Craddick’s district encompasses most of Mid-Multnomah County east of 122nd Avenue.

COURTESY METRO
Metro Councilor Shirley Craddick represents District 1.

Last month, Metro Councilor Bob Stacey, who represents the area immediately west of Craddick’s, spoke to the HNA board.

Several people mentioned that the Metro 2040 Plan designates Gateway as a “Regional Center” for major growth.

HNA board member Linda Robinson, said, “Some, like Gateway, are stumbling.” Craddick said the designation makes the area eligible for federal grants, but Robinson countered, “We haven’t gotten many. If developers were willing to come here, Metro could help the buildings get built.”

Hazelwood chair Arlene Kimura complained, “Sometimes we feel like the poor stepchild.”

More specifically, she complained that Metro does not offer a local hiring preference in Gateway as it does in the Lloyd District, and did not even inform Gateway of a pilot program established in Oregon City.

Craddick said the local hiring policy applied to the Oregon Convention Center, which Metro owns, and was intended to compensate that area for the disruption caused by the Center’s construction.

Board member Christopher Masiocchi asked if Metro monitored the progress of such centers. “We’re 13 years into it, and we feel out of sight and out of mind, but because we’re an urban renewal district we’re not eligible for other programs.”

In some cases, Craddick said some problems were other jurisdictions responsibility, such as the City of Portland, and then added her own criticisms. Some people complained about the City’s change to an every-two-week garbage pickup schedule. Craddick said, “If you’re conscientious about recycling you don’t need weekly trash pickup, but not everyone is that conscientious.”

Several people complained about zoning codes that allow multifamily housing development with little or no parking. Craddick said this was part of local and regional policies to encourage non-auto travel but added, “I think the city is a little aggressive in its development policies.”

Robinson countered, “Then we need grocery stores that are close enough that people can carry their groceries home.” Craddick said, “There are challenges in getting groceries [stores] back into neighborhoods. They’re influenced by crime statistics.”

Board member David Hampsten said that the area has recently received “a whole bunch” of sidewalk improvements — “except at Glendoveer Golf Course, which is a Metro facility.” Craddick said that sidewalks are the city’s responsibility but Hampsten said, “There is a gap in paving between the front door and the sidewalk.”

Craddick said that when Metro took over Glendoveer from Multnomah County, it inherited an operator with a long-term lease that recently expired. “I went through it in February, and I was shocked at how deteriorated it was,” she said.

She complained about a rumor of a plan to build low-income housing on the site. “There was never, ever such a plan,” she said. “One councilor wanted to make it a park.”
Masiocchi said, “As far as assets go, Glendoveer is huge for us. It’s bigger than Mt. Tabor, and the nature trail is so beautiful.”

Craddick said she was very impressed with the goals and implementation of the East Portland Action Plan.

Asked how the neighborhood could better influence government action, she said, “As an organized group, you have more influence than any one politician.”

The East Portland Neighborhood Office is a branch of the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement, and receives most of its funding from that bureau.

In April, at a budget hearing in east Portland, Portland’s City Council listens to citizen comments on Mayor Charlie Hales’, middle, proposed budget.

Last winter Hales asked ONI and all other City bureaus to submit budgets with a ten percent reduction from fiscal year 2012-13 levels.

Hales’ own draft budget calls for only a three percent cut for ONI.

Even so, the current ONI budget eliminates the popular Neighborhood Small Grant programs, a $200,000 fund distributed through EPNO and the city’s six other neighborhood offices and coalitions to neighborhood associations and other community groups for special projects.

It also retains cuts to communications funds that, among other things, fund the East Portland Neighborhood News. As before, carry-over funds from previous years allow EPNO to publish four editions of the newspaper as planned, but unless there are new appropriations, there will be money for only one edition in 2014.

The budget did allocate $279,000 to continue the work of the East Portland Action Plan next fiscal year, but it was accompanied by a “budget note” that said the program should “ramp down” and prepare for a cut-off in funding next go-around.

