Hillsdale 
Neighborhood
Association

February 5, 2003

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 by President Wes Risher. The agenda was approved. The minutes of the last meeting were approved, though there were some comments about the type size they were written in.

Scott Westerman, the Senior Neighborhood Officer for the part of SW that lies between Hy 26 and Vermont St., and all that is east of I-5, told us that he is available to work on issues in the SW, and invited us to call him any time there is a problem, at 503-823-0235, or e-mail him at swesterman@police.ci.portland.or.us.

Don Baack and Keturah Pennington reported on the highlights of the Off Leash Area report presentation to the Parks Bureau. They have officially accepted the SWNI OLA report, though there is almost no money at the moment to do anything about better or more OLA’s. They have requested $50,000 per year for the next 3 years to build new OLA’s. The next one will probably be in SE since SE does not have any at present. Parks Bureau recognizes that the biggest problem is enforcement of the rules, and that will be their first priority for this year. There was discussion of putting an Off Leash Hours park in SW, probably in Willamette Park, as a trial. The Hillsdale Neighborhood wants to see a Master Plan done for Hillsdale Park before anything is done there.

Keturah explained briefly what a Neighborhood Emergency Team is and urged everyone to sign up soon for NET training.

Jayne Cronlund spoke about the position Kelly Woodlands has in the "Greenscape" of Portland and about the need to remove ivy and blackberry from our green spaces.

Randy Leonard, our guest speaker for the evening, is quite familiar with Hillsdale. He was stationed at our Fire Station 5 for a number of years. As our newest City Council member, he is interested in the neighborhood’s needs and how he can help meet them.

Wes Risher gave a brief presentation of the neighborhood statistics, history, and focus of recent neighborhood activities. Then several people presented specific topics where we feel that City Council can aid our efforts. [Agenda attached.]

Commissioner Leonard responded that he is very interested in the points we raised, and would give personal attention to the folder of summaries of each presentation that had been prepared for him. He pointed out that our requests amounted to quite a bit of money, and said frankly that giving money was one thing that he could not do. The City doesn’t have enough for its basic needs right now, thanks partly to the failure of Measure 28, and he has already heard from other neighborhoods who also need money. However, where he could have some influence for little money, he promised to do what he could.

He hopes to consolidate many of the City’s current functions under one "roof", so it will be easier for citizens to access what they need in a timely manner. He urged Hillsdale to continue to make its needs known so they will be on record when money becomes available.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:20

Keturah Pennington, secretary