Minutes from March 2020 WNA General Meeting 2020-03-31

*Note that these are the minutes from the meeting March 4th; all of the events listed are probably on hold due to Covid-19 measures.*

Woodlawn Neighborhood Association General Meeting minutes (draft until approved)
March 4th, 2020 at Classic Foods
Be neighborly. Use microphone. Get involved. =)

7:00 – 7:10 Welcome and Introductions. Board members present: Melody Randolph, Shirley Minor, Thelma Diggs, Maija Spencer, Beth Heins, Dennis Kennedy, Keith Baich, Anjala Ehelebe

Excused: Nancy Flynn

7:10 – 7:15 Approve February meeting notes: Dennis moves, Thelma seconds, all in favor
Approve March agenda: Beth moves, Dennis seconds, all in favor

7:15 – 7:45  New Business

1. Guest Speaker from Emmanuel Displaced Persons Association (EDPA2)
   1. History of Emmanuel Hospital Expansion
   2. Displacement of residents and effects on community
   3. How to get involved and help

Byrd: founding member of the EDPA2 – the first version was founded in 1970 when Emanuel Hospital expanded. This is the second version of this association. There is an unfulfilled agreement after a HUD lawsuit that required homes be replaced for families who were wrongfully displaced. There is an inaccurate perception that families were compensated when their homes were taken from them. In 2017, the city and the hospital announced they would return a block in that area to the black community. EDPA2 has met with the mayor over the last 3 years. They don’t want Emanuel Hospital to donate some land and consider the agreement met. March 11 there is a vote scheduled to be held by Prosper Portland to approve this measure. On March 31^st EDPA has a lecture scheduled at the First Unitarian church downtown at 7pm – it’s showing as fully booked but they’re trying to add capacity. She recommends people show up to attend. ContactEDPA2@gmail.com

#1 thing people can do to help is attend the lecture March 31^st – hear the stories, hear the details

2. Thelma Diggs
   1. April 25th Stride for Seniors fundraiser for Meals on Wheels – at the PIR racetrack.
   2. Need someone to coordinate a team and donations. Maija volunteers to coordinate a team.
   3. Signup info: strideforseniors.org
   4. WNA donated $300
3. Home Forward: Pamela Kamur and Jonathan Truitt
   1. Home Forward is the renamed Housing Authority of Portland and has an 80-year history in Portland. They have a section 8 voucher program serving 9-10,000 households, they have affordable housing, and a resident services program.
   2. Community advisory committee event March 31^{st –} they are trying to build a large group of advisors including residents, neighbors, educators, would like to have someone from Woodlawn serve on the committee – would be monthly for the next 6 months at St Michael’s Lutheran. First meeting is March 31^st at 5:30, meeting at 6. Maija is interested in participating.
   3. They are working on a project right on the Woodlawn/Concordia border, redeveloping Dekum Court at the corner of NE 27^th & Saratoga, currently 40 units of 2- and 3 bedrooms. It’s 50 years old and sits on 5+ acres. They’ve been spending time fixing up the public housing they own to make it a good place to live for their residents. Dekum Court is going to have a larger overhaul – they can fit more housing on the site by replacing what is currently there. Their hope is to replace the 40 and add 160 units to the site. They’re trying to be careful not to needlessly disrupt the lives of the current residents, so they’re going to do the project in phases.
   4. They have goals in terms of awarding construction work to women and people of color in pursuit of racial and economic equity.
   5. The design will be town homes and apartments, some onsite parking.
4. Upcoming events:
   1. Portland Bureau Of Transportation (PBOT) Columbia Lombard Open House
      1. Thursday, March 12th 5-7pm at Oregon Humane Society, Education Hall – This is an open house to get community input on some plans to improve Lombard, which is a recurring point of concern for us.
   2. March 31st 5:30-8:30 Location TBA Community Advisory Committee Meeting on Home Forward’s Dekum Court apartment project for affordable housing
   3. April 11th Easter Egg Hunt-ORGANIZERS NEEDED! – Beth will coordinate, probably have the stuffing happen at OPH, need to double check inventory of eggs, who bought candy, and the timing of the past. Will need to figure it all out before April 1 meeting.
   4. Sunday Parkways -promoting healthy, active living and community by opening public spaces and streets to walk/bike/roll. Volunteer, donate, apply as vendor or block party (events are 11am to 4pm):
      1. Southeast 5/17
      2. Gateway (formerly Outer Northeast) 7/19
      3. Green Loop 8/23
      4. Northeast (that’s us!) 9/20 portlandsundayparkways.org

