Submitted by Laura Schuchardt,   APPROVED at the July board meeting

Board present

• Laura Schuchardt
• Elliott Armstrong
• Jimmy Wilson
• Steffanie Lorentzen
• Allan Rudwick
• Jennifer Wilcox
• Shireen Hasan-McFarlane
• Eric McFarlane
• Patricia Montgomery

Others present

• Andrew Champion
• Cassie Muilenburg
• Laura Fay
• Keith Rice
• Julie Allen

 

• Welcome and Introductions – 7:02pm
• Agenda Additions?
  • None
• Volunteers of America – change to Good Neighbor Agreement and discussion 
  • VOA has a Men’s residential center on MLK and they’ve been in the neighborhood for a long time. Part of the agreement of them entering the neighborhood was that there would be a screening committee from ENA. That agreement has not been revisited in quite a while.
  • Hoping to amend the screening so that VOA could work with STEP and accept people under their criteria
  • Current criteria states that stranger to stranger crimes can only be a year or more in the past, which would be modified under STEP
  • The courts have a new program that’s been very successful at improving the reoffend rate, and part of that is getting into residential programs like VOA is offering. The people that this program is targeting have more recent violent incidents.
  • Proposed compromise: ENA will screen everyone who comes in through STEP for six months to get a sense of who’s coming in. Have a touch base every few months to see how things are going – enhanced screening period to ensure everything’s going smoothly.
  • Per Allan, the facility typically serves 200-250 people per year
    • 70% successfully graduate from the program, 30% fail
    • There’s a much greater incentive for the people who would be newly eligible to succeed, because they’re facing more jail time
  • Allan to set up an informational session with Greg Stone (gstone@voaor.org) at VOA for all interested parties to learn more about the proposed changes
  • This matter will be revisited in ENA’s July meeting
• Job Fair [Jennifer]
  • Shireen and Eric’s idea, too
  • Asking the board to be a sponsor – just goodwill, not money
    • The board approved
  • Cascadia (Jennifer’s employer) would be actively involved
  • Cassie mentioned we should see if VOA can get involved
  • Good to have training programs and apprenticeships represented
    • ex. Free Geek will be coming
  • Also good to have wraparound services present
    • Jennifer plans to have other resources present
  • Julie Allen is in HR and could put us in touch with her employer
• Spending money to try to reduce violence
  • We haven’t won any of the grants we’ve applied for, but we have some money in our coffers; do we want to use it?
  • How can we use it to support causes in our neighborhood?
    • Allan thinks we should spend what we have
    • Jimmy is worried about spending what we have when there’s lots of money out there to be had
  • All are invited to bring ideas to the board
• Discussion of in-person meetings vs online. Do we want to switch back?
  • Options are Cascadia (possible to have hybrid meetings) or the church (just in person)
  • The board agreed that they wanted to have a hybrid meeting at Cascadia
• Neighborhood Updates
  • Eliot News (call for articles for next issue)
    • Recent issue just came out
  • LUTC update
    • Albina One update – proposing six story building, and are working to make it affordable housing (residential with community space)
• Public Comment
  • Andrew is concerned that no one is going to address the public safety issues in Eliot
    • Not gun safety, not poverty
    • These are things that are controllable
    • Store should be held accountable
  • Pat asked if we sent the letter out to the store
    • No, Andrew’s letter was rejected by the ENA board
    • Elliott and Steffanie had a letter, but Andrew did not approve
  • Several board members thought we were going to send a letter to multiple businesses and organizations in the neighborhood inviting them to attend ENA meetings
    • This did not end up happening
  • Allan thinks we need to send a strong letter, include the police, neighboring organizations and businesses
  • Cassie knows someone at the Community Safety Program safety assessment (free professional advice from the city)
    • We could ask them for recommendations
    • It was suggested that ENA could help pay to implement their suggestions as a show of good faith
    • Cassie to email Allan
• Approve Minutes from past meetings
  • January approved
  • March – amended to strike a detail deemed irrelevant to the Women’s First section
    • Shireen proposed, Allan seconded
  • April – amended to remove email addresses of community members and to remove a point regarding a topic that was dropped from the meeting
    • Passed as amended
  • May – amended to clarify parties responsible for suggesting the job fair
    • Passed as amended
• Shireen brought back up the idea of buying a computer
  • This will be added to the next agenda
• Adjourn

