 In partnership with the Multnomah Neighborhood Association, I want to invite you to a Budget Town Hall from 6-8 pm Wednesday, April 23rd at Neighborhood House Senior Center, 7688 SW Capitol Highway.
This is an opportunity for you to learn about the budget challenges facing the City of Portland, followed by a listening session where you can share your feedback directly with me. Please join us!
 I’m dedicating time every week to meet with District 4 constituents both virtually and in their own neighborhoods – to hear what’s on your mind and to provide information on a variety of issues. You can find all of my event listings here.
Please save these dates:
-
Maplewood: 1-3 pm Friday, April 25th at Maplewood Coffee and Tea, 5206 SW Custer Street.
-
Ashcreek-Crestwood: 3-5 pm Monday, April 28th at Old Market Pub & Brewery, 6959 SW Multnomah Boulevard.
-
Southwest Hills: 3-5 pm Friday, May 9th at Vista Spring Cafe, 2440 SW Vista Avenue.
-
Hillsdale: 10am-noon Friday, May 16th at PDX Coffee Club, 6369 SW Capitol Highway.
 My most recent neighborhood events brought me to the Pearl District, South Burlingame, and Sellwood-Moreland. Special thanks to The Fields Bar & Grill, Fulton Park Community Center, and Sellwood Community House for hosting us!
 This month I joined Multnomah County Commissioner Meghan Moyer and Portland Housing Bureau leaders for a tour of Julia West House, which will be an important, eco-conscious addition to our downtown affordable housing stock.
The project will provide 90 units of permanent supportive housing for houseless elders and BIPOC people including resident services tailored to individual needs. Developed in partnership with First Presbyterian Church, Julia West House is a 12-story high-rise featuring a cross-laminated timber structure, making it the tallest of its kind in Oregon.
 This morning I congratulated students on Lincoln High School’s Constitution Team, who tied for first place at the national U.S. Constitution Team competition with Sprague High School in Salem. What an incredible achievement for these sophomores!
 I recently enjoyed a productive meeting with Sport Oregon, including retired soccer star Karina LeBlanc, who works with the Portland Thorns and our as-yet-unnamed WNBA team, which is slated to begin playing next year. Karina shares my passion to put Portland on the map as a global destination for women’s sports!
The meeting also included leaders of the Portland Timbers, Portland State University, Multnomah Athletic Club, and Fuller Events, which helps put on major attractions like this summer’s Rockstar Energy Open skateboarding competition. We had a robust discussion about how the City of Portland’s youth sports programs directly impact Sports Oregon’s mission to drive positive social and economic impact through sport.
 This week I met with Erin Graham, President and CEO of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, to learn about their vision to transform the OMSI District into an exciting neighborhood destination rooted in innovation, culture, the arts, and science.
This potential public-private partnership would benefit our entire region. OMSI’s plan includes a new waterfront education park, a center for tribal nations, construction of 1,200 new residential units, and many more improvements in the 24-acre district.
The museum’s latest attraction, on display through September 1st, reimagines “Jurassic Park” through 6 million LEGO bricks.
 This week I visited the stunning new state-of-the-art headquarters for All Classical Radio at KOIN Tower. This nonprofit organization has made a huge investment in downtown and is a visionary megaphone for our regional arts.
All Classical Radio is ranked the No. 1 classical radio station for market share, reaching more than 250,000 listeners on the dial and more than 125,000 listeners online from all 50 states and more than 100 countries. It is wholly independent, producing 98 percent of its content locally, including a second 24-hour channel designed just for children.
President & CEO Suzanne Nance showed me the intimate performance hall where more than 100 guests can listen to free weekly in-studio concerts; to reserve your spot in the audience, please go here.
All Classical Radio also reaches beyond music to serve the community with programs like Music Feeds, which raises awareness about food insecurity in partnership with Oregon Food Bank.
 This week I had a great conversation with former Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who now serves as a Presidential Fellow at Portland State University’s Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, and institute director Tyler Frisbee. We talked about how to harness the energy of Portlanders to care for what we have – including our parks, our streets, and our sidewalks. The institute plans to research what other cities are doing to address common issues.
 This month I participated in a well-attended City Club of Portland panel about how to strengthen our downtown by drawing on examples from Denver and San Francisco. It was an informative discussion that included Councilor Steve Novick and former City of Portland Principal Planner Steve Dotterer.
 This is a great time to check out a hidden gem of District 4: Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in the Eastmoreland neighborhood!
This nine-acre garden contains an outstanding collection of more than 2,500 rhododendrons, azaleas, and other lesser-known shrubs, including many varieties rarely seen in the Pacific Northwest. Along with a magnificent display of color, you’ll also see unusual trees, many species of birds and waterfowl, and maybe even a nutria!
 In the spirit of John Lewis making “good trouble,” I was proud to speak at a powerful “Hands Off!” protest on April 5th at Westmoreland Park — which was among 1,400+ actions held across the country to reject the rampant corruption of the Trump administration. At a time when our federal government is letting us down, I urged people to get involved at the local level to do good and build community. Read more in The Oregonian.
The Oregonian also reported on a new poll indicating that negative views of downtown are slowly improving. This is good news – but we still have a long way to go in addressing public sentiment about community safety, open drug use, and homelessness.
As I’ve been saying since I took office, Portland needs to do a better job of managing its assets. The Oregonian recently exposed the skyrocketing costs of installing curb ramps for mobility-disabled residents, pointing to the need for greater oversight, transparency, and accountability among City bureaus.
|
