A: Whoever you want talk to your county and City commissioners. The more people you can get behind your cause the better your chances are of getting things changed. Mentioned Lori Stegman that supports police.
Q: Any way you can get the county to stop handing out needles?
A: Same response as above. There is no needle exchange program, it is just a distribution program.
Q: How are they recruiting police?
A: The Sheriff’s requires a 4 year degree which challenges us. There are more criminal justice programs in the colleges so getting more applicants with that degree. We are working on incentive packages - $8,000 signing bonus and 4 weeks of extra vacation. We are competing with other agencies and other cities. We train and they leave for other cities. Portland has recruiting officers and hiring bonuses. They have a rehiring program, which is rehiring retirees that get their pension and come back to work, but they lose all their seniority.
Q: Are you facilitating shipping the ones home that are from somewhere else?
A: Tricky question. If they want to go back home we can facilitate that but only if they have somewhere to go or family there. They don’t engage with just shipping them out of town.
Q: What percentage are actually homeless because of rent increase and lose of job?
A: 7% of the population is houseless because of circumstances; 25% mentally ill; 67% drugs & alcohol.
Comments:
Homeless population keeps growing.
JOIN is another social service that works with police and sheriffs.
There are more resources here, drug dealers, soup kitchen, health care, etc. that attract homeless.
Thousand Acres is an area out of town that attracts campers that don’t like the camps and the homeless in Portland.
There are more homeless shelters and the problem is getting worse.
Suggest that Right 2 Dream 2 or Dignity Village seem to work. Would advocate for those camps that police themselves. Needs a place that is not embedded into the community.
City Council makes the decision as to where the money is being spent.
Sheriff’s Dept is now the policing agency for Troutdale & Fairview.
Another issue is derelict boats along the river.
New trick to avoid arrest is to say they swallowed dope so a police officer has to sit with them for 6 hours in the hospital. They hope that this will avoid going to jail.
Homeless don’t want to go into the shelters because the tents are their homes and the shelter is an unfamiliar environment. Would be a lot cheaper than a building. Doesn’t know why it isn’t happening. Think it is a cost effective solution.
Definition of a Low Barrier Shelter: Allow pets, couples, no rehab required, no criminal or background check, no verification of identity, they can be there up to two years.
Side note: TPI is paid per bed so this keeps the beds full, The City will not consider any other option than a low barrier.
Programs change after they are opened. Once it’s there they can turn it into whatever they want.
Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made by David Potts and seconded by Char Pennie. It was passed by consensus. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Draft Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie, February 13, 2018
Minutes approved on March 8, 2018
Lance Hamel
Kim Toevs
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON MARCH 8, 2018
KingPins Bowling, “Chalet”
3550 S.E. 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Minutes approved July 12, 2018
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasure/Secretary)
Attendees: Alyssum Gilbert, Betty Manning, Bob Field, Char Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, David Potts, Doug Morrow, Erik Benson, Jeff Merrick, Judy Low, Julie Whitmore, Kathi Gibson, Mary Oxford, Moe Murphy, Neola Larsen, Robert Santangelo, Stuart Schmaltz
Guest: Lance Hamel, Rapid Response, Kim Toevs - Director, Adolescent Sexual Health Equity and STD | HIV | Hepatitis C Programs Multnomah County Health Department; Kate Willson, Communications Coordinator, Multnomah County, Carol Casciato, Outreach Services Manager, STD | HIV | Hepatitis C Program, Multnomah County Health Department
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Approve minutes from 2/8/18
Appointment Penny Wilson as Secretary
Collect signed Participation Agreements
Collect funds for Betty Manning’s project
Kim Toevs – thanks Bob for bouquet of needles.
Question - Why are syringe programs doing distribution and not doing a one on one exchange?
Health Dept – Our syringe program is one of the largest in the county and Outside-In also runs a syringe exchange program. We’re the primary funder for that with our county tax dollars. There are at least one other exchange program that I know of that is not related to us and I don’t know if there are any others. Between us and Multnomah County that’s probably the majority of the exchange programs.
We do an exchange and not a distribution. People bring us a large volume of syringes on behalf of their neighbors and friends. We pre-count the needles by the size of the container so we don’t count the syringes. Many folks are exchanging hundreds of syringes. The one exception to that is if somebody comes in and they’re new to our program or their belongings have been confiscated and they don’t have syringes we give them a pack of two 10 syringes. It’s an engagement tool. Sometimes we are the only social service provider these folks are seeing. So we’re like the safe non-judgmental doorway into some other services. We have an addiction treatment coordinator on site and can give them referrals for health care services. This program is to reduce diseases but also to build trust with folks who may not have been treated very well. This goes towards getting them other services or possibly into treatment.
Outside-In has the same basic service but they have a cap on how many syringes they can give out which is 15 at a time. So if someone brings them 300 they will give them 15 in exchange and give them an IOU for the remainder and then they can come get those remaining needles from us. We track a lot of data. We set up our clientele with a unique identifier because people usually do not wish to give us their real names.
Examples of the data that is tracked:
How many folks we are serving
What neighborhoods are they from
We’ll do surveys about health questions. That way we know what changes are occurring in drug user’s patterns. A lot of them using heroin or also using Methamphetamines.
Question – where are the syringe exchange programs located?
Health Dept –
One is at SE 190th not too far from Division;
One on 82nd & Ash Open Tuesday & Friday evenings;
One on 122nd & Glisan, open Monday & Thursday which is an inside location that provides services
Outside-In operates in downtown Portland; they operate 5 days a week – they are open 7 hours a day they also operate at the Clackamas Service Center one day per week
Question – is it possible to weight the needles. Wouldn’t it be easier than counting them?
Health Dept– that is a good idea because people are already bringing them to us in a standard container. We get needles in different containers. We give out sharps containers so people have a safe place to carry their syringes. We’ve had a huge increase in the number of clients and in the number of syringes that they are exchanging because we have a huge increase in our problems with drug addiction.
Question – Have you considered color coding the ones you distribute? We find a large number of syringes
Health Dept –I have heard of the color coding idea. Talk to me about your perception of it, what purpose would it serve? Explain more. They could be just purchasing them because they are too lazy to walk to the exchange. In 2017 we averaged 190 new clients every month. We don’t know where all the people and the need is coming from but it just keeps coming
Question – is that county wide?
Health Dept. – that would be data from our health service providers and Outside-In as our sub-contractor.
EXPLANATION –The reason for different colored caps is so we know which location the majority of those loose needles are coming from. So if your location on 122nd is distributing them we would know that. This way we have no idea because they are all orange caps
Health Dept. – what would we do with that information anyways?
EXPLANATION – take it back to that agency and say this is your needles we are finding. You need to talk to your clientele. They need to dispose of these properly. Because they know their clientele
Question – Does the county contract with one supplier for the needles? What is the availability of the different colored caps?
Health Dept. – I think before we talk about the logistics of this if we can purchase them, I would like to speak to what I call our secondary exchangers.
Reasons for not using different colored caps:
There is a significant portion of our clients who are taking in used syringes for a variety of places and then taking clean syringes back and distributing those clean syringes out.
There are number of people that we never meet face to face so it is difficult to have them change their behavior.
Having said that we have been working extensively with our clients discussing the problems in parks and communities about dropped syringes. We have a smaller sharps containers made specifically for people living on the streets. They are asking their clients to share the information that they are giving them with the people that they are sharing the needles with.
· Believes there are many people who use syringes but have never come to a needle exchange facility so have not gotten the message of how to dispose of their needles.
So those are my thoughts of what makes it complicated to get everyone on board.
Lance Hamel – we pick up anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 needles a month. What I can say is once that needles goes in a bottle or container it stays there.
Question – Are people coming here because we have recently decriminalized heroin and certain drugs? Has that caused the increase in drug users here? Can you elaborate on that?
Health Dept. – Heroin and Methamphetamines are still illegal
EXPLANATION – they have been seriously decriminalized. They have been reduced to a misdemeanor.
First-time offenders caught with small amounts of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs will face less jail time and smaller fines under a new bill approved by the Oregon legislature that aims to curb mass incarceration.
The Oregon legislature passed a bill late last week that reclassifies possession of several drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor, reducing the punishments and expanding access to drug treatment for people without prior felonies or convictions for drug possession. Oregon lawmakers hope to encourage drug users to seek help rather than filling up the state’s prisons as an epidemic of abuse spreads.
Health Dept. – I’m a public health expert not a legal expect. We are working on upscale health care issues. Addiction treatment folks are working with law enforcement to make addiction treatment more accessible. So my knowledge of law enforcement is definitely part of the equation but that is not my area of expertise.
Question – I have a question regarding the people coming into the exchange – telling them would you please go back and tell your friends not to drop your needles on the ground? Having spent time with the tent dwelling houseless people, we are talking about a totally different culture. It’s like hey thanks for the needles I’m off shooting up and sleeping for 12 hours. I appreciate the spirit of taking care of this for us. As you were saying that, I went back to the colored cap thing and thought more than the neighborhood is looking at the caps. It would be nice for the agency to look at the caps and say we’re getting stuff back here’s our orange to not orange ratio. This is how we know our exchange is working. If I’m getting a lot of orange and very little blue than something’s going wrong and those instructions are not getting back to that community.
Lance Hamel – You guys keep in mind that the syringe itself is not color coded. You never re-sheath a needle. So what we typically find are bare needles with no markings on them. It would be literally impossible to identity a needle without the cap. (Suggested color coding the plunger and jokingly putting Multnomah County logo on them as if they were a pen)
Health Dept. – Yes – the number of people using drugs is increasing. We look at a lot of data, from addiction treatment. Folks who actually work with people seeking treatment, to overdose deaths and overdose calls to EMS as well as the number of new clients. There’s a number of people moving to Portland in general and an increase in people seeking treatment for (usually) injected drugs.
Question – if we really want to make an impact and help the system where can we put our energy?
Health Dept. – that’s a really good question. I’ve heard that this group is one of the more organized active sets of community members in terms of cleanups in the neighborhood. I personally really honor and value that. I understand that the community is at the end of its ropes. Is there a way to facilitate until that needle drop box gets placed in the community? Your voices are very important. Talks about getting involved with the budget hearings. Make yourself a safe place for the homeless to be able to talk to. Large percentage of heroin users where prescribed pain pill users. Doctors are willing to come to the table to discuss this problem. Things that lead to addiction. Early childhood trauma as well as other life decisions and issues lead to addiction
Question – Is this issue on the table with public safety?
Health Dept. – has discussed syringe drop boxes with Metro, Tri Met, PBOT, City of Portland, Fire Department.
Question - How about subcontracting with LNLA like you do with Outside In? They are doing it anyway. They are educating the public and picking up the needles and they are all doing it for free. They are all struggling for money, mostly coming out of these guys pockets. Think about this idea. This organization is effective and other neighborhoods are watching. We are a component because we deal with the people on the street on a day to day basis, but a silent component. We are asking that if you are part of that organization if you can bring to them that they need to listen to us a little bit more closely and if we are part of the solution then pay us.
Health Dept. – we work with JOHS who have done a lot of outreach with the folks in the camps, etc. Get them to help to carry the smaller containers as well as let the people know where to carry them back to as well as carry the message forward.
If you were willing to doing that as well we have the funds available and then a couple of volunteers to pick them up until we have a sharps container in your neighborhood
Our public health department is partnered with the district attorney’s office instead of the police
Question – where are we on getting the drop box?
Health Dept. – I think we’re close. Maybe within the next few months. Summer makes things worse.
Question– what’s the new possible locations since Fred Meyers has bit the dust?
Health Dept. – we are in discussion with the new fire chief. He is really amenable to having them there because they are the center of safety and we heard that request from a number of neighbors
STATEMENT– Lance please explain to the group what you can and cannot do. There is a lot of confusion as to who picks up what and where. What areas can you clean?
Lance – we can clean PBOT, (right of way) parks if requested, if requested by parks, different county locations, primarily all PBOT. Parks is contracted with BES to act as a patrolling unit. So while parks does patrol it it is owned by BES and BES pays parks to do that. Now parks cleaning techs to not work on BES property.
Question – what’s going to stop the homeless from vandalizing the needle drop boxes like the one downtown was?
Health Dept. – the one’s downtown were placed on both sides of the river in an unlit no camera area which won’t be the case of placing ones at the fire stations where there’s lights and cameras. We have purchased some from a vendor and reinforced them with steel. We are looking at another vendor who makes the ballot boxes. We’re doing a lot of research and calling a lot of urban areas all over the county to see what vendors they use to get something that looks good but is really really well reinforced
Question - so what was the cost of all these boxes and the welder that you hired? And the cost of all these other boxes that were stolen and vandalized? If we had built a treatment program and put these people in there we could solve the problem.
Health Dept. – well the good news about the local one is it was cheaper than the other two we purchased from the catalog and it was a couple thousand dollars? The hard news for addiction treatment is a couple thousand dollars would not get you very far
Question – once you collect the needles where do they go and what do you do with them?
Health Dept. – we have a service like Rapid Response Bio Hazard and they come and pick up the syringes so we take them from our billed locations or our fixed site. So Critical Care actually picks up the health departments medical waste from our syringe exchange program and it’s actually incinerated.
Question – Can we hear a little more about where it goes?
Lance – So all our needles go to Gresham Sanitary. Their program called Stair Cycle.
Question –do you have a cost of what it costs to recycle a 100 needles? How are you guys charging? What is the cost to the taxpayers? Is it by pounds?
Lance – For needle destruction I have to include that in my hourly rate. So we’re basically charging $59.00 an hour. So I have to include getting rid of all my bio-waste, all my needles. The only thing I separate and charge for is garbage.
Question – Are you also still doing the posting?
Lance – Yes
STATEMENT – so this is part of the confusion, the posting – how long do they have to sit before they get moved out? And Rapid Response can do all the posting anywhere in the City of Portland. They do move faster so how do you find out where they’re at so you guys can come out and post?
Lance – essentially we are dispatched through the City’s One Point of Contact system. Everyone is encouraged to call 823-4000. There might be a mixed opinion on how well that system works. I happen to think it works really well. I sometimes get notified in minutes once a complaint comes in. We make a huge effort to address everything that comes in the same day. There are some prioritizing and triage is done. Once we have a complaint come in we have a specific crew that goes out to post sites and the best case cleanup and then the cleanup process starts.
Question – are your signs still white?
Lance – No our signs are always green, PPS (Pacific Patrol Services) is white.
Question – What do the green sign say?
Lance – The green signs are basically saying that this has been identified as an illegal campsite. This site will be cleaned up between 24 hours and 7 days. Any property that is taken can be retrieved by calling a specific number and it also has a resource number on there for TPI for anyone that is seeking help. It’s done in English and Spanish. Also keep in mind that there are winter weather advisories that also go out at certain times of the year with that posting.
Question – and those are still red (winter advisory)?
Lance – yes those are still red. So ours are very Christmas themed. So if you see an orange sign that’s typically police abatement, which is a different animal. Parks cannot post the campsites, so we post the campsites within parks. The parks have notices that are yellow that they are using for warning people to leave.
White sign – posted by Pacific Patrol Services
Green sign – posted by Rapid Response / 24 hr to 7 days notice
Red sign – posted by Rapid Response / Weather Advisory
Yellow sign – posted by Parks – warning to campers to leave
Question - can you install cameras where these needle drop off places are going to be?
Health Dept. – that’s something for sure that we have been talking about with placement. If they do go to the fire department sites they will possibly have cameras.
Question – Any ideas that you folks have for us to raise funds to help all these cleanups and things that would go back to the LNLA?
Health Dept. – I think what we’re able to do is offer containers and pickups right now
Lance –Please discourage people from putting things out on their sidewalk with free sign on it. I do see things at one house and then I get called to pick it up two blocks down the street.
ANNOUNCMENTS:
Invitation from the Portland Police Bureau
Holding an open house this Saturday March 10th (when we will be at Betty’s). This is something that Chief Wallace has initiated in her attempt to engage the public. So it’s just an open house being held at the training center up on Airport Way. I’m currently on the Portland Police Bureau Training Advisory Committee. They are asking for public’s input, any personal experience that you have had with interaction with the police. If you perceived bias they want to know or perception they want to know because that will help formulate the training modules the police officers. We’re getting a lot of new police officers in; as much as the budgets will allow. There’s been a lot of advocacy for more police
Question – how many police officers is that?
Answer – they’re recruiting its open continuous recruitment
Question– how many did they hire?
Answer – well they just hired, I can’t remember but it’s in the double digit number
Question – anywhere near 100?
Answer – no…nowhere near 100. They are recruiting and the new recruits are going to have to go through this training program. The implicit bias is a relatively new component that they are trying to build into it, so they are asking at this stage while that component is being built for our input on what is it that you think is implicit bias that is unique that the police officers need to know about it. So what they are looking for is personal experience so if you have people or know people that have had personal experiences you can e-mail it to me or contact the Portland Police Training Division directly – just tell them this is public opinion about implicit bias training module. Also the training module is not for public consumption right now.
NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR
Everyone is invited to our work party on Saturday March 10 –It’s an opportunity for us to give Betty a jump start. If you’re going we would invite you to breakfast at Mt. Scott Church. Part of it is to feed you, part of it is to rally us all together in a spot and then show up at Betty’s shortly after 9:00 AM
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Draft Minutes submitted by Char Pennie on behalf of Secretary Penny Wilson May 7, 2018
Minutes approved on July 12, 2018.
Alissa Keny-Guyer
Loretta Smith
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON APRIL 12, 2018
KingPins Bowling, “Chalet”
3550 S.E. 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Minutes approved July 12, 2018
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasure) Penny Wilson (Secretary)
Attendees: Betty Manning, Bev Herman, Char Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, Cynthia Lang, David Ashton, David Potts, Doug Morrow, John Mulvey, Judy Low, Julie Whitmore, Ken Herman, Mary Oxford, Michael Mellors, Grant Williams, Moe Murphy, Penny Wilson, Alyssum Gilbert, Stuart Schmaltz
Guest: Loretta Smith – District 2 Multnomah County Commissioner; Alissa Keny-Guyer – District 46 State Representative and Anthony De Los Reyes – Outreach Worker for Rosewood Family Health Center; (Loretta’s Staff - Lindsay Huddleston and Thomas Mosher – campaign), Portland Police Officers Matt Bigoni, Andrew Brown and Jon Kizzar
The meeting was convened at 6:00 PM. by Chair David Potts
Loretta Smith
County sold Wapato to a private developer for $10.8 million back in November. Developer requested an additional extension. County gave him two and then gave him a third. Then he came back with a counter offer of $5 million. Side Note: Realtor who handled the transaction was a cousin of Deborah Kafoury’s
We had 88 people die on our streets last year and we have almost 4,000 people who are without shelter; 1,700 people are physically on the streets outside in the cold and wet and in danger of dying on the street.
We have a very expensive asset that we could use to house people, treat people, train people and get them out of the elements and were not using it and haven’t used it.
This whole notion that we don’t have the money…we do have the money..we have budgets for over 600 beds. Right now we’re down 300 beds that we’re not paying for.
We closed the homeless shelter that was a topless bar that the roof fell in; it flooded, rats were running around, rat feces. Unconscionable kind of conditions.
My whole thing about this whole homeless thing is - just because people are homeless doesn’t mean you can shove them in any four by four no matter what the conditions are just because you have a roof over your head.
Wapato seemed like a perfect opportunity. It was billed as an albatross. I didn’t see it as an albatross but as a welcoming home opportunity for people. It is a drop dead beautiful sight down by the lake, with 18 acres of land.
We do know that everybody is not going to come indoors, they like to camp. That’s what their values are. But we have 18 acres and we could learn a lot of lessons from Dignity Village and get their members to help us put out camping opportunities for people who wanted to camp, who didn’t want to come inside
It didn’t have to be permanent. We missed an opportunity.
Char – I have one questions for you – as City Council do you think you will have any more support in making these decisions with the people there?
Loretta Smith – Well fortunately we have a public City / County partnership in the joint office and depending on which (if elected) you get assigned a bureau and I think right now we need to figure out how to work across bureaus. What I really love about Multnomah County is that I have done different projects in every department. It wasn’t just in one bureau and I love it so I think we need to learn how to cross bureaus.
Bob Santangelo – what about jail space?
Loretta Smith - I was the lone vote that wished to keep one or two of those pods open. We started letting people out from jail a couple of weeks ago – some with long criminal records. We need to open up more dorms.
That guy that was shot should have never died. We need some cultural sensitivity, mental health training and consistent training for our police officers.
We kill black people and people with mental health challenges. People need to know the difference between a threat and a mental health breakdown
Judy Low – Does that mean you would be willing to support increase in police training?
Loretta Smith – I would be willing to support additional training. A couple of years ago a report came out showing that 5.8% of African American live in the County of Multnomah but yet African American’s make up 22% of our jails. Six times the number of their population. So that means either they have been heavily policed, policy policed, prosecuted and sentenced. So the report showed that African Americans had a 50% more chance of extreme use of force.
When video cameras were installed in certain locations within the jail/prison facilities there were no problems. Many problems where no cameras were installed.
I know we need our public safety officers to help this community grow and we need to grow them because we are a growing City. We need police accountability but we have to grow what we are doing?
