Buckman Community Association

BCA Gen. Meeting Minutes; 10, 11, & 12, 2002

BCA General Meeting Minutes; October 10th 2002

Both chairs being unavailable for the meeting, Ani Haines called the BCA General Meeting to order at 7:05pm in the community room at the Ritzdorf Apartments at SE Belmont and 12th Avenue. Board members present were: Haines, Don McGillivray, Jack Maynard, Jarkko Cain, Ann Bowling, and Jim Evernden.

An overflowing crowd turned out to talk about problems related to the St. Francis dining hall. A few other small issues were shelved, to devote the entire meeting to St. Francis.

Following brief introductions by all present, Marsha Dennis from Southeast Uplift announced that a meeting called to help resolve the St. Francis situation had been rescheduled, and would now take place on November 6th, at 7 PM, in the Norse Hall, located at 111 NE 11th.

Haines laid down some ground rules for the night's discussion. Robin Springer, Deputy DA for SE Precinct, then gave an update on legal action underway against the church. Because of an excessive number of crimes on or near the property in a limited span of time, St. Francis had been sent a letter by Police Commander Grubbs warning that they were becoming a "chronic nuisance". She said that statistics suggested that crime in the 9 blocks surrounding St. Francis had increased 50% over the past five years. She said that this area received 4 times as many calls for police as the Creston area, which is similar demographically and in other respects. She made brief mention of the compliance agreement in effect since 1998 between the PPB and the church, which could hopefully continue to be a source of guidance in dealing with the dining hall issues.

Springer said that St. Francis had a short amount of time in which to respond to the warning letter and suggest a plan to improve the situation. If their proposal satisfies the Commander, the church will then have 60 days to abate the nuisance. If problems persist, the matter will be referred to the City Attorney, and this could conceivably result in the closure of the dining hall, or even the seizing of church property.

Police Office Rickert then answered questions about enforcement of laws around the church, and of the compliance agreement. While shopping carts are addressed in the compliance agreement, Rickert said that there was little the police could do about them under current law. A neighbor asked whether higher penalties for drug dealing near schools would be triggered by the school on St. Francis property; Springer and Rickert thought this was possible, but were not certain.

Joshua Bickle from the Back to Back Cafe on Burnside asked how successful the meetings required by the compliance agreement between St. Francis and the police had been. Robin Springer answered that the meetings had been and continue to be productive, and noted that St. Francis program director Valerie Chapman had been helpful and forthcoming with information.

Andy Eisman, former BCA chair, said that he had been threatened by a drug dealer who was hanging out at St. Francis, and that Chapman had been unresponsive. He said that her insistence that the dining hall is "open to all" is bad policy, since there is a minority of criminals who continue to hang out around the church, posing a danger to neighbors and to the church's other clients.

A representative from a clinic operating within St. Francis said that she never felt threatened by any of the people coming in for health services. She said that while there may indeed be problems, she felt that no one at the church was knowingly tolerating dangerous activity.

The owner of neighboring Oregon Auto Springs reported that the situation at his location has grown steadily worse over the past 4-5 years. His parking strip is so cluttered with used needles that it has become dangerous to mow. There are human feces all around his property constantly, and some of his customers were accosted by dogs in the spring. Liz from the Slammer Tavern said that if the kind of activities that take place around St. Francis happened around her tavern, she would be shut down by the OLCC. A new neighbor in the St. Francis area reported that she and her family had experience 9 very alarming incidents in the 9 months they have live around St. Francis -- more than an all her years of living in other neighborhoods.

Neighbor Cynthia Milbrandt reported that she will be leaving the neighborhood to get away from St. Francis. She said that the main problem with the way the church's program is run is that the administration refuses to distinguish between the benign poor and homeless whom they help, and the criminals who are also drawn to the St. Francis property and are the ones causing the trouble.

