Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association (MTNA) Regular
Meeting Minutes for January 21, 2009

Board Members present: Cascade Anderson Geller, Mark Bartlett, Jim Blackwood, Cathy Kuehnl, Paul Leistner, Bunny Marechal, Gayle Marechal, John McLaren, Nancy Norby, Bruce Treat and Bing Wong.

Board members absent: Nadine Fiedler, Don Jacobson, Heidi Kohne, John Laursen and Stephanie Stewart.

Others present: Fatima Biberic, John-Michael Collaghy, Wayne Dietz, Tom Dolan, John Fulitano, Dustin Freemont, Barb Gamelgard, Don Holden, Floy Jones, Jim Longstreth, Danesh Medora, Tim Merrill, Thompson Morrison, Al O’Quinn, George Polas, Deb Scott, Mike Shaver, Dawn Smallman, Greg Snider, Sharon White, John Wish

Bing Wong led introductions. Secretary forgot to bring November Minutes so those will have to be approved at the February meeting. Bing Wong presented the treasurer’s report.

Dustin Freemont says that the Census Bureau is seeking qualified individuals to help with the census throughout the year. They are trying to hire 1000 people by March for both part-time and full-time positions at $11.00-15.00 per hour. Interested parties should contact Dustin at 503-205-8370

Deb Scott is taking over for Gayle Marechal on the neighborhood clean up which will be Saturday, May 9^{th this year. Time is approximately 7:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed so please contact Deb at scottde@comcast.net if you can help.}

Officer Robert Pickett, our neighborhood response officer announced that the next community policing forum is January 28th at 6 p.m. at the SE Precinct at 47th/Burnside. The topic is drug houses. Officer Pickett also said that Chief Sizer in response to the City’s request for budget cuts has proposed reducing precincts from five to three. After some discussion, MTNA members decided to take a wait and see approach to Chief Sizer’s proposal instead of sending a letter voicing their displeasure.

Thompson Morrison told MTNA that the Mt. Tabor Presbyterian Church will start a new coffee house called TaborSpace as a place for people in the community to gather and discuss issues in the community. No word yet on when this would happen.

Sharon White from PDOT is seeking the return of those those purple and white “Share the Road” signs you saw around the road work done on 60th/Lincoln/Hawthorne over the past year or so. Sharon says that the Water Bureau actually only borrowed those and that if you somehow have one, please return it no questions asked. You can contact Sharon at 503-823-7100 or Sharon.White@pdxtrans.org. Sharon says that if you need those signs or new signs, the public can borrow them easily by leaving a small deposit or by filling out a pledge sheet. Contact Sharon for details.

George Polas, who lives near 50th and Burnside, came back to discuss the loud cell phone transformer placed near his house. George was able to lobby the City to look into the noise. No one at the City appeared to be aware of either of the size or the noise level of the transformer. George said that the company which owns the transformers was trying to address the noise but was thus far unsuccessful.

Floy Jones of Friends of Reservoirs visited to seek a letter from MTNA to the City asking for more transparency and public involvement involving the reservoirs. Cascade Anderson Geller made a motion, seconded by Nancy Norby that MTNA write such a letter. After much discussion about the substance of the letter and issues in it, motion passed. Dawn Smallman volunteered to draft and send the letter.

Gayle Marechal says that it is a challenge to put out the MTNA newsletter on a quarterly basis and perhaps new ideas need to be explored. Some ideas floated thus far have included going web only and publishing less. Gayle asked neighbors to think on it and get back to him at a later meeting.

Mark Bartlett says that Commissioner Leonard has changed the designation on some public land in Southeast Portland without public input. Mark made a motion, seconded by Cathy Kuehnl that MTNA write a letter to Commissioner Leonard and the other Commissioners seeking more transparency and public input into land use in Portland. Motion passed. Mark will draft letter and send.

Mike Shaver came out to seek MTNA’s support in partially moving the bus line off of Lincoln St. to Division. After much discussion, MTNA asked Mike to gather signatures from the neighborhood in support of such a move and that we would consider it at that time.

Paul Leistner says that SEUL director Cece Hughley Noel has resigned and that while no permanent replacement is in place that an interim director should be named soon. Paul also informed us that Tabor Commons raised over $6,000 in Christmas tree and goodies sales during the holiday season. Tabor Commons is seeking a volunteer insulation professional. If know of one, have them contact Paul at paulamy@teleport.com. Paul also said that Commissioner Fritz is now in charge of ONI which oversees SEUL and that she will be looking into budget cuts that will affect SEUL.

Tom Dolan says that the City is considering changing Lot codes due to some of the issues surrounding development in the city. The Land Use Committee is working on creating a MTNA Land Use Plan and will report back on progress.

Friends of Mt. Tabor Park’s annual meeting is Thursday, March 12th at 7 p.m. at the Western Seminary. They will have a speaker from BES to discuss the history of the park as well as an ecologist from Portland Parks Dept. to speak about invasive species in the park. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

Nancy Norby reported that the group went before City Council on December 17th and received unanimous support for the design of the new maintenance yard. Now funding must be sought.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:10

The next MTNA meeting will be Wednesday, February 18 at 7 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church as SE 54th /Belmont.

Previous Minutes can always be found at www.mttaborpdx.org/about