We have less police officers today than we did 15 years ago.
I understand that every 5 minutes police are on a different call. You can’t keep up with calls.
Community policing allows the police to know the people. It makes no sense to be an adversary person against our public safety officers who are protecting us.
50% of the people on the street that are homeless have mental health challenges. So we have to put more resources into supporting wrap around services to help folks.
Alissa Keny-Guyer –Chair human services and housing, on the health care committee and early childhood committee.
Up until 2015 we had never had a committee with the word housing in it. Reminds me of why we are where we are.
In 1980 the federal money for housing went down and they deinstitutionalized mental health. What Oregon has put into housing is not enough. Even if they put more into Portland it’s got to be statewide or regional or people are going to want to come to Portland.
I am so envious of the County and City because they are paid full time and have full time staff. County has 3 full time staff. City has 5 full time staff
State employees are paid $24,000.00 for a part time job (5-1/2 months in the first years) to set the budget and consider a number of bills and then (5-1/2 months the following year) to tweak the bills and the budget and in between that we have one full time staff for all state representatives. We struggle to keep up with demand.
Questioning why senators and congressmen have robust staffs in Washington DC and the County and City have full time robust staff. Why is it that the state that is in charge of all the budgeting for public safety, education, health care, housing, human services , economic development and transportation - why do we have 90 part time legislators and one full time staff?
Portland declared a state of emergency in October 2015 as did Eugene. That’s when we saw things pick up.
Budget Items - Where we are now from where we were.
$8.2 million to K-12 education
$5.3 billion to a 5 year transportation plan
Billions to Medicaid
Billions to human services
I don’t know how much to public safety – I’m not on that committee
This is where we were.
$10 million to continuing service level (meaning amount we do every year) for emergency housing assistances (which is how to keep people in their homes) i.e. due to no cause eviction, rent increase, pay first and last to move them out of a homeless shelter.
In 2016 we upped that by another $10 million; this last time we did $41 million but it did not raise the continuous service level - all it did was make us aware that there was an emergency out there. But along with that increase came a letter from the legislature that the $10 million is still the allocated amount for continuous services so they encourage City/counties not to spend that $41 million on anything that would obligate them beyond that $10 million. How do you tell a state to increase shelters and help people when you are not given them the funding to make it work. It doesn’t work for homeless people or the surrounding neighborhoods.
I have no one on the senate to pass bills. When we have a fiscal bill to pass our bills go to the sub-committee for transportation and economic development. We don’t have a sub-committee for housing. I am working on changing that so we have a ways and means committee to get bills passed.
Since the Reagan era we haven’t invested in building affordable housing. 25% of our population is on Medicaid. A percentage of those people on Medicaid need housing assistance. The recession made it a lot worse. Many people lost their homes and construction completely dried up. Populations are growing in Oregon in popular places such as Hood River, the coast, Bend and Portland caused by increase immigration. The problem in Hood River, the coast and Bend are even worse than ours. Less than ½% are building affordable housing.
We have three year grants that come from HUD or USDA to preserve the affordable housing that we currently have and federal sources to preserve affordable housing that last for 30 years. At the end of the 30 years the owners can do whatever they want with their properties. We need to preserve these affordable houses.
We increased budget to preserve affordable housing from $5 million to $25 million in this last session. These concessions are revisited every two years.
Two bills passed this session:
1) To raise the document recording fees from $55.00 (estimate) to $60.00
$20.00 of that went to affordable housing - We raised that fee to $60 for affordable housing. This is an increase from about $22 million to $66 million. 25% of this entire fund goes to housing for veterans
i. 10% goes to emergency housing and state homeless programs
ii. 14% to home ownership – we are 43rd in the county on home ownership
iii. 76% to supplying affordable housing, longer term housing or supportive housing (which means housing with mental health services)
We are still 135,000 units behind for people under 60% of the medium income across the state.
Judy Low – Is it possible for governments that own these residential buildings to be a landlord?
Alissa Keny-Guyer – Yes. I actually feel that one of things we need to do is put more money into affordable housing and then make sure that either housing authority or non-profit CDC’s need to own a lot more of these, because the more we own of these things, the market is not so dependent on the private.
Mortgage Interest Deduction for very high income people is $1 billion versus the $10 million for continuing service levels which is allotted for the really distressed people. 60% of that billion goes to the top 20% of the high income people.
Average income in the state of Oregon for a household (2.3 people) is $62,000. Why are those people giving a tax deduction to people who earn $500,000 and own two homes? I am working on this issue but a lot of people think I am trying to take it away. I’m not taking it away it just needs to be reformed.
We have very little resources. It should go into housing, mental health and addiction treatment. We have people trying to get them through the shelter system. Nobody wants to live there forever, so when they’re ready to go for treatment it’s unconscionable that this money is going to millionaires.
Michael Mellors – I was just curious how you might bridge this gap in ideology between you guys that are coming from the state level which would seem like a pretty solid plan for keeping people in affordable housing. How are you going to bridge that gap with restrictive measures for putting on the private sector here if you expect them to step up in Portland if they are being discouraged from doing so? So how would you either work around that situation?
Alissa Keny-Guyer - Are you talking about the rent relocation fees?
Michael Mellors - That’s just one factor. You have entire systems built around entire specific inefficiency from BES and other organization that hold power in the City. So I’m just curious how your plan (which seems sensible to me) in a system where you are dealing with extremely high property values there is a sentiment that pervades our City that all people who own property whether it be a mom and pop that own a rental or out of state corporations are all evil people. They all have the same motivation that they need to make money to have it pencil out. We need to circumvent that in some way. The only way I can see that happening is to make government take over these housing authority type projects. We need to de-stigmatize that in Portland and realize that this type of government ran housing is better than people living on the MUP, SWC and ODOT property. How would you best get around the hurdles you have in Portland to make this type of plan come through?
Alissa Keny-Guyer – I have introduced Bill 2007 which was to stabilize rents. We know that 99% of rent increases are coming from the private sector. System development charges are a big part of the costs of building. This bill stated that if you are building affordable housing we will completely eliminate system development charges. That bill didn’t get any money from ways and means so it didn’t pass
I’m looking into helping these big homes convert into multiple living units. Don’t give historical district a special pass on density. We can’t preserve affluent neighborhoods and put all the density in less affluent neighborhoods. When anything is for affordable housing you have to fast track. We can’t cut out community process we need community input but cut it down from 120 to 100 days. We mandated that certain cities that didn’t allow duplexes to build duplexes.
Tenant protection is very important. A lot of equity funds bought up a lot of these distressed homes due to foreclosure or other issues. Home ownership went from 69% to 60% during this time because the investment firms turned them into profits. To stop this increase in returns we” might possibly” won’t give the same deduction to people who own a second home.
Rent increases shouldn’t be 100%. It should cover repairs, maintenance and tax increases.
Homeless kids have gone from 13,000 ten years ago to almost 22,000 today.
Cindy Lang – Is all the new construction in Lents private buildings? Are they affordable?
Alissa Keny-Guyer – Many of them are not affordable.
Cindy Lang – I’m really surprised when I’m hearing this.
Alissa Keny-Guyer – I see a lot of people coming in and feel this is great because people are getting housing, but a lot of them are NOT affordable.
We passed a bill in 2016 called inclusionary housing / inclusionary zoning – meaning that if you are building anything that’s more than 20 units the bill says that 20% of the units have to be affordable.
Cindy Lang – what do you mean by affordable – because there are so many different terms.
Alissa Keny-Guyer - Meaning you have to be below 80% of the area median income.
Doug Morrow – It’s not affordable housing it’s subsidized housing which raises his rent – taxes go up to pay for that housing. They pay 1/3rd of the rent which is $800 for a $1,200 unit. We pay the rent that they aren’t paying. You don’t need to spend $300,000 to build affordable units.
Alissa Keny-Guyer – Inclusionary zoning wasn’t in effect when they built Williams, Vancouver, MLK, Division and other yuppie developments. They’re really expensive. Inclusionary zoning was not in effect so we only have three buildings that are affected by this new bill. We don’t want to put affordable housing in one area. We need to mix it with affluent neighborhoods as well.
Grant Williams – all the builders that couldn’t afford the inclusionary zoning ran out and filed their permits before the bill took effect.
Alissa Keny-Guyer – Yes - The builders flooded BES with permits who couldn’t afford the inclusionary zoning bill.
The high end residences are starting to come down in price. So they are sitting there vacant. That only helps the upper / middle income people. It’s not going to go down that far.
Let’s not restrict our bonding to public owned. I like the idea of public owned in a lot of ways because I feel that we have more control but we can’t even let non-profits own it.
Judy Low - Does it have to be an either or? Can it not be joint ownership public.
Alissa Keny-Guyer – Yes the government has to own part of it. But the government may not want to be in the business of owning everything all over the place. They might want to put resources toward private non-profits. Even a profit developer might develop there.
Judy Low – Does public ownership give them leverage? If your property was co-owned in part public owned.
Alissa Keny-Guyer – It doesn’t prohibit it! You could certainly do that but it doesn’t limit it to that. Mayor Wheeler was saying that the bill that is going to cover something like 1300 units that they can double that maybe even triple if this bond measure goes through. Then Metro is asking for a $500 million bond on November ballot. That bond will go further if we amend the constitution, so both things will be on the ballot.
Cliff Whitmore – There’s bonded indebtedness! How are we going to prevent someone coming along and pay 5 cents on the dollar like we just sold Wapato? The taxpayers on the hook for that and the county sold it for $5 million. This is exactly where public bonds are going to someone else’s ownership! One of the Sheriff’s representatives a couple of meetings ago said they had 500 fewer beds than they had 10-15 years ago; 600 fewer officers; 300 fewer than we had a few years ago yet we’re giving this guy $95 million of taxpayers money. So what I want to know is if there’s something in there that prevents this kind of misuse of public funding.
Grant Williams – Transparency and accountability
Alissa Keny-Guyer - Wapato is a huge mistake! This is where the public owns the property!
Aly Gilbert– Expressed concerns about safety near a shelter. Is tired of being minimized for her own personal experience.
Alissa Keny-Guyer – TPI will have a policy to address drug use and litter. A lot of people want to get into these shelters. The average stay is 69 days. A lot of people want these shelters to work and when they have a good neighbor agreement many of the people will go downtown under the bridge to avoid the shelters being reported for behavioral issues.
Grant Williams – Alternative school kids are concerned about this shelter. I spoke to three kids the other day and they feel leery about the element that this shelter will bring into the neighborhood.
Alissa Keny-Guyer – The principal could identify with the outcry of the idea of having a shelter moved into the neighborhood. He, himself when first approaching the neighborhood about an alternative school did not feel welcome. He is now looking forward to the prospect of having the kids doing internships with the shelter. He believes this will be a teaching experience to keep them on track.
Grant Williams – I’m very concerned about the type of people who will be staying in the shelter.
Judy Low – I object that people make generalizations about the homeless; assuming they are all criminals and drug users.
Alissa Keny-Guyer –I see this as an opportunity.
Doug Morrow – This is not an opportunity – those people on the trail do not want to move into shelters.
Alissa Keny-Guyer – Yes - some are not going into shelters. We need to provide various opportunities.
Ken Herman – You are talking 1% of the people that will go into shelters. Blame pharmaceutical companies and doctors for the opioid epidemic.
Cindy Lang – San Francisco pays homeless to pick up trash. We need to come up with ideas that work.
Alissa Keny-Guyer – I agree. Give them jobs and responsibilities.
Anthony De Los Reyes (Outreach Worker) – Rosewood Family Health Center
Does not prescribe prescription medications
Federally qualified health care provider
Provide services for individuals who can’t get services through other venues
Waiting list for housing is normally 3-4month up to a 1 year. If we can’t get you into housing right away we will find a facility that will get you stabilized and will keep in contact with the individual to make sure we are addressing their needs.
Development plan to get child care and housing
Registered dietician to help with medical issues
Help you connect with resources
Psychiatrist and behavioral health counselor in house
Social determinate s to your health (fear of being arrested)
Doing research to consolidate list of different organizations and who specializes in what services to get better results to coordinate and collaborate our efforts more efficiently
Stabilizing individuals – address the whole person
People will never be turned away due to lack of money to pay for services. They may bill you but will never turn you away for overdue bills.
We have English, Spanish, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese and that’s just our people there.
We are good about using interpreter services. Really diverse.
Really passionate about the kid population and helping the people who have been incarcerated
We will have a location in the Asian Health Center – Opens sometime in August
Working with SE Works to put integrated services in the 61st & Foster Shelter
Will give tour of the facility
Hours M-F - 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday 7:30 AM – 5: 00 PM
After hours we have a triage nurse
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Draft Minutes submitted by Treasurer Char Pennie April 19, 2018
Minutes approved on July 12, 2018.
George Devendorf
Rich Newlands
Karen Kerns
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON MAY 10, 2018
KingPins Bowling, “Chalet”
3550 S.E. 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Minutes approved July 12, 2018
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasure) Penny Wilson (Secretary)
Attendees: Alyssum Gilbert, Arlene Hunt, Betty Manning, Bev Herman, Bill Bates, Bob Field, Brian Jeaneau, Char Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, David Potts, Doug Morrow, Judy Low, Julie Whitmore, Kathi Gibson, Ken Herman, Mary Oxford, Moe Murphy, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Philip Goh, Stuart Schmaltz, Tyler Bechtel
Guest: George Devendorf, TPI Executive Director, Karen Kern, Senior Director of Substance Use Disorder Services, Clay Cooper, Senior Director of Social Enterprises & Employment Services, Jay McIntyre, Chief Liaison for Clean Start, Central City Concern, Officer Matt Bigoni, East Precinct, Rich Newlands, Project Management Division Portland Bureau of Transportation
Announcements:
Neighbor to Neighbor event Saturday May 12th – Betty’s house
Alley cleanup on Sunday (Mother’s Day) May 13 after breakfast at VFW
Neighbor to Neighbor event Saturday June 9th
Neighborhood cleanup –Saturday June 16th (volunteer forms on table)
Yard Sale Saturday July 21st – still need items
National Night Out – Tuesday August 7
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
George Devendorf – Transition Projects
Transition Projects is about 50 years old. They are focused on three types of activities:
1) People experiencing homelessness, survive that homelessness, including shelters and day services:
a. Day services include basic stuff – showers, laundry machines, place to receive mail, connection to various services that TPI provides or other agencies like Central City Concern offers, medical attention, employment opportunities, wait list for shelters
2) Assisting them with getting them into housing:
a. Mentions lack of affordable housing as primary cause for homelessness. Different folks have different challenges which cause them to fall into homelessness in the first place. While others fall into challenges caused because of being homeless.
3) Helping people be successful in housing once they move back into housing
a. That covers case management and follow up support and depending on their needs more intense follow ups to make sure they don’t fall out of housing. Failed housing attempts make it harder each time they fall out of housing getting them back into housing.
Facts about homeless women:
Almost 100% of the woman we work with report some form of sexual assaulted.
Many of them their homelessness began with domestic violence.
38% of the overall homeless population are women
General Facts:
Homelessness since the turn of the century has been on a steady decline: (according to point in time counts which are always under)
Specifically since 2010 homelessness has decreased nationally by 13%.
Chronically homelessness decreased by 27%.
Portland and Multnomah County has had a 10% uptick of homelessness in the last two years.
Seattle has had an uptick of about 16%
Los Angeles is around 30%
Oakland 30% in the last two years
Because of our investment in shelters we’ve gone from providing 50% of our homeless population with shelters to 60%. We now have more people inside a shelter than outside
The national average is closer to 70%
We have a higher percentage of chronic homeless. About 31% of our overall homeless population. This sector of homeless takes more resources and money to solve.
The reason why we have less homeless on the street from the other cities is that we have all invested at City and County levels more money into homeless shelters and other services
Let’s be clear a shelter does not end anyone’s homelessness.
It’s a better alternative to keep people safe, dry and to assure they get social services
Help them along their path to stabilizing and get them back into housing and move forward with their lives
Foster Shelter:
Scheduled to open sometime next year
For couples and single women
Will house 125 people
Based on the Willamette Center
Aligns with community identifiers that the low barrier is the most needed type of shelter to open
Bob Santanglo – So your assertion is that most of these people are homeless because of rent?
George Devendorf – There are several reasons for homelessness. Many of these people come from somewhere else. We hand out bus tickets here to other cities just as other cities hand out bus tickets to Portland. We verify the information up to 6 months later. Every City believes that most of the homeless in their cities aren’t really theirs that they are from somewhere else. It doesn’t matter where they come from.
Bob Fields – A lot of what we see down at Flavel and 92nd is huge tents. It just seems that that is what you are quoting. Does those numbers include car dwellers and RV dwellers and couch surfers?
George Devendorf – At the point in time – yes. There are a lot of folks that don’t get counted because they live inside. The majority of the folks who experiencing homelessness are staying with a friend or family member and that situation will self-resolve.
Mary Oxford – How many homeless do you see at your facility on a daily bases?
George Devendorf – On a daily bases we’re serving around 30 people. Over a year that would be about 10,000.
Voice in audience - Is your support volunteers?
George Devendorf – We depend a lot on volunteers.
Char Pennie – Why don’t you make them take part in the services to get them clean? I don’t understand giving them a bed when they can just go outside and shoot up and come back in.
George Devendorf – There are multiple types of shelters. We have the most experience in operating shelters for adult and adult couples. We offer two types of shelters low barrier and program based:
Low Barrier – come as you are. Allows pets, belongings, partners, etc.
Program Based - the people don’t have an addiction problem or they are going through a recovery program
The reason we are doing low barrier is because it’s the biggest demand for the people currently living on the street.
Aly Gilbert – Repeating a statement made by George Devendorf at one of the Steering Committee Meetings when one of the business owners complained about the trash, garbage and feces. George’s comment was “this is your new standard, get used to it.”
George Devendorf –He has followed up with the business owner that spoke that evening at the meeting. His concerns where mainly trash and noise around the bus stop. The rest of the community does not have these same concerns. We provided him with a 24 hour phone number that he could call. The same will be true of the Foster Shelter.
Aly Gilbert –how are they going to deal with crime and conflict around the people who live in the shelter and get visits from someone outside the shelter?
George Devendorf – I’m not going to sit here and say that there’s zero impact from having a shelter located in your neighborhood, but the fears that most people align with having a shelter in their neighborhood are not realized to the extent that most people fear. We have been able to successfully address those challenges as they have come up. Randy Teig said there was not an uptick in crime around shelters.
Aly Gilbert – Do you have any plans of operating a shelter in the West Hills?
George Devendorf – We operated a shelter in Multnomah Village for about 8 months. That one was for 200 people.
Betty Manning – How many times is one person allowed to go through your program and eat up resources that’s been there 4, 5, 6, 7 times, when this one person is trying to get in and get clean but he can’t because one person is taking up 7 chances? Is there a limit to how many times?
George Devendorf – We are going to help that individual as many times as they ask for it. The only reason we would not offer them services is behavior issues while in the programs.
Mary Oxford – that didn’t answer the question. Is there a limited amount of times they can come through and get help?
George Devendorf – We will see folks 3 and 4 times. We will refer them to other shelters for help. The only thing that will limit their ability to come back again is the demand for shelter space.
Voice in audience – How long do they stay?
George Devendorf – There’s no specific time limit
Char Pennie – Are there any shelters in the neighborhood that are servicing the single men under 55?
George Devendorf – We don’t have enough shelters for that sector of population. Most the people who come in, want a place to store their belongs so they don’t need to move them around and don’t have the fear of losing their belongs.
Char Pennie –Where are the people coming from that will be housed in the Foster Shelter? There’s a large concern that the people being housed in that shelter will not be from our neighborhood but being transferred over from Hansen and from downtown.
George Devendorf –The Hansen shelter is closing next month and the City has already identified the following sites. One is a couple of blocks away from Hansen on 129th and the other one is downtown. The one downtown will hold 75 women and couples. These are temporary shelters.
Voice in audience – So in that scenario those people may go into the Foster Shelter before people in our neighborhood?
George Devendorf –In this specific case everyone from Hansen will be somewhere else and accounted for months before the Foster Shelter opens. But to honestly answer your question folks will probably come from across the City. TPI is interested in referrals from the neighborhood in which the shelters are located in.
Bev Herman– Did you have an opinion on Wapato?
George Devendorf – Yes - My opinion is wrong building, wrong price point, wrong location. The fourth wrong thing is congregating that many people at one site. The maximum size that works for shelters is 120-125 people. Especially if that site is isolated. One of the things that affect these people is isolation. People who are systematically lost to hold a normal life together | ostracize them. The cost will be $5-6 thousand per month.
Moe Murphy – Do your shelters provide meals too?
George Devendorf – Mostly yes. Not all shelters have a kitchen. The ones that don’t they bring in large crock pots and volunteers to help us provide at least one warm meal a day. The Foster Shelter will have an ample kitchen. We will have volunteers from around the neighborhood to cook and serve those meals. It will also have laundry facilities as well as showers.
Aly Gilbert – How do you work with the fact that many are IV drug users and to get money for their drug addiction they perpetrate property crime?
