May 1, 2010

Mayor Adams and Councilwoman Fritz,

Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association (MTNA) recently was informed at its April meeting that the city is considering not funding the city's sole graffiti abatement person, Marcia Dennis, due to anticipated budget cuts.

We voted after very little debate to strongly urge you to continue to fund this most important program. Ms. Dennis recently helped organize a graffiti cleanup day in our neighborhood on a Saturday and it made a great difference in our quality of life.

Many at the MTNA meeting were surprised to learn that a city the size of Portland not only has but one person tasked with the organization of graffiti abatement but also that the city is considering cutting that person's funding.

I was one of the volunteers in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood a few weeks ago at the graffiti cleanup and I can tell you that I now notice much more graffiti driving around our beautiful city and can't imagine what it would be like without Ms. Dennis' contributions.

Please keep the funding for the city's graffiti abatement program.

Sincerely,

Bruce Treat
President
09-10 MTNA

Response from Commissioner Fritz

May 2, 2010

Dear Bruce,

Thank you for your letter, and the support of Mt Tabor NA for the graffiti abatement program. The issue is that like last year, there isn't room in the ongoing ONI budget for either graffiti abatement or Resolutions NW. The ONI budget committee also had to add half the Small Grants program into one time cuts, to reach the 4% cut required. ONI cut 10% last year to bring our ongoing budget almost into alignment with our mission and long-term goals. The Budget Committee and I hope to include graffiti abatement in the ongoing budget as soon as the City budget switches to expansion from cut mode.

There is no question of the need for and value of graffiti abatement work. I am hopeful the Mayor will add funding for ONI in his proposed budget to be announced this week. The ask for ONI is the only request I am making from the five bureaus I oversee. I appreciate your support of the request.

Sincerely,

Amanda Fritz