Submitted by Jennifer Wilcox,   APPROVED at the June board meeting

Board Present:

• Jimmy Wilson
• Jennifer Wilcox
• Eliot Armstrong
• Shireen Hasan McFarlane
• Eric McFarlane

Others Present:

• Greg Stone, Program Director of the VOA MRC, 
• Amelia Harris
• Marjorie Ferrini
• Eric Bloch, Circuit Court Judge in Multnomah County, supervising the STEP Court Program
• Jake Wicks, LCSW Behavioral Health Clinician at Randall Children’s Clinic
• Sean Kelly, VOA
• Caroline Wong (Mult co DA office)
• Andrew Champion
• Cassandra Muilenburg
• Pam Kelly, VOA
• Serena Li
• Elisabeth Sheard, (office of DA Mike Schmidt)
• Mike Schmidt (DA of Mult Co)
• Keith Rice
• SV
• Steffanie I

Welcome and Introductions – 7:00pm, 

• Volunteers of America – 
  • change to Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) and discussion
  • Currently then GNA says that a person would be ineligible if they have charges of stranger to stranger violence in the past year.  They would like that language stricken.  Potential residents with any history of violence would be referred to Eliot screening committee.
  • Staff shared some history of VOA and their involvement with the neighborhood. If you are interested in a tour of the facility please contact Greg Stone at 503-841-1643. They are located at 2318 NE MLK Jr. Blvd.
  • VOA specializes in working with individuals who experience substance use disorder in addition to mental health challenges and criminal justice involvement. They are services are most effective when they are able to work with consistent judicial partner (drug court). It is a very accountable model with maximum incentives.
  • A presentation was also made about Step Court: Multnomah county started the second drug court in the nation. It is a collaborative criminal justice model where everyone comes together to promote change through incentivized good behavior and sanctions to bad behavior. This model has been studied for 4 decades and has been found to be highly effective for certain populations. The court would like their clients to have the benefit of the VOA men’s residential treatment center.  With the current GNA, some individuals would not be able to access those services. 
  • STEP court serves no gang members, Sex Offenders, homicide, or domestic violence cases.  They are very selective of participants because they want it to succeed. Send very few people to come to this court to keep the community safe.
  • It was decided the board would like additional written material overviewing the court and with specific information about demographics of individuals being served.  We will wait to get written materials and vote next month. 
• Stop and Go letter round 4:
  • Andrew Champion presented a letter he would like the ENA to send to Stop and Go, including endorsements for the letter. There was much discussion of what the next steps should be. 
  •  There was a different letter which had also been drafted a letter to invite the Stop and Go to the community safety meeting
  • A question that was raised was: Has office of civic life done a safety assessment on the corner?  Where there actionable suggestions?
  • JW moved, Eliot and Eric seconded that we will send the letter drafted by Eliot and Steffanie to businesses in the neighborhood to invite them to the community safety meeting. Motion passed 

• Dawson Park Concerts 2022
  • The city has agreed to host one concert, Jennifer suggested we could do a second one.  There was discussion and it was suggested we could have a job fair or a training fair in the park instead of a second concert.  
  • We will discuss a job and or training fair at the community safety committee on the 24th. 
• Alcohol Bylaws (skipped)
• Neighborhood Updates
  • Eliot News (call for articles for next issue) Deadline is June 8
  • LUTC update (skipped May meeting)
  • [Announcement] Safety and Livability- citizen led (not NA) meeting 5/24 (Tuesday) at 6pm
    • This is a follow up meeting that is community led, outcomes will be reported back to the city.  The hope is to come back with a stronger consensus and coordinate with existing resources and lobby the city for the support we would like to have.  Invites have been sent out to people that shared their email in the initial session. Please share widely.
• Public Comment
• Approve Minutes from past meetings Jennifer moved, Eliot seconded that minutes be approved as amended. Motion passed
• Adjourn 9:03