George Devendorf – To answer your questions I want those people inside where we can keep an eye on them.
Penny Wilson – They’re going to come to you to be safe at night, then come out during the day and commit their property crime. Tells story about “Caveman” casing Bill’s house.
George Devendorf – Given that that’s what you’re seeing right now what would you rather see? People who have a safe place to be where “they can” connect to services?
Penny Wilson –Robert, how many times did you and Thomas offer “Caveman” services?
Robert Santangelo – There’s this assertion that there’s some reason. Why don’t we say what the truth is? Most of these people have destroyed their lives 10-15 years ago. They have no families. It’s not because someone abandoned them. They’ve turned on all these people. Most these people have restraining orders against them. They couldn’t rent a house if they wanted to. I doubt if you could find a rent receipt for one of these guys for the last 10 years. So when they’re in your shelter at night they’re shooting up $1,800 to $3,000 a month in heroin. Where do they get that money? In our neighborhood! So you’re providing them a place to sleep in our neighborhood so they can come out during the day and rob us and sleep in your shelter.
George Devendorf – Do you have a question you want me to answer?
Robert Santangelo –That’s a fact! I don’t know where you folks get this info. They’ve lived in my alley for three years. I’ve watched these guys. They’re not going into any shelters. They sit out there and do heroin. They go into a program. Like you said “Oh you can go in as many times as you want.” Marty’s been in rehab 13 times. They’ve probably spent millions of dollars on this guy. And he laughs…yeah, he says “Whenever I want to get cleaned up I go in, then he goes back out on the street and burglarizes houses and steals and right back…He’s been in Lents for 45 years and 27 of those as a heroin addict.
Aly Gilbert – My concern is you only talk about the homeless. But when we have people like this and saying that’s what is affected by a homeless person and political correctness says we can’t but crime and homelessness together which is that huge bridge of drug addiction which kind of puts it together. You overlook the recovery part of homelessness. Why would you put a shelter right next to a bar?
George Devendorf –Don’t confuse with what we can provide with a law enforcements system. We have systems to deal with criminals
Voice in audience – They don’t!
David Potts – To be honest my perception is that our issues are really with the County Commissioners. They want to ignore the criminal part and lump all the homeless together. They don’t want to open up more jail space. They don’t want to prosecute property crime. These guys aren’t the problem the County Commissioners are.
Bob Fields – You’re trying to do something. Whether the shelter is here or not the people are still in our neighborhood. Doing nothing is worse than trying to do something.
Penny Wilson – I think that most of our fears are these people have to get downtown to sign up and then make their way back out here. We’re assuming that the people who live downtown and who are able to get out here are going to get into the shelter. While the people in our neighborhood won’t have the means to get downtown to sign up. I fear this is not going to take one of the people in my neighborhood off the street.
Karen Kern – Explained her 22 years of addiction and 10 years on the streets. A shelter allowed her to get her life back on track.
Kathi Gibson – Why can’t we have a huge mental health facility? Force them into these facilities to get them the help they need.
Karen Kern – My outreach team has several facilities that they offer. They also check in with people to make sure they are doing well and check on their medications. The local law officers know a lot about the people in their areas. They know what facility to bring them to. We build relationships with these people. There is no pressure. Out of 98 clients - 14 are now in permanent supportive housing. 17 have gone through substances abuse and are still clean and employed. They need someone fighting for them. They need a safe place for them to sleep, do their laundry and wash their hair. There’s a turning point. It’s complicated.
Arlene Hunt – We know it’s complicated, but we feel like we are not getting our share of the pie when we try to use the government and the police and we can’t get any help. We’re told by the police and other agencies that they can’t do anything. When you have a vehicle stolen by a known car thief and there is no protection you start getting hard feelings about these agencies.
Matt Bigoni – PPB Update:
· The NRT ATV program has 24 certified ATV officers and will be riding around the trails. Some days we’ll be contacting people camping and other days we will be doing community engagement.
In July there will be a group out on the trails once a week.
The Health Dept is doing a pilot program for needle drop boxes. The first one will be installed at the Lents Fire station on 92nd Avenue. They currently have the boxes but are waiting for them to be retrofitted to make them more secure and not as susceptible to being damaged.
They are hiring more police officers – which is a three year program – 18 months of probation
We have around 950 officers and will be increased to around 1,000. We’re still pretty low on officer per 10,000 to comparable cities
Aly Gilbert – Regarding the stabbing on Foster at the convenience store a couple of months ago; the article said that the officer had to stand there and call for backup while someone was being physically attacked. You guys couldn’t intervene. Don’t we have laws that will protect us from this? So is that true, can you elaborate on that?
Matt Bigoni – The rule for us is to wait for backup. There’s always an exception to the rule. The decision is left up to the individual officer. There’s not a policy that says if you go to X call then Y is here and how you proceed. It’s more of a consensus that we want to wait for cover so we’re safe.
Aly Gilbert – Are you required to?
Matt Bigoni – No…So here’s the thing. Say I go and shoot somebody. And they’re going to say why didn’t you wait for cover? And I’m going to say this person could have died if I didn’t do what I had to do. And maybe that will serve me well and maybe it won’t. But if you wait for cover it’s hard to go wrong when people are looking at us later. I personally would have helped in a situation like that and answered the questions later.
Neola Larsen – How much do the body cameras cost?
Matt Bigoni – I have no idea. The cost of the camera is not the issue. It’s how we store that data which cost a lot and what do we record and what don’t we record? How long do we keep it? There’s just a million different things that we need to review and establish policy before they can implement it.
Neola Larsen – There’s a lot of different places all over the county using them. The answer to that is record everything! And then nobody could question.
David Potts – Is there a 21 foot rule in Portland police use of force?
Matt Bigoni – The 21 foot rule is pretty standard. It says if we’re standing 21 feet apart and I have a knife out I can run and attack you with that knife before you would be able to get your gun out of the holster. Action is always faster than reaction.
Neola Larsen – I would like to donate a body cam when you’re ready for it. I would like to do that.
Matt Bigoni – Okay. I’ll get a hold of somebody in training and you can get in touch with them. I know they’ve had them before. They tried a bunch of different brands and had people try them out.
Clay Cooper – Central City Concern:
I run social enterprises and employment services:
About 5 years ago we were helping about 200 people get jobs
The last 12 months we’ve helped over 800 homeless people get jobs
Common thread –
o Broken home
o Divorced parent
o Introduced to drugs at a young age
o One or both parents use drugs or alcohol
o They’ve been physically abused
o They’ve been told repeatedly that they will never amount to anything
o They get addicted to drugs and leave home and end up on the streets meeting the same type of people who came from a similar environment. Then those people become their family*
I want to start with that to show you that these services do work. When you get a good night’s sleep and a warm belly you are more likely to make good decisions. A simple thing like that sometimes puts a person in a better space.
*So when we start to work with them, we’re not just asking them to stop using drugs but we’re asking them to leave their family.
Roughly 50 people show up for detox treatment (7 day in house treatment center) every day and we take about 30. They have about a 25% chance of getting in. If you show up three days in a row we’re going to take your name and number and you will get in. You have to show up at 7:00 AM potentially for three straight days. Once you finish that and you’re clean and sober there’s about a 25% chance you’re going to get into our housing. There’s a really good chance you can get into another place but it’s a really good chance you’re just going to have to go back out on the street. Maybe through a shelter. So if you get through the shelter, the detox treatment and the temporary housing you then go to the job placement facility. We are dealing with people who lack a lot of confidence and “may” have a problem with authority. We have a street cleaning business, a coffee business (sold in most stores), a staffing business (provides services to small business that need a specific skill set) and a bed business (cleaning). We try to find them a job in an industry they are interested in. We have between 400-450 employers we work with.
Neola Larsen – I’m wondering why there isn’t anyone modeling their program after what “My Father’s House” does? They are very successful in what they do. And if you don’t know about them you need to look them up and talk to their executive director.
Clay Cooper – Can you tell me what is really successful?
Neola Larsen – My Father’s Place
You have to be clean and sober going in
It’s for families
They’re tested when they go in. One time you test positive you’re out. They don’t mess around with them
They have a huge warehouse full of clothes, furniture, kitchen utensils. Anything to set up a place
They can stay there for up to six months. Very few of them ever need to stay longer
They will help them with resumes, interviews, whatever they need to be successful
They have like an 85% success rate
All private donations. Facility is worth $3 million and is fully paid for
The residence (if they get assistance or have part time jobs) give 30% of their wages to the facility. When they are ready to leave that money that has been put aside is given back to them for whatever they might need.
I don’t understand low barrier. I think it should be a clean and sober shelter, even if it’s only been for a week. You’ve made this commitment so we’re going to help you. I don’t think alcoholics are that bad. They’re not out stealing cars and breaking into houses and doing that kind of stuff to get one more bottle.
Kathi Gibson – Are you crazy? What planet are you from?
Neola Larsen – It’s the drug addicts that are….(room breaks into pandemonium)
Kathi Gibson – No it’s not!
Karen Kern – We do have a similar program. Its call the Mentor Program. It’s basically a group of people who have been through recovery services who act as mentors to people who are also clean and sober. They move into a high barrier facility where you don’t get a lot of chances. They get a room, they get a mentor, they go into outpatient treatment. And the mentor will be doing drug testing and other types of case management services. We have a way for people to get stuff for their room. It’s a very similar model and that works for some people. We have a similar 86% success rate with that program as well.
Tyler Bechtel - What do you do for people who come to a low barrier shelter with severe alcoholism? They’re going to need a medical detox. What percentage of people come to you for medical care for alcohol abuse? I know a few years ago there was a shortage of these alcohol beds. How do you stop the cycle when what they need is not a bed but a medical bed?
Karen Kern – The need out ways the supply. We have about 2,000 patients a year and it’s almost 50/50 alcohol and opiates right now. 25% are able to get into the Mentor Program or housing. Another 15% are able to get into various residential treatment programs. 30% or so are able to move into other agencies that have a similar model. The rest of them are referred to places but there might be a waiting list. There is simply not the capacity to support the people who really want to get into treatment. We’ve required 82 more spaces that include housing by partnering with other community partners. We are building a clinic on 122 and Burnside, which will offer substance abuse services, primary care, mental health services as well as alcohol rehab beds and outpatient treatment. There’s more need than there are beds.
Betty Manning – Do you help recently incarcerated people that are heading out into society?
Clay Cooper – We have housing. We call it our re-entry program. They are given 90 days to find housing and a job. Fortunately we have luck finding them a job but housing is much harder. Our most difficult is mothers. Finding them a job that pays them $18-$20 an hour so they don’t sit back and rely on services.
Jay McIntyre – Central City Concern –I started with CCC in the training program.
Besides the Mentor Program done by TPI we also do a program called Community Volunteer Program which is 80 hours of supervised volunteer work with City agencies, non-profits, Portland Park & Rec, graffiti abatement.
This fills their time where they have something positive to do instead of “maybe” making bad decisions. It also teaches them how to show up on time, how to take directions, how to work as a team and it preps them to get ready to go back to work.
Sometimes they’ve had huge gaps in employment or maybe they’ve never had a job before.
Once they participate in that program they are eligible to apply for the Clean Start Program.
The program is up to 6 month but our goal is 90 days to move them to the next step. We have been doing that training program for a little over 10 years in the downtown district. We provide enhanced cleaning services for a 13 block area downtown.
In 2015 we started a pilot project with the City of Portland where formerly homeless people would go out to homeless camps and make contact and ask them if they have any garbage to remove and remove their garbage and offer them some hope and resources.
Additionally it was for the NRT officers to be able to call us when they moved someone along and there’s a big mess in front of someone’s business. We could go in within 20-30 minutes and remove the garbage left behind. Initially the officer’s didn’t think the program was going to work, but two months into the program they admitted that this was one of the best tools they’ve ever been given. We duplicated the program out in Gresham. In the beginning we were only in Central Precinct and lower eastside.
In 2017 the City funded another 2 trucks for us and now we have one in each police precinct.
We clean up abandoned homes
We go into active homeless camps and make contact with them and hand people out blue bags and go back and pick them up at a later date
There’s three ways we decide where to clean:
A) We get a lot of calls from the NRT officers to go to a place and clean up
B) Get calls from PBOT Abandoned Autos, when they’re towing RV’s and cars that there’s too much stuff around them. We will remove that before they tow the car
C) The PDX Reporter reports get sent to CCC and we divvy them out to the different agencies and then they go to them the next day and clean up
We can address livability issues; needles, garbage and that sort of thing. We can remove the garbage and debris. We do find a lot of needles and biohazards too if it’s small. If it’s large there is another contractor our guys call.
A couple things our guys don’t do:
They don’t take people’s property
We don’t tell people they have to move
We’re not allowed on any ODOT property
Right now ODOT posts an eviction notice and you have 10-19 days to leave. It’s totally different from the City of Portland.
Aly Gilbert – Do you contract with the shelters?
Jay McIntyre – No we just remove garbage
Aly Gilbert – What about the garbage around the shelters?
Jay McIntyre – Sure we will go anywhere in the City of Portland or Gresham to clean up messes related to homeless issue. Needles are a priority.
Aly Gilbert – How do we get a hold of you?
Jay McIntyre – PDX Reporter is the quickest way. We get those and we’re on them the next day.
Kathi Gibson – What do you do with the people belongings that nobodies supposed to take but we’re supposed to store?
Jay McIntyre – We don’t do that. The City has another contractor that posts the camps and removes the property and stores it.
Penny Wilson –Now that you are working with Parks on the Springwater Trail what is your scope of cleaning and picking up?
Jay McIntyre –Recently it’s been every Thursday. We will pick up any garbage on the trail. Again we won’t remove property. If they are missing something please let me know.
Penny Wilson – Oh they’re not missing something. I’m wondering how far off the asphalt your people go to pick up the garbage, because what I’m finding is the same filthy abandoned campsite three Thursdays in a row that didn’t get cleaned.
Jay McIntyre – It could be that it’s hidden
Penny Wilson – Oh no...its probably a tad bit hidden because the grass and blackberries are growing rapidly but when Ken & I started reporting it, it was very visible being in the middle of the path. When I spoke to parks they suggested that maybe you don’t go off the asphalt.
Jay McIntyre – I don’t know why that is because we absolutely go off the path.
Aly Gilbert – How do you distinguish one man’s treasure from another man’s garbage?
Jay McIntyre – It can be very difficult sometime. If it’s wet or soiled then its garbage
Penny Wilson – If the tent is gone and nothing is steaming anymore its abandoned. It happens regularly. Clothing is the major issue.
Penny Wilson - Are you guys certified for the biohazard or are you just using plastic bags to pick it up.
Jay McIntyre We will do small amounts but our guys will call Rapid Response for larger amounts.
Rich Newlands – Foster Streetscape update:
Foster Road improvements from 50th – 90th Avenue
The earliest the project will start will be the last full week of May or first week of June
The project is planned for 6 months – expect it to be wrapped up late October or early November
East of 82nd Avenue is where the most intense construction will take place – widening roads and sidewalks leading into the Lents downtown area
The contractor will start there marching up and down in a 2 block section going in a circle in 2 block chunks over several weeks before it moves on
Foster Road will remain open in both directions
The contractor is not allowed to work during peak traffic hours
The only detour is left turns going westbound – you’ll have to go around the Fred Meyer facility
As you get west of 82nd Avenue where the improvements sort of happen here and there; where we will be rebuilding sidewalk in certain sections, what we’re mostly doing is curve ramps, knee and refuge islands and curb extensions for pedestrian safety reasons. There the work will be more localized and the contractor will get in and out of there over the course of 4 to 6 weeks.
The traffic impacted is not expected to be significant
The biggest issues will be on street parking
The other two areas where you will see significate activity is Holgate – a new signal will be installed at Holgate with a dedicated left turn
72nd Avenue is also where there’s going to be a new traffic signal. We’re going to realign the northbound intersection and put in a whole new signal there
The contractor is required every week to post an update schedule to let people know where the works moving along Foster Road
We’re planning on planting 190 trees
Project update on PBOT site
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/540950
SaferFoster.com – update on progress of project for Foster Road
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/57866
Adjournment. A motion to adjourn was made by David Potts and seconded by Char Pennie. It was passed by consensus. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Draft Minutes submitted by Treasurer Char Pennie on behalf of Secretary Penny Wilson, May 31, 2018
Minutes approved on July 12, 2016
Brandi Tuck
Michael Jordan
Edward Campbell
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON JUNE 14, 2018
KingPins Bowling, “Chalet”
3550 S.E. 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Minutes approved July 12, 2018
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasure | Secretary)
Attendees: Cyndi Luciani, Don Luciani, Frank Miley, Scott Parker, Bob Hargis, Richard Seymour, Betty Manning, Bob Field, Brian Jeaneau, Char Pennie, David Potts, Doug Morrow, Judy Low,
Kathi Gibson, Nancy Tannler, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Robert Santangelo and Stuart Schmaltz
Guest: Michael Jordan, Director of the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, Edward “Eddie” Campbell, Director of Resource Protection and Planning, Teresa Elliott, Chief Engineering, Allan Warman, Public Utility Board & Business Customer Manager at Portland General Electric and Micah Meskel, Public Utility Board & Conservation Field Coordinator with the Audubon Society of Portland, Brandi Tuck, Executive Director, Portland Homeless Family Solutions, Phyllis Leonard, Board Member for Portland Homeless Family Solutions and Ellen Vanderslice, Board Member for Portland Homeless Family Solutions
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Penny Wilson has resigned as Secretary (if interested please contact David or Char)
Neighborhood Cleanup - June 16th from 9AM -1PM or until dumpsters full 5050 SE 82nd Avenue – Adult & Teen Challenge parking lot (still looking for volunteers)
Veterans of Foreign Wars Breakfast – Father’s Day – June 17 at 9:30AM 7118 SE Fern Avenue
Community Yard Sale July 21st from 10AM -3PM – 10603 SE Henderson Street – Mt. Scott Community Connection Center – tax deductible donation receipts available (still looking for volunteers)
Lents Fair August 5th from 11AM – 4PM – 9330 SE 92nd Avenue tax deductible donation receipts available (still looking for volunteers)
Brandi Tuck – Executive Director, Portland Homeless Family Solutions
Background and Information on family shelter being located at 92nd & Tolman:
Mission: Empowers families to get back into permanent housing
Started in 1994 with one shelter in Goose Hollow – it was run entirely by volunteers until PHFS took over in 2008
This building will triple the number of people that they serve. At Goose Hollow they serve 8 families year around – here they can serve 26 families.
They service roughly 200 homeless families each year through their Goose Hollow Family Shelter as well as The First United Methodist Church of Portland the Family Winter Shelter at Congregational Methodist Church
Combined they have been helping 105 moms, dads and kids every night of the year
In 2017 they helped 653 moms, dads and kids move back into homes. They also help families that have 72 hour eviction notice keep their housing.
They teach life skill classes
Latest Acquisition is the former Adult & Teen Challenge Site:
Built in 1962 – It’s 1600 sq ft building which was too large for Teen Challenge –
It has 8 apartments
They learned about building availability in December 2017 – since last Spring they have been doing a lot of testing and took ownership around May 24th
This summer they plan to renovation by adding floor showers, installing wood floors, removing old carpet, painting, building a playground.
Plan is to open to families this fall.
Each family will have their own private bedrooms. There 26 individual bedrooms with beds, dressers and real furniture
Our services will be open to individuals in the community who wish to learn about parenting, renting, come to get help with prevention or housing
The building is already set up for social services
They currently run 3 homeless shelters for family’s downtown – Their criteria is a 24/7 shelter
Will perform background checks including staff and volunteers
Drug free environment
3 staff on duty at all times
They will do hourly checks around the building checking for loitering or trash
Community space – have movie nights and other events to welcome the community
Location of space is more convenient for the families who live in this area. Many programs are downtown while the families live in this area. This gives them easier access to their schools, jobs other family members, etc.
We want to have ongoing feedback program in place to improve our program to make it more relevant and better for the neighborhood to address any problems or concerns. We wish to build a relationship with the neighborhood by collaborating, being transparent and getting feedback
Betty Manning – Are all your spaces already filled?
Brandi Tuck – No. We will be opening September or October and we will start filling spaces in “maybe” September? We take reservation for intake appointments maybe a week or two in advance to opening.
Betty Manning – Will the kids go to their favorite schools?
Brandi Tuck – Kids have a couple of choices through the Federal Government Act passed in 1992 which sets up a couple of protections for kids
1) They can stay in their neighborhood school – that school is required to provide transportation to and from the school (seen kids who get taxi cabs), most schools do monthly tri-met passes for the entire family
2) They can switch to the shelter district school
Bob Field – how do you identity prospects for your residents?
Brandi Tuck – We are part of the Multnomah County Homeless Family System of Care (MCHFSC). We all share a coordinated access system. They can call 211 or walk up to JOIN, Human Solutions, IRCO (Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization), SCI (Service Corporation International), NAYA (Native American Youth and Family Center), NARA (Native American Rehabilitation Association) JOHS (Joint Office of Homeless Services) (there’s 9 of them). One of these organizations will do an assessment and then you are put on a wait list and prioritized by need. Once they are referred to us that is when we do the background check and other paperwork for our facility.