In a letter to Hales, the EPAP Steering Committee asked him to reconsider this position. “The EPAP as a plan has a life span, and we are not at its end,” they wrote. “The action plan is still a very effective tool that is contributing great value to the City in its quest for equity and redress of persisting substandard conditions in East Portland. This value will diminish in coming years, but we believe it is premature to have this budget not in place at this time.”

According to Lore Wintergreen, EPAP’s paid Advocate, Hales has since softened his stance on future funding somewhat.

In a related matter, the budget calls for cuts to the Portland Development Commission.

These include reductions of more than $30,000 to Venture Portland, which serves as a support system for neighborhood business associations in much the same way that ONI does for residential groups.

Executive Director Heather Hoell told City Council at a public hearing that if the reduction went through it could reduce by half the grants that Venture Portland makes available to groups such as the Parkrose Business Association and the Gateway Area Business Association.

There were cuts as well to the bureaus of Parks, Fire and Police (including loss of some mounted patrol).

Representatives of all three bureaus complained that the cuts would have major negative effects on the city.

Parkrose NPI, one of six such districts in the city (including three others in east Portland), is a sort of mini-urban renewal district.

COURTESY HISTORIC PARKROSE
In April, at the Grand Reopening of Parkrose Hardware,former Historic Parkrose Chair Joe Rossi, from left, poses with fellow steering committee members Amelia Salvador and Vice-Chair Loretta Stites.

Encompassing Northeast Sandy Boulevard and narrow bands of residential land adjacent to it, it will generate up to $1.2 million over the next eight years, much of it in the form of tax increment funds gleaned from increased property taxes, to be used to upgrade and promote the business district.

It also calls for the hiring of a manager (Bayer) paid for with funds raised by the community and matched by the Portland Development Commission, to carry out the district program under the direction of a local Stakeholders Committee.

On the wall of the tavern was a board asking, “What do you want?” Bayer reports that the answer to this by several people, on the board and in conversations, was more opportunities to cross Sandy safely.

Other wants were a grocery store, a coffee shop or at least a cart, rezoning of what are now residential properties to allow for commercial use, graffiti removal, opportunities for family gatherings, and more networking among businesses and their neighbors.

Bayer is working on this last already. She and her stakeholders will be meeting from 8 to 9:30 a.m. the last Thursday morning of each month, and all are welcome.

Also, to help announce events and other important information, the NPI will be installing two poles, each capable of holding two banners, in each of four traffic islands on Sandy.

They will be paid for by a $10,000 grant from PDC and $3,000 from the community, much of that in the form of in-kind contributions from Five Point Collective graphic design, Home Depot and City Center Construction.

That’s not counting a work party to build the poles from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 1 at Rossi Farms.

Another input opportunity and information source: visit www.historicparkrose.com.

Historic Parkrose Stakeholder Committee:
Ken Poirier- chair
Loretta Stites – vice-chair
Rick Randall – treasurer
Marcy Emerson Peters – secretary
Mark Gardner
Mark LaCroix
Dominic Moran
Lynette Randall
Joe Rossi
Amelia Salvador
Gail Volk
Mary Walker

When police arrived, they did not locate any victims.

Witnesses said they heard shots and then saw several vehicles leave the area, police said.

Shortly after the officers arrived on scene, they received a report from East Precinct that police responded to the report of a gunshot victim arriving at Portland Adventist Medical Center.

The victim, 45-year-old William Rasmussen of Southeast Portland, was suffering from two non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and was transported from PAMC to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center for treatment.

Rasmussen told police he was in the parking lot of the apartment complex when he was approached by the suspect who fired shots at him for no reason.

The victim was unable to provide any suspect information about the suspected shooter, ploice said.

Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call the Assault Detail at 503-823-0400.

When Sheila Guernsey, who was hired as special events coordinator in January, toured the Daybreak Shelter Network — Human Solutions’ facility that serves homeless families from the basement of Peace Church of the Brethren in outer Southeast Portland — she saw a need.

After a one-day makeover of the outdoor play area at Human Solutions’ Daybreak Shelter Network for homeless families, five-year-old Esperanza Sumano is first to try out one of the new swings.

