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How land use planning groups evolved into neighborhood associations - for good or ill
Lee Perlman
The Mid-county MEMO
Helping keep Portland the “livable city” it likes to consider itself is its unique neighborhood association system - semi- autonomous community groups that do what needs doing in every community.
Each of the 95 “official” associations is unique in its way, based on the type of community from which it sprang, the issues confronting them at any given moment, the mind-set they bring with them, and the history of the group and the area. As the “official” representatives of their communities they spend much time responding to the actions of city government, TriMet and other entities. However, they also initiate actions of their own, putting on festivals, pushing for solutions to traffic problems, working with the Police Bureau to solve crime and public safety issues, improving or creating new parks.
The city is pledged to give such groups notice of land use requests and other activities within their territory that affect their “livability,” plus a chance to give their input on new plans and projects, from a new stop sign to a multi-million dollar light rail line or urban renewal district. In return, such groups must conform to a set of rules.
Among other things, they must have a set of bylaws that conform to city standards, and obey their own rules. They must have defined boundaries. Their meetings must be open to anyone, and they must allow anyone who lives or owns property within their boundaries to vote at general meetings and run for office under their rules.
In return, they receive services from the city Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI), for the most part through one of seven District Offices. For 13 neighborhoods east of 82nd Avenue, this is the East Portland District Office, an adjunct to East Precinct at 735 S.E. 106th Ave. They are served by a (largely part-time) staff of five: director Richard Bixby, administrative assistant Becky Hughes, crime prevention specialists Rosanne Lee and Teri Poppino, and outreach worker Jim Gladson. They can provide advice, limited clerical support and “grunt work” for community groups and citizens, and they dole out limited funds for printing and mailing of newsletters and flyers. According to Bixby, the total yearly budget is $17,000; the allotment to each neighborhood ranges from $650 to $2,000 depending upon its size.
Lee and Poppino are city employees, as are their counterparts throughout the system. Most of the neighborhood offices are run by district coalitions. Non-profit corporations with boards made up of representatives of the neighborhood associations the office serves. Except for crime prevention, the office workers are supervised, hired and fired by these boards. They sign contracts with the ONI office which obligate them to perform certain functions for the city, but within the terms of these contracts they are free agents who set their own priorities and sometimes take positions critical of political entities. One coalition board president told mayor Vera Katz during a City Council session, “You’re really shafting us, Mayor.”
The system was established in 1974 by the first Office of Neighborhood Associations (ONA) director, Mary Pedersen. The intent was to free neighborhood offices from day to day pressure from elected officials, make neighborhood office workers beholden to the people they serve, and empower grass roots organizations, while giving the city enough control to ensure that the system was not abused.
In this respect, East Portland is unique from the rest of the city. It, and North Portland, are the only neighborhood offices run directly from city hall. Bixby is a conventional civil servant; Hughes is officially “temporary,” but an open civil service hiring for her position is expected to take place next year. Neighborhood representatives meet monthly to discuss common problems and the workings of the office, and Bixby tries to be responsive to their wishes, but officially they can only give him requests, not orders.
How it came to be that way is the modern history of East Portland, light and dark.
The rise of the community groups
In Mid-Multnomah county, as elsewhere, community betterment organizations have periodically formed as the need has arisen. For instance, in Wilkes, an attempt by Portland Adventist Church to buy Glendoveer Golf Course was thwarted, and the county bought it instead. Such groups also created and maintained the unique Ascot design overlay that mandated that residential lots be a minimum of 7500 square feet, with large setbacks. “Since this area has so few parks, it’s nice that we still have that open space,” one resident says.
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