In my Editor’s Notes column for the March-April issue, I noted that “…perhaps the most impactful pandemic-linked silver lining for BWNA was the necessitated switch to Zoom, affording residents the opportunity to become actively involved in neighborhood meetings from the comfort of their own easy chairs.” But this “Zoom boon”—as it were—seems destined to expand far beyond the COVID “silver lining” stage as a communication enhancer. Just ask Portland City Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty, whose 90-minute “Open House” last March attracted a Zoom audience in the hundreds! Marveling aloud at the turnout, the commissioner applauded the technology responsible for so many constituents able to attend—in numbers greater than anything possible within the bricks and mortar confines of City Hall.
And amid the multitude of faces on the computer screen that evening was my own, hand raised (Zoom-style) in hopes of being randomly selected as a questioner—but alas, no such luck. In retrospect, though, if my name had been called, what would I have asked? A plethora of topics swirled in my mind, e.g., police funding cuts (in the face of record gun violence and vandalism), camping on sidewalks (and elsewhere), retention of Suk Rhee as Office of Community & Civic Life director (despite her denigration of neighborhood associations as “racist”), and others. But in the end, I think my question would have simply been, “Have you had the opportunity to read any neighborhood association newsletters lately?” Not kidding, and here’s why:
In Portland’s controversially unique form of city government, City Council members (four commissioners and the mayor) function both as legislators and administrators, with administrative assignments divvied out by the mayor. Thus it was after Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s electoral defeat last November that Mayor Wheeler chose JoAnn Hardesty to succeed Eudaly in managing the Office of Community & Civic Life, the bureau in charge of neighborhood associations. Not surprisingly, then, several questions at Hardesty’s forum focused on the status of neighborhood associations vis-à-vis Civic Life. The commissioner promised to keep an open mind and to attend as many neighborhood association meetings (via Zoom for now) as her crowded schedule would allow, while underscoring “inclusion” and “accountability” as ongoing concerns (although neighborhood association activists, still reeling from a litany of accusatory generalizations by Rhee and Eudaly, wonder about Hardesty’s “buzz words”).
But just how will JoAnn Hardesty and the Civic Life staff go about conducting an evidenced-based assessment of “inclusivity” and “accountability” in each of the city’s approximately 90 neighborhood associations? Certainly visitations to neighborhood association meetings will be helpful, although completing the circuit any time soon will be a challenge. And that’s where Association newsletters can be of assistance, replete as they are with information about outreach initiatives, livability-enhancement projects, and community enrichment activities. Heck, even our “Table of Contents” tells a story!
So if by chance Commissioner Hardesty is reading this now, BWNA “hats-off” to you!
Additional note: Welcome aboard to our newest advertiser, Chris Haynes of Fred Shearer and Sons union plastering shop (in Tigard!) See page 13 for the premiere of their ad.