Commentary:
It's your power
In the last issue, I wrote about the City of Portland's on-line opinion survey regarding the Hillsdale Town Center. After seven weeks, participation in the poorly publicized survey had languished at 107.
After I urged you to fill out the survey, participation jumped to 280.
That means that dozens of you took five minutes to answer the questions. The surge in participation means the survey's results will be far more reliable, says planner Brian Sheehan.
Moreover, the new responses have shifted some of the earlier findings. The results now are divided regarding satisfaction with the Town Center as a place to shop, Sheehan said. One quarter are satisfied with it as it is, a half are satisfied some of the time, and the final quarter are dissatisfied and think major improvements are needed.
Two other new findings have emerged: The library is a big draw to Hillsdale and survey respondents are relatively affluent.
As a result of your participation, the city's perceptions have changed as planners set about helping us develop Hillsdale.
One other point. I made a pitch last month for our "Light Up Hillsdale" fund-raising campaign, and several of you wrote checks.
Thanks!
We are closing the gap to meeting our goal although we still have a way to go. If you haven't contributed, see the top story in this issue for how you can.
Friends tell me that examples like these are proof of the power of the press.
Yes, but . . . .
The press can write reams (or megabytes) about civic events, opportunities and needs, but the power is only realized when reader-citizens like you act.
I have noted here the growth in readership of The Hillsdale News. We added another 10 readers in the last two weeks. We are 312 and counting. That's great, but more important than our numbers is our depth of commitment to our community.
Your response to the survey and your contributions to the "Light Up Hillsdale" fund are evidence of that commitment.
Rick Seifert
Editor
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Links to Alliance Members
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Light Up Hillsdale Campaign
Farmers Market, SW Trails donate fountain
The new, three-tiered drinking fountain at the corner of Bertha Court and SW Capitol Highway was paid for with donations from SW Trails and the Hillsdale Farmers Market.
The donations were contributions to the "Light Up Hillsdale" fund-raising campaign, which continues.
The campaign is also paying for the lighting of the "Hillsdale" sign on the new Watershed building and the building's tower light.
The campaign has raised approximately $18,000 in grants and private and organization contributions. It has $3,000 to go to meet its Watershed lighting goals.
Campaign organizers also hope to raise an additional $9000 to fund a Hillsdale Community Foundation.
To make a tax-deductible contribution, write your check payable to "SWNI" (Southwest Neighborhoods Inc.) and write "Light Up Hillsdale Account" in the note line. Checks should be sent to SWNI, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR 97219.
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Arrests foreseen soon
ID theft victims clustered in Hillsdale
Portland Police are investigating 26 related cases of identity theft that originated in Hillsdale.
The victims, most from Hillsdale, had fraudulent checks drawn against their accounts. A few had bogus credit card accounts opened in their names. Police say that starting last July, a total of $17,500 has been stolen. As recently as late January, a bogus check was cashed.
Because the case is under active investigation, the police are not describing how the 26 victims are connected, said Portland Police Officer Brian Hughes.
Information about the victims may have been sold to a check-fraud ring.
Two investigators working the case have identified what they are calling "a person of interest" who is connected to the crime ring. "We are getting close," Hughes said.
Someone with access to the victims' checking account numbers and routing numbers created bogus checks, Hughes said. Social security numbers may have been used to create false credit cards.
Hughes added that in Southwest Portland, police receive at least one call about identity theft each day. Perpetrators often have drug problems, usually with methamphetamines.
For more information on identity theft go to FTC.gov.
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Looking north along Bertha Boulevard from the Raz garage with the new Watershed building in the distance.
Raz site's future to be opened for discussion
You may drive by the old Raz bus garage several times a week as you zip down Bertha Boulevard to Fred Meyer, Barbur Boulevard or I-5. There's not much to see on the property. And what you can see is not exactly eye candy.
But in the next year or two or three, that could all change.
Buzz and Carolyn Raz own the 1.7 acres, which is the site for the garage and two houses that face on Capitol Hill Road,
They are considering selling the property.
First they want to see what neighbors would like to see happen on the site.
The couple would like to hold a community forum this spring or early summer to invite comments. The date is indefinite so far.
The discussion may guide the Razes as they apply for zoning changes, said Carolyn, who is on the Southwest Neighborhood Inc's (SWNI) board where she represents Hillsdale.
The property with its three tax parcels is now zoned for single-family detached residences. The Razes have a variance for their commercial use.
The couple stresses that after the community conversation, the decision about how to proceed with be theirs.
Stephens Creek runs through the property before it enters Stephens Creek Nature Park to the south. The presence of the creek has resulted in the city's designating an environmental overlay on the land, which could restrict how it is developed.
"We'll have to see what the means," Carolyn said.
Wes Risher, a past neighborhood association chair, has expressed an interest in garden apartments being developed on the site. Higher density residential units such as condos or apartments would be consistent with the desire of Metro, the regional government, to have in-fill housing in the Town Center. Higher densities near bus lines reduce auto use and take pressure off expanding the urban growth boundary.