Bob Field – Is it always true that it’s mommy’s, daddy’s and children?
Brandi Tuck – No – We have a very liberal definition of family. It’s a group of people who identity as a family and have children under 18 in their care. We have every iteration of the definition family. The only criteria is have children under 18 in your care; be experiencing homelessness and pass a background check.
Bob Field – What is the average period of homelessness before they arrive at your shelter?
Brandi Tuck – Three or four years ago I would have said an average of 2-3 months homeless. Now I would say an average of 6-12 months homeless. But it’s a different kind of homelessness. It’s couch surfing, sleeping in cars, it’s not often outside tent camping. It’s getting longer. There are currently 800 families on the MCHFSC wait list. To get to the top of the wait list can “sometimes” be a year.
Bob Field – It’s interesting that if I’m in a family unit I find other accommodation than a tent.
Brandi Tuck – The majority of families that we served last year had kids under 5. The Oregon Department of Education put out a report that the number of kids for the 2016-2017 school year for Multnomah County alone there were 4,317 students that experienced homelessness. That does not take into count their siblings who are not in school. Statewide it’s 22,000 students experienced homelessness.
Neola Larsen – As part of the background check will they be drug tested and if they test positive would they be out right away to make room for another family?
Brandi Tuck – If they do have relapses we try to work with them to get them back on track. If they continue to use and are not willing to get sober we do ask them to leave and replace them with a family who can participate.
Voice – You will be helping 24 families and how many people will that consist of?
Brandi Tuck – 26 and that will be roughly 65 – 85 people. Goose Hollow services 8 families and it swings between 18 and 30 people
Stuart Schmaltz – do you have a kitchen on-site that you feed them?
Brandi Tuck – we do – the building has a large commercial kitchen. We provide 3 meals a day. The families will all have their own private rooms but shared bathrooms, shared living room and shared kitchen, shared dining room plus two snacks - preschool snack and after school snack. For dinners we serve a big community dinner. At our other shelters we have volunteers bring in dinner and serve it to the families. Its one big community dinner with the families, staff and volunteers
Char Pennie – Have you ever thought about training the people who live in these shelters to do the cooking?
Brandi Tuck – Yes, that is one of things we are very excited about. We would like every building function to be a job training program. Like Janitorial – job training, facilities maintenance – job training, Admin – job training, cooking, kitchen maintenance – job training
Kathi Gibson – How large are these family rooms?
Brandi Tuck – they’re roughly 300 sq ft each. Each unit will contain a twin bunk bed set and a full with a twin bunk bed on top, a dresser and a wardrobe and we’ll bring in cots and things if there is more than 4 or 5 people in a family. We have lots of cribs and pak-n-plays and all kinds of stuff.
Betty Manning – How do you know the kids belong to those families?
Brandi Tuck – We are not too concerned with people bringing in kids that aren’t their’s. Our definition of our shelters is a children’s shelter where the parents get to stay too.
Stuart Schmaltz – where does your funding come from?
Brandi Tuck – half of our funding comes from the City and county through the Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS). They are going to sponsor around 55% of the Lents shelter operations. We get about 1.3 – 1.4 million dollars a year from JOHS and we match that with another 1.5 million dollars of private money from all the foundations, PGE, The Standard, around 900 individuals from $10 - $125,000 a year so it’s a lot of people coming together.
Kathi Gibson – do you have people in the neighborhoods doing volunteer work at these facilities?
Brandi Tuck – Yeah we have some and there are people who don’t live in this neighborhood that work with us that are very excited about the move but we are very excited to come to this neighborhood and do outreach this summer to welcome so many new volunteers. We want to go to all the faith communities, community like this, neighborhood associations, you are welcome to volunteer. Last year we had over 1,000 volunteers that were in our three programs and they volunteered over 12,000 hours of community service. We cannot do this without volunteers.
Allan Warman – Co-chair of the utility board – created roughly 2-1/2 years ago to represent the public to look at the financial side and the bureau of environmental services
Mike Jordan – Director of the Bureau of Environmental Services – we run the sewers and store water
Char Pennie – we want to know about the increases and why?
Mike Jordan – refers to PowerPoint presentation that they made to City Council earlier this month (attached to these minutes) which contains:
1) Our rates
2) Rates we charge for developers for permits
3) Our budget and the size of our budget
4) Where the money comes from and what we spend it on
5) Explains the bill (sewer is about 2/3 of the bill)
Where your money goes:
Our budget is 2/3 chattel (paying debt services on stuff we’ve already built or spending money on stuff we’re building this year or putting a little money away for stuff we’re going to be built in future years) and when I say build it’s about replacing the infrastructure we already have, and
1/3 operations - 25 hundred miles of pipes their average age is about 80 years in the downtown core many of the pipes there are over 100 years old. We are constantly replacing pipe which our capital budget is about $120 million dollars a year. About half of that money on an average year is spent purely on pipe replacement.
The next few years we will be spending quite a bit of money at our treatment plants. Two plants Columbia Blvd. and Tryon Creek which treat anywhere from about 80 million gallons of waste in a day in the summer to somewhere on a rainy winter day about 400 million gallons in a day.
We have a line system which not only collects sewage from homes and business but also collects the rain water from the streets and downspouts, which all goes to the wastewater treatment plant.
Prior to 2011 the wastewater use to overflow into the river (CSO) Combined Sewer Overflows. We had about 60 of them a year. After installing the 22 foot in diameter pipes we now have about 4 a year and the duration is shorter.
The surface water management is broken up into four sections.
The downtown section, the east section (run underground injection faculties – dry wells) use separation wells to take out heavy metals, oils etc) the water itself is re-injected into the aquifer out here, east of 52-53 this turns into a large flood plain out east and the water goes away pretty well, the Columbia slough difficulty clearing the water there because that is a flood plain and we need to figure out how to get the water to drain without flooding the airport and all the business out in that area and the west hills, which is the most difficult because of all the hills and valleys and the number of unimproved roads. Water bill increase is about 4.6% .
Sewer is going up 2.35%.
The driver there is the maintenance of the system – 2/3rd is maintenance, reinvesting in this infrastructure
We’re trying to keep our bill in line with inflation.
Neola Larsen – who is overseeing all of this so none of this money goes to pet projects like a $700,000 house in the future?
Mike Jordan – Three years ago the City Council created the utility board for oversight which replaced a couple of previous boards. All changes go through this board. Including how we are going to change our plans, change level of service, they are a very deeper oversight committee. We work with them all year long. We just completed a lawsuit over how we spend the money.
Neola Larsen – who’s watching Allen?
Mike Jordan – No answer – lots of laughing
Bob Field – where do we rank with other metropolitan systems as rate goes? Rumor has it that we are pretty high on the list.
Mike Jordan – Page 8 shows the comparison. We’re about in the middle though the rate increase for this year is in the lower third overall. Portland is way ahead of the curve in this combined sewer overflow problem. We spent the money, we issued the debt, and we’ve basically fixed the problem. Our big expenditure was 15 years ago when we did the CSO so we are ahead of the curve.
Edward Campbell - Director of Resource Protection and Planning.
Main job is resource and environmental protection. July 1st they have approved additional expansion.
We’re under a federal mandate to start treating our Bull Run drinking water to address algae bloom. $500 million dollar project to build a water treatment plant that we are obliged to build by 2027.
Taking steps to harden our system to make it more reliable resilient in the event of an earthquake.
Recently installed a new underground water reservoir at Powell Butte which is hardened and up to seismic standards.
Installed a new tank at Kelly Butte which is seismically upgraded.
New line crossing the Willamette River which is seismic standard we are now working on major capital project that is to come in the next 5-10 years.
Regulatory requirements costs– filtration, handling the corrosion affecting our water (to handle homes that have lead pipes).
This year we had an 8.7% increase. 6% of that is associated with the capital programs.
Rates will be 6%-7% range over the next 5-10 years as we build out that filtration project. Because we are a smaller portion of the bill the combined rate will be lower than 5% of the bill.
Low income assistance's program will be available July 1st (form attached and can be found on line). Provides assistance to individuals that are 60% of the Median Household Income which provides a 50% discount to folks who qualify at that level. We are creating an extra tier for people that are at 30% of the Median Household Income which provides an 80% discount. So for folks that have a regular $39 monthly bill for the extremely low income folks this will drop to less $20 than per month. Folks that are at that extra level of need the bill will be about $7.30 per month. Price voucher is a one-time need available once a year. The current amount is $150.00 up to $500.00. We have a program through Home Forward to help multi-family renters to provide rental assistances to eligible renters where the lease is very exclusively addressing water, sewer and storm water costs. If they are at risk of eviction they have an opportunity of getting assistances through Home Forward on the rent.
Question - Can you just say the name of that low income program again?
Edward Campbell – Low Income Assistance Program (LINC). We have a program called Utility Safety Net as well as Fixture Repair Program (FRP). The FRP addresses leaks or other plumbing repair issues.
We also have other programs through BES and water that are targeted for all customers, not just low income folks. Clean River Rewards program through BES that targets storm water management. If you manage your storm water on site and not going through the storm water system you are eligible for this program provides 35% discount on your storm water bill. Water Efficiency Program in the water bureau. We offer rebates to folks that do a low capacity toilet replacement. It also covers businesses that have old ice machines.
Kathy Gibson – what is the income bracket on the lower income?
Edward Campbell – It’s 60% of the median household income that is established by the median income for Multnomah County
Penny Wilson – have you figured out a pass through group for mobile home parks?
Edward Campbell – See Side Notes below*
Question – Algae bloom in Salem – Bull Run has no issues?
Edward Campbell – the Bull Run water does not have the conditions to create the same algae. The water does not have a lot of nutrients that created the algae bloom in Salem. Three factors to create this algae – sunlight, nutrients and still water. We have the first two but not the nutrients. Our best saving grace is we have an alternative drinking water source that is not affected at all by algae.
Question – when the filtration system is in place will that deal with the algae?
Teresa Elliott – In theory yes
Question – what happened to the idea of using UV?
Teresa Elliott – We talked to several folks about building the UV treatment process which we designed in 2012 and which we could bring up to code or build this filtration treatment facility. UV only deals with certain grade algae, one of which would not deal with this current algae that is in Salem. City Council decided to go with the filtration system that would treat several different contaminant sources over the UV system.
Allan Warman – Expresses his appreciation for Penny’s question about mobile home parks.
Explains his role as a PUD liaison between the public and the bureaus and encourages people from the public to give input to influence the process to help more low income people.
Question – Is this big increase that’s going to happen partly due to this treatment plant? And do you feel that this treatment plant was necessary?
Teresa Elliott – first off we didn’t actually have a choice. Building the filtration plant is a mandate from EPA. Whether we build a filtration or UV plant was the cities choice. As far as the rate the filtration system is about 2-2-1/2% for the next 10 years of the rate increase. The 4-5% is taking care of the CIP the low income programs, our operating budgets. Out of my capital improvement program 55% goes towards repair and construction of existing facilities and the other 40% or so goes to new facilities as well as seismic upgrades. We will have our water system dealt with from a resiliency standpoint within a 50 year time frame. So we will have Washington Park, Willamette River, Powell Butte and Kelly Butte as well as replacing infrastructure that was aging are all being rebuilt to seismic standards. Once those are built I need to start adding in other seismic projects so we can have a basic backbone system up and running so within 24 hours of the Cascade earthquake we can provide water. Today we can’t do that. It would take us 6 months. With these other projects in play I can’t do a 20 year plan I have to do a 30-45 year plan. Over the next 45 years you will see more and more projects focused on seismic upgrades.
Stuart Schmaltz – If we do have that earthquake tomorrow do you have centers all around the City that have bottled water ready to go in case of an emergency or are we just winging it?
Teresa Elliott – we are probably all in the same boat. We’re probably all winging it. There are neighborhood emergency teams. You can find yours on the Bureau of Emergency Management website. They do have some emergency supplies but not necessarily bottled water. It’s packaged water. The advice is to save a gallon per day per person and for your pets for 14 days.
Penny Wilson – how do you suggest storing that? How many years is that bottled water good for?
Teresa Elliott – I don’t know the official answer. I know what I do for myself. For myself I have one 7 gallon bucket and then I have a bunch of one gallon buckets. They are tap water that I refill every year.
Penny Wilson –They recommend not reusing plastic bottles for water?
Edward Campbell – this is an emerging area of entrepreneurial interests. I have a food grade 50 gallon drum that I fill with drinking water and I drain it and refill yearly.
Bob Field – do you do any education about water harvesting?
Edward Campbell – there are suggestions on our website. Not great for potable water but good for irrigation
Bob Field – At the end of that year the water would be very stale.
Teresa Elliott – you can invest in the Chief Purification Water Filter that they sell for camping, which treats almost everything for your private water supply
Judy Low – plug for Neighborhood Emergency Team – has a lot of information about emergency.
Does federal assistance come with an EPA mandate to build the filtration system?
Teresa Elliott – no – it’s an unfunded mandate
Judy Low – is there any way we can ask our friends Burrel & Ron?
Teresa Elliott – we have asked and so far congress has not come up with any kind of federal funding. We are looking into federal grants
Judy Low – With the debt ratio being what it is how do these programs get paid while decreasing the debt ratio for the agency? Does the rate increase address this issue? What is the definition for median income? Is that family income, area income or household income?
Edward Campbell – We use median household income – and the way I interpreted it, which is set by the Federal definition, which local areas have their own individual numbers associated with that. Multnomah County uses it to calculate certain services in their jurisdiction by income and ours is in sync with theirs. That base line is being increased so people with a little higher income may then become eligible for the programs
Voice in Audience – I just looked up what Portland’s Household income is. For a family of 4 the amount is $68,000 compared with the area median income which is $51,000, which is a big difference.
Penny Wilson – Regarding your tiered low income plan. Will people that are already receiving the assistance be adjusted if the information that they have provided to the bureau indicates that they are in that 30% rate that can’t afford to pay $8.00 per month?
Edward Campbell – I think so. I don’t know that for certain – see Side Note below**
They are hiring more staffing to do community outreach to help folks who need the assistance to have staff that can answer their questions and help them apply for the programs.
SIDE NOTES: EPAP – Ungrading two pumping stations to reduce amount of sewer overflow into the Columbia River. Four pumping stations are also being upgraded at 120th, 122nd, 185th and 189th.
Edward Campbell - Portland Water Bureau. Two questions that came up that I couldn’t immediately answer. I have since received the answers to those questions from the bureau’s Customer Service Director, Kathy Koch, and wanted to get back to the group with them.
*Q: Are there ways for residents of mobile home parks like the one on SE Flavel near 74th to receive the City’s utility low income assistance program?
A: Unless the tenants get a bill directly from the City, there is not a way for them to receive the regular discount. However, the City does regard mobile home parks to be multi-family units and therefore residents of these properties are eligible for the new HomeForward program that is just getting established to provide assistance to renters who are at risk of losing their housing in part due to the utility costs that are included in their rents.
**Q: Do current low income assistance customers need to submit a new application to try to qualify for the increased assistance program that is currently rolling out?
A: No new application is needed. Staff is going back through original applications to see who would qualify using the new 30% income guideline and those that are eligible will have their accounts flagged to receive the increased discount.
Adjournment. The Meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
Draft Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie July 8, 2018
Minutes approved on July 12, 2018
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON JULY 12, 2018
KingPins Bowling, “Chalet”
3550 S.E. 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Betty Manning, Bev Herman, Bob Field, Char Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, David Potts, Doug Morrow, Erik Benson, Julie Whitmore, Ken Herman, Mary Oxford, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson
Guest: No guest speakers
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements
Saturday - July 14th – 8:00AM – 12:00 PM - N2N Event – recipient unknown
Sunday - July 15th – 9:30AM – 10:45AM - VFW Breakfast 7118 SE Fern Avenue– followed by alley cleanup 11:00 – 12:00 – 86th & Ramona
Saturday - July 21st – 10:00AM – 3:00 PM - Yard Sale at Mt. Scott Community Connection Center – 10603 SE Henderson Street – NEED VOLUNTEERS
Sunday - July 22nd – Deck Party at LNLA headquarters – 7819 SE 105th Avenue – 3:00PM – 6:00 PM – FOOD SIGNUP SHEET AVAILABLE
Sunday - August 5th – Lents Fair – 11:00AM – 4:00 PM – NEEDS VOLUNTEERS
Tuesday - August 7th – National Night Out – 5:00PM – 8:00 PM - 10603 SE Henderson – NEED VOLUNTEERS
Sunday – August 12th – 9:00AM – 10:00AM – Mt. Scott Community Center - Bethany with Portland Homeless Family Solutions will be looking for volunteer for the shelter opening at 92nd & Tolman
Meeting was called to discuss where we want to take our group. The consensus is:
1) No more people from the City that would (in Penny’s words) “Blow smoke up our Skirts”
2) No need to present meeting minutes and get them approved. They will be posted on line
3) Continue helping our neighbors with projects that they are unable to do on their own
4) Do neighborhood cleanups of alleys, the Springwater Corridor and other areas
5) Erik Benson showed an interest in speaking to Bill with the Pickles to discuss their extended 12 year lease at Walker Stadium that was signed without neighbor input
6) Raise money by holding an ice cream social – do we need a food handlers permit to do this?
7) Check into what it takes to use the park for this event.
Volunteers for Yard Sale: Betty Manning, Penny Wilson, Char Pennie, David Potts, Julie Whitmore, Cliff Whitmore, Doug Morrow, Bob Field
Volunteers for Lents Fair: Char Pennie, David Potts
National Night Out: Char Pennie, David Potts, Bob Field
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary July 16, 2018
Mindy Brooks
Bill Stewart
Marie Walkiewicz
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON AUGUST 9, 2018
KingPins Chalet
3550 SE 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Bev Herman, Brian Jeaneau, Char Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, Cynthia Lang, David Potts, Doug Morrow, Evelyn Macpherson, Julie Whitmore, Ken Herman, Moe Murphy, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Robert Santangelo, Dereck & Libby, David & Barb Precechtil, Bonnie Kittleson, Russ Hoefcich, Paul & Leighann DeLand, Diane Carlson, Carol J. Perry, Greg Wallier, Dana & Janet Wood, Carol Clifton, Noriko Yamaguchi, Brian Coleman, Lisa Hefty
Guest: Mindy Brooks, Bureau of Planning & Sustainability, Marie Walkiewicz, Bureau of Environmental Services, Daniel Soebbing, Bureau of Planning & Sustainability, Bill Stewart, Portland Pickles, Office Jon Kizzar
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
Saturday August 11th - N2N meeting | Breakfast starts at 8:15AM - 10625 SE Henderson
Sunday August 19th - Breakfast at Maple Leaf | 9:30AM - 7129 SE Foster Road
Bob Santangelo is organizing another Deck Party – this time with a Hawaiian theme – wear your grass skirt
Mindy Brooks –Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
Discusses a project to correct the location of environmental overlay zones to align with the location of existing streams, wetlands, forests and wildlife habitat. The project will affect a number of property owners in the Johnson Creek watershed and southeast quadrant of the city.
To provide some background information, environmental overlay zones are in place to protect natural resources like streams, wetlands, floodplains, forests, steep slopes and other natural areas. These resources not only provide habitat for fish and wildlife, they manage stormwater, mitigate flood risks, cool and clean the air and provide places for people to recreate and relax. Many of the environmental overlay zones were applied over 20 years ago and there is a mismatch between the zones and the resources – this needs to be fixed.
The project website www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/e-zone provides information regarding the project and it will have (in July) an interactive map where people can look up their property.
If you wish a private consultation about your property we have Office Hours:
1900 SW 4th Ave, Suite 7100, Portland, OR 97201
August 29th 11:00 -1:00 PM
September 27th 4:00 – 6:00 PM
This information can be found at https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/77304
Johnson Creek Plan was done in 1991
Some updates were done in 1997
Today we have better resources for mapping these resources.
This project is not changing the regulations. We’re not changing the environmental overlay zone, we’re just correcting where they are supposed to apply.
E-Zones – are environmental overlays is one tool the City uses to protect environmental streams and wetlands
We are doing this to protect our natural habitats and resources. There are roughly 3,000 people impacted by this new overlay zone plan in the Johnson Creek area. If you are within 30-75 feet of a wetland, big stand of trees or sloped plain you will be affected by the new overlay mapping. The flood plain is not necessarily part of the overlay mapping. What will be affected is those lands closest to Johnson Creek.
You can use the website to find your address to see how you are affected.
Question: How will this impact pending questions for permits on taking trees down or dividing a lot or property?
Answer: Anything that starts its permitting process before this project is adopted is vested in the current code. So if you have a current permit that is being processed to divide your lot or add on to your house it’s vested in today’s code as it is now
Question: So if you have a dividable lot and we have a little strip of our backyard that is being preserved for the Oregon Trail, there’s no water, streams anything, just for the Oregon Trail. So if I were to divide my lot what is this going to do for the future of dividing this lot?