Several neighbors and business owners agreed that that the problem with the dining hall was not poor people or homeless people, but a small minority of criminals. They agreed that the problems could be solved by more accountability by St. Francis and better management of the church's programs. They asked the church to learn from programs doing a better job of preventing crime associated with their services. Joe from St. Francis said that that do indeed study other programs -- that they have leaned from Sisters of the Road, among others. He said that some of the present intensity at St. Francis began when the dining hall inherited a tougher crowd following the closure of Baloney Joe's on Burnside. He also noted that Valerie Chapman was absent from this meeting because she had been advised by the police not to come, but that she would be at the November 6th meeting.

Ani Haines closed the meeting by recapping points of agreement, and asking what information people would like to have available at the November 6th meeting. These items were:
* Successful models from programs similar to St. Francis's
* Information about what the needs are of the population the church serves, and what other resources are available
* Community policing models
* Commander Grubbs
* Detailed crime stats for the area
* Ideas from St. Francis
* A representative from the Archdiocese
* Summary notes from 94-98 mediation process with the church
* Tracking of the populations the church services
* Update on the nuisance process

Haines adjourned the meeting at 9pm.


Minutes submitted by: Jarkko Cain, Secretary

BCA General Meeting Minutes; November 14th 2002

Tonight's meeting was held in the Community Meeting room at Washington High School -- a BCA General Meeting focusing primarily on the future of the WHS property. BCA co-chair Susan Lindsay called the meeting to order at 7:15pm. Board members present were: Lindsay, Ani Haines, Don McGillivray, Jack Maynard, Jarkko Cain, Ann Bowling, and Jim Evernden.

Lindsay opened the meeting by framing the Washington High School discussion. She said that many in the area has a long history with WHS, and that many resident love the school and will certainly want a voice in deciding what becomes of the property. Lindsay introduced folks from the city present to listen and answer neighbor's questions.

Before proceeding with WHS, Lindsay announced that a discussion planned for tonight's meeting between Central Catholic High School and its neighbors about that school's expansion plans would have to be postponed. A few hours before the meeting, the school issued a letter saying that they agreed that with their neighbors that parking issues needed to be resolved before the school could request permission to expand its number of classrooms, and thus they were removing those classrooms from their current conditional use application. Neighbors and the school will have to find time to meet and resolve lingering issues before then public hearing on the permit, scheduled for December 16th.

To begin the Washington High discussion, Pam Brown, Facilities Director for Portland Public Schools, outlined PPS's terrible current funding situation. She noted that they were still operating on a 1995 bond measure, and Measure 50 had forbidden schools to use bond money for technology and some other improvements. Thus PPS created a real estate trust to try to fund capital improvements that could not otherwise be accomplished. The trust would find ways to profit from surplus properties in the PPS system.

Kerry Hampton, Property Manager from PPS explained some of the guidelines for PPS property divestitures. A new policy requires 60+ days public notice for any sale. The superintendent is required to consider enrollment projections, and must consider disbursement of non-active-school properties before properties in use. PPS also must consider how the surrounding community uses a given property, and perform a cost/benefit analysis. The school board as a whole will make all final decisions.

Hampton reported that a joint study with PDC suggested that the Washington High building itself was indeed worth saving. A likely $5-7 million dollars in seismic and other upgrades would be required, but the building would then provide a variety of development options.

Pam Brown provided some of the site's history. The buildings were constructed between 1908 and 1950. The school was closed when enrollment dropped to 75, due to families migrating to the suburbs. Since the closure of the High School, the building has been used primarily to house special ed programs. The building currently costs the school $300,000 per year to operate and maintain, she noted.

Next, several neighbors gave suggestions for how the site might be used. One person noted that it could be a component of the Arts Plan 2000, providing shared arts facilities. Another pointed out that Buckman is underserved by parks, and hoped that much of the greenspace would be kept, and kept public. Another requested that the large trees on the site be kept, along with the current parking space on-site. Another neighbor suggested that any housing development at the site include a good portion of housing for families, which is currently scarce in the area.

Darlene Carlson from Commissioner Francesconi's office said that indeed, Buckman is next in line for a community center, however funding was another story. To build a community center now would require a bond measure. If such a measure had been on the last ballot it would have had no chance of passing.

