Did you ever have to make up your mind? / And pick up on one and leave the other behind / It’s not often easy and not often kind / Did you ever have to make up your mind?
Those song lyrics by Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian refer to having to make a back-against-the-wall choice between two love interests of equal desirability — a quintessential dilemma in which “you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” Putting it in a political decision-making context, there’s no way of pleasing all of the people all of the time. Of course that’s of little meaning in an autocracy, where the only person in need of pleasing is the dictator; but in a representative democracy — of which BWNA is a mini-example — public opinion is central to the process, as are elections holding representatives accountable for their decisions.
At our April 13 BWNA General Meeting, with half of the board positions in play, seven unopposed incumbents were re-elected to serve another two-year term — five at-large positions and two officer positions (yours truly included). I’d like to think the results reflect merit in our decision-making rather than apathy in the constituency. After all, it was just a couple of months earlier on a Wednesday evening that passionate Beaumont-Wilshire residents filled the Alameda Elementary School library beyond seating capacity to air opposing opinions on the controversial public plaza proposal initiated by the BWNA board in partnership with the Beaumont Business Association (BBA) board. No apathy in that room, for sure! And though emotions ran high on both sides of the issue, to everyone’s credit, the discussion was civil.
This in-person special meeting at Alameda was followed several days later by another opportunity for input on the plaza debate with a special meeting via Zoom. These meetings, followed by two regular BWNA meetings in March and April, afforded more opportunity for testimony and debate … and finally the vote. A thumbs-down would kill the proposed plaza pilot at NE 44th and Fremont, regardless of BBA and Portland Bureau of Transportation approval. Based on what each board member perceived to be in the best interest of the neighborhood, the votes were cast: 13-2 in favor.
The three-month public plaza trial period will begin in late June or early July, followed by outreach, testimony, debate, and yet another decision vote at the end of the trial period. Déjà vu.
by Al Ellis, BWNA Board President