In the 1990s, Risher spearheaded opposition to building the Turning Point project along the creek where the park is. He helped guide the transitional housing project to its present site on Bertha Boulevard across from the Watershed building
Don Baack, current Hillsdale Neighborhood Association chair, commended the Razes for involving the community early in the process. "It is a very enlightened way of approaching planning. It may be a model that we should follow in other locations. We'll have to see how it comes out."
The bus garage was built on the site in 1952. The Razes sold their bus company three years ago to Coach USA, a national firm.
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Calling the Watershed "home"
Non-profit housing agency vows to move
into its Hillsdale development
For months, Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH) has tried to sell two commercial condominiums in the new Watershed Building at Bertha Court and Capitol Highway.
At last they have a buyer for one of the units: Themselves.
CPAH's Executive Director Sheila Greenlaw-Fink announced Wednesday, Feb 13, that the non-profit developer of affordable housing had been awarded a Meyer Memorial Trust grant of $155,000 to be used toward the purchase.
The Collins Foundation contributed another $47,500. Other money is available to help buy the space although Greenlaw-Fink says an additional $60,000 is still needed.
"We are going to make it happen, but I don't know how. It is going to come from somewhere," she said. Greenlaw-Fink said she hopes to move CPAH's seven staff members from their current office in King City this summer.
The 1319-square-foot Watershed space has been listed on the market for $395,000.
Meanwhile, the second, larger condominium is still on the market. CPAH has hired a new broker, The Urban Works, to market it. At just under 1800 square feet and with a view of the streetscape, it has been listed for $595,000 although the asking price might be reduced slightly under the new listing agent, Greenlaw-Fink said.
Residential units still available
Five apartments are still available in the new Watershed Senior Housing project.
Four one-bedroom apartments rent for $582 per month, and one two-bedroom unit is available at $650 per month.
If you, a friend or relative are interested, contact Vonnie, the site manager at 503-452-0010 or e-mail watershedinfo@ipmco.com to set up a tour.
As a reader of Hillsdale News, you know the building's assets. It is LEED certified for its many environmental features. Located at 6388 SW Capitol at Bertha Court, the building is across the street from four bus lines. When the new grocery story goes in it will be a five-minute stroll from the Watershed. Pets are welcome.
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The Roys open their "toolkit"
Workshop to aid community organizers
If you are involved in changing our community (or any community or organzation for that matter), you might want to save the morning of Saturday, March 15, on your calendar.
That's when Dick and Jeanne Roy, Hillsdale neighbors and founders of the Northwest Earth Institute, will present a free workshop titled "The Local Organizer's Toolkit: Essential Knowledge for Change."
Jeanne and Dick will share strategies, tools, practices, and tips from their 15-year experience as co-founders and directors of the Center for Earth Leadership, the Northwest Earth Institute, and the Oregon Natural Step Network. They have also organized and nurtured many orther initiatives in Portland and elsewhere.
The workshop will be held at Portland State University's Smith Memorial Center from 9 a.m. to noon.
To reserve your space, contact Erin at 503-227-2315 or erin@earthleaders.org. For additional information, visit www.earthleaders.org/classes_workshops.
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You're invited
Wilson student leaders want YOU!
For 11 years, Wilson High School's student leaders have pitched in to help the Multnomah County Corrections Deputies Charitable Trust.
They have invited our community to help too. Now they are asking again.
The trust and the students put on several events for needy and physically or mentally handicapped youth. They organize an Easter egg hunt, a prom for handicapped teens and several December holiday events.
The students are inviting us to get involved on Saturday, March 1, when the trust holds its annual fund-raising auction and dinner at the Holiday Inn,1441 NE 2nd Ave.
Doors open at 5 p.m. and dinner begins at 6 p.m..
Tickets are $35.00 and auction items include an autographed football by Dennis Dixon, an autographed rookie jersey by Brandon Roy
For more information visit www.mccdct.com or to purchase tickets contact Nick at ndrushella@yahoo.com or Bella at bellchik2001@yahoo.com.
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A parade too far
Hillsdale-Village parade plans lose steam
Patti Waitman-Ingebretsen's vision of a Multnomah Centennial Parade between Hillsdale and Multnomah next August is growing dimmer.
The current Multnomah Days Parade is an established annual event that is months in the planning. Its organizers are concerned that a much longer parade would tax children, who are a large contingent in the four-block-long Multnomah parade.
Moreover, parades require permits, and Multnomah already has the one it needs for the this year's August 16 parade, says one of its organizers, Sylvia Bogert of Southwest Neighborhoods Inc.
Furthermore, if Hillsdale were added, the west-to-east direction of the Multnomah parade would have to be reversed which would reverse traffic on the on-way portion of Capitol Highway in the Village.
Waitman-Ingebretsen, who is president of the Multnomah Historical Association, had hoped that the 100th anniversary of the founding of Multnomah Village might prompt the two communities to put on a mile-long parade linking them. The route would have followed Capitol Highway.
In Hillsdale, Don Baack neighborhood association president, said he believes some kind of Hillsdale parade would be a good idea, but not on the same day as Multnomah's.
"I see ours as being a kiddy/doggie sort of thing," he said. "If some people have the time and interest to put together a Hillsdale parade, I believe the neighborhood and business association would help them. Anyone interested?"
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Rick Seifert
Editor, Hillsdale News
(503) 245-7821
editor@hillsdalenews.org
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