2010 Hillsdale News FLAG
Issue #106
Posted May 3, 2012 
Also in This Issue
* Helping with healthcare
* Census reveals growth here
* Candidates talk tax inequity

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Commentary

Mattresses and  school money    

 

Olympia Typewriter You no doubt have seen the signs advertising a "Mattress Fundraiser" that promises to benefit "our athletes/Wilson HS Track Team." The fundraiser is Saturday, May 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the high school gym.

The signs are scattered through out the neighborhood, sometimes two to a corner. Some are illegally placed in the right-of-way, but no one complains because they are for a good cause and, presumably will be taken down after the sale.

Somebody has spent a lot of money on the signs.  That would be, according to Wilson's Spotlight on-line newsletter, Custom Fundraising Solutions, of Westlake, Ohio, or its local CFS franchise.

CFS is clearly on to a good thing. Strapped school districts are in a heap of financial hurt, and CFS, through its mattress sales, is at the ready. Its web site has photo after photo of smiling kids across the country holding placard-sized checks. $3,000, $4,000, $5000.

So far so good, but I'm interested in another educational side to this mattress fundraiser.

Those ubiquitous signs convey another message by using some of the most specious advertising gimmickry around. If Wilson High School is going to invite mattress sales outfits to fill financial holes, the school should control the message.

In any "life skills" class, students should learn to "read" through the words on such signs.

The signs - there must be dozens of them - proclaim that the mattresses are "UP TO 50% OFF" and the fundraiser will last "ONE DAY ONLY!!!"

Life skills question 1: How many of the prices fall below "up to" ceiling of 50 percent off? Below could be zero percent. Other less ubiquitous advertising for the event says prices are 30 percent to 50 percent off, which raises...

Question 2: 50% off WHAT? A mark up of 100 percent?

Question #3: What's with all those exclamation marks after "One Day Only"? Given questions #1 and #2 is this a threat or a promise?

Life skills question 4: There are all grades of mattresses. As one blogger has noted, those being offered by Custom Fundraising Solutions are so-so at best. Could your support of the Wilson track team result in restless nights?

So my message is two-fold. I've publicized the mattress sale - for better or worse. Caveat emptor. I've raised a few questions about well-meaning school fund-raising efforts. I hope they are considered in the future.

My advice: If you want to help Wilson's track athletes, write them a check.

   

Book sale
gets a home 


On to the next fundraiser, the annual Hillsdale Community Foundation Book Sale, which will be on Sunday, July 29.

In the last issue I noted that Les Jevning and I, the principal organizers, were at a loss for a place to hold the sale this year. Book sale fans immediately responded with ideas, but most importantly, the operators of the Watershed building, Community Partners for Affordable Housing, offered us the building's community room. Many thanks!

Because we want to limit the time we use the in-demand room, we will collect donated books at the Farmers Market to only two Sundays, July 15 and July 22. That may mean a smaller sale.

 

Then again it may not because we are adding another twist. You can come to the sale with your own boxes of carefully arranged books to sell along the tree-shaded Capitol Highway sidewalk. Team up with friends and neighbors. Be set up by 9 a.m. and take turns looking after the books, chatting about them and collecting money. At the end of the day you can make a donation to the Foundation (or the Wilson Track team)...

Then you can take your unsold books home so Les and I aren't stuck with them.

We might even give you some leftover books that have been donated to the sale.

Remember, it's ONE DAY ONLY!!! so plan ahead.

   

    Rick Seifert, Editor/Publisher

 

Letters to the editor are always welcome. Write  [email protected]
Sidewalk meeting 5-1-12
Dan Jenkins brought his landscaping expertise to one of the small discussion groups.
Meeting split on where sidewalk should go on Sunset Boulevard  Decisive meeting set for Monday, May 21   

Which side of Sunset Boulevard north of the library should have a sidewalk?

Neighbors were sharply divided on the question as they met at a city-convened listening session at the Hillsdale Branch Library, Tuesday, May 1.

A straw vote, taken after a civil and thorough discussion of pros and cons, was nearly evenly split. Fourteen favored putting the sidewalk on the uphill or eastern library side of the street. Twelve wanted it on the other side, where pedestrians, including school children, walk today.

When attendees were asked whether they "strongly opposed" one side or the other, each side drew equal opposition of eight votes.

Chris Armes, project manager for the Portland Bureau of transportation, announced at the end of the 90-minute session that another, final meeting will be held on Monday, May 21, at the library at 6 p.m. That meeting will refine the options and produce a preferred one, she said.

The City is on a timeline that calls for design work to take place in June. The project is expected go to bid in late summer with construction taking place next winter and early spring.

The May 1 voting came after five small breakout groups discussed and listed pros and cons of various options. The lists, which were recorded by those planning the project, were long.

