ENA Board Meeting minutes June 17, 2019

Posted on by Maggie Gardner

St. Philip Deacon Episcopal Church

NE 120 Knott St.

Meeting called to order at 6:36pm. 

Motion to accept the minutes for March (Sue, Jonathan 2nds.) Board votes to approve.

NEW BUSINESS:

Civic Life – Change in Code

  • Presentation about change in organization structure and bylaws
    • Intention is for greater diversity and inclusivity. How to get there?
  • There is not a lot figured out already. They know they want a change, but not exactly how to structure what they want to change it to.
  • Seems in-line with the Police Department’s Strategic Plan
  • Plan to present new code to City Council in August – if they’re ready. 
  • We still have questions about our own structure, if we can stay a non-profit, where our insurance will come from, etc.
  • NW neighborhood is putting together an art show, to showcase what neighborhood associations have accomplished. Jonathan volunteers to reach out to see how we can be involved (Jere has contact info). 
  • Sue volunteers to reach out to Steve Kohl (Irvington Neighborhood Assn) to see what alliance we can build.
  • We would like to be on the record in support of neighborhood associations (geographic representation enfranchised in city code, under auspices of city government). We can do this through:
    • Show and tell (art show)
    • Testify before city council after the code is released (NECN will announce)
    • Letter to city council (Sue to organize/invite contributions)
  • We would like to continue to be viable. We will continue to track this as it evolves.

Environmental Center in Linnton

  • Trying to save the historic Mill site. Would like to establish a central office for superfund 
  • Jere will upload this (as well as 10 other requests for support!) and share with the board so we can comment and help craft letter of support
  • Underlying desire for us to support our fellow neighborhood associations and their efforts

Portland Clean Air donation

  • Clean Air needs money to support the salary for the secretary (work ~ 2 days a week for the next few months)
  • They will get some financial support from NECN, looking for support from neighborhoods also
  • Motion to send $200 to Portland Clean Air to support the role of Executive Assistant (Brad, Sue to 2nd.) Board votes to approve.

Domino Tournament

  • Organization has already been outlined (by Jessica) for this to be on Friday Aug 16th
    • They have dominoes, and rules to run the tournament
  • We need to take the next steps of renting tables and chairs (40 chairs, 10 4-tops)
    • We need to collect prizes – gift cards
      • New Seasons or Natural Grocers (Jere)
      • Starbucks (Shireen)
      • Walgreens, Pizza Schmizza, Jersey Mikes (Sue)
      • NIKE (Jonathan)
      • Pine State and Sizzle Pie (Brad)
    • Ask around to organizations that might have enough
      • Churches (Jere to follow up with Jimmy and Pat)
      • PICA (Sue)
      • Open Signal (Jere)
      • Board members as plan B

Black Parent Initiative – movie in the park

  • Motion for good neighbor support of $300 for the movie in the park (Brad, Jonathan to 2nd.) Board votes to approve

 Equity Training

  • Goal to have equity training before the next election cycle. Hopefully by August 19th meeting
  • Small group will meet with and vet prospective resources to lead the training. Shireen, Thursday, Maggie, Jere. We can take prospectives out to coffee, to meet and get vibe.
    • Thursday’s referral
    • Angela’s referral
    • Sharif (visited board previously)

Walnut Park – serve dinner

  • We would like to serve again – identify June 28th (5:30-7) as a day that works. Jere, Sue, Jonathan, Shireen, Maggie will participate.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Treasurer

  • The Beginning Balance on May 1 was $13,700.23
  • The month end balance was $12,028.27
  • The net loss for May was $1,671.96
  • In addition, the balance on the ledger for the Neighborhood Livability Projects fund is $12,125.70
  • Given these figures, I just want to point out that in reality, the only money we have left in our account is essentially NLP Funds
  • The only sources of income for this year have been interest on our account, Eliot News advertising, and a refund to the NLP Find earlier this year and that’s it.
    • Why no Blazer money? (Jere will follow up with Karla about that)
    • Let’s discuss further bat the July meeting.
  • Other items to note:
    • We need to make a decision about reimbursement to Friends of Trees for  the work they did in the neighborhood. The issue at hand is that their costs exceeded the amount they requested. Have misplaced the summary of the costs were proposed. Does anyone have that summary for reference?
      • Motion to send FOT the original amount of money we voted for last april (
    • The CT-12 annual report has been submitted recently to maintain our non-profit status. There are a couple other organizational documents to be filed soon.