Submitted by Laura Schuchardt,   APPROVED at the June board meeting

Board present

• Laura Schuchardt
• Elliott Armstrong
• Patricia Montgomery
• Jimmy Wilson
• Steffanie Lorentzen
  

Guests present

• Andrew Champion
• Cassie Muilenburg
• Amelia Harris
• Don Hiler
• Laura Fay
• Serena Li
• Scott Biniak
• Eduardo Arizaga
• Kimberly Pendell
• Frances Kershaw
• Julie Allen
• Joann Gilles
  

Welcome and Introductions – 7:08pm

Agenda Additions?

Discussion regarding Matt Dishman Community Safety meeting

Follow up from the City may not come quickly

Pat recommended we form a committee, discuss ideas, and figure out what we can do on our own

Laura to forward email from the Lisa Freeman to the group

Proposal by Andrew Champion to revoke the Alcohol License Policy that was originally crafted in 1997

Quorum not present to vote

Andrew presented a slideshow about the alcohol policy and steps Eliot could be taking to enforce it.

There’s concern that we want to give the Stop & Go every opportunity to solve this without city or county involvement. Pat suggested that we send a letter to the owners detailing the issues and the actions we’re asking for. Frances recommended that we decide what escalation will look like if action isn’t taken. 

Steffanie Lorentzen, Andrew Champion and Elliott Armstrong are going to write a letter to the store. This will be sent to the Eliot Neighborhood Association Board for approval via email.

We will revisit this topic at the ENA May meeting.

Proposal by Andrew Champion to ask the City to stop sweeping houseless residents of Eliot

Quorum not present to vote

Andrew presented a slideshow about the violence in Eliot, current camps, and public safety opportunities. He ended by saying that his concerns were never about sweeps; he wanted to draw attention to a variety of issues.

Discussion of letters from Cascadia Action regarding environmental pollution – To be addressed via email. No quorum present, meeting running long.

Other neighborhood updates

Eliot News – new issue just came out

LUTC update – letter of testimony about the residential info project (more housing options, more affordable and middle-income units, the current projects don’t go far enough). The Bureau of Environmental Services came and gave an update about Irving Park – there’s a rider for a house on 7th and San Rafael; this is a good reminder that there’s an opportunity to add out-of-scope matters.

Public Comment – none

Approve minutes from previous meeting

Quorum not present to vote. Needs to be approved via email.

Adjourn – 9:23pm

Submitted by Laura Schuchardt,   APPROVED at the June board meeting

Board present

• Laura Schuchardt
• Allan Rudwick
• Elliott Armstrong
• Jennifer Wilcox
• Eric McFarlane
• Shireen Hasan-McFarlane
• Jimmy Wilson
• Patricia Montgomery

Guests present

• Winta Yohannes
• Andrew Champion
• Shannon Olive 
• Andre Miller 
• Serena Li
• Ian Lindsay
• Cassie Muilenburg

Welcome and Introductions – 7:00pm

Agenda Additions?

Andrew Champion reiterated his request from January to have “follow up from the Stop & Go” added 

Eric – Finding community partners to improve public safety

Eric recapped some of the discussion from our board only meeting. We want to find community partners to create a coalition to remove barriers to access to housing and jobs to combat violence in our neighborhood.

Andre, from Commissioner Hardesty’s office, brought up a community engagement event at 6pm Wednesday, 3/30, at Matt Dishman Community Center, which will hopefully be a good way to join together to align our efforts. 

