Bulkanizing the city

Split revealed at community summit
  

MINORITIES VS. NEIGHBORHOODS?
   

Community Summit meeting indicates that it may be time to rename the Office of Neighborhood Involvement
   

Unrest in the neighborhoods
   
Summit: Neighborhood associations push back
     
Emphasis on minority communities

These are the headlines and headings in an article on the front page of the Portland Tribune, "Unrest in the Neighborhoods", March 12, 2015, by Jim Redden.

The article outlines how Portland's activist Neighborhood Associations, created in the 70s and sanctioned by the City, are being undermined by activist minority orginazations, with the city's blessings.  Renaming the Office of Neighborhood Involvement as suggested by departmental staff  would be the final blow.

Staffers are considering replacing "Neighborhood" with "Community", to become the "Office of Community Involvement".  Angry Neighborhood Association leaders believe that the COP does not want to see geographically defined groups that are interested in place-specific land use thrive, but prefer instead social and economic justice groups that are more issue oriented.

A  private, nonprofit, fundraising, organization of people defined only by their minority status, does not represent the public at large.

Compare this to a group, open to everyone, that represents a geographic location where the members live.  Homeless people, people of color, tall people, short people, renters, property owners, smart, not so smart, disabled, young and old - they are all part of the neighborhood and members of a Neighborhood Association.

Which group best defines a city-sponsored, public entity?  Which group should receive funding with the public's tax dollars?

Cities in the Metro area are experiencing a tsunami of infill development, turning pleasant, family neighborhoods into battle zones with Neighborhood Associations forced to fight deleterious development. The fact that these changes are becoming more severe and happening more often makes it necessary for Neighborhood Associations to be involved in multiple issues each year.  It seems logical that planners and developers might see the neighborhoods as trouble.

Enter NGOs.  The shift away from exclusive funding for land-use-based public groups, though mandated bystate law, to NGOs, private entities with self-serving social-justice goals that align with city plans, erodes the strength and integrity of Neighborhood Associations.

Funding for private Home Owners' Associations on private property is happening in Lake Oswego.  Through a couple of types of public grants, private NGOs do work on private land for the benefit of property owners.  Grant money available for Neighborhood Association projects or projects on public lands, for the benefit of the public, may be diminished by these gifts.  The strength and viability of the Neighborhood Association network is threatened, even if it stay intact, it's ability to represent their constituent neighborhoods will be diminished.

Should private groups receive public funding?  When and why?
Check out your neighborhood Association to see what is happening in the city and where you live.
   

Neighborhoods in Lake Oswego.  Go to Coty website: Departmnts > Planning > About > Neighborhood Associations.   See both "Neighborhood Associations" and "Neighborhood Association Contact List" for information, or call Planning Dept.