Not the usual needs of a homeless family, but a homeless kid’s need for a better place to play. “That’s what made me the saddest, all these little peanuts in here; they could climb and jump, and that was about it,” said Guernsey.

The small play area behind the church, nestled in a patch of healthy, old-growth Douglas Firs, had only a play structure, no swings, a bare bank, and no landscaping.

So, when it was wet, kids not only tracked mud in, but there were also safety concerns as they came in and out of the building.

“The stairs were dangerous,” said Guernsey. Pointing towards the church’s basement door she said, “Here was the stairs, and here was the dirt; I was worried about the kids.”

With her network of contacts, it took Guernsey only a few telephone calls before she had a solution lined up.

Her first call was to Corey Verch, manager of residential design/build at Dennis’ 7 Dees Landscaping & Garden Centers, who Guernsey said she met while serving on a committee together.

She presented the idea to him, and he suggested that with Earth Day approaching and with Dennis’ 7 Dees a member of the Professional Landcare Network trade association, he would use the company’s annual PLANET Day of Service to give the church’s playground a much needed make-over.

“I said let’s clean this up,” she said. “And he said, ‘let’s combine the two events and do it.’ He improved on my ideas. He’s really good like that.”

Another call for help Guernsey made was to Stan Nored, owner of Rainbow Park & Playground, who agreed to donate and install new swings.

Verch garnered donations for bark dust and wood chips and got Parr Lumber to donate pressure-treated wood for new steps.

He also brought seven experienced 7 Dees employees to do the one-day makeover that included the application of edging and mulch, installing the new timber and gravel steps, measures for erosion control and drainage, new plants, a new foot path, and a perimeter mow strip around fences and trees.

“We thought it was a great fit because today is the PLANET day of service, and Earth Day,” Verch said. “Sheila had this idea over here; I came over and looked at it with her, and for a day project, it couldn’t be any better. It fit the scope so well, and then the Human Solutions and homeless … It fit really well.”

The small play area behind the church had a bare bank, no swings or landscaping until a crew of volunteers gave it a makeover on Earth Day.

In addition to professional landscapers, Job Corps students, volunteers from Hillsboro’s Sonrise Church and Daybreak Shelter users helped shovel, rake, spread and plant.

Through a golf tournament in 2012, Dennis’ 7 Dees Landscaping & Garden Centers raised more than $50,000 for the Human Solutions homeless family program.

With a 15-person capacity and open year-round, Daybreak Shelter for Homeless Families, at 12727 S.E. Market St. operates out of the Peace Church of the Brethren and is Human Solutions’ foundation program for homeless families and the only secular shelter in Mid-County.

Including food, showers and laundry facilities, the shelter meets homeless families’ basic needs. Families using the shelter also have access to housing placement and other services to help get them off the street.

Human Solutions, a social service agency that operates in outer Southeast Portland and East Multnomah County, promotes self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income families and individuals.

The agency’s primary program areas are overcoming homelessness, affordable housing, employment and economic development, and safety net services such as rent and utility assistance. For more information, click here.

The event includes ethnic food, games, prizes, a raffle and live performances beginning at 7 p.m.

Parkrose High School Community Center students, with help from teachers and advisors, are producing a Multicultural Festival Friday, May 24 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the high school cafeteria at 12003 N.E. Shaver St.

The festival is being presented to display the unity of the many ethnicities at the high school, according to Student Advisor Whitney Alfrey.

Parkrose High School student groups producing the event are: Students Working together to Achieve Greatness in the community (SWAG), Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), the Asian Youth Society and the Black Student Union.

Parkrose High School Community Center is at 12003 N.E. Shaver St. in east Portland.

ANDIE PETKUS PHOTOGRAPHY
The Montavilla Kiwanis 51st annual Pancake Breakfast is Saturday, May 18, from 8 a.m. until noon at Columbia Christian School-Johnson Center, Southeast 92nd Avenue between Glisan and Burnside.

The breakfast includes pancakes, eggs, ham, coffee, juice and milk. Tickets are $7 each or a maximum of $18 per family.

