Did you miss us last May? (our newsletter, that is…) No? Well, COVID-19 challenges being what they were then (and still are now), home delivery could easily have been missed. But perhaps (hopefully) you didn’t miss out at all, heeding the message to seek out the May-June issue online and in color via the BWNA website (bwnapdx.org/newsletter). We used the BWNA subscriber list* to alert residents and businesses to the “no-delivery/website-only” change of plans due to safety concerns for our 60-plus volunteer distributors, posting announcements on the website blog and on Nextdoor, and even deploying a few homemade yard signs hoping to catch the eye of neighborhood walkers.
So how effective was the message? It’s hard to say for sure, but we know that the BWNA website had a surge in “hits” during the month of May, a likely indicator of an increase in online newsletter readership. But if you haven’t yet read the May-June issue, I recommend you do, because it’s among our best. Expanded from 16 to 18 pages (possible only via digital publication), we were able to include all articles and photos submitted, most of which relate to the timely theme of neighbors, businesses, and BWNA coping with the shutdown. To access the issue, click on “Newsletters” at the top of the home page, then make your way down the “Newsletters” page to “Newsletter Archives.”
With society neither totally shut down nor totally opened up, we are inching our way toward whatever the “new normal” turns out to be. With many matters put on hold since the onset of the pandemic, unfinished business tops the agenda. Accordingly, among the articles in this issue are reports on BBA’s hoped-for summer rebound for local small businesses, a pending decision by the City Council regarding the controversial residential infill policy that will shape the future of neighborhoods for years to come, recommended measures to strengthen demolition-site regulations and beef up noncompliance penalties, the hotly-contested race for City Commissioner with ramifications for neighborhood associations, a growing interest among residents in neighborhood gardens and gardening strategies, and BWNA’s ongoing efforts to enhance Wilshire Park and attend to nearby traffic safety issues.
The decision to resume home delivery with this issue of the newsletter was made by consensus of the board and consent of our volunteer distributors. If a distributor opted not to walk his or her route, a substitute would be needed, but nobody opted out. It was also decided to republish Mark Mohammadpour’s advertiser interview from the May-June issue with Dr. Carl Baird, owner of Evolve Performance Healthcare, in an effort to expand the spotlight on his business, including an update on what it’s been like to open up for business amid the ongoing coronavirus concerns.
Thanks again to our volunteers for putting us back in the saddle with home delivery!
* If you haven’t already signed up for the BWNA subscriber list, I encourage you to do so. You’ll find it at the bottom of the website home page (bwnapdx.org).