Some property owners living on the affected two blocks of Sunset between Dewitt and 18th Drive were unhappy with all the options.

Kelly Brignell and William Wilson said that none provided the kind of detail that would make the sidewalk fit with their informal vision of the neighborhood. They called the elements of the design "too linear" and "sterile."

Four options were presented, two for each side of the street. Storm water treatment accounted for the need for two choices on each side. But the arguments pro and con boiled down to which side of the street should get the six-foot-wide sidewalk. The side opposite the sidewalk would get on-street parking.

Added to the mix is a climbing bike lane on the east (or library) side.

Some at the meeting were in favor of building on the library side because a major development on the opposite side, permitted in the Hillsdale Town Center Plan - if and when it is built - would require the developer to put in sidewalks on the west side.

But others argued that legal challenges by homeowners could block such a development. Still others maintained that such a development is years away from happening and needn't be considered now.

One argument for the west, non-library side, was that pedestrians are already accustomed to walking there. Another point in favor was that those parking their cars on the opposite side would be provided an exit "buffer" from traffic by the climbing bike lane.

Armes said that the non-library side would also be cheaper to build on, but none of the options are prohibitively expensive. The project has a $800,000 budget.

An argument for building on the library side was that the sidewalk would enhance the County's investment in the library and would allow for a bike lane of six feet, one foot wider than than if the sidewalk were on the opposite side.
Sidewalk options summary
Meeting organizers showed cross sections of the four options. This one has the sidewalk on the east, or library side, of the street. Also shown here is a chart summarizing the options.
Hillsdale leaders lobby for better healthcare coverage 

While the Supreme Court ponders the constitutionality of the Obama Administration's health reform act, three Hillsdale entrepeneurs - two doctors and one in retail sales - have worked in varying ways to shape health care and how it is paid for.

Orthodontist Judah Garfinkle and family practice physician Gregg
Judah at bill signing
Judah Garfinkle witnesses the signing of health bill he lobbied for.
Coodley have taken their medical causes to politcal decision makers.

The third figure in the trio seems the odd man out as a non-physician. But his presence shouldn't be a surprise. Paloma Clothing co-owner Mike Roach is something of a legend for his activism on behalf of Portland's schools. Now he's added health insurance as a cause.

Dr Gregg Coodley, who founded the Fanno Creek Clinic, has been working for health reform the longest. For him health care means providing jobs for the unemployed, providing health insurance for Portland public school students, hiring physical education teachers for the schools and taxing soda to pay for healthcare and reduce consumption of unhealthful sweetened drinks.

His work over the past decade won the Hillsdale-based clinic the Mayor's "Spirit of Portland" award.

Gregg and the clinics Spirit of Portland Award
Gregg Coodley with the Spirit of Portland Award his clinic won.
Right now he's taking a break from his activism and effort to get the soda tax on the ballot.  He says he needs to focus on the clinic and being a dad to his four children, but he's committed to addressing the ills of the larger community. In his own practice the link between the troubled economy and health problems is clear. "You see it increased illness, depression and even suicide," he says.

Lobbying government takes time and patience. "Things happen slower than one might like," he says.

Hillsdale orthodontist Garfinkle sub-specializes in the rehabilitation of cleft lip, palate and other craniofacial conditions.

In addition to his practice in Hillsdale, he serves as director of Craniofacial Orthodontics at OHSU's Doernbecher Children's Hospital.

In the last session of the Legislature, with the help of Oregon Dental Association lobbying, Garfinkle pushed through passage of legislation requiring insurance companies to pay for medically necessary dental procedures for patients with cleft and craniofacial conditions.

Like Coodley, Garfinkle says it requires patience to work the legislative process. The insurance legislation was first written in 2009 but failed to move out of committee amid partisan politics.

But this year, the passage of HB4128 was unanimous. Garfinkle says, "even the insurance industry was behind it because they knew it could save them money."

When surgery is performed in concert with the appropriate dental intervention, not only are the outcomes superior, but the treatment costs less to provide, he explained.

Mike Roach, citizen healthcare lobbyist
Mike Roach says small businesses have a lot to gain from the new 'Affordable Healthcare Act."
Paloma's Roach recently helped carry the banner nationally for small businesses supporting the controversial and legally challenged "Affordable Healthcare Act." His name appeared prominently in several national stories, including those in the Washington Post and on CNN.

While the best known small business lobby, the National Federation of Small Businesses, opposes the law, the upstart Small Business Majority (SBM) favors it because it gives a big tax credit to small business owners like Roach's. 

With only six employees, Paloma has no negotiating power with health insurance companies, says Roach, who is the president of the Hillsdale Business and Professional association and on the Hillsdale Main Street board..

Under the new act, 35 percent of what Paloma and similarly sized small businesses pay in health insurance is refunded. The SBM filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that without the new law, small businesses can't compete across state lines because of health insurance inequities, and that constitutes a barrier to interstate commerce.

