President’s Message
A baby boomer, I grew up in the politically charged, us-versus-them decade of the ’60s — and here we are again in 2024. Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom” comes to mind. A song published when Dylan was in his early 20s, and a few years later covered by the Byrds in three-part harmony, this cryptic ballad addresses freedom’s ambiguity, volatility, and fragility: “An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.”
All the best during the holidays, and as those chimes of freedom flash, stay engaged.
Democracy is messy. Myriad beliefs and viewpoints vie for acceptance, and rarely does anyone walk away totally satisfied. It’s not exactly a recipe for harmony, as Benjamin Franklin well understood when he was asked by a fellow citizen what our founders had created. “A republic, if you can keep it,” he replied. Key to the system’s survival is citizen participation, civility, and rule of law.
Over the years, for better or worse, Portland has established a reputation for pushing the democratic envelope, be it by innovative voting procedure (e.g., vote by mail and ranked-choice voting) or novel forms of local representative government. Regarding the latter, you’d be hard-pressed to find another city with over 90 neighborhood associations functioning as mini-democracies governed by boards elected by neighborhood residents. But that in turn begs the question: to what end?
Article 1, Section 2 of the BWNA Bylaws (accessible at bwnapdx.org/bylaws) begins with our neighborhood association’s basic purpose:
To enhance the livability of the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood by undertaking various neighborhood improvement projects, examining local issues, and serving as a conduit for communication among neighbors, government agencies, and officials, area businesses, and other neighborhood institutions and groups.
“Enhancing the livability” presupposes an assessment of neighborhood priorities, and your survey responses, written testimony, and especially in-person participation are key to helping board members make those determinations. Still, as it is in any representative democracy, hard calls come with the territory for decision-makers.
All the best during the holidays, and as those chimes of freedom flash, stay engaged.