Woodlawn Neighborhood Association General Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024, at 7:00 pm
Please make every effort to join us In Person at Classic Foods: 817 NE Madrona
Or join the meeting online via Zoom (now with improved audio): https://zoom.us/j/3014662210?pwd=d3VKbXkzVldqYzNWU2RwVm9OUkZyZz09
Meeting ID: 301 466 2210 , Passcode: WNA
Streamed/recorded on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@woodlawnneighborhoodassoci5818
Welcome and Vision: “In the future, Woodlawn will be a place where people live harmoniously, respectfully, and in support of one another. The neighborhood will be a clean and thriving community… All Woodlawn residents will share and pursue the common values of health, efficiency, beauty, equity, and justice.”
7:00 – 7:15 Introductions
- Please share name, pronouns, & what brought you to tonight’s meeting
- Quick share: “What was your favorite game to play as a child?”
7:15 – 8:00 General Business
- Approve July meeting notes.
Melissa makes a motion to approve the July minutes. Melody seconded. All were in favor, so the minutes were approved.
- Presentation about where our legalized marijuana revenues go from Woodlawn long-time neighbor Quinton Dixon. He manages Electric Lettuce on NE Dekum. Measure 26-180 means PDX can take 3% of that marijuana tax. Funding minority- and women-owned businesses, safety measures, street improvements in the neighborhood. Upcoming projects with advisors in the Portland cannabis industry. Green Muse focused on social equity initiatives. There are 24 Electric Lettuce outposts owned by an umbrella company with individual stores having some autonomy.
- Question about moving meeting times to 6:30 – 8:00 (from present 7:00 – 8:30)—
Since we have a small group at the meeting tonight, Anjala recommends that we send a notice about a potential change to everyone on our mailing list re: a survey or poll to see if a time change would be a good idea for the community. In our next newsletter, we will send out this information and see what folks think/feel. Ask questions in a survey for example—What is currently keeping you from coming to a meeting?
- At-large board position for NECN opening—
September is elections month for NECN. At present, Anjala is currently the rep, and Shirley is a member at-large. We can have a rep and up to six at-large reps for District 2. There is currently an opening for at-large members, and it would be good to get folks from often unrepresented groups. This coalition group is going to be the foundation of the new approach to city government. Anjala would like to continue but if folks know anyone with special skills. Workload = 1 to 2 meetings. Online survey contains many details to possibly. New group will be 28 + 6 members! Go to Necoalition.org and under ABOUT US the survey is available.
- Metro Grant to combine History of Woodlawn with repainting of street mural at NE Durham & NE Dekum Streets (where our Farmers market is held)—
Liz and Anjala dreamed up a grant proposal to re-paint the street. Honoring the history and diversity of the Woodlawn neighborhood. Combine history with oral histories of long-time residents. This grant would build on the history information Anjala already knows and covers in her history walking tours since Woodlawn goes way back into the 1890s! We could also reach out to the Vanport Mosaic folks to see if their oral historians would be willing to share their expertise. City Repair folks might also be valuable for us on this project, too.
Melissa makes a motion that the board give the OK to go ahead and allow Liz and Anjala to submit the grant. Nancy seconds it.
- Recap Movie in the Parking Lot Night – Melissa
Melissa has a post mortem written up about which she will circulate.
- Recap Pedalpalooza Event – John T
Tour of Boise / Mississippi Avenue then Peninsula Park for a tour. Then finished at Woodlawn tour. By the time got to Woodlawn, 25 cyclists participating. Many stayed and went to the farmers market afterwards and then went to local businesses. John talked to PZ about doing more biking events to bring through the neighborhood.
- Recap on Neighborhood Night out/Party on Portland – Barbara
Melissa will recap on the food situation. We will also do a survey to assess what is worth continuing to do and what we need to tweak. We had a budget of $3500 and we did the event for $3100. For Good and Company did printing. We got great donations via cash and Venmo! The community garden tours were very popular this year, too.
- T-shirt sales – Shelby – no update tonight.
- WNA table at Woodlawn Farmers Market in September & October—
We need volunteers to staff two-hour shifts to do outreach to market attendees to talk about the Woodlawn Neighborhood Association. Dates are September 21st and the final October 26th Harvest Market. Selling T shirts too.
- Next month is our annual meeting and board and officer elections. We will have up to 4 board positions available including treasurer and vice-chair. Should we have a potluck?
Folks thought a potluck was a good idea. Melody mentions that there is a fun cookie potluck and recipe exchange in Cully—plan for 10 to 15 people and include an ingredient list too. And come early to set up or be willing to stay and clean up. Melissa suggests sending detailed job descriptions on our email list to encourage more folks to consider serving on the board.
- Next Neighborhood Social—When?
We have been hosting neighborhood socials in order to support the Woodlawn area businesses more proactively. We need someone to reach out to set a few of these up in the coming months—perhaps scheduling out an entire year. For example we have already visited Café Eleven, Breakside, Good Neighbor, Tough Luck, Ranch. So now let’s set up an entire year’s schedule and get creative. A winemaker might be willing to do a tasting at For Good and Company. Electric Lettuce has a space that can host something—perhaps a cookie party!
- Time for Neighbor Open Comments
Let’s revisit the creation of a Welcome Flyer to new neighbors? New home purchasers? New renters? Nancy will reach out to the University of Oregon PDX community to educate folks about WNA as well as that campus gets up and running more fully starting in Fall 2024.
NW Advocacy trying to set up Zoom meetings for mayoral and District 2 candidates.
8:00 – 8:20 Board Business
- Treasurer’s Report and quick preview of next year’s budget and fundraising. Change of Bank? Barbara
We have made it through in spite of our paltry donation drive. We currently have $3280 in our bank account. We clearly need to fundraise in order to do the yearly events we want to do.
- NECN Report – Anjala
Hey Neighbor newspaper is currently on hiatus.
Major NECN meeting in on the 4th Thursday of the month. All neighbors are welcome to attend. There is a Zoom option for attending as well. Lots of change on the horizon. These are important meetings. And you can be part of a group that shapes the neighborhoods we all live in. NECN is operating under budget and doing fine right now. The city tossed in $30K to NECN to roll out classes about ranked-choice voting sponsored and coordinated by NECN.
- Secretary Report – Nancy
Send photos from Movie Night and National Night Out so Nancy can figure out how to showcase them on the Go Woodlawn website using the new fancy WordPress Elementor software.
- Outreach and community engagement Report – Linde — no report.
- Land Use and Transportation Report – Anjala
Please use PDXReporter.org for reporting trash, campsites, etc. The more folks who report these situations, the better we can make an impact on the safety of our neighborhoods.
- Farmer’s Market Update – Keith
Erin Cooper gave the update. Just got a $35K grant from the Oregon Farmer’s Market Association (OFMA) to make the market “climate-resilient” which means investing in infrastructure, etc. The market still needs shoppers to meet expenses. The 10th anniversary party celebration is on September 7th. Also if the temperature is above 98 degrees, the market will open an hour earlier and close an hour earlier.
8:20 – 8:30 Additional agenda items and announcements
