President’s message
Beaumont Middle School (BMS) was the location for BWNA’s October general membership meeting—an appropriate venue given the educational hub that BMS is to our neighborhood. Leading off the agenda was SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) Community School Coordinator Malcolm Parker, who provided an overview of the mission and purpose of the program he has headed at BMS since 2017. With the focus on educational success, enrichment, recreational opportunities, and social and health service support, Parker emphasized that the SUN program is not only beneficial for BMS students and parents, but for the local community as well.
We also heard from Marty Stockton of the BMS Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), who discussed different ways the PTA and BWNA might collaborate in the future, including hosting a neighborhood cleanup similar to those that occur in other neighborhoods, which could also benefit BMS students by providing volunteer opportunities. Cindy Marker then discussed her efforts with John Thomas to spruce up the BMS grounds and keep this focal point of our neighborhood looking good, benefiting teachers and students by enhancing their learning environment. Their efforts were profiled in the September-October newsletter.
Finally, Laura Queen, Portland Program Director of Sparrow Clubs, provided an inspirational media-assisted presentation on the Sparrow program at BMS, in which students commit volunteer hours and raise funds for a child in medical need. Laura emphasized how transformative it is for children to help other children and learn empathy and compassion in the process. As publicized in the newsletter earlier this summer, BWNA became a BMS Sparrow sponsor last year and was an active participant at the Sparrow awards assembly.
Rounding out the meeting was a discussion of the current status of the Office of Community and Civic Life’s (OCCL) 3.96 Code Change process, which may or may not wind its way to the city council on November 14 (read the related article on page 7 for details.) If the matter is taken up by the council on that date, it is uncertain if a vote will be taken or if the council will simply opt to learn more about the proposal and discuss the issues involved. Neighborhood association (NA) advocates and others interested in retaining Portland’s model of neighborhood-based democracy are concerned that the proposal would result in OCCL terminating support for the NA system. I encourage you to voice your support for NAs to the city council and ask that a more inclusive process involving NAs be undertaken to consider code revisions. These revisions should expand the city’s ability to hear from diverse stakeholders without eliminating a NA system that has contributed meaningfully to the livability of our city over many decades.
Best wishes for a happy holiday season.