Kids will enjoy balloon artists and face painting while adults settle in for some good ole’ bluegrass by the Fabulous Cover Dogs.

Purchase tickets from Montavilla Kiwanis members or at the door. Proceeds benefit Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp and other community projects.

When the first restaurant named Yaw’s opened in September 2012, it carried great expectations, high hopes and a built-in fan base.

BRENT WOJAHN/THE OREGONIAN
In July 2012, when Yaw’s Top Notch was under construction, owner Stephen P. Yaw, Sr., poses with Barby Radmacher.

With a publicized labor dispute and other problems at the Gateway restaurant, owner Stephen P. Yaw, Sr. was evicted for non-payment of rent, according to property owner Dan Banes.

“We evicted him,” said Barnes. “That’s what happens when you don’t pay the rent.”

Barnes, who was also an investor in the business, declined to reveal how much money he gave Yaw, but added, “We’re in negotiation right now with other parties and hope to have a new lease signed by the end of the week.”

Sources told the Memo Barnes is talking to Yaw’s former employees and investors to get the place open again.

Neither Yaw or his attorney responded to phone calls or emails asking for a comment.

Take your family to the carnival on Northeast 106th Ave. and Halsey St. all four days.

The Gateway parade is Saturday, May 18 at 1 p.m.

Grab a spot on the curb along Halsey and Weidler streets between 106th and 111th avenues on Saturday, May 18 at 1 p.m. for the Fun-O-Rama parade.

A Community Fair at 111th Square follows at 2 p.m.

For more information, go to gabanet.com or call 503-803-3707.

Multnomah County Health Department Environmental Health Specialists conduct unannounced inspections of food service establishments.

These inspectors ensure food safety by evaluating food worker habits and practices, where food comes from and how it is stored in the restaurant, how food is prepared, and cooked, cooling, holding and reheating temperatures.

Inspectors report observed violations that are not in compliance with Oregon Revised Statute 624 and Oregon Administrative Rule. This law and these rules are designed to identify violations that can contribute to food-borne illness.

Priority violations unable to be corrected at the time of the inspection must be corrected within 14 days and verified by a re-inspection. A safe, alternative procedure must be in place until the final correction is completed.

A restaurant must receive a score of 70 to pass the inspection. Re-inspections are not scored. Customers will find a placard on the restaurant entrance that indicates if a facility passed the last routine health inspection.

To look up any restaurant in Multnomah County, click here.
Here are recent results for restaurants in Mid-county.

Restaurant                            Location                          Date                 Score      Previous    
Americas Best Value Inn–4911 NE 82nd Ave.              04/12/13           100            100
Antojitos Mexicanos Taqueria–11516 NE Sandy Blvd.   04/16/13            87            100
Boss Hawg’s Bar ‘N’ Grill–617 NE 102nd Ave.               04/03/13           100            100
Bradford’s Sports Lounge–10346 NE Halsey St.           04/03/13           100            100