Answer: Dividability is based on your base zone and your lot size. It is not based on environmental zones. When you come into the division of Bureau of Development Services, which is our sister bureau, we will look at base zone and your lot size and determine how many lots you can divide your lot into. That’s not based on the E-Zone, so the E-Zone doesn’t change if you can divide or not. What it might impact however, is where those new lots can be sited and how big they can be. Because with the environmental overlay zone the dividing would be limited to move the division, move lots further away from the resource.
Question: So basically, it could make that lot unsaleable.
Answer: It could make it so that the lots that you are dividing may be, like you’re creating, let’s say you’re creating, one lot divided into three. Based on the size of your lot even with these reasons you can still divide it into three lots. That doesn’t change. What changes is, could be, depending on, we need to look at your site and try to figure it out. It could make those three lots smaller than it would have been without the overlay zone?
Statement: It’s just one lot
Answer: So, if you just have one lot
Statement: It’s a flag lot. Up against Powell Butte.
Answer: So, we should take a look at yours together and take a look at it and walk through it and see how it might impact you.
Question: What impact does this have on developers versus homeowners for building and cutting trees down?
Answer: So this impacts primarily people who own the property. So it’s your property and you own it. if you hire someone to come in to develop the property, you’re still the owner, and so developers just have to play by the same rules everybody else does.
Statement/Question: I’m guessing that the expanse of this is based on flyovers and pictures from above, where they look down and they say it looks like you have a lot of trees on your property and we may expand your environmental zone?
Answer: So aerials definitely come into play and we also use MiDar which is satellite based, it senses topography and vegetation. It actually is really accurate. We can figure out how tall trees are, even the species of trees using MiDar. We use MiDar, we use aerials, we also use a number of other resources. We use soil data, we use landslide data, floodplain data. So it’s all remote stats that’s why we really need to come to the sites.
Statement/Question: Our property backs up to some of the City’s greenspace. We’re already having erosion issues; where the property is sliding off. Is there somebody we can talk to about that, about getting that fixed? We also have a lot of trees in the greenspace that are covered by ivy that are actually dying. We can’t find anybody who will come out and take care of that.
Answer: Let’s when we take a little break after this, lets you, me and Marie talk and we will figure out who you need to contact and get you to the right person.
Follow-up Answer: The properties that abut his are privately owned. If there’s a concern about ivy in the trees next to the street, my understanding is that property owners are responsible for maintaining trees and other plants in the right of way.
Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) owns the Indian Creek Natural Area, a few properties to the west of Derek’s. If there are concerns about that site we can connect neighbors with the appropriate property maintenance staff at BES.
Question: Is there any area where you are not making the greenspace?
Answer: Again, what we should do for each person is look at the property and see what the environmental overlay zones and how they may or may not change on that. But you should be aware that there is 11x17 overlay that much bigger that explains. This is just one tool. There’s a tree code as well which protects trees in and outside the environmental overlay zone. There’s drainage way administrative rule which protects streams in and outside the environmental overlay zone. There’s a number of other tools that come into play too and usually it site specific to figure out what might happen on your property. But our intention is to continue to protect resources the way those plans meant for them to be protected.
Question: So our property abuts a greenspace as part of a common property that is owned by the association of a number of properties. Is that possibly the reason we received the notification? Because we own a share of that greenspace?
Answer: Yes. One of the things that we noticed when we were doing the mapping that some (this may not be your circumstance) but especially in the Boring and further out there were areas that back in the early ‘90’s were greenspace and then there was a development that happened. And now all those trees that were in an environmental overlay zone are all houses. The environmental overlay zones where never corrected to follow that permanent legal land use change that happened. So in that case all of those houses, the environmental overlay zone came off them. So they got a notice because they are no longer going to be in the environmental overlay zone. That could be if your house was built like ’92 and forward that could be part of the reason. The other reason could be if you bought it and the tree canopy, if there is a tree canopy that comes into your backyard, so the overlay zone followed the tree canopy not the property line. So that may be a reason why you might have been notified.
Question: My property was built in ’94, but there was a field adjoining lot with a barn and pasture and I have planted trees on it. Would that other lot be considered an environmental overlay zone?
Answer: It might be. If the planted trees on the adjoining lot are really mature and has a canopy that leaves and branches are connected to the rest of that forest in that track if might be considered part of the new overlay zoning.
(paraphrased from what I could understand)
Question: My property has three different zones on it that backs up onto a creek, so I had surveyors mark the zones and just natural vegetation towards the creek etc etc. If I’m understanding correctly this is not requiring a change in the zone?
Answer: Yes. There’s nothing in the environmental overlay zone that will do anything per se. You’ll only run into that if you want to expand your fence into the environmental overlay zone. Then you would have to get a review. If you are not doing anything and leaving everything the way it is then you would not have to contact anyone about the change in zoning.
Statement: We put in retaining walls because the backyard was sliding. They said that that was okay.
Answer: We are not making any changes to any of that. What we are doing would not have an impact on that (necessarily).
Question: So you mentioned the canopy. Is that the canopy in the environmental zone that is encroaching on the overlaying the property or does it include trees that are on the private homeowner’s property that may be interpreted as being part of the environmental overlay zone.
Answer: I’m going to answer assuming you are in the lava dome areas.
Comment: Kelly Butte
Answer: So each of these plans. So you are in East Buttes Terrace. So here are the only complicated factors that it’s hard for me and hard for you to wrap our head around. Incljuding Johnson Creek there are 5 plans and each plan is a different thing. So it’s not like they all say one thing, they say different things. So in order to answer her I have to know what that plan says. Your plan would be different that if you’re going to Knob Hill or Pleasant Valley. Generally in the East Butte Terrace it says to pick up, in general, trees in forest clumps. So if you have a patch of trees and some of that canopy is on private property it’s still part of that patch. So we have an environmental overlay zone wiggles around the edge of that tree. But again we can take a look at your property and see what’s going on.
Comment: But they want to expand that? So that tells me that they look at something to decide that more of our property is in this environmental zone.
Answer: So the way that we did it, the way that we did the work and by we, I mean me and Daniel and our GSI technician is. We read those plans and figured out a set of rules that we think were intended to tracking. So those set of plans and applied it to the natural resource inventory. We didn’t look at your property and make a decision. We did it generally and now we’re in the stage of coming to people’s property and verifying the resources there, having these conversations made from our findings. We haven’t made a decision based on individual’s. Unless there is an exception, and there is a land use review that we knew about and we made a decision that we needed to represent in our best work.
Question: We are on the street and up the hill from the Foster Floodplain and attempted three times to contact an enforcement officer to assist in this critical time of year when we have culled out branches and after 5:00 o’clock at night people are moving in and camping and lighting fires in the Foster Floodplain and you literally sit on the phone and get cycled from one person to another to another and there’s no action, there’s no contact given, there’s no effort to do any enforcement. So they tell us to call the fire department.
Answer: I’m sure you are all aware that we have a civic problem across the City with people camping in unauthorized places and unfortunately the Bureau of Environmental Services properties are popular places to camp. So Foster Floodplain is a place where we are dealing with ongoing problems around people who don’t have homes and are camping at that site. I think the officer could tell you better than I what you do when you witness something after hours. If it’s me I call crime prevention. If it’s immediate danger you call 911. If it’s not immediate danger you call non-emergency and they are suppose to follow up. The mayor’s office has a one point of contact that is the official thing that you are suppose to contact. The challenge is that we are under resourced. (Mindy had not personally heard of the fire’s) She will take this information back to her department.
Officer Jon Kizzar: We the police refer everyone to the 211 contact. That is the only option we have. Honestly the police are at a dead end. We are under investigation for picking on the homeless, who we are arresting. The way I feel as a police officer is that if you call us we’re dead.
Bill Stewart – Owner of the Portland Pickles
Spoke of the impact that the team has on the neighborhood.
Working on building a small structure where the Park Rangers can come and hang out during the games so they have a presence in the park during game day.
We’ve been here 3 years and have impacted the community quite a bit. There’s a problem with parking on 92nd & 88th. As far as the noise goes we turn the PA system down at 10:00 PM. The other thing we looked at is the number of fire work shows (originally had 5 firework shows) so last year we lowered it to 3 firework shows. Then this year we lowered it to two. So we’re going to try to stay at two, one of those being the 4th of July. We start our games at 7:00 PM to give more people a chance to get to the games. Sometimes that puts us in the 10:30-11:00 PM period. Those games are usually at the start of the year with unseasoned teams and haven’t played with each other. We employ several teenagers, many of whom this is their first job. We hire a wide range of kids from different backgrounds. We have hired two or three autistic kids and several first-generation immigrants through IRCO. The other thing we have done is the lights automatically turn off at 10:30 or 11:45 PM. During last winter we did have a problem with the lights coming on at 11:00 PM and they would be on until 8:00 AM. This was a software glitch with Portland Parks. 80% of our kids are from out of town. Our season is June 1st to July 29th.
When we first signed the lease (almost a year ago) we had an agreement with parks (I was not part of that agreement). It was a 3-year lease with two 5-year options. It was a 13-year lease. After the second year Portland Parks came back to us and said they would like to do more work on the ball park but before they committed to doing the work they wanted a commitment from the Portland Pickles that they would exercise their lease term for the full 13 years. We went back to the Board, issued a letter of commitment but the lease never got signed because Mike Abatte would not sign the lease. It did finally get signed.
We do have the police out 5 times a year for extra security.
Question: There was no notification or outreach about the extension of your 3-year lease. Where do we as a neighbor and homeowner have say in what happens in Lents Park?
I caught one of your players last week pouring bong water out of their bong in front of my house in front of my kids and my wife.
There’s no parking, trash everywhere, no consideration for any of us that live in this immediate area.
Come ask the neighbors around the park today (the original opinions were taken 3-years ago) and I think you will get a different outcome.
Rebuttal: I like the Pickles and I think they bring a lot to the community. If have the advantage, you living across the street from a park and with a park, whether you live across the street from a school there should be certain…umm
Speaker: When I bought my house in 2001 there was no semi-professional players.
Rebuttal: You still had a park there. You didn’t think the park was ever going to be used?
Speaker: It’s never been used to where it has impacted the neighborhood like this…NEVER! Even with the Lents Fair and the event for Revolutionary Church it’s never been packed like it is with these games. You can’t compare those events with the games. Especially when they have 5 days in a row and you get no break from the noise until 11:00 PM. No it’s not fun.
Rebuttal: What would make it right? Is it the trash? What is it?
Speaker: The whole package. I’ve had to tow cars that block me in – can’t get out of my driveway.
Rebuttal: I agree, parking’s horrible. Parking’s only going to get worse with no parking down at the Lents Commons.
Speaker: Getting them off my street and the garbage.
Rebuttal: It’s not your streets it’s our streets
Speaker: You can say all you want from 3 miles away. You don’t live there, you don’t…
Rebuttal: How can he make it better…parking?
Bill Stewart: There’s two things, maybe three things we could do right now...
Rebuttal: Having people pick up the trash?
Speaker: It won’t….they have their soda or whatever, when they get in their cars they set it on the pavement and drive off. It’s not their fault that people are doing it but it is coming from their venue.
Rebuttal: Could they put out more trash cans?
Voice: It’s just how people are right now.
Rebuttal: The 1st year and the 2nd year. We have more corporate sponsors. I think the Pickles are a good thing for the area right now
Bill Stewart: I think there’s a couple of things that we can work on and we have no trash pickup and we’re trying to get something going with Tri-Met. There’s got to be a way for us to approach Tri-Met and say we need to work out something. The station is 3-4 blocks away from the Lents Station. I think we can work something out with Tri-Met
Speaker: We have a huge park why don’t we build a parking lot? Now we have a soccer field. It has a huge impact on our neighborhood.
Bill Stewart: Portland Parks two years ago was pretty flush with cash. I don’t know what happened but now they are talking about resources. In the last 6 months they’ve done a lot of cutbacks with parks. I think short term I’ll try to work out a deal with Tri-Met this year. I think that’s more realistic right now. There are only 2 parks in the City where you can park all away around it. Lents Park and Washington Park. I think at some point they will expand the parking. My players are told to park at 88th & Holgate. I can work on the Lents thing.
Officer Jon Kizzar – been in East Precinct for 12 years
Penny: Comment – when you’re in the triangle stop and say hi instead of just driving through.
Question: What’s going on with the Neighborhood Response Team (NRT)?
Answer: I don’t have an answer for that.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM.
Minutes submitted by Secretary August 31, 2018
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2018
KingPins Bowling, “Chalet”
3550 S.E. 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Betty Manning, Bev Enders, Bev Herman, Bob Field, Brian Jeaneau, Char Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, Cynthia Lang, David Potts, Donald Johnson, Doug Morrow, Julie Whitmore, Kathi Gibson, Ken Herman, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Robert Santangelo
Guest: Brandi Tuck, Executive Director (PHFS), Portland Homeless Family Solutions, Shelly McQuinin, Manager of the Mt. Scott Food Mart, Jake Foster, Defend Oregon
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Guest - Brandi Tuck – Executive Director
Starting demolition on main building September 17, tearing out carpet and a couple of the stages
Moved 8 families from Goose Hollow into the 4 apartments that were ready around August 26th (2 families per unit)
24 hour staff on site in Unit #7 (open to the public if you have any questions and/or donations or any other issues)
We provide services to the families including but not limited to hygiene products, clothing, coffee, resources and connection to services for all of the family members
We will keep the current count at 8 families until we open the main building which will probably be around the beginning of December, just after Thanksgiving, which will be 26 families
Question: Why moving families from Goose Hollow out here?
Answer: Mostly families were coming from SE and NE Portland downtown just for shelter. Their kids were going to school out here including the David Douglas and Reynolds school districts.
Question: Are there group kitchens? What are their cooking facilities?
Answer: Right now each apartment is a fully functional apartment with a full kitchen. We supply all the cooking utensils needed as well as the furniture for each apartment. We also supply hot meals that they can eat there or take them back to their units. We also have a food pantry that they can access for food to take back to their units to prepare. Most of the these families get food stamps and they now have the ability to cook for their families which they never had the opportunity to do before moving to this facility.
Question: How big are these units?
Answer: Each unit is 832 square feet. Two bedrooms with a downstairs, living room, kitchen, little dining area and one bathroom
Question: Can we still look at those
Answer: Oh yeah, especially unit 7 which is our office. All units are identical.
Question: So what is the capacity? You are going to have two families in each apartment?
Answer: We are pretty flexible. We would not have two large families in one unit. What our plan is that once we have the main building is open. We get all our referrals through the Multnomah County Family Homeless system. It’s us, JOIN, NAYA, NARYA, ERCO, Human Solutions, El La Program and Latina Network. All the social service non-profits are all part of this collaboration. So when a family becomes homeless you can call any of us or show up at our places and we get you on this coordinated wait list. There’s a thousand families on the wait lists right now. But if any of our 9 organization have openings we go to this wait list and pull families from this list. When the families first come to us they will always go to our main building first. The main building will only provide them with a private bedroom and no other facilities. Not all families will be moved in the apartment units. These will be reserved for the self-motivated families and ones that we know because they have been transitioned through the main building.
Question: How many men
Answer: Well it’s families with children. 61% of our clients are kids. 28% are women. 11% are men
Question: Who’s managing this? Concern over this being the same organization as Human Solutions that managed the Woodshed.
Answer: Human Solutions is not us. Their headquarters is in Rockwood on 182nd. They have been around for 30 years. They own something like 19 or 20 affordable housing complexes. They do the Gresham Women’s Shelter, they have provided family shelters in the past, right now they provide families shelters by issuing housing vouchers moving them into hotels, they use to have the Eastside Family Shelter. They bought a building the building was not in good shape and they ended up not being able to use it long term. They are actually going to tear that down and build something new. They are a partner of ours but they…
Question: They were not a very good partner. How do you stop this from happening again?
Answer: They are a partner of ours but we run our organization very very differently. One of the biggest differences is that Human Solutions gets about 90% of their funding from local government and some federal funding and state funding…but government funding. Our business model is we will NEVER have more than 60% government funding. The reason is that government funding doesn’t fund everything that it needs to fund. So people end up running their programs on these shoestring budgets. Because we get private funding we can better implement evidence-based practices. On Wednesday September 19th we will be hiring a full-time maintenance manager (Ben D'Antoni) that will be on site at the Lents facility. Human Solutions never had a maintenance manager. He will be in charge of the trash, gardening and general maintenance of the building. Our board is making every effort to make sure what happened at Human Solutions does not happen at our facilities.
Question: You brought 8 people from Goose Hollow. I understand that you have two more shelters that you are closing downtown and moving over to the new shelter?
Answer: Oh no no no…We closed Goose Hollow but it was our only night shelter. Thirty Salmon shelter also closed but it was a day shelter. We already closed two of our shelters but only one was a night shelter. Our family winter shelter in NW will open again in November.
Question: So the 18 families you are bring in will be primarily from Lents? You are not bringing in any more in from other sites?
Answer: No not from other shelters. Just from Goose Hollow. We don’t run any other sites. They have a maximum 4-month shelter stay. No one will every stay more than 4 months.
Question: Within 4 months they are going to get jobs?
Answer: 66% already have jobs. The vast majority that stay with us are full time employed. The basic cause of homelessness is housing is very expensive and jobs don’t pay enough.
Question: But the people on the waiting list are necessarily from NE or SE?
Answer: No they’re not necessarily but they just mostly are. They’re all from Multnomah County for sure.
Question: What is it that we can do as neighbors to help?
Answer: The things that we do need: Laundry soap, diaper and wipes, hygiene items, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, brushes and combs, razers, deodorant, pet food
Question: Do you have laundry facilities?
Answer: Yes, we do have laundry facilities.
Question: Will you accept things that have been opened? I’m currently helping clear an estate and we have bottles of hand lotion, body lotion, depends.
Answer: Yes. You can always drop things off at Unit 7. Somethings we always need but won’t take used, are socks, underwear, we do accept used kids’ clothes. We don’t do a lot of adult clothes.
Many volunteer opportunities.
Making food
Doing kids actives
Help with laundry
Help with gardening
Help with painting
We painted 5 apartments. 1-4 & Unit 7. We still have 5, 6 & 8 to paint and some gardening.
We are working on our site plan which is our exterior design of what we are going to be doing. Our plan is to combine the North parking lot by the apartments with the North parking lot by the church to make one large parking lot for the apartments.
Portion of that parking lot and turn it into a open court basketball
Use the back part of the building for dog walking a covered smoking area, bike parking
The South side will all be depaved we will have a playground and a covered picnic area, some garden beds and lots of landscaping
Until we start Phase II which will be the 40 unit apartment building we are going to put up a Home Depot storage shed and possibly rent out some of the back parking lot spots to folks in the neighborhood.
Question: So is there any chance at some point when you have all the apartments completed will you let the families have one unit per family?
Answer: Yes…when we build the new apartments in back and bring them on-line the plan is to convert our current apartments into just normal apartments. We will still have the 10 emergency shelter rooms in the main building. But the 8 units and the 40 units will just be normal housing.
Question: So how are the families getting along?
Answer: You know the families at Goose Hollow had all been living in a basketball gym. Goose Hollow was in a basement of a church where we had these pieces of plywood on casters and wheels that pulled out and made these kind of cubical, so we had 8 of those. So that families had probably lived like that for 2-5 weeks when we made the move. So we kind of let the families pick their own roommates, which is working out fine except for one family that were besties when they were in the Goose Hollow shelter and now they are constantly at each other throats.
Our biggest fear was that they wouldn’t engage but they are coming to the office and getting coffee and snacks and coming out of their rooms.
Question: Are they responsible for cleaning their own units?
Answer: Yes, so what we are doing (and we are testing this right now) is someone is coming in every other week and doing a professional cleaning. It is up to the families to clean those 14 days between cleanings. One thing we do, is every day we do a health and safety check in every single room. We have to see you face to face every single day and we have to be in your bedroom. We point out spills, messes or electrical issues. Working with the families we want to build that ability for them to take care of themselves and they have been very receptive.
Question: Recently the mayor has said the homeless pollution has stabilized. Do you believe that’s accurate?
Answer: No…the City and the County are trying to use these data points to give the public this information and the data’s not accurate. Unless it’s coming from the Oregon Department of Education or something like that I would not trust data numbers because the data points are messy and they are trying to make these big statistical conclusions from stuff that is just bunk.
Oregon Department of Education last school year had a count of 4,300 students experiencing homeless just in Multnomah County. Statewide is was 22,000 students and that’s just the school age children or their parents. So when we talk about housing – Stuart Edmonds was running for City Council and he had this big plan to end homeless for 4,400 hundred people who experienced homelessness (this number he gets from this county data set). He had this whole funding mechanism and such; but it just doesn’t make sense. Because if there is only 4,400 people homeless in Portland how are there 4,300 students? I would guess there’s more like 20,000 homeless on any given night in Portland. And we keep talking about how to solve the problem for 4,500.
How they compute the number of housing placement is counting people over and over again who get housing in one year then fall out of housing the following year and they house them again so they are counted again as getting housing. So the City is counting that as two housing placements in two fiscal years when in reality it is only housing one family. The retention data is calculated at check points, i.e. 3 month, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and you follow up with all of your people. So that way that the County calculates it is – say we call 100 families that have been housed but only get in touch with 40 of them and of those 40 – 38 are still housed. Great! 96%. But the other 60 families that we couldn’t even get a hold of are excluded from the count all together. So when the bureaucrats get this information and pass it on to the elected officials who pass it down to us, they are not telling you what’s really going on with these numbers. So the elected officials are making funding decisions based on theses numbers. So if you have 96% retention rate in the homeless family situation…they are good! They don’t need services, they don’t need help, they don’t need more funding, they don’t need anything because they’re outstanding.
