 I’m dedicating time 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. Please save these dates:
-
Reed Neighborhood Association: 6:30-8pm Wednesday, March 11th at Reedwood Friends Church, 2901 SE Steele Street.
-
Collins View Neighborhood Association: 7-8:30pm Wednesday, April 1st on Zoom.
-
Pearl District Neighborhood Association: 5:30-7pm Thursday, April 9th at Pacific Northwest College of Art’s Hammer Room, 511 NW Broadway.
-
Sellwood: Joint Town Hall with Councilor Eric Zimmerman and special guest City Administrator Raymond Lee, 6-8pm Tuesday, April 14th at Sellwood Community House, 1436 SE Spokane Street.
 At Council’s direction, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) held open houses in each Council district to get feedback on local transportation funding. Last month I joined Mayor Wilson and PBOT at the first of four open houses to hear from District 4 constituents.
The longer we wait to fill potholes, the more expensive the problems get. Community input is essential to shape the future of Portland’s transportation system: how any new revenue should be raised and used, how we ensure strong accountability and stewardship, and what should be prioritized.
Please watch my Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting from 9:30-11:30am Monday for a summary of what we learned!
 Our central city isn’t just the economic engine for the state of Oregon — it’s also the neighborhood 15,000 people call home.
Last month I met with the Downtown Portland Neighborhood Association, which is open to anyone who lives, works, owns property, runs a business, or attends school downtown. We discussed arts venues, bureau oversight, transportation funding and more.
 Big things are in store for District 4 — but it will take a focused effort from the City of Portland and our partners in business, real estate, arts and culture, education, philanthropy, and community institutions.
That’s why Mayor Wilson recently announced the launch of the Central City Roundtable, which will start meeting today to advance recommendations from All In On Portland’s Central City, a roadmap developed by Governor Kotek’s Central City Task Force. This team will work to reignite downtown.
The task force has mapped 75+ projects across six Central City districts that will contribute to a more livable, vibrant urban core. This list includes redevelopment at the site of the old central post office, the Broadway Corridor (top), which promises 2,000+ new homes and major public spaces, and the Steel Bridge Skatepark, which will provide all-ages and all-skills recreation in Old Town.
🎨 Prosper Portland (top) and Dao Architecture
 Last month I joined Councilor Zimmerman and our office staff for lunch at Mother’s Bistro & Bar, which has been serving delicious comfort food in downtown Portland for 26 years. Executive chef and owner Lisa Schroeder has been a wonderful cheerleader for our small businesses, and it was a pleasure to show our support.
Last year Mother’s launched “Bubbie’s Deli Board Pop-Up Menu,” offering New York deli favorites like house-smoked pastrami on house-made rye bread, chopped liver, matzoh ball soup, and rugelach. Check it out!
 Did you know Portland is considered the nation’s eighth-best city for women business owners? March is Women’s History Month.
Let’s recognize and support some of our women-led businesses and organizations in District 4 (clockwise from top left):
-
Multnomah Village: Northwest Wools is Portland’s oldest yarn shop! They have been serving the needs of knitters for more than 35 years.
-
Sellwood Moreland: Makerspace offers creative, project-based workshops on everything from letterpress, ceramics, fiber arts, seasonal, floral, painting, stained glass, collage, and more.
-
Old Town: Specialty Coffee Supply focuses on empowering women producers and providing high-quality products and services to help create the best possible espresso drinks.
-
Stadium District: Eleni Gerding is the publisher of Stroll Portland Heights Magazine, a social publication that highlights local events and news in Southwest Portland.
 This Women’s History Month and every day, it is an honor to work with these five women on Portland City Council. Here are a few places in District 4 where you can learn more about Portland women’s history:
-
Portland State University: “Walk of the Heroines,” an educational park located on campus between Hoffman Hall and Peter W. Stott Community Field, recognizes women who made a significant and sustained contribution to civil, economic, or political rights — causes advancing the dignity and freedom of women.
-
Oregon Historical Society: Artist and photographer Donna Pollach captured intimate moments among feminist and lesbian women of Portland during the early 1970s. An exhibit of her work, “We Were All Living a Dream,” is on display through March 29.
-
PDX Social History Guide: This online resource features oral histories about many topics — including the 1905 National American Women’s Suffrage Association Convention, which took place at First Congregational Church, right next door to Oregon Historical Society! Local leader Abigail Scott Duniway shared the stage with nationally known suffragist Susan B. Anthony.
 Get ready for summer in the city! It will be filled with music downtown.
For the fifth year, Pioneer Courthouse Square will host a series of PDX-LIVE concerts — and tickets just went on sale last week! This year’s lineup, which kicks off August 4th with Ani DiFranco and closes August 20th with Vince Staples, delivers long-awaited reunions from Sugar and The Breeders, plus “Boys and Girls in America” performed in full by The Hold Steady.
This is a great opportunity to enjoy live music and great weather in the heart of downtown. While you’re there, be sure to support our District 4 restaurants and small businesses!
 Even though our state is in a “snow drought,” the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has 56 snowplows ready to tackle winter weather!
When PBOT responds to snow and ice, crews are in 24-hour emergency response operations, working 12-hour shifts. But for the rest of the year, snowplow drivers work a variety of jobs, including maintaining gravel streets, paving roads, and filling potholes.
Five of these hardworking drivers got to have a little fun last month in helping to announce winners of the second annual Snowplow Naming Contest. Nearly 6,000 people participated in the ranked-choice voting, with support from the City Elections Division! Here are the winning snowplow names:
-
Keep Portland Cleared submitted by Jonah Edwards
-
Mississlippy submitted by Chris Kiley
-
Damian Blizzard submitted by Joel Feik
-
A Sleetcar Named Deicer submitted by Dan King
-
Pink Pony Plow submitted by Cary Morrison
 ► Did you know District 4 is home to the nation’s largest continuously operating open-air arts and crafts market? Portland Saturday Market returns this weekend, according to Willamette Week, and will continue every weekend through December.
► “There’s likely no sound system like Mono Space’s anywhere else in the world…. The speakers are so big … that holes had to be cut in the walls to get the pieces inside,” Willamette Week reports on the Pearl District vinyl listening bar. Founder JD Hooge says Oscar and Grammy winner Questlove recently stopped by to listen.
► You can explore Forest Park by bus! Portland Monthly writer Margaret Seiler detailed her adventure hiking along Leif Erikson Drive, an extension of NW Thurman Street that “was supposed to provide automobile access to residential developments, but after the road itself proved such a beast to build and maintain, the plan was abandoned.”
|