Brew Line Coffee–1101 NE 99th Ave.                        04/03/13           100            100
Brewed Awakenings–4242 NE 122nd Ave.                   04/11/13            100            97
Burger King–12005 NE Airport Way                           04/09/13               100            N/A
Burgerville USA–8218 NE Glisan St.                           03/27/13              100            100
Capers Café–12003 NE Ainsworth Circle                   04/09/13                100            N/A
Carl’s Junior–1403 NE 102nd Ave.                              04/02/13              100            100
Chang’s Mongolian–1600 NE 122nd Ave.                   04/16/13                  94            100
China Wok–6033 NE Win Sivers Dr.                           04/09/13                100            100
Chinese Garden and Lounge–410 SE 162nd Ave.      04/12/13                     84               92
Courtyard by Marriot–11550 NE Airport Way           04/10/13                100            100
DAV Bingo Snack Bar–8725 N.E. Sandy Blvd.               04/12/13               100          90
Devakis Deli–4906 NE 122nd Ave.                            04/05/13                 97      100
Devakis Deli–4446 NE 131st Place                            04/10/13              100       100
Don Pedro Restaurante–615 SE 122nd Ave.             04/16/13         Reinspect       85
Eastern Cathay–1411 NE 82nd Ave.                        03/20/13            100            100
El Sombrero Mexican–10820 NE Sandy Blvd.          04/16/13              100            100
Escape Bar and Grill–9004 NE Sandy Blvd.             04/12/13               100            100
Fairfield Inn by Marriott–11929 NE Airport Way      04/10/13              100            100
Famous Dave’s–9911 NE Cascades Parkway          03/12/13              100              91
Good World Restaurant–10721 NE Sandy Blvd         04/16/13            100            100
Happy Landing Tavern–520 SE 148th Ave.                04/12/13          100              92
Hermanos Serralta Taqueria–8525 NE Fremont St.   03/16/13            89              95
Izzy’s Pizza–1307 NE 102nd Ave.                           04/02/13          91              94
Jack in the Box 7157–12444 NE Airport Way          03/21/13             100            100
Jody’s–12035 NE Glisan St.                                04/02/13            100            100
Kaitie’s Back Yard–11307 NE Sandy Blvd               04/16/13            100            100
Lucky Spot–14919 SE Stark St. Ste.112                 04/03/13         94           N/A
Lum’s Pig N Pancake–12110 NE Glisan St.            04/03/13             100            100
Magic Inn–619 SE 122nd Ave.                            04/12/13               97              97
McDonald’s–12026 NE Airport Way                       04/09/13            100           100
McDonald’s–3330 NE 82nd Ave.                              03/21/13            100           100
Mekong Bistro–8200 NE Siskiyou St.                      04/05/13              97           100
Multnomah Bible College–8435 NE Glisan St.       03/20/13               100           100
Namaste Indian Cuisine–8303 NE Sandy Blvd.     04/12/13               100           100
Original Taco House–3255 NE 82nd Ave.               03/26/13            100           100
Paradise Sports Bar and Café–12423 NE Glisan St. 04/10/13           100              97
Papa Pizza Parlor–16321 SE Stark St.                04/09/13             92              97
Pappy’s Bar & Grill–1144 NE 82nd Ave.            03/20/13                100           100
Pho Dalat–10232 NE Sandy Blvd.                       04/16/13             91            100
Pho Oregon–2518 NE 82nd Ave.                         04/05/13           100            100
Pizza Hut–611 NE 82nd Ave.                                03/27/13           100             100
Pizza Hut–8217 NE Sandy Blvd.                           04/12/13            100            100
Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits–3511 NE 82nd Ave. 03/26/13           100               97
Pub at the Yard–2700 NE 82nd Ave.                  04/05/13           100               97
Ringside East–14021 NE Glisan St.                     04/11/13             87                97
Rocky Butte Pub–8627-33 NE Sandy Blvd.       04/12/13           100                   100
Sam’s Hideaway–545 SE 162nd Ave.                   04/09/13        97                   100
Shen Zhen Chinese Restaurant–707 NE 82nd Ave. 03/27/13        94               Reinspect
Siam Grill–10355 NE Halsey St.                             04/13/13      100                   100
Springhill Suites–11922 NE Airport Way            03/28/13           100                   100
Subway–14919 SE Stark St #101                      04/03/13      100                   100
Subway Gateway–10120 NE Halsey St                03/14/13          100                   100
Subway–3103 NE 82nd Ave.                                03/26/13        90                   100
Subway–9377 NE Cascades Pkwy.                      03/21/13      100                   100
Taco Bell–12017 NE Glisan St.                             04/02/13      100                   100
Taco Bell–2235 NE 82nd Ave.                              03/16/13      100                     97
Taco Time–1024 NE 82nd Ave.                           03/27/13      100                   100
Top of the Hill Tavern–9252 NE Glisan St.       03/20/13              100                   100
Utopia Restaurant & Lounge–1125 NE 82nd Ave. 04/05/13          100                   100
Wendy’s–232 NE 82nd Ave.                          03/27/13           100                     97
Woodshed–16015 SE Stark St.                           03/16/13      100                  N/A
Yuki and Song Restaurant–4240 NE 122nd Ave.    04/11/13      100                     95