Question: Do you offer a personal finance coaching?
Answer: Yes. We actually have four life skills classes that we teach. When asked what would they be interested in learning the number one answer was finance classes. The old facility had dedicated one hour a week for life skill classes and this new facility has two dedicated life skill classes that are available 24 hours a day.
One interesting fact that we discovered at one of our symposiums was I gave the people a list of all the things that gets you kicked out of a shelter and the one thing that came up was that the families wanted everyone to go through a mandatory background check. Three things on the background check that will disqualify you for a shelter are sex offender, crimes against children and repeated violent crimes.
Question: Do you allow animals
Answer: We allow assistance animals. You need a letter from your medical professional to allow the animal.
Question: Do you require that your animal be taken into a veterinary?
Answer: Yes we have an assistance animal check list. You have to have all your vaccinations, has to be registered with Multnomah County, treated for fleas and heart disease, etc. Then you have to sign an assistance animal form that has all these regulations. They have to be kept on a leash and they can’t be allowed in the kitchen and they can’t make loud noises. That is a one strike and you’re out.
Question: What’s the average ages of the kids
Answer: Half of our kids are under 5
Question: How many locations are you responsible for?
Answer: Now it will just be the two. The Lents site and our family winter shelters in NW (not too far from Couch Park) that’s only open between November and April
Question: Are you looking for other locations in the near future?
Answer: We’ll probably make sure we can make these work before expanding. We’re going to be really intentional and strategic about our growth.
Question: Do you engage residents in taking care of the building?
Answer: Yes. One of the things the families said in our family session was they thought that weekly chores was really good.
Wells Fargo is offering a class for ages 2 – 62 for financial education.
Question: What about daycare? You said approximately 60% of your tenants have jobs. Do you have daycare on site?
Answer: We do not provide on-site daycare. That is one of our longer terms goals to be able to do that. Most of our families rely on their networks. Average price for childcare is $900 a month per kid. That is one of the main causes of homelessness. The families don’t have the money to afford childcare to get the good jobs.
Suggestion: Maybe the association could adopt a family from the homeless shelter
Response: That would be fun. We have this big holiday village that we do on December 14th from 3:00 – 6:00 PM. We do have adopt a family.
Suggestion: Another Christmas suggestion - Giving Tree
Question: How do you handle visitors? Friends of the families?
Answer: You can’t have visitors.
Question: What about random drug testing?
Answer: We don’t drug test. Our policy is if we find it, if we see it, you are not maintaining the behavior codes then we will ask you to leave. But we don’t do random tests.
Question: These folks come to a central place first before you decide to give them an apartment?
Answer: Yeah
Question: So you kind of vet them there?
Answer: Exactly
Question: So you’ll do a background check and you’ll get to know them?
Answer: Yep
© Announcements:
o Alley Angels – Saturday - September 15th - 83rd & Ramona - 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
o Penny’s Garden Party – Sunday - September 16th – 9623 SE Glenwood – 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
o Maple Leaf Breakfast – Sunday - September 23rd – 72nd & Foster – 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Guest – Shelly McQuinin – Manager of Mt. Scott Food Mart – has been changed to Everyday Food Mart - 971-407-9593 | arifnaseri68@gmail.com
Announces new management and is open from 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM. No more homeless or transients. Second location is 70th and Foster
Everyday Food Mart
7020 SE Foster Road, Portland, OR 97206
10135 SE Foster Road, Portland, OR 97266
o Discuss volunteering and what would entice people to volunteer. Discuss if we wish to adopt a family or elderly person for our Christmas giveaway
Suggestion: Adopt all 8 families at the shelter
Pros: You can give them handmade gifts
Cons: (a) Low income group that do not have the ability to cover the expense of adopting all 8 families (b) by Christmas there will be 26 families (c) picking and choosing families over other families when they are all living together in a shelter
Like the idea of the turkey give-a-way. Need to contact Safeway or Fred Meyer about donation of food.
Comment: If you want more involvement in the group you need to advertise your successes.
Guest – Jake Foster – Defend Oregon
Discusses Ballot Measures: Opposes ballot measures 102, 103, 104 & 105
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary Char Pennie September 18, 2018
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
DRAFT MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 11, 2018
KingPins Chalet
3550 S.E. 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Andrea Foster, Angela Todd, Betty Manning, Bev Herman, Bob Field, Brian Jeanseau, Char Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, Danida Lais, David Potts, Debbi Wood, Doug Morrow, Eli Richey, Evelyn Macpherson, Frank Miley, Jeff Church, Joel Rebik, Juanita Swartwood, Julie McConnell, Mark McConnell, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Renee' Dutton, Robert Santangelo, Stuart Schmaltz, Tina Knell, Vance Dutton, Wayne Jackson, Benjamin Kerensa, Casey, Jonathan Ogden, Liz Kinnaman, Sara Rudolph
Guest: Daryl Turner PPS, President of the Portland Police Union, Angela Orr, Daryl Turner's Executive Assistant, Hila Ritter, Solid Waste Authorizations Coordinator, Will Ennis, Solid Waste Facility Inspector, Dan Blue, Solid Waste Compliance Policy Specialist
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
N2N – October 13th – Community Connection Center - 10603 SE Henderson 8:15 AM
Thomas Legg Memorial – October 20th - 9623 SE Glenwood – 2:00 PM
VFW Breakfast – October 21st – American Legion Hall - 8329 SE 89th Avenue 9:30 AM
Request made by Penny Wilson for goods or money for our Thanksgiving Turkey Dinners – raised $183.00. Received commitments for food from members as well as the police and Daryl Turner’s office.
Daryl Turner – President of the Portland Police Association
Spoke about the livability issues in neighborhoods due to homelessness. There is no one solution. There are many options and many solutions to solve this problem. “Right now our elected officials are not listening to us.” Our hard-earned money that we pay into taxes are not being used effectively, which we can see every day. I’ve been a Portland police officer for 27 years and I’ve seen the changes.
· Statistics from a downtown area of 213 blocks – This is a Clean & Safe Program where they clean up and patrol every day. Just in the month of September:
v Trash – 75 tons
v Bio-hazards - 4,154 which includes everything from syringes to human waste
v Syringes – 3,100
v Graffiti – 3,300 - many are on private structures and businesses
· Since 2013
v Syringes found on the street have increased 395%
v Garbage has gone up 68%
v Bio-hazards has increased by 63%
v Graffiti has increased by 70%
So when the elected officials are telling us they are using our tax dollars wise, how can that be happening when these things are happening in just this one small area of town?
We need a viable option for the homeless to live. We can’t keep moving them from place to place to place. We need somewhere they can get back into transitional housing which will lead to permanent housing because right now that is not happening.
2003 - $58 million was spent to build Wapato
Every year afterwards it cost about $400,000 to maintain with nobody in there
The bond measure for that expired and was paid off in 2016 and as soon as it was paid off Deborah Kafoury and the other county commissioners looked to sell it. They sold it at a 90% discount to a private business owner. They went to the voters to get the money but they didn’t go to the voters to sell it. They told us it wasn’t a viable option. Right now it has the ability to house almost 600 people with all the necessary amenities. Gives the people on the street a viable resource so we can say we’re doing something to solve this problem. Our voices need to be heard and right now they are not being heard because they hold City Council meetings at 10:00 AM on Wednesdays and County Meetings on Thursday at 10:00 AM when most people are at work. We need to demand that they hold them when we can attend them. Come to our neighborhoods. We have to have viable resources for those that want it. And those that don’t want it we need to enforce the laws. We can’t enable people to break the law but we need to give them a viable option.
Comment/Question: People want to blame the cops because they feel that cops aren’t doing their job. The problem is they take them to Inverness jail and they are released right away because they don’t have the resources to run that jail at full capacity. Speaks to the cop’s inability to control the situation and that the County is the one’s at fault. Why is the County not meeting the need? What are they saying about this?
Daryl Turner: I can’t speak for the County, but when they take them to jail they have what they call a matrixing system and if they fall into that matrixing system where they can get released in 2 hours or 4 hours that’s just what happens. Sometimes they just release them with an order to appear in court. Same thing happens with someone we think is have a mental health crisis. We take him down to the emergency room and they do their evaluation and conclude he is not a danger to himself or anyone else and release him. They are now miles from where they were picked up and have to walk back to their camp in the dark in the rain and when they get back most of their belongings have been stolen. So next time they are picked up they put up a fight remembering what happened the last time they were pick up. If you had a place like Wapato you could get them cleaned up and give them all the services right there.
Question: Are they held there or can they leave voluntarily?
Daryl Turner: They can leave voluntarily.
Question: They’re given all the things they need
Daryl Turner: They’re given all the things they need and all the wrap around resources.
Question: 1) Has there been a credible study done of what it would cost to refit this? 2) Has anyone addressed that the Port of Portland as original Deed owner has put in there that it can’t be used as a residential property? So right now you have a problem with the deed that it can’t be used residentially and we don’t know how much it actually cost to do it. Or is this just campaigning?
Daryl Turner: So first off the City of Portland can enact emergency ordinances.
Question: But they’re not the Port of Portland
Daryl Turner: They’re not the Port of Portland but they can do that. Say like right now if they want to make it an emergency shelter. So I understand that they have to deal with the Port of Portland, it has to be a collaboration there. They are still doing studies on how much it would cost to reopen it. They questimate about $5-10 million to refit for roughly 600 people, but in the last 5 years the City of Portland has increased the funds for homelessness 60%. There is not one bureau in this City that has increased their budget by 60% in the last 5 years. So you’re talking 100’s and millions of dollars increased for homelessness and we are where we are at today. There’s no off-ramp to deal with the problem. It’s the failed and flawed policies of the people who are supposed to be good stewardess of our tax dollars that are causing this problem. They continue giving us these statistics that are not accurate. If I getting housing for one day I am considered housed for an entire year.
Question: Do they have to count everybody every day?
Daryl Turner: No they don’t have to count them everyday but when they tell you they’ve housed 5,000 people this year you look around and ask yourself – did we get 5,000 more then?
Comment/Question: I wanted to say that Loretta Smith did come to one of our meetings and she did talk about Wapato. She took the time to come here.
Daryl Turner: She was the only County Commissioner who voted not to sell Wapato and she got called a name.
Comment: Can we put them all on private buses and haul them over to the parking lot and drop them all off and say, here now it’s your problem?
Daryl Turner: Yeah we can do that but I don’t think it would go over very well. East county is “almost” being treated like a unwanted step-child.
Question: Can’t they open up those sections of the jail so there’s some place to put the people who continually commit the crime and you are picking them up over and over again?
Daryl Turner: The County Commissioners make up the budget for the City. If they don’t give you enough money to be able to open up those facilities then you can’t hold people when you have no room to put them. If we had an option like Wapato for low level crimes they could stay there and have a chance to get back on their feet. If you go to court the judge is going to fine you and you are unable to pay the fine so you start a vicious cycle all over again back on the street. If they had the option to go to a facility like Wapato and go through a program and have their record expunged they might have an incentive to go there. Our elected officials are so hung up on their egos that they can’t see any other viable options than the ones they suggest.
Question: So your suggestion to change this is to bomb City Hall? NOT LIKE THAT!
Daryl Turner: So our County and City Commissioners need to hear your voice. They need to be asked to come out to our neighborhoods and stop using these failed policies that aren’t working and we see the same people on the streets day after day. 20 years I’ve seen the same people because they don’t have viable options to get out of that lifestyle. When the programs don’t work they provide you with stats and they ask for more money. We have an affordable housing bond for $580 million which will be on the ballot this November. They’re looking to house roughly 39 hundred people in the metro area in a 6-8 year period.
Question/Advocate: Refuses to use a microphone and statements/questions are unintelligible. Comments transcribed as close as possible: Stating that poverty is being criminalized.
Daryl Turner: Giving them some place to go and get them clean clothes and help. If they choose to leave they are free to go. As you have people stay and be successful you’ll have more people wanted to come there.
Question/Advocate: Successful by?
Daryl Turner: They’re starting the road to recovery, whatever that may be and also down the road there’s transitional housing and it’s not the 24 – 48 hour housing, they can stay for a longer period of time.
Question/Advocate: How is that successful, what are the resources?
Daryl Turner: Same sort of resources that are around here but they are all in one place.
Question/Advocate: What if they want to live on the streets?
Daryl Turner: That’s their choice but then they have to deal with the repercussion if they commit crime. We have an obligation to try our best to rehabilitate people who have addictions.
Question/Advocate: What’s your roll in politics?
Daryl Turner: No roll in politics I’m a union president
Comment/Question (Advocate): It’s a political hot issue
Daryl Turner: Well it is a political hot issue. But they’re frustrated as officers of taking people to jail or no place to take them. Our job is to avail resources to people who need them no matter who they are; whether they live on the street or they are the CEO of the biggest corporation in Portland or anywhere else.
Question/Advocate: Why is it not happening right now? Is it really just the policy makers?
Daryl Turner: Because we don’t have the resources.
Voices in audience – lets move on
Statement/Question: Having been out there and walked around the natural areas out near Wapato it is not that far from other connected places. You have to remember that these elected officials drink the cool aid, build a wall and feather their nests. They get in office and deal in a silo situation. They only involve themselves in something they can control. That’s why going outside and working together on something like Wapato is not going to happen. To testify at County Council, you can go in that morning and sign up to testify.
Question: How does this affect property values? Is this the best way to address the problem?
Daryl Turner: This is not the only solution or option. This is one solution and one option that we have not used and could use and that we paid for. Perfect example is the Unity Center that they opened up for mental health crisis. They used their policies, they used their programs, they used all their stuff, look where it’s at now? Even the people who work there are upset.
Comment: Angela Todd had a comment that she stated that the City had a site that they wanted to use downtown that cost them $20 million to refurbish and that was going to house 50 people. Wapato you could refit for $5-10 million and refit within 90-120 days and house 600 people.
Question: We sold that property?
Daryl Turner: Yes we sold it. Jordan Schnitzer is willing to make it a homeless shelter, but he needs help from the City for the code, obviously need help from the Port of Portland. He would like to make it a homeless shelter even though he can tear it down and make warehouses it will still cost him a lot of money to do that too. So he’s trying to get his money back out of it.
Question: It’s only temporary housing, not permanent?
Daryl Turner: No it’s 18 acres and they could grow on that and make it a Harbor of Hope like San Antonio Texas. They built a facility there for long term housing. Nothings going to be forever housing but long term housing where people can stay there a year or two years as they get the resources they need and get back on track.
Question: So if there’s transitional housing there, how would the police force those that are in drug rehab?
Daryl Turner: If I go to court and the judge says you have to be in this “Stop” program or whatever program for say a year. If you fail that program after a year then your felony conviction sticks, if not it goes away
Question: How do they enforce that?
Daryl Turner: What you say is if you agree to the program you have to show up at the meetings, you have to participate you have to take UA’s. All that stuff that the judge enforces already. The difference is is that the “stop” program and what the judge enforces doesn’t give you a place to live. You’ll still be back out on the streets, so you’re still in that same environment with the same people who may or may not be trying to get themselves clean. You’ll be in a place where you’re dry you’re clean you’re able to fight your addiction and get the resources you need as well as food and clothing. We know people will relapse. It’s not the relapse but it’s how fast people will recover from their relapse.
Comment: I’ve seen people in rehab versus those that just need an actual place to live.
Daryl Turner: There’s sections of Wapato that you can section off to handle all the needs of all the different groups of people and their needs.
Comment/Question: An individual has to want to change. Or how do you get them there?
Daryl Turner: Exactly. This is not about enabling but empowering. The lion’s share of the people don’t have the resources to get out of their situation or the self-esteem to get the help they need. It’s not the only option but it is an expensive option that we have let go to waste.
2nd Party Comment: You give them the option to go to Wapato or jail (that’s one option)
Comment/Question: There’s usually someone that says nobody wants to criminalize need but we are criminalizing choices. This is my option. I want to get your answer to this. Like the choice to live outside until I figure out whether I want to live inside or out on the streets. We’re criminalizing the choice to use drugs, we’re criminalizing the choice to live on City property, we’re criminalizing the choice to live on ODOT land, etc. Is this our future? Are we going to have to accept this? Because there are people pushing real hard for this.
Daryl Turner: People have options
Question: What you said is there are people that don’t want to go. They don’t want to go to Wapato, they don’t want to be in a house. The way we deal with that is with law enforcement.
Daryl Turner: If they are committing crimes we will deal with it with enforcements. There are people living on the street that won’t report those crimes against themselves because they don’t have a safe place to stay. They are not going to poison themselves in that community by calling the police. This gives them a viable option and a safe haven
We’re not talking about criminalizing homelessness we’re talking about viable off-ramps and successful solutions and options that our elected officials aren’t looking at for whatever reasons.
METRO:
Dan Blue Policy Specialist
Talks about licensing WestRock. Have been doing it for 30 years. We originally exempted facilities that had clean recycling (mainly newsprint) from Metro’s oversite, unlike today where everything goes in one roll cart and is mixed with several different items. We now require these facilities to be licensed, managed and oversighted by Metro. These licenses will allow us to enforce standards of operation, where there hasn’t been one over the last 30 years. (see file “Final_SSR_MRF_Administrative_Rules_01292018.pdf” under Files on FB page)
Hila Ritter, Solid Waste Authorizations Coordinator
We have authority over the solid waste operation. So, we can regulate the types of materials that they are accepting at that facility and how materials are managed. That is really our role and expertise. We’ll be working in cooperation with the other government agencies but we are the ones responsible for overseeing the solid waste operation.
All application process and information for WestRock can be found at https://www.oregonmetro.gov/search/global/WestRock%20application
Question: How about the amount they are able to accept based on the size of the facility?
Hila: Yes, that is a concern.
Will Ennis, Solid Waste Facility Inspector
We have a contractional arrangement with over 60 solid waste facilities. My job is to conduct unannounced inspections of the facility inside and outside (surrounding neighborhood) which includes litter, noise and traffic. I will work collaboratively with the director of that facility to correct any issues that I have observed during that inspection. That is our first step before we move the case to enforcement which includes several penalties.
Question: I know you’re not the department of transportation but according to ODOT the Hyster’s and the loaders do not have permission to travel on the streets. What do I have to do? Do I need to contact ODOT to get them to collaborate with you about this?
Will: I don’t know the answer but we normally work with the regulatory agencies to address this type of problem. Once this is in place as of January 1st, 2019 we will be reaching out to those agencies and forming relationships with them.
Dan: I’ll find out the answer to that question by end of the public comment period of October 17th.
Comment: ODOT told me that I could submit pictures of the Hyster or a loader or truck outside my house
Dan: I’m glad you brought that up because one of the things in our rules is certain traffic controls, which specifically mentions not parking in front of a neighbor’s driveway or house
Question: Does recycling microwave ovens fall under solid waste?
Answer: Yes, solid waste includes compost, yard debris, recyclable material
Comment: Let me share this with you. I live around 102nd & Stark. There use to be a facility around 122nd & Sandy which has been shut down. There is now another facility located around 122nd & San Rafael. The facility is so poorly laid out that I refuse to go there. If these facilities are not customer friendly we are more apt to just toss this stuff in our recycling bin.
Dan: That facility is a private facility but will fall under this licensing process so we will be looking into that facility.
Comment: I want to validate that comment. I would rather have a tweaker on Craigslist come get my microwave than deal with these facilities.
Question: Are you walking around checking hours of operations?
Answer: Hours of operation are definitely something we will be checking.
Comment: There’s a sweeper that comes through around 9:00-9:30 PM that makes several passes. It’s just terrible.
Comment: The people have to go to bed around 8:00 PM to get up at 4:00 AM and have to listen to this banging until 10:00 PM, which you can hear throughout the night as well.
Comment: Garbage is blowing onto the Springwater.
Dan or Will: Metro is not responsible for the zoning and I think WestRock would fully agree with this. It was an unfortunate zoning decision to have an industrial usage on one half of the street and residential on the other. I think this is a good opportunity to negate the impact of this facility on the neighborhood.
Comments (2 voices): They are working to make it better, but it’s too little too late. After our first meeting last summer they are falling back into their old habits.
Dan or Will: Can I ask a question about that street that separates their storage lot from the main building? How many residents use that street on a daily basis?
Answer: That’s the only light to get out of the area and get onto Foster safely during rush hour. There’re double parked tractor trailer rigs that have to back out of the neighborhood without any lights.
Comment: They have outgrown their site. What was originally inside the building is now being stored outside the building.
Comment: They are now shredding plastic and using a Hyster and a scoop to dump the plastic over the fence into dump trucks. During the day there is crap all over the roads. This does not get cleaned up until 8:00-9:00-10:00 PM. Not only is there plastic but a multitude of nuts and bolts all over the roadway which is a danger to drivers driving through there.