Roach says that as a small business owner he has good access to elected officials. "They rarely hear from small businesses unless there is a crisis. In the last four years small businesses have struggled to succeed. This is a crisis and elected officials all want small businesses to succeed."

A final note:

Hillsdale resident Sharon Meieran, an emergency room physician and former attorney, is taking a more direct approach to health care reform. She's running for the State Legislature and putting reform high on her agenda. She is in a hotly contested district #36 Democratic primary race with attorney and lobbyist Jennifer Williamson, who also stresses pressing healthcare needs. Whoever wins the May 15 primary will likely represent the heavily Democratic district after the November election. 
Census results prove... 
Hillsdale, you aren't Boring

Hillsdale's census statistics are anything but boring.

Nor are they Boring's statistics, but they are similar in one regard.

Hillsdale's population is just a shade less than Boring - Boring, Oregon's that is.

But we are growing at more than twice the rate of the town approximately 10  miles south-southwest of Gresham.

The 2010 census puts Boring's numbers at 7,663. In the decade after 2000 it had grown a paltry 3 percent.

Hillsdale, on the other hand, with a 2010 population of 7,540 had grown at a pace of 8.1 percent.

We likely left Boring in the population dust since the 2010 census.

But let's forget Boring comparisons.

A look at the 2010 census snapshot of our neighborhood shows it to be nearly 89.5 percent white, a mere half percent drop over 10 years. The number of African-Americans increased from 85 to 100. The Hispanic or Latino figures grew from 230 to 331, a nearly 44 percent jump.

Asians remain the largest racial minority numbering 467.

The largest age group by five-year groupings is 25 to 29. The cohort's number of 684 accounts for 9.1 percent of our population. The smallest age group is the oldest, 85 and above, at 2.2 percent, or 164 individuals.

The age group that increased most over the decade was 60 to 64, which zoomed from 250 to 524, an increase of 109.6 percent. The group that decreased most was the 75 to 79 year old bracket, which fell by 49.2 percent, from 244 to 124.

Our median age in 2010 was 40.5 years, up less than a percent from 10 years earlier.

Of our total of 3,541 housing units, 2,111, or 62.5 percent were owner occupied, a ten-year increase of 4.5 percent. Well over half of the population, 4,986, lived in owner-occupied housing in 2010.

To look at the complete census data for all of Portland's neighborhoods go HERE.

Main Street gets a Vista Volunteer

Hillsdale Main Street will begin its second year with an extra staff member, an AmeriCorps Vista Volunteer. Hillsdale Main Street's Executive Director Megan Braunsten announced the new post at the May 2 Hillsdale Neighborhood Association meeting.

Soon Hillsdale Main Street will be advertising for applicants for the one-year job, which starts in mid-July. Braunsten said she just received the news of the opportunity and is working on a job description for applicants.

According to the AmeriCorps web site, AmeriCorps is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency "whose mission is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering."

Westside homeowners pay more

Candidates say Salem, voters must solve tax inequity 

When it comes to the property tax inequity between homeowners on  the west and east sides of Portland, major city council and state legislature candidates who responded to the Hillsdale News' questions about the problem all agreed the issue presents problems.

Three didn't respond.

While concerned about the inequity, which leaves westsiders paying an inequitable share of property taxes, the candidates often described the problem as one of several plaguing the Oregon tax system.

Generally, the candidates said the solution lies in Salem, with the state legislature, and with the voters.

Westsiders, in comparably valued homes to those on the eastside, often pay more, considerably more, in property taxes thanks to Measures 5 and 47, which both passed in the early '90s.

Measure 5, an amendment to the Oregon Constitution, approved by the voters on 1990, limited Oregon's property taxes dedicated for school funding by capping them at $15.00 per $1,000 of real market value per year. The cap was gradually lowered to $5. The measure transferred the responsibility for school funding from local to state government in an effort to equalize funding statewide.

But the major inequities were assured by Measure 47, which passed in 1994 and limited property tax increases to 3 percent each year regardless of changes in property value..

At the time west side properties were worth more than comparable
houses on the east side. In the interim, eastside homes have appreciated faster, but tax increases have still been pegged to the out-of-date 1994 base valuations.

The result: homeowners in Hillsdale and the westside pay significantly higher property tax - $1000 to $3000 or more a year. The measures have also resulted in shortfalls in school funding in Portland.

As more than one candidate noted, changing the system requires amending the constitution.

Locally in the hotly contested contest for the district #36, candidate Sharon Meieran, said, "the Legislature is somewhat limited as to what it can do, but legislative action is clearly required."  She said she would support legislation that requires "re-evaluation and reassessment of our present clearly inequitable system." Meieran added that she would "champion policy that addresses adequacy (of funds) as well as equity.  I would support a proposal for greater flex on the local option (for funding schools)." 