Shannon spoke to the importance of connecting with apartment complexes in the area to try to build resident service coordinator programs, which build community connection/involvement. Organizations like PCRI, Innovative Housing, REACH, NW Housing Alternatives are good resources to help with this.

Winta Yohannes/Albina Vision Trust – presenting their Community Investment Plan

Albina Vision Trust is preparing to present their Community Investment Plan to the City Council soon and would like a letter of support from our Neighborhood Association. The city often responds to proposals like this by saying that they need more studies. Albina Vision Trust needs the city to see that they’ve already done that work and that it’s time to act. 

Five to six years ago, they started working on a plan to develop the neighborhood around the Convention Center (Steel Bridge to a bit past the Broadway Bridge and between the waterfront and I-5). This is complicated, because the disruptions that past infrastructure decisions have caused must be addressed in order to move forward. Albina Vision Trust has worked with the community to develop a plan that keeps wealth circulating in the neighborhood and doesn’t displace residents.

Winta presented a slide show of their Community Investment Plan, and then opened up for questions:

Concerns were raised that this project does not address the immediate needs of individuals who were displaced, which Winta acknowledged. Albina Vision Trust won’t be able to address these immediate needs, but they do seek to prevent these problems from occurring again in the future.

MOTION: Allan proposed that we write a letter acknowledging past harms to the neighborhood and the impossibility of fixing everything. We feel that this is the best plan we’ve heard and we want to help it move forward. Eric seconded. Motion passed.

Winta is available for additional meetings to discuss questions and concerns in depth. She may be reached at winta@albinavision.org.

Shannon Olive from WomenFirst

WomenFirst is a small nonprofit based in Gresham that provides transitional assistance and referrals to women who were recently incarcerated. 

They offer many programs including Navigate Back Home, which aims to provide long-term housing and address the challenges of moving from prison to short-term to permanent housing, and wraparound services.

They’re growing quickly, so they’re trying to raise enough money to get a company van. They need around $15,000, and they’ve raised about $8,000. 

MOTION: Shireen proposed that we give $500 to WomenFirst. Eric seconded the motion. Allan mentioned that ENA has limited funds and serves a specific geographic area; WomenFirst is not located in Eliot. Jennifer advised we have around $8k in our budget. Allan opposed. The motion passed.

MOTION: Officer positions (included in executive committee) will be listed as:

Co-Chairs or Chair/Vice Chair

Treasurer

Recorder

Community Outreach (Lead and Vice)

Newsletter Editor

Shireen clarified that her specific concern is regarding the Newsletter Editor; that wasn’t a board position while the last editor was installed, so we need to reinstate that as an executive committee member. Proposed by Shireen. Seconded by Allen. Motion passed.

Neighborhood Updates

Eliot News – Deadline for content to be submitted for the next issue is 3/28.

LUTC Update – Met last week and heard from Albina Vision Trust

Resignation – Maleka Blake resigned from the ENA board

Public Comment

Follow-up regarding Stop & Go (Andrew Champion)

Andrew asked the board to revisit the ENA liquor policy and to set a moratorium on sweeps. As the policy is quite old and a moratorium on sweeps would require additional discussion, these points will be added to the April agenda.

The discussion from our January meeting regarding the issues in the area surrounding Stop & Go was recapped. 

Cassandra mentioned that she’s been involved with planning the community engagement event at Matt Dishman Community Center, and that this is the exact type of issue that they’re hoping to problem-solve. All are encouraged to attend to align our efforts.

Allan said that ENA does not have the power to affect change in a vacuum. This problem is bigger than the Stop & Go. We should all attend the meeting next week at Matt Dishman, so that we’re aligning our efforts.

Approve minutes from January 

Shireen and Eric asked if we could hold off until they’ve had the chance to review. The board will approve via email.

Adjourn – 9:20pm

Continue reading Eliot Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes 1/17/22