Question: Is the permit going to increase the types of materials they can recycle?
Answer: The permit/license is not going to change the type of materials that they can process.
Metro Solid Waste Facility License – No. L-036-18 – Recology Portland, Inc.
For all solid waste management facility throughout Portland and the Metro area.
Question: If they get the license to recycle metal, glass and plastic and all the rest of the stuff besides just the cardboard which is what they are scaled down to now; which their facility is not large enough to accommodate even that, what is this going to look like? We were told 2 years ago that they would have:
a) A staging area for the trucks
b) A separate parking for the employees
c) A 14-foot high steel wall
d) A brand-new gate with privacy slats
None of this ever happened.
Answer: This is really great feedback. There are 7 administrative rules for all facilities. There is a potential for special conditions depending on:
a) Physical layout
b) Their proximity to neighbors
There is an opportunity to place some conditions on it. They are currently waiting on a permit for the City for the 14-foot wall.
Comment: We wouldn’t have 5,000-6,000 photos if we didn’t have any issues.
Dan or Will: I just want to take this opportunity to say that what we find in the recycling roll carts in the region should not be in the recycling roll carts, i.e.
a) Disposable diapers
b) Hoses
c) Plastic yard toys
d) Clamshells
e) Plastic bags
f) Glass
g) All sorts of things
Please follow the instructions on the top of the roll carts, the City of Portland and your Curbsider Newsletter. You will help your own case if you will help them manage it more effectively.
Quick reference guide to curbside garbage, composting and recycling
Question: Tub larger than 6 oz can go in the recycling bin if it’s clean? The little numbers on the bottom does not mean that it is recyclable? It’s the size & shape of the actual item?
Answer: Yogurt tubs all the way up to 5-gallon plastic buckets are included. Any bottle with a neck smaller than the base of the bottle is included. But you’re throwing money away if you’re putting your water bottles and your beer bottles in the recycling bin.
Please refer to the list above. The information in their presentation is confusing
Comment: Neola Larsen presented the letter that she requested from the mayor’s office to welcome recently arriving Portlanders. Postage alone was $1.42 for an oversize envelope along with a letter enclosed in a nice blue with gold banding report-type folder. The letter can be found on the Facebook page under Files “Welcome Letter from Mayor”
Question: Why are we spending money on that?
Neola: That’s my point!
Comment: Ex-employee of the City spoke about the dumping ground that the City is turning Lents into. She is friends with Virginia Redman (garage cleanup). She is very upset about the current situation of Lents and where it is headed.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM
Minutes submitted by Secretary October 31, 2018
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 8, 2018
KingPins Bowling, “Chalet”
3550 S.E. 92nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Bob Field, Penny Wilson, Robert Santangelo, Doug Morrow, Moe Murphy, Bev Herman, Debbie Metzger, Cliff Whitmore, Julie Whitmore, Judy Low, Kathi Gibson, Mary Oxford, Zeke Guenther, Fox Guenther, Joel Rebik, Todd Littlefield, Tina Knell
Guest: Lance Hamel, Owner & Operator of Rapid Response Bio Clean, Jonathan Lewis, Program Specialist with the Homelessness/Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program One Point of Contact Program (HUCIR) and Bev Keagbine, Housing Loan Coordinator with the Portland Housing Bureau
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Announcements:
Saturday November 10th - N2N – Community Connection Center - 10603 SE Henderson – Breakfast served at 8:15 AM (pancakes & bacon)
Sunday November 18th – VFW Breakfast – American Legion Hall - 8329 SE 89th Ave, Portland, OR 97266 – SAME DAY packing boxes for Thanksgiving dinner give-away
Monday – November 19th – handing out dinners to families
Jonathan Lewis | One Point of Contact – We do not have the lawful authority to post or clean any of the ODOT properties. We pushed HB4054 (see attached) to address this issue. We have a draft in place that is being reviewed by our City Attorney and the Department of Justice. We will not get ALL ODOT properties. They are giving us initial service areas to start to see how we do. We are getting the I-405 corridor and the I-205 corridor including the Multi-Use path. It will change our posting timeline. Right now our posting timeline is 24 hours to 7 days. The new timeline is going to be 48 hours to 10 days.
Lance Hamel | Rapid Response – We are basically going to be servicing the I-205 corridor. PPS will be working the I-405 corridor. We’re looking at the Multi-Use path (MUP) that needs to be safe for everybody. What we are hearing quite regularly is that there are houseless people that won’t use the path and have been assaulted on the path. Our focus is going to be the MUP, the Springwater Trail and the Lents Triangle.
Question: What’s the difference between the posting time and the move out time?
Answer: So the posting time is essentially we put up a notice to give the campers warning that we will be back to clean up the camp and that they need to move out of that area within a 48 hour period. What that means is that 2 days after the posting is done and within 10 days we will be back there to clean that area. We’re going to try to really stay on top of this. I don’t think that anything is going to be stretched out to 10 days.
Question: Are they going to hire more people to help out in the summer?
Answer: We have 21 people. I’m creating a supervisory position for the east side which will be Jim. Jim & Jeff with primarily work the east side. We’ll also have a dedicated cleaning crew for the path.
Jonathan: In addition to that as part of the IGA ODOT is going to be adding an additional Clean Start truck and Clean Start is the group that goes around and just picks up trash and bio-hazards. So they don’t necessarily move folks but they do come out within 24-72 hours to pick up sharps, trash and other debris.
Comment (unknown attendee): The biggest problem is not the trash; it’s the people that create the trash. So we need the people gone. We need enforcement.
Lance: I totally understand that, absolutely. Not that we are the bravest people in the world but there’s a reason they go out on the street for 5 hours and then go back onto ODOT property.
Comment: They know the rules
Jonathan: I agree. That’s why we went to the legislators and got the bill passed and drafted the IGA so we can deal with that.
Kathi: We need to stop calling them residents. They are not residents. They’re transients. When they start paying $6,500.00 a year in taxes like I do we will then call them residents!
Comment (unknown attendee): They are actually anarchist and terrorizing the neighborhood. We have the right to feel safe on our properties and we don’t!
Lance: I agree. I don’t live in the area and I empathize with you.
Comment (unknown attendee): Another thing I never hear about is the drugs. We have drug dealers that sit in Lents Park at 8:00 AM in a gray caravan every single day. What can be done about this?
Lance: That would be another conversation for another bureau.
Bob: It takes two weeks for the police to put a drug deal together.
Lance: We want to be very responsive to this problem and we definitely want to deal with it, but I don’t think we are going to be able to solve it 100% only because of the nuances that are there, but I’m hoping to reduce it by 90%.
Question (unknown attendee): Do you have any kind of agreement in place?
Jonathan: A draft is in place and being reviewed by the attorneys. We need you to come before City Council and speak on December 5th at 2:00 PM.
Question (unknown attendee): Is that going to be in place by January 1st?
Jonathan: We are on track to meet that…yes.
Question (unknown attendee): And will that have enforcement backing of the police if Rapid Response requires that?
Jonathan: They’ve been on board with it. They know its happening. Every Friday we have a coordination meeting. We’ve been prepping social service providers, yes police know.
Lance: We have a great relationship with the regular NRT guys and even the regular PPOPS we can call.
Question (unknown attendee): Because what the police are telling us is its hands off and their hands are tied. So if that’s not changing you don’t have the authority. Is that changing?
Jonathan: With this in place we do have backing from the police. Yes we will have that authority. All we’ll have to do is ask police because we will have the authority to clean ODOT property.
Comment (unknown attendee): When you say clean, I don’t care about clean, I care about them moving.
Jonathan: When we go to clean a site we tell folks they have to move.
Lance: I will tell you that cleaning is a huge part of it because what we find is if you have a huge pile of garbage someone will occupy it. By taking away the debris is takes away a natural settlement place. We take their stuff away and store it for 30 days.
Comment: I understand the City stores that?
Lance: Believe it or not the City doesn’t pay for their storage. I don’t get anything for storing their property.
Jonathan: We are required to store personal property (or whatever is considered of value) for at least 30 days because of the Anderson Agreement.
Question: What are those gentlemen called they’re park rangers or whatever? How many of those individuals do we have in the Lents area?
Jonathan: That’s a good question and I’m not sure.
Comment: In the winter time we have 10 in the summer it’s 30.
Question: It says January 1st. Will there be people on the path that day or will there be a delay?
Jonathan: We could start posting the MUP January 1st.
Kathi: Is the City going to pay?
Jonathan: Yes that’s been part of the negotiations.
Kathi: Is the City going to hire more help?
Lance: We will be adding additional staff but we are pretty confident that we can deal with this problem. We’re very passionate about what we do and it’s a big deal for us.
Bob S: Has the trash increased since last year?
Lance: It has only because we have increased our efforts.
Penny: Are you guys going to be able to get a better relationship with Parks about the sweeping because I’m still stamping my paws because I have people camping out here?
Jonathan: I feel that we are in a much better place with Parks. Again we have been able to coordinate with them. This week they have been in training. Jesse has been working very closely with Park Ranger (Mike Boyer) supervisors about getting a system in place so it’s more streamlined.
Lance: Jesse has designed an app that we can share with the Rangers so everybody can connect. With this new system, when we focus on the MUP we will also focus on the SWC in our daily routine.
Question: Do you guys deal with the regular bike path – North / South?
Lance: Essentially all the SWC.
Question: Specifically my dad lives down on Raymond. We report to the One Point of Contact and they come out a couple of days later and clear them out but as soon as the dust settles they circle back around and move back in.
Lance: Who’s going over there?
Comment: I think that’s ODOT and/or the police. I’m just curious. Just wanted to know if you guys had any insight there?
Lance: Not sure.
Jonathan: You’re talking the path that runs North/South?
Comment: Between Holgate and Harold
Jonathan: That’s the MUP. It’s owned by ODOT. With this new IGA we are going to have the authority to go and clean it so folks won’t be able to do that.
Comment: My dad just laughs. As soon as they get cleared out they go around the block and they pretty much come right back.
Question: What scares me is you clean up the camps and get the people out of there, are they going to go willingly? Is there going to be a lot of retaliation to the people that live around there?
Lance: There shouldn’t be. It’s all us.
Comment: I know but if they don’t have a place to go?
Lance: That’s a great question. But honestly as far as we are concerned we have a very specific job. We’ve dabbled in trying to help but we have stopped.
Question: Who takes care of the people once they are asked to leave?
Jonathan: Whenever we post a campsite we notify social services of where we are at and where we are cleaning and what we are doing. What you’re talking about is part of the larger problem. Whenever we clean a campsite where do the folks go? Ideally they will go to a shelter and we do make those referrals. We tell the campers that if they want shelter to dial 211.
Question / Comment: Can you guys do something if the people refuse services? The ones that refuse services are the ones committing all the crime, feces, crime…
Comment: They are not the police.
Jonathan: Some folks have transitioned into housing but they have to be ready. I understand what you are saying and some of that is a police matter as well.
Question: Is there something that the City can do to remove those people and put them in a place where they are out of the neighborhoods and out of business (that refuse services)?
Comment: They need some place that they can assess their needs, be it drug addiction or mental illness.
Jonathan: We need supportive house which is lacking.
Lots of discussion starting with Bob S. about the same thing being done over and over again, with the same questions and answers and nothing changing.
Lance: We are going to have an office meeting about doing something that hasn’t been done yet. What’s new is you’re going to have a crew that’s going to go in and post a notice and clean. The City has worked their asses off to make this happen. They will be moved within 48 hours if they choose to come back and camp after the area is cleaned up.
Bob S: Everyone on the Council is behind this new process?
Jonathan: Yes I believe they are supportive of this, but we would certainly appreciate the support from you folks to come out and speak.
Question: Does that include Chloe Eudaly and Jo Ann Hardesty?
Jonathan: It will be Saltzman. Jo Ann doesn’t come into office until January.
Comment: My fear is that with the advocates there at every City Council meeting and us all at work; they’re bombarding you guys, they’re going to change opinions and this thing is going to trump.
Jonathan: I believe this thing is going to pass. I don’t have a doubt that this is not going to go through. I think this is going to go through City Council relatively smoothly.
Question: What point do the police make arrests?
Jonathan: Yes they do make arrests. They arrest people with warrants but when they take them downtown and the jail is at 90% capacity the County starts looking at low level offenders and they release them back into the community.
Question: Is the City working with the District Attorney and/or people in congress to reverse the Anderson Agreement?
Jonathan: We’ve worked with them on getting this bill passed, but again, it’s been determined through several court cases, that we are dealing with property and it’s an issue of personal property and we can’t just go and take someone’s personal property.
Comment: It’s not on their property but it’s on our property.
Jonathan: It’s on public space
Comment: It’s not technically theirs anymore. They left it there, it’s not theirs.
Bob S: So the homeless people can go through my trash can but we can’t take their trash?
Jonathan: No that’s trespassing.
Cliff: If it’s on the curb technically it is no longer yours.
Comment (unknown attendee): I have gone through this with the City and technically it is your property until the removal company takes it. So going through it is illegal but nobody will enforce it.
Lance: We are looking at the MUP wholly and we will have a team that works that area all day long. If somebody wants to move from Point A to Point B they are going to get posted at Point B right away. The posting will cover the entire area be it the MUP or City property.
Question: What is the name of the landscaping company that cleans under Flavel and are they still going to be employed after January 1st?
Answer: The new company that cleans under Flavel is C&R Landscaping (360) 577-8288. We are not getting all of the ODOT property. I imagine they will be working I-84 and I-205.
Question: Where do they get those nice tents?
Answer: REI or Columbia Sportswear has defective tents that are donated. There are also people out there that are employed full time and purchase them.
*************************************************************************************************
Bev Keagbine | Housing Loan Coordinator with the Portland Housing Bureau
I’m here to talk about two loan programs:
1) The Home Repair Loan Program
2) Lead Grant Program
The Home Repair Loan Program:
Assists lower income or persons on a fixed income with home repairs. It’s an 80% MFI which for a single person it ranges right around $45,000.00 a year. It covers things like critical home repair
a) Leaky roof
b) Holes in your stairs
c) Unsafe carpeting
d) Health & safety issues
e) Sustainability (what’s going to keep you in your home longer)
f) No age requirement
We look at critical first then we look at code violations. I have been getting a lot of calls from people from Parks & Recreation for unsafe trees.
The loan does go up to $40,000.00 depending upon the equity in your property. If you have a reverse mortgage you would not be eligible. The Loan program puts a lien on your property for 15 years. It is zero interest and zero payments as long as you live in the property for 15 years. The loan is completely forgiven at the end of the 15 years.
Question: What happens if you’re in the home less than 15 years?
Answer: If you’re in the home less than 15 years it would be due and payable upon the sale of the home. If you stay in your home for 15 years the loan is forgiven in its entirety. It is converted into a grant so it becomes non-taxable for the homeowner.
In case of an inheritance we look at each situation on a case by case basis. We try to keep families in their family home. If my mom passes away and I’m going to move into the home (and I qualify for the loan) I’m going to assume whatever she had left over. At the end of that 15 years it’s completely forgiven. If I moved into the home (or sold the home) and I didn’t qualify for the loan I would have to work with the agency and probably end up paying a low interest rate and paying back the loan on a monthly basis if I choose to live there.
Question: How long does the process take from someone calling you and the repairs being done?
Answer: The typical scenario is you submit an application which takes about 3-4 weeks to review. I send you an approval you send it back to me. Once I get that back I order title to make sure there are no liens or judgments on the property and then I turn the file over to our construction coordinator. They’ll call you and schedule a time to come out and do a full home assessment of your home to see what can be done under the program guidelines. They create a scope of work; they also assist in the bidding process and will contact contractors. Meet at the property and get bids from those contractors and then they will work with the homeowner to see who the homeowner wants to work with. After they determine what contractor they are going to use they come back to me to sign the final closing documents. So when that happens a Notice of Proceed is issued and then construction can begin and the construction coordinators take over and get the repairs done and it’s disbursed. Normal, typical situation I would say about 6 months to a year in most cases. That also depends on how responsive the client is as well. We keep the funds in an escrow account and once the work is completed the homeowner signs a form and the construction coordinator verifies that the work is done and then funds are disbursed.
Question: Do they have to be City approved contracts?
Answer: They do not have to be City approved, per se; they do have to have the correct certifications in order to be on our contractors list.
Question: If you already have a lien on your property because you have deferred your taxes?
Answer: That’s Okay. We don’t mind that. That’s great for you.
Question: Isn’t there something about the value of your home?
Answer: It is. We can only go up to 100% combined loan to value. What that means is what your property is worth as opposed to what you owe. So let’s say $200,000 is the value of your home and you have a $100,000 mortgage so right now you are sitting at 50% loan to value. So what we would do is take what your current balance is and I would add what our loan is up to $40,000 (which will vary depending on what works needs to be done will be what the loan amount is) so the $40,000 would be added to the $100,000 so it would be the combined loan to value.
Cliff: So your loan would be 70% of the loan to value?
Answer: Right.
Pre-qualifying requirements by phone:
1) Current on your property taxes and mortgage payment
2) Have homeowners insurance to not only protect the people working at your place but to protect you.
The Lead Grant Program:
For people who live in a home built prior to 1978 and that has a child that is 5 or younger that either lived in the home or visited the home 60 hours a year
Requirements:
1) Have that child tested for lead
2) Required to take a FREE class though the Community Energy Project on the lead poisoning prevention
3) You can not own any other property, because there is an asset limit for both of the programs. If you have $20,000 or less cash assets in the bank you would qualify
4) There is no loan to value, there is no checking mortgage payments because this is a grant
The grant requirement is the same as the Home Repair Loan (80% MFI). There are a lot of people that are eligible for both the Home Repair Loan and the Grant Program. The grant averages $10,000.00. They will come in and do that assessment. They will test the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the window, the window ledges, the children’s toys (especially antique toys) and the dirt outside.
Comment: Most paints before 1970 had lead in it. If you have the test done they average around $1,000-$1,500. The program is FREE if you quality for it.
Question: What causes the contamination?
Answer: It’s oil, its gas, it’s whatever the property was used for. One case we went back into the history on Portland Maps and found out the owner was using the property to store cars.
Question: What about asbestos?
Answer: I do not know if they test for asbestos.
Question: If a person has an old PDC loan can it be converted to the newer grant?
Answer: Depending upon what they are, we are working on trying to convert those old PDC loans. Some of those where deferred payments with an interest rate of 3%. If they received a 30 year loan of $20,000.00 and it accrued interest for that 30 years at 3% interest they roughly owe double of what the original loan was. We just got it approved through the Housing Investment Committee to try to get those loans converted. What we are having trouble with is the forgivable part as opposed to the write-off part. It was approved last year by our Housing Investment Committee but we cannot move forward until we can actually say we can forgive the principle balance as well as the interest without it causing the borrower additional debt.
The original loans were a 15 year loan, after the 10th year (beginning of the 11th year) 20% of that principal balance was forgiven and then each year thereafter until the 15th year it would be completely forgiven.
There are two fees that come with the home repair loan right now but they are incorporated into the loan
1) Title search fee (goes to the title company) for a Monetary Encumbrance Report - $100.00
2) Recording fees of $92.00 for the Trust Deed (which goes to the county – which has recently been increased from $52.00 to $92.00.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary November 25, 2018
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON JANUARY 10, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Brian Jeanseau, Char Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, David Potts, Debbie Metzger, Doug Morrow, Erik Benson, Fox Guenther, Julie Whitmore, Kristy Benson, Moe Murphy, Nancy Shannon, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Renee’ Dutton, Stuart Schmaltz, Zeke Guenther
Guest: Howie Miller - Fort Kennedy, Brian Jeanseau, Community Connection Center, Nancy Shannon, Keller Williams Realty Portland Elite, Zeke Guenther, NET Team
Attachments:
List of items for emergency go bag
List of tips for selling your home
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
Howie Miller – Fort Kennedy
History: Tina Kennedy joined the United States Army in 1992. She is a retired Army 1st Sergeant. She started Ford Kennedy in 2014 after working for Clackamas County. Clackamas County gave her the job of going out and counting the homeless vets living on the streets in Clackamas County after she kept asking the employees at the County “what is being done for the veterans?” There is a documentary on YouTube about her life while serving and her vision for helping veterans. Once she came back with the homeless count, the County still did nothing about helping these veterans living on the street. Her dream was to build transitional housing. She was able to secure donations to fulfil this dream of building tiny homes for these homeless vets. Home Depot agreed to donate the materials, an architect agreed to draw up the plans, the National Guard signed on to do the dirt work, she had plumbers and electricians, she had everything dialed in. Paul Savas with the County Commissioner’s office advocated for her and asked her how much she needed to run this? She told them, if you can give me a piece of ground, everything else is already paid for. All I will need is $300,000 to run it. The Board of Commissioners said you got it. Until someone in Clackamas County Human Services said she could not have the funds because she didn’t put it out to bid. Plus she is still employed by Clackamas County so that’s a conflict of interest. But what they did do was give it to another county employee. That money went to a development called Veterans Village over on 115th & Jennifer Road. (see subparagraph z below) The county donated the land to this employee. PSU students built some sort of truss looking structures (built for the yearly Pick-A-Thon) and gave those to him for the housing and the county spent 1.6 million dollars on this project. What they have is 15 little pods with no heat, no light and no water. They are not much bigger than a 10x3 foot table and the beds are plywood with a foam rubber pad.
