President’s Message
In a philosophical ballad that inspired a generation, John Lennon envisioned a utopian society where there would be “nothing to kill or die for”—i.e., a world without borders or social classes in which the motivations for war will no longer exist, “…and the world will live as one”. Unrealistic, you say? Lennon himself acknowledges as much in the song—but with a glass half-full caveat of practicality: “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…” It’s the hope that idealism (following one’s dream) can take root in reality through the practical application of social networking (strength in numbers). For starters, think Arab Spring revolutions and the Occupy Wall Street movement… But what does all of this have to do with BWNA?
Imagine the following connection: We begin with residents who have neighborhood concerns that need addressing but feel powerless to act upon. It could be a traffic safety issue, airport noise, unleashed dogs, a zoning concern, whatever. The message is that dreams can come true, but certainly not by sitting on our hands feeling frustrated. I’m reminded of entrepreneurial dreamer Steve Jobs who, when the chips were down at Apple, reset the company onto a new path to success with the empowering mantra, “Think Different!” And it’s that kind of outside the box thinking that I would contend is key to solving many of the problems right here in our neighborhood.
The conventional problem-solving approach is to do it yourself: go-it-alone in contacting City Hall, the Transportation Bureau, Animal Control, etc. And I wouldn’t discourage residents from doing that. However, experience tells us that individual complaints and requests don’t pull the same weight as collective resolutions. Thus, a nonconventional strategy involving community outreach often provides the most effective vehicle for change, and in the past few years, two examples stand out in our neighborhood: the against the odds fight to stop construction of a cell tower adjacent to residences and the lengthy struggle to convince the City that speeding on the infamous Wistaria curve warranted a funded solution.
In the case of the cell tower, a small handful of residents near the proposed site began by organizing themselves into a committee and established a website. They then contacted me in my capacity as BWNA President, which eventually led to the BWNA Board holding a public forum on the issue, and finally a neighborhood resolution in opposition to the cell tower. The resolution was submitted to surrounding neighborhood and business associations for endorsements. This (and a lawsuit by Respect PDX) caught the attention of the media as well as City Hall, and two years later Clearwire threw in the towel, abruptly announcing that it had not only withdrawn its application to build the B-W cell tower, but was abandoning similar projects in 4 other neighborhoods. Imagine that! Wistaria curve residents followed a similar path (minus the law suit), eventually persuading the City to fund installation of speed bumps last fall.
Moral of the story: Think big, imagine creatively, and “I hope some day you’ll join us…”