Submitted by Laura Fay – Approved April 17, 2023

Co-Chairs: Jimmy Wilson and Pat Montgomery

BOARD ATTENDEES:

• Jimmy Wilson – Co-Chair
• Pat Montgomery – Co-Chair
• Jennifer Wilcox – Treasurer
• Shireen Hasan – Lead Community Outreach
• Cassie Muilenberg – Vice Community Outreach
• Laura Fay – Recorder
• Elliott Armstrong
• Andrew Champion
• Marie DeCamp
• Shireen Hasan
• Nate Jones
• Kathryn LePore
• Alice Newman
• Allan Rudwick

OTHER ATTENDEES:

• Grace Dudley
• Tessa Fowler
• Paul Irons
• Officer Mark Kelly
• Ian Lindsay

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS: Jimmy Wilson called the meeting to order at 7:01pm

AGENDA ADDITIONS: There were no additions to the agenda

REVIEW MEETING AGREEMENTS: The meeting agreements [LINK] were shared, and Pat Montgomery reviewed for those first-time attendees.

APPROVE MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 27TH MEETING:  Jennifer Wilcox called for a motion to approve the minutes from the February 27, 2023 meeting. Andrew Champion seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

VOTE TO ELECT A BOARD MEMBER: Cassie Muilenberg called for a motion to elect Allan Rudwick to the board. Pat seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

VOTE TO EXTEND VOA GOOD NEIGHBOR AGREEMENT: Nate Jones called for a motion to complete the motion extending the VOA Good Neighbor Agreement through May. Marie DeCamp seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

VOA UPDATE ON STEP: Tessa Fowler reported that the MRC has taken on no additional STEP clients since her report last month. In February the MRC hosted a tour attended by screening committee members Marie, Jimmy and Allan. While there they discussed the STEP screening process. Tessa invites questions and will offer additional tours in the future.

Jimmy reiterated his interest in being more involved with VOA. Cassie noted that an advisory board for STEP court is forming, if anyone wants to get involved at that level.

NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY: Cassie reported that Mary Tompkins was recently appointed the Eliot Safety Project Manager, and will generally attend our meetings. Eliot has been prioritized for intervention.

Although not privy to the city’s specific plans, Officer Mark Kelly emphasized that Eliot is a priority for North precinct, as it is for him personally. Staffing will continue to be a serious problem for the foreseeable future – there are four Neighborhood Response Officers working all of NE/N. There are a total of 102 officers assigned to North precinct, with 18 officers on duty for all calls at any one time.

There was a multi-agency two-day mission on January 31 and February 1 focused on Stanton Street. Since then, Officer Kelly has frequently driven the area around Dawson Park.

Officer Kelly encouraged reporting for all incidents. Sharing and recording information is important. The city does pay attention to data and neighborhood requests.

Noting that Legacy hospital is a major presence in Eliot, and similarly victimized, Pat said that it may be time to invite a hospital representative to join the board.

Cassie reminded the board that Stefanie Howard in the mayor’s office indicated that Legacy was interested in partnering on the Eliot Safety Project. She offered to check in with Mary Tompkins about this.

KERBY STREET OFF-RAMP PROJECT: Allan welcomed Grace Dudley and Paul Irons, who are Masters of Urban Regional and Planning candidates at PSU and part of the team working on the Kerby Street Off-Ramp Project. They they have been working on initial engagements and developing reports on existing conditions, and asked for more community input.

Grace shared that having worked first on stakeholder engagements, they intend to host an informational event and perhaps focus groups to get more input. They are considering a survey too.

Allan asks everyone to look at draft Existing Conditions document he distributed, and share input with the PSU team.

NEIGHBORHOOD UPDATES

Eliot News: Allan reported on Elliott’s behalf that the newsletter needs content. Deadline around April 1. Any neighborhood-relevant topic is welcome.

Nate noted that two advertisers have renewed, but we need more advertisers. He thanked Elliot for his hard work on the newsletter over the last several months, and needs more help than he is getting.

Treasurer’s report: Jennifer reported that she has a new debit card from the bank. We have received a $500 donation earmarked for MURP stipends/incidental expenses. The PSU team intend to use it for an upcoming community event.

At the beginning of February, the balance in our account was $5,218. We just paid for the next newsletter, leaving $4,263.17. Jennifer just sent out invoices and anticipates having advertising money coming in soon.

Jimmy will reach out to NECN to see if we are due any funding from their communications fund.

LUTC update: Allan reported on LUTC activities. At the last meeting a guest from the south part of Eliot attended to talk about the shooting at one of the encampments.

LUTC has reiterated its request to PBOT for traffic calming on Stanton. PBOT has not be receptive to our various ideas, but we will renew our efforts.

PUBLIC COMMENT: A conversation ensued about engaging with the owners of the convenience store on Dawson Park around safety and livability. OLCC and the city are not enforcing statutes around liquor laws. Pat asked that we discuss our options in the next meeting.

ADJOURN: Jimmy adjourned the meeting at 8:34