Elizabeth Kennedy from Southeast Uplift asked what was the level of commitment of people present to making a community center happen. There were many positive responses. Someone asked if a farmers' market might fit in the Washington site. Lou Bowers from PDC said that the permanent farmers' market would go on the westside, but Donna Millray asked if WHS might not be a good temporary site.

Richard Bosch, Parks Department architect, said that even if a community center bond measure wouldn't be voted on until 2008, preparation must begin right now.

Carlson and Jim Francesconi's Chief of Staff, Kevin Jeans-Gail, said that if this community center is going to happen it would require harnessing all the enthusiasm in tonight's meeting, and perhaps forming a non-profit corporation of local resident dedicated to pushing bonds and raising money through other means.

Lindsay adjourned the meeting at 9:15pm.


Minutes submitted by: Jarkko Cain, Secretary

BCA General Meeting Minutes; December 12th 2002

Susan Lindsay brought the meeting to order at 9:05pm in the Community Room of the Ritzdorf Apartments, located at SE 12th and Belmont. Board members attending were Lindsay, Jack Maynard, Kevin Krause, Don McGillivray, Jim Evernden, Ann Bowling, and Jarkko Cain.

First off -- a PPD report, from Buckman's new "Senior Neighborhood Officer" ("SNO"), McMurray. He provided some current crime stats, and noted that they once again had the drug- and prostitution-free zones available to use, although weakened from their past versions. Lindsay expressed a concern that the zones will push crime deeper into the neighborhoods, if the zone boundaries are not large enough. He also reported that St. Francis Park was now quiet -- though some neighbors did not agree.

Next, a brief update on the state of progress between Central Catholic High and its impacted neighbors. Neighbor Charlie Christensen reported that the neighbors would be supporting CC's condition use application at the upcoming hearing, though with conditions.

It was reported that in January there would be a meeting to follow up on the Norse Hall meeting discussing problems at St. Francis. This meeting will be for people committed to getting involved and spending time working out solutions. A date would be announced soon.

Leaf pickups would be taking place in Buckman on December 19th and 20th.

Next, board member Jarkko Cain and business partner Charles Hodge outlined their new venture -- a restaurant, lounge, art, and music venue at SE 10th and Morrison. The business, Holocene, will be open 6 days per week, 6pm-2:30am (earlier on Sundays), and will have a max capacity of 256 persons. Lindsay asked if Holocene would be interested in starting our with just a wine-and-beer license; Cain replied that they would be seeking a full license, noting that Holocene's bar would focus on gourmet specialty cocktails and house-infused spirits. Lindsay asked if there would be lot parking. There would not to begin with, however in surveying the parking situation, there were approximately 140 open, legal street spaces within 2 blocks of Holocene's door during Holocene's prime hours -- more than its customers could ever fill -- and rental lot space was available if it were ever needed.

Charlie Hodge then reported that he had set up a meeting on January 23rd at 7pm to discuss bringing a farmers' market to Buckman. The meeting would be held at the union hall adjacent to the Back-to-Back Cafe on lower East Burnside. The board expressed that the BCA and perhaps SEUL could provide support for the project.

Again regarding Central Catholic, its neighbors asked that the BCA sign on to the letter to be included with the conditional use permit given to CC, in order to help provide longevity to an agreement, in a situation in which many of the current players might change in coming years. The board agreed to this.

Lindsay gave some news about George Killian's project to develop the Sue Bee's site. She said that in her walking survey, the neighbors were mostly pleased at the prospect, but they were concerned somewhat about parking, and about street trees on Alder. Lance Killian, George's son, was on hand to answer questions. He noted that they were trying to use native plants where possible, and that they were increasing the number of parking spaces in the lot by 12 by tightening the circulation pattern.

Lindsay reported that there were efforts being made to set up a series of meeting about the future of Washington High School at WHS itself. More info to come. Longtime neighbor Ed Lyle suggested contacting the Linus Pauling Institute for assistance, since Pauling is the school's most famous alumnus.

Lindsay adjourned the meeting at 9:25pm.


Minutes submitted by: Jarkko Cain, Secretary