Community Involvement (Shireen)

  • Frog Ferry 
    • Ferry for Transit connect people targeting downtown Vancouver to downtown Portland
    • Looking for ENA to tell the city that we support funding the investment in the planning phase ($200,000)
    • ENA discussion: is this the best allocation of public money? When community centers have been defunded?
  • Police Strategic Planning meeting
    • Officer interested in submitting articles to newsletter
    • Shireen proposed that they also give presentations at schools
    • Jimmy concerned about lack of progress with questions from last meeting. Reiterate that plan that was outlined previously will not work.
  • General outreach about urban development 
    • Shireen talked to a number of African Americans with historical context and interest in the development and gentrification of this neighborhood
      • There is a feeling that it’s more of the same: same power brokers, same people at disadvantage.
      • Methods are being used to take homes and push African Americans out

Newsletter

  • Next issue has been sent to the printer!
  • Always welcome more advertisers

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Next meeting: have an executive board meeting to define agenda for next meeting. Jere to call meeting. 

Adjourn 8:33 

—-

Board Attendance: Jere Fitterman,  Shireen Hasan, Jonathan Konkol, Sue Stringer, Brad Baker, Maggie Gardner

Guests: none

Behind the Oval: FISK

Posted on by Eliot Neighborhood

By Abby Morgan 

Hidden in plain sight, only slightly off bustling Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, FISK, is a design studio and art gallery on the border of the Eliot Neighborhood. Your best chance of noticing FISK, their name emblazoned on the facade of their space, is if you plan on dropping by Kee’s #Loaded Kitchen or Mothership Music in the near future. 

Founded by Iranian-American graphic designer, Bijan Berahimi, FISK evolved from a zine into a gallery and professional design practice in 2014. Its evolution coincided with Berahimi relocating from Los Angeles to Portland. Design-wise, FISK’s heart is in cultivating strong relationships with clients, focusing on typography, identities, and experiences. They have worked with Toro y Moi, Cult Classic Magazine, Nike, Akadi, and the University of Oregon.

On the gallery side, FISK hosts artists from all over the nation and world. In the last six years and at the time of this article, FISK has put on nearly 28 shows featuring artists trained in commercial practices such as graphics and set design, animation, and illustration. 

Design and art are treated holistically. Seamlessly and architecturally interwoven, each discipline at FISK informs the other, and often, the intersection happens through products. Made in collaboration with other makers, Maak Lab and Cloudforest to name a couple, the shelves of the FISK store are lined with unique books, prints, and objects.

At FISK, there is never a dull moment and it is that energy that Berahimi says FISK thrives on. 

“Diversity is essential to what we do. We want to offer Portland a glimpse into what the world has to offer and we’re doing that by bringing innovative, exciting artists to the community. No two days are the same, no two projects or products identical. We are always trying to bend the rules or make up our own. We like to have fun and we’re good at it,” Berahimi explains.

It is this mentality of “let’s make cool stuff and have fun” that has allowed FISK to flourish in many ways, especially through free, community events. This summer will be no different. Berahimi along with co-curator Michael Spoljaric, will kick off summer 2019 with a show by British artist, Sophy Hollington. Opening on June 14th, Hollington’s relief prints explore themes and symbolism in folklore. 

Type designers and font fans alike, mark your calendars for August 2nd as local type foundry Future Fonts will celebrate their one year anniversary. Their site allows typography designers to upload work in progress type specimens for peer review and purchase.

FISK plans to offer a couple small pop-ups and get-togethers throughout the rest of summer, with dates announced via their newsletter and social media. If you’re curious about what is to come, drop by or email hey at fiskgallery dot com to join their newsletter –both the gallery and store are open to the public.

Hours: 

Wednesday-Friday 12-6, Saturday and Sunday 12-4

Follow FISK on Instagram @fiskprojects @fiskgallery 

FISK at 3613 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Portland, OR 97212

Heart & Bones Kitchen Creating Healthy, Delicious Recipes Courtesy of Modern Cavegirl

Posted on by Eliot Neighborhood

By Brittany Cappetta

Heart & Bones Kitchen was started on the principal of food transparency and inclusivity. I know, personally, the distress of eating out with dietary requirements. For a lot of us, food has the potential to either harm or heal and often people with restrictive diets and allergies opt to eat at home instead of going out to eat because we’re treated like an inconvenience to our server at best, and at worst our restrictions are not taken seriously. I wanted to create a safe space for people to feel like their needs and concerns are valid, a place that’s already free of most common allergies, where they know exactly what’s in their food and can enjoy a unique flavorful meal without having to worry about getting sick.