7:45 – 8:00 Old Business

1. Digital Initiative-central email contact: info@gowoodlawn.com, setting up GSuite-Melody Randolph. Dennis wants to know who we are paying specifically for domain and hosting. He did get a bill from Nate.
2. Movie in the Park update-Maija Spencer: Woodlawn not selected this year
3. Community Cleanup Update-Shelly Caldwell sent information:

• The date is definitely set for Saturday May 30th, at the PCC Workforce Training Center.
• Dahn Vo was not able to offer us free boxes this year and I think even with the discount he was able to offer, Concordia gets better pricing with Portland Disposal.
• Be aware that metal & electronic donations will be handled by totally different groups – so Free Geek and Rick will not be involved this year. I didn’t think that was a big deal but want to mention it. Concordia has people they use and this is sort of their show in a way…
• What I know about the division of profits is this: They will be divided equally after expenses. I volunteered our NA to handle the food – so I need to coordinate some volunteers to either solicit food/donations and then I can do the pickup the day of.
• With regards to the signs… I don’t know where we get them… but I suggest we simply design them with ‘Woodlawn Neighborhood” or “Woodlawn Neighborhood Association” at the top. I can design them if you want. The cleanup will probably require just as many volunteers – but the shifts will be shorter. There will likely be “roles” that will need to be filled just like our efforts.

8:00 – 8:20 Board Business-Currently 3 open seats on board, see a member if interested!

1. Treasurer’s Report-Dennis Kennedy: as of end of February 9,076.58 – notes that we received $50 from the Oregon Public House from funds raised earlier this year. We had an $8 expense last year for trash collection supplies. Ross proposes we hire a student to do the cleaning.
2. Land Use and Transportation-still need volunteer to follow up Cigarette/Trash Disposal at Bus Stops-Anjala Ehelebe
   1. A neighbor told us that the Pearl District researched receptacles for cigarettes at transit stops; need someone to volunteer to connect with the Pearl District person to find out what they learned.
   2. Notices of developments/home occupation (business out of the home). One is doing counseling out of their home, the other is doing short-term rentals. This is notification only.
   3. Usual meetings are 2^nd Tuesday 7pm at Ps & Qs.
   4. Not a lot of LUTC news at this time.
3. Farmer’s Market-Will start back up June 1st, looking for business sponsors-Keith Baich: not a lot of news since it’s the off season. They do have their own PO Box 17011, Portland OR 97217. Also looking for personal donors at a monthly rate – go to the website to see what is offered: http://woodlawnfarmersmarket.org/
4. NECN-Dennis Kennedy – no news
5. NET-disaster preparedness workshops-Erin Cooper: NET is the Neighborhood Emergency Team and is a group of trained volunteers to assist in times of emergency. The next training starts on Saturday April 11^th and runs 3 ½ consecutive Saturdays. https://portlandprepares.org/net-teams/

8:20 – 8:30 Final words

1. Other upcoming events, final announcements, thoughts
2. Jessica from the Dekum Street Theater 100-seat live performance theater (music, spoken word) between Woodlawn Coffee & Pastry and Breakside. They’ve been slowly remodeling over the last 5 years and are hoping it’ll perhaps open this fall. Go to dekumstreettheater.com

8:30 Meeting adjourns

Thank you for coming! Hope to see you Wed, April 1st (No Joke!) at 7pm for our next meeting!