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School districts to Portland Development Commission: What about us? LEE PERLMAN THE MID-COUNTY MEMO In late June, the Portland Development Commission and the Portland City Council approved a resolution calling for Multnomah County and the Portland School District to have seats on urban renewal advisory committees. At the PDC hearings, representatives of Mid-county districts and their supporters said, in effect, what about us? The resolution is in response to long-standing complaints, most recently articulated to Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen said urban renewal takes badly needed funds away from the general fund that services both school districts and the county without giving them a voice in the operations of these districts. We have always had the county at the table, and lately the Portland School District, Keith Witcosky, PDC Government Relations Director said, but we want to formalize the relationship. Theresa Davis of the Reynolds School District told the commission, We would like you to strongly consider adding the east county districts as well. We have a substantial amount of Portland children, and were experiencing overcrowding. You should bring all parties to the table. Parkrose School Board Chair James Woods said, When you engage in urban renewal, there are major impacts on properties and neighborhoods. We are facing these without being able to ask the decision makers to pay for the consequences. Another Parkrose School Board member, Katie Larsell, said, What were saying is dont forget about us. Were part of Portland too. Yet another Parkrose member, Woodland Park Neighborhood Association Chair Alesia Reese, gave an elaborate testimony in the form of a poem. She invited the commission to think past 33rd Avenue, and take a tour of east Portland. She mentioned the German Bakery, Parkrose Farmers Market, Glendoveer Golf Course, the Springwater Trail, a new coffee shop at the Oregon Clinic, the upcoming concerts in Ventura Park, the East Portland Cultural Fair, National Night Out, the Hazelwood Community Garden, and several programs and personalities in Parkrose Schools. I hope you accept the invitation of east Portland, she said. Get to know us, learn about us and share with us, as we would love to share with you. Witcosky noted that much of the David Douglas district is in the Lents urban renewal district. He agreed, Other districts should be at the table. Commission member Sal Kadri asked if there was some way the east Portland districts could have a single representative on appropriate Urban Renewal Advisory Committees. Larsell said the relations between the districts are very informal. When we work together, were strong. When we disagree, were not as effective. You can facilitate this by treating us all as equals, she said. Witcosky noted that both David Douglas and Parkrose have representatives on the Gateway Program Advisory Committee. Some of the comments by Reese and others did not go over well with part of their intended audience. PDC Chair Mark Rosenbaum said the agency had worked to expand the Lents urban renewal district and to provide funding from a west side district for new schools at David Douglas. Its hard to sit here and hear people invite me to visit the east part of town as if Ive never been there, he said dryly. I dont accept that urban flight (of poor people eastward) is solely PDCs doing. Rosenbaum added, however, Schools are at the core of a community. People identify with the area around schools. They should be at the table in terms of community and neighborhood impact of public projects. This is something we need to assist with. He said it would be awkward to have all five districts represented on any URAC, but that he favored the kind of cooperative arrangements Kadri had recommended. |
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