I firmly believe that healthy food needs to be more accessible. It shouldn’t be a choice between eating well and paying your bills on time. Heart & Bones specializes in Paleo and Vegan organic, local meals all liberated from dairy, grains, soy, nuts, legumes, refined sugars, and made completely from scratch with love and care.

 It’s been an honor of to work with Oasis of Change, the new business on Williams at Tillamook (see the article on page 10), doing pop up breakfasts and farm to table dinners and being able to show others the value and importance of eating whole, nutritious foods. On June 15th Oasis of Change hosted a benefit dinner at their urban farm for Cupcake Girl’s, a nonprofit organization that provides resources for those involved in human trafficking. It’s a perfect example of how food can connect an entire community and the healing power it can have. 

Check out Hearts & Bones website for recipes, prepacked products to purchase, events, catering and information on cooking lessons and private chef services. 

 Website: Heartbonekitchen.com

Instagram: Modern_Cavegirl

Photos courtesy Modern Cavegirl 

How to Research Your Home and Understand Portland’s Built Environment

Posted on by Eliot Neighborhood

By Abby Morgan

As we see Portland change before our eyes, there is a number of proactive ways to invest in learning about and understanding the historic built environment through archives and community events this summer. Do you live or work in a historic property and want to know more about it? The opportunities to investigate are boundless, but below are just a couple of ways to get started. 

National Register of Historic Places

A free resource offered and operated by the National Park Service since 1966, The National Register of Historic Places is a national program that recognizes districts, sites, structures and buildings of historical significance. Homes listed on the NRHP can be designated for many reasons including architectural design. Their digital archives are available for viewing, for free, online. Is your home listed on the NRHP? If the previous owner took the steps to list your property on the register, then you are already off to a great start with your research. All you will need to do is search your property address in their index. Each historic designation is accompanied by a nomination form that dives into the property’s history. 

Not on the register but have a solid case to nominate your home? Start the process with NRHP or contact the City of Portland’s Planning and Sustainability Office about additional steps: 503-823-7700.

Oregon Historical Society- Address: 1200 SW Park Ave., Portland, OR 97205

Context will help your search. Cast a wide net by looking into census data, land and property records, et cetera before narrowing in on information about your property. Offered online or in-person, the Oregon Historical Society’s Davies Family Research Library is free and open to everyone. Make an appointment to visit their archives by emailing libreference at ohs dot org or calling 503-306-5240. 

Multnomah County Library

Like OHS, Multnomah County Library has a wealth of resources at your disposal. Check out their compiled list of house history research tools or join in on a guided tutorial. On Wednesday, July 10th from 2-4pm, learn how to research your home through The Historical Oregonian at their Central Library Computer Learning Center (801 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR 97205). Free; class registration required. (https://multcolib.org/events)

Architectural Heritage Center – Address: 701 SE Grand Ave., Portland, OR 97214

The Architectural Heritage Center’s mission is to “preserve the historic character and livability of our built environment, and to promote sustainability through the re-use of period homes and buildings.” While AHC occasionally offers research workshops and lectures, their summer programming is filled with walking tours of Portland’s historic districts. Though city-wide, if you’re interested in exploring neighborhoods near the Eliot, AHC will host walking tours of the Historic Albina and Boise-Mississippi neighborhoods at the start and end of the season. Cost per tour is $20 for the general public and $12 for AHC members; registration required. (visitahc.org/walking-tours/)

Historic Albina Tour 

Offered once or twice a year – check the website for future dates

The Boise & Mississippi Avenue Tour

August 17, 2019 from 10am-12pm

Livability Committee Makes an Impact – Clean and Green

Posted on by Eliot Neighborhood

By Karla Gostnell

The Eliot Livability Committee is proud of some updates we want to share with you.

 Neighborhood Litter Pick-up: Thank you, neighborhood volunteers, for a successful Earth Day clean-up on April 20. We removed over 800 pounds of trash from our streets and sidewalks this time, with 35 volunteers showing up to help. Special thanks to Breadwinner Cycles & Cafe for lending their parking lot and keeping us caffeinated!

Trees, trees, trees!! This spring saw over 40 new street trees planted in Eliot as part of a small business grant from the Neighborhood Association, partnering with Friends of Trees and the Eliot Livability Team, as well as support from Toyota to tree-up their own property line on N.E. San Rafael. Trees are truly an investment in the beautification and livability of our neighborhood and we are so glad for the businesses that received new trees on their properties. If you notice young trees suffering from lack of water in the summer heat, please reach out to the Livability Team by email at livability at eliotneighborhood dot org.