This is when she decided what we need to do. We support all veterans regardless of their time spent in the service. Those that never deployed; those that never made it through boot camp are welcome and get services at Fort Kennedy. If they can prove that they spent one day serving their country. We are trying to create a haven so these vets can feel normal and slowly work themselves back into society. We still have our dream of providing them with transitional housing. CrossPoint NW Auto Auction has given us the use of their upstairs floor which is 5,000 sq ft at no cost (including utilities and maintenance) to run Fort Kennedy. Norm & Brian are sons of a Vietnam veteran who had severe PTSD and lived on the upper floor of the building. After their father passed, they wanted to do something with the space to honor their father and veterans. Gary McAdams who is the past President of Vietnam Veterans of America told Norm & Brian about Tina Kennedy, who had approached Gary about sharing an office space.
Some facts:
a) We do several fundraisers
b) We partner with many non-profits – including American Legion, VFW, Elks Lodge
c) Crosspoint NW Auto Auction - allowing us to use their facility
d) At Thanksgiving, AMEN, Grocery Outlet and Safeway gave us over 200 turkeys and food to create complete meals
e) Fido – which will provide a request for grain free dog food the same day
f) Chewy.com will donate food for 2 years
g) LDS Church provided $25.00 vouchers – which can be redeemed at Deseret Industries along with some food
h) Amen (All Military Encouragement Network) – which provides meal boxes to the National Guard and the reserve all over the state
i) One Love – does our laundry
j) A lady cuts hair at our facility (Neola Larsen donated the barber chair)
k) On June 1, 2018 we had 485 active clients
l) We have housed or helped house over 100 veterans or veterans’ families
m) We just received our first grant for $10,000 which purchased a van. We can start doing outreach to Candy, Estacada and other outlying Cities to reach the vets that are being ignored
n) Our hours are 9-3 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
o) On a daily basis we service from 8-40 people
p) We provided haircuts, showers, clothing, meals, legal advice via our volunteer attorney
q) A PTSD councilor that’s here almost every day. Wednesday evening he has a faith-based meeting
r) AA meetings every Monday night
s) The VA uses our facility rent free to put on a couple of classes for addiction every Friday called Footsteps to Recovery and the Voices You Hear,
t) We also help with employment and housing.
u) Once KGW did the story on us it was standing room only until just this last week
v) We deal with many people that are about to be evicted. There are county programs to help these veterans stay in their homes or get rehousing. Families are their first priority
w) Washington State distributes the Federal funds given to each state for Veterans through their Department of Veterans Services, while Oregon the State gets the money through the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs which services several different agencies that are in no way connected with Veterans. To get money from ODVA each agency has to prove that they are doing something for veterans, so the majority of the Federal money that comes into Oregon for Veterans is distributed to non-related agencies that write something up to show how they are supporting veterans. The veterans in Oregon get about a 10th of what they should. Example of misappropriation – TPI will get part of the funding because they are housing 10 vets in their shelters. Affordable housing complexes will get a portion of the funds if they have housed a number of vets in the complex. Not all residents (or most) will be vets.
x) It’s illegal in Clackamas County to put in tiny homes unless it’s a County owned non-profit, which Fort Kennedy is not. That decision wasn’t made until about $300,000 wanted to go to Fort Kennedy
y) Shelter located at 58th & Sandy which originally had 20 beds was increased to 45 beds for veterans. Recently they added 15 more beds for couples. Now you have a mixed population that is no longer strictly comfortable for veterans.
z) Another facility for veterans was Veterans Village built by Clackamas County for 1.6 million; not maintained but built only. They built this with tax dollars not veterans funds. So the original $300,000 (for Tina) went to Catholic charities to work with vets, who knew nothing about working with vets. So Catholic charities accepted the $300,000 and called on Tina to run it. She refused their offer.
aa) Do Good Multnomah Shelter is our local go to shelters for overnight housing.
bb) Most of the vets have a little income
cc) 5% of the American people ever put on a uniform to serve. The homeless vet population in Oregon is 11%.
Question: Do you have help for housed veterans with drug and/or alcohol treatment?
Answer: There’s one organization call CODA. We don’t help them but can refer them to other organizations. My introduction to Fort Kennedy was through an organization call Combat Vets Motorcycle Association (CVMA). A friend insisted that I go meet Tina Kennedy.
Question: Do the veterans that you help come and volunteer?
Answer: Yes, they do volunteer
Question: What medical facility do you use when they come to you with mental health issues?
Answer: Our first avenue would be the VA and then Military OneSource. Typically, when they walk through our doors, we don’t see someone in crisis.
Comment / Question: Tina mentioned something about the figures that Clackamas County had about how many homeless veterans they had. Can you run through that?
Answer: I know what happened was she came in with a number like 337 and the county only showed 57. The disparity was glaring
Comment: It seems like they could only find 1 homeless veteran
Answer: It was something like that. She goes nose to nose with those people still. She goes to a County run meeting every month for Veterans issues. The reason they have this meeting is because of Tina’s pushing the county to do something.
Brian Jeanseau - Community Connection Center Director
History: A couple of years ago the Mt. Scott Church decided to make this building into a community center. They surveyed the neighborhood to ask them what they wanted to see.
The ideas where:
1) Community center type actives
2) Community classes
3) Neighborhood events
4) Coffee shop
5) The center is considering community garden
Part of my job is to make these ideas a reality.
Right now the building is being used for:
1) The Slavic Academy (1/3 of the building)
2) The church (1/3 of the building)
Idea for the coffee shop: Remove the window on the West side of the room and replace with a door. Create a covered outdoor patio outside the door. Bring in high end espresso and espresso bar and machine. Bring in comfy chairs, couches and tables. Considering removing the remaining wall on the south side and extend the coffee shop to the very end of the building and add another entrance on that side of the building.
Neighborhood Events we have done:
1) Easter Egg Hunt
2) Neighborhood Cleanup Day (the church has been doing this for 7 years). The church pays only the transportation fee to and from – otherwise the seven dumpsters are free
3) Neighborhood Yard Sale
4) National Night Out
5) Craft Day
6) Trunk or Treat
7) Parents Shopping Day
8) New Year’s Eve Game Night (celebrated East Coast time)
Community Service Events:
1) Neighbor to Neighbor (in partnership with LNLA) every 2nd Saturday of the month
2) Meal preparation for the Clackamas Service Center (moving over to the Family Shelter on 92nd)
3) Commercial kitchen that may be used by other organizations
4) Every Wednesday we offer free playtime for children which starts at 10:00 am
Classes will be offered and the instructors will be certified for teaching so those classes will cost something:
1) Yoga Class – being taught by Brian’s daughter
2) World Religions Class – non-biased look at all the world religions (taught by Brian)
3) Music Classes – hiring a guitar teacher
4) Art Classes – being taught by Brian’s wife
The development of the community center is currently being put on hold until the sale of the property is finalized. The development we have planned is intertwined with the developer Jerry Jones, Jr. with Columbia Development and his permitting process for the development.
Question: Can you give us a forecast?
Answer: It’s currently in the application phase with the City. We’re hoping to see some progress within a year or two. Like with the coffee shop, unfortunately, it might be a year before we are up and running.
Nancy Shannon - Keller Williams Realty Portland Elite – 503-516-9400
Passed out information (see attachment) on selling and buying property as well as mentioned that she has a very extensive list of referrals, such as contractors, financial adviser, masseuse, etc. Right now it’s very exploratory market. It’s not put the house on the market and ask for 10%-15% above the price of the house that sold a month ago. It’s leveled out. It’s shifting. We’re in single digit appreciation in the Portland Metropolitan area. In SE Portland we are at 5.3% per annum increase. That’s in the whole SE Portland area
WestRock Discussion:
We have been hired to clean up a 5-block radius around their facility
Committing to 4 times a month – once a week
Two weekends a month & two weekdays a month
Will be paid $693.28 per month
Zeke Guenther - Neighborhood Emergency Teams – (NET)
They have training so you can get your certification. The idea is to build neighborhood resiliency so if we have a major catastrophe, we have a group that can band together as a team and help the neighbors. We then report to the Incident Command Center which is over at Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) which located at 9911 SE Bush (right by TriMet). We use a series of radios, family radios, walkie talkies, we communicate directly with the Fire Departments on Foster & 92nd using ham radios. There’s only 6-7 people involved with the NET for an area of 20,000 people. If we have people that are aware of the NET team they can volunteer in case of an emergency. It’s like Boy Scouts for adults. We’ve already connected with Neighbor to Neighbor.
Responsibilities & Training:
1) Light search and rescue. We do not endanger ourselves and we always go out as a two-person team. That’s why it is essential to have some community members.
2) We work with Portland Fire Department
3) The time commitment is 2-days - 9 hour days or you can break that up to a 3-4 day course which can be 3-4 hours over the course of a couple of weeks.
4) Requirement is 18-ish hours of initial training and then 12 hours a year of volunteer time, which can consists of giving classes, being deployed or going to your meetings, which are currently being held the 3rd Sunday of every month
5) The training consists of radio usage, disaster psychology (helping people deal with no water, no lights, etc), light search and rescue, first aid. There is the opportunity to go into other things such as Wilderness First Aid training or training for downed power lines with PGE (which you might be deployed on windy nights)
6) Some of the volunteer opportunities include the Rose Parade, Portland Marathon and street fairs (manning a booth)
Emergency Kit items to have on hand
NOTE: Robert Zeller (I believe) is another NET team member, who lives at 7604 SE 105thAvenue.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary January 25, 2018
LENTS NEIGHBORHOOD LIVABILITY ASSOCIATION (LNLA)
MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON
February 14, 2019
Community Connection Center
10603 SE Henderson Street, Portland, OR 97266
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Board Members: David Potts (Chair); Char Pennie (Treasurer | Secretary)
Attendees: Barb Stuva, Bob Stuva, Evan Oatman, Bob Field, Brian Jeanseau, Char Pennie, Christee Pennie, Cliff Whitmore, David Potts, Debbie Metzger, Doug Morrow, Kathi Gibson, Neola Larsen, Penny Wilson, Renee' Dutton, Robert Santangelo, Stuart Schmaltz
Guest: Brenda Jose – Unlimited Choices and Larry Melton – Director’s Mortgage - Reverse Mortgage Expert
The meeting was convened at 6:30 PM. by Chair David Potts
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
© WestRock Cleanups this month - February 16th & 21st @ 10:00 AM
© VFW Breakfast – February 17th @ 9:30 AM
© N2N – One-year anniversary – March 9th @ 8:00 AM
© Placing book markers in Tiny Libraries
Brenda Jose – Unlimited Choices: (contact information below)
Introduced several programs available for low income people with mobility issues:
· Adapt-A-Home Program
· Wheelchair Ramps
· Grab Bags
· Raised Toilets
· Handrails
· Accessible Showers
· Widened Doorways
· Mend-A-Home
· Repair leaking roofs
· Repair plumbing leaks
· Exterior porch and stairs
· Electrical repair
· Furnace & heating
· Repair damaged floors
First year we did maybe 15 homes. Right now, we service around 350 homes per year.
Question: Do they have any of those programs in Albany Oregon?
Answer: Call Linn County Community Development Office and ask if they have any similar programs.
Question: Do you modify homes where someone will be visiting who has limited mobility?
Answer: We only address the home where the person resides. There are places where you can rent portable ramps.
Question: Where does their income threshold come from?
Answer: HUD. We get our funding through HUD. We have to use their income guidelines and count every person in the home.
Question: Are you a 501(c)3
Answer: Yes
Comment/Question: I did come across a lady who has an extra-large wheelchair. Is that something you can use?
Answer: Sure
Question: Where does your funding come from?
Answer: It comes from HUD. Housing Urban Development - Federal money.
Question: Do you get any private funding?
Answer: We get some. We get some donations. The City of Portland has some other pots of money called TIF (tax increment funding) for different neighborhoods and Lents is one of the TIF areas.
Question: Any development with the foundations in the community?
Answer: One of our board members is working with the Childs Foundation and the Providence Foundation.
Comment/Question: This says for the Lents Urban Renewal Area. Does it cover other areas in the City as well?
Answer: Yes, we are in the City of Portland, Gresham, Beaverton and all throughout Multnomah County. All the unincorporated areas.
Question: This is totally separate from the City of Portland Bureau programs?
Answer: Yes, we’re a non-profit organization. They fund us quite generously but they fund us so we can do the work.
Question: Do you have this work done by professional volunteers?
Answer: No, by licensed and bonded building contractors. We bring out housing rehab specialists who go out and detail the job. They draw sketches of exactly what is going to be done. We handle ordering the materials and accessories so we make sure we get the best quality materials. The work is all done by licensed and bonded professionals. All the work is guaranteed for a year.
Question: It will all be inspected?
Answer: Yes, not everything needs to be inspected.
Stuart: Relaying the story of one of our N2N recipients that fell in her tub and was stuck there for 6 hours. That would be something that should be addressed. Do you have somebody who would walk through the property and see what needs to be done?
Brenda: Yes, we send the housing rehab specialist out to assess the situation. We have funding limits for different areas. Because of these funding limits we have to go through and prioritize what would be the most important. In her case I would say most of the money would go to her bathroom.
Question: We assume you’re going to the community with an advocate?
Answer: We just go in and do this. People just call us up. We don’t work through advocates. We just go and do this for people.
Comment: She has a team that works with her.
Answer: We can absolutely work with this. I have been doing this for over 26 years and have done over 6,000 projects.
Question: Do you have outside contractors or do you just use the people within your organization.
Answer: No, we use independently licensed and bonded contractors. So what we do, when we get done, we write this up and know exactly what we want to do (it’s very precise) and we send it out to contractors that are working with us and we get at least 3 competitive bids. We write it up so well that they don’t even have to go over to the property. We’re always looking for new blood. They have to be good with difficult people, with seniors, compassionate, etc.
Question: Can we refer a contractor to you on our own?
Answer: No, we have been burned with that.
Larry Melton Directors Mortgage
Reverse Mortgages
Some information about Reverse Mortgages:
· Home Equity Conversion Mortgage is the official name of a Reverse Mortgage
· Federally insured program for people 62 and older to borrow a portion of the equity in their home without the requirement of them making a monthly payment
· The first reverse mortgage was used in 1961 which was a one-off deal that a small savings and loan did for one of their clients
· In 1988 it became a pilot program which was rolled out to about 50 lenders
· In 1998 it was more broadly offered as along as they were approved through HUD
· There has been a lot of changes in this program over the last 6-7 years
· In 2015 we started using a financial assessment which changed the qualifying for this type of loan which created a safer experience for the client.
Example of how the program works:
Types of Assets: Accessible funds / investments and/or 401K Retirement / Real Estate
What this program does is move a portion of money from Real Estate into the Accessible Funds category
Question: Why do people use a reverse mortgage?
Answer: You get money through a Reverse Mortgage home loan, but it’s a home loan that does
not require a monthly payment. We will replace a traditional mortgage with a Reverse Mortgage which will do away with the monthly payments.
Myths:
1) The bank will own my home
a. That is not the case and has never been the case. It’s just a lien against the property and the borrower still owns the property as with any other conventional loan.
2) Reverse Mortgage are expensive to obtain
b. That use to be more of a myth than it is now. FHA raised one of their fees. These are not super cheap to get. We can mitigate a lot of the costs. For most of my clients the cost has never dissuaded them from doing one.
3) My kids won’t get anything
c. They can pay the loan off and retain ownership of the home or sell the house and take the equity after paying back the loan
4) Can’t have an existing mortgage
d. Most of what we do is replace existing mortgages
5) Borrower eligibility
e. At least one of the borrowers have to be at least 62 years of age. We can only do the loan on your primary residence. There are some minimum requirements for income and assets. We make sure you can pay your property taxes, homeowners’ insurance, a little bit of money left over for other expenses such as any other debt you might have.
Question: What’s the interest rate?
Answer: About 5%
Question: Does that accrue on all the money you get while you draw on the Reverse Mortgage and when I die then my son and daughter would have to pay the interest from the time when I started drawing on the loan to the time I passed away?
Answer: Yes
Question: What if you took a Reverse Mortgage and with the monthly amount you receive you choose to pay the interest out of that monthly allotment.
Answer: You can make payments on a Reverse Mortgage if you want. If you don’t wish to have the mortgage balance continue to increase you can make monthly payments
Question: Just to pay the interest
Answer: Yes
Question/Comment: I have a primary residence and then I turned my double car garage into an ADU. How does that work?
Answer: Because of the number of ADU’s in Multnomah County they are accepting those for Reverse Mortgages. There are a couple of extra hoops but it does not disqualify you.
Question: In the City if the ADU’s are becoming sort of mandatory, can something like this be used to build an ADU if you own your home?
Answer: Yes. You can use the money for anything.
Question: You can use the money you receive from the ADU to pay back the loan?
Answer: Yes
The only requirements to stay out of default with this product is:
· Pay your property taxes
· Keep the home insured
· Maintain the home in generally decent condition
By the way that’s the same with any mortgage. Even with a regular mortgage if the home is not maintained the lender and come and default on the loan
Question: Don’t you have to continue living in the home?
Answer: it always has to be your primary residents. It is still considered your primary residents even if you spend half the year somewhere else.
Question: My house is 111 years old so not everything has been updated. So, in order to get a Reverse Mortgage would I have to complete updating my home?
Answer: Not necessarily. FHA only requires improvements or updates when it’s considered a health or safety issue. Electrical can be an issue if you still have fuses.
Question: What is the cost?
Answer: Cost is similar to a regular mortgage. FHA does charge a mortgage insurance fee.
Question: Why do they charge mortgage insurance?
Answer: Because this is a non-recourse loan to protect the borrower and the estate. So, if someone holds on to the loan long enough and the interest continues to accrue, obviously that loan balance is going to continue to keep getting higher. If there every becomes a situation where the home value is less than what they owed on the house; then FHA would step in and pay off the difference between the value of the home and the remaining loan balance. This was very common in 2008 where home prices decreased.
Question: What’s the rate on the FHA mortgage insurance?
Answer: it’s 2% of the home’s value, up to a cap.
There are some fees that we can’t charge, that would get charged on a regular loan:
Underwriting and processing – about $1,000
The Process:
· The initial meeting is to understand your goals. Then give them a proposal or quote.
· If the client wishes to proceed with the loan, they are required to have a HUD counseling session. This is around an hour of phone time. Two reasons for this 1) To be able to ask these questions of a disinterested third party 2) To assess the level of competency. This falls under Senior Law to protect seniors against unscrupulous lenders. The cost for this counseling is $150, which they will issues you a certificate that I have to have before I can continue with the application.
· Then we take the application and proceed with ordering the appraisal, title report, escrow, underwriting, credit report, etc. The application consists of no less than 300 pages.
· Time frame is around 30 days to complete the process
· The funds are then funded through an escrow account through a mortgage company
Different Ways to Get Money Through this Program:
· Lump sum – not advisable
· Monthly payments
· Line of Credit – allows for the most flexibility – draw money as you need it, repay it, don’t take any of the money (bonus: if you leave it in the line of credit the interest accrues around 5% per year – so the longer the line of credit sits there you are earning interest at the rate of 5% per year on that loan)
Question: Do you have to pay taxes on that interest?
Answer: No. It’s not like a dividend you are receiving. It’s just an increase in that line of credit. Even as you take that money you don’t claim it as income because it’s not income, it’s borrowed funds.
Question: What’s the maximum amount of money available to lend now?
Answer: Depending on your age the maximum is around 72-73% of your home’s value. There’re some other rules to that. It starts way down at 41% for a 62-year-old and then goes up a little bit each year. If it’s a couple we always use the younger of the two.
Question: This is not considered income as far as Social Security is concerned?
Answer: No
Question: Does this income disqualify you for the low-income programs?
Answer: No
There’s a rule that you can only draw 60% of the borrowing power the first year. Unless we are paying off a mortgage.
You can use this money to purchase a home. Usually used for an older couple that wants to downsize. This can allow for them to have money for the down on the new home and not deplete their cash. Using the Reverse Mortgage Purchase Program (example: their house worth $500 thousand – new home purchase price $300 thousand) the borrower could bring in $165 thousand, we would loan them another $135 thousand and they would have the extra $135 thousand to keep in their bank. (Finance Fees total $65.00 under this example?)
A Reverse Mortgage is just a mortgage that allows for deferred payments.
Question: No capital gains under this program?
Answer: No
Possible Question: Why does a 78-year-old still have a mortgage on her home?
Answer: She used the equity in her home to help her kids.
Question: Can you put your property taxes in senior deferral?
Answer: No
Question: If I have a Reverse Mortgage how long do my kids have to pay that loan off?
Answer: One year. In which time the kids can put the house on the market and sell the home to get that loan paid off and “maybe” recoup some money from the sale.
Question: So, do they establish the real market value of your home?
Answer: Yes, they order a full appraisal on every property
Comment: Highest and best use versus real market value is being able to sell an oversize lot to a developer.
Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Secretary February 23, 2018