She said she was aware of discussion about a provision that would "reset" residential real estate valuations at the time of a property's sale, but the discussion hasn't been backed  by the "political will" to act on the matter.

Meieran's opponent in the Democratic primary, Jennifer Williamson, said, "I am committed to stand up for a fair economy.  This includes tax reform that will create a more equitable system."

She, like Meieran, cited the school funding inadequacies that resulted from Measure 5. Williamson said the measure has had "devastating effects in our state, not only by creating an inequitable tax system but also by causing massive disinvestment in our education system and our entire state infrastructure."

In another highly competitive race, for the city council, incumbent Amanda Fritz e-mailed that inequity is "a huge issue," but added "it is not a problem the City can solve. "We need effective legislators in Salem who will provide leadership to find systemic solutions for this ongoing problem.  Real, sustainable tax reform, not the band-aids of Measures 66 & 67, school funding local option levies, etc."

Fritz's opponent, Mary Nolan, who served in the legislature for 12 years, noted that the inequity is not just between properties on the east and west sides. Sometimes they are found within the same neighborhoods.

The problem could be referred to the voters by the Legislature or another initiative drive could be mounted. The existing measures might also be challenged as in violation of the U.S. Constitution, Nolan said. "The cleanest approach would be to have the voters reconsider it," she added.

Nolan said the City Council should be "a creative advocate and a bit of a rabblerouser" but she added, playing that role is "not my first priority. We need to run the basic services. and focus on that first. That builds the credibility to succeed with changes to bring equity."

Of the three candidates for Mayor, only Charlie Hales responded. He did so through his campaign manager Jessica Moskovitz, who e-mail a summary of her conversation with Hales.

She wrote: "Unfortunately, no mayor anywhere in Oregon can do anything about it. This was a constitutional amendment passed by voters statewide, which can only be changed by another initiative or referral from the legislature." She added that Hales said he would be willing to discuss the matter with the Legislature.

A staff member for Jefferson Smith called to say that the candidate would get back to this reporter, but he never did. Eileen Brady failed to respond to two requests sent to her  through the "contact" portal on her web site. Front-running and highly favored City Council candidate Steve Novick didn't respond to a Facebook inquiry.


Date Book

Thursday, May 3

Barbur planning open house

5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Cedarwood Waldorf School, 3030 SW 2nd Avenue (across form Lair Hill Park). Open house to discuss and learn about progress on the Barbur Concept Plan that addresses improvements at key intersections along Barbur Boulevard.

May 4-12

Robert Gray presents Willy Wonka

Times vary. See link to web site. At Robert Gray Middle School, 5505 SW 23rd Ave. High-energy song & dance show put on by more than 50 Gray students.  Ticket info and schedule at www.graypta.org. All ticket sales go directly to support production.
 
Saturday, May 5

Fiesta Local:
Neighborhood House Benefit

Doors open at 5 p.m., Multnomah Athletic Club. Year's premier Neighborhood House benefit event. An evening of music, dance and story telling with dinner and silent auction. This year's theme is a Cinco de Mayo Celebration. Proceeds help Neighborhood House's work for those in need. Event tickets are $100 and can be purchased online at www.nhpdx.org, or by calling (503) 246-1663 x2118.


Saturday, May 5

'Suspects' put up voting signs,
pick up litter 

9 a.m. on the Food Front veranda. In addition to the normal litter patrol, you and your fellow suspects can help put up "Hillsdale Votes" signs encouraging a strong voting participation in the May 15 election.

Sunday, May 6

Hillsdale SpringFest, Rieke Art Fair

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reike Parking lot, school and parking lot behind dance studio. Events include opening of the regular Hillsdale Farmers Market, a health and wellness fest and the Reike Art Fair (which lasts until 4 p.m.).


Friday, May 11 & Saturday, May 12

MAC Spring Arts & Crafts Sale
 
9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Highway. Ceramics, textiles, jewelry, prints, painting. Sales support arts education.

Saturday, May 12

Urban Trails Walk in Southwest 
 
9 a.m. Meet behind bleachers at Wilson High School. Walk is five to six miles with 500 to 600 foot climb. Led by Brenda and John Morris of Hillsdale. For information call (503) 636-3723.

Tuesday, May 15

Election day 
 
VOTE! Ballots must be at elections office by 8 p.m. Dropbox at the A-Boy store at Barbur and Terwilliger is available 24 hours. Ballots may be left at the Hillsdale Branch Library during regular hours. Or mail in your ballot in plenty of time to be received by election day. 
 
Monday, May 21


Final Sunset Sidewalk meeting

6 p.m., Hillsdale Branch Library. The final chance to weigh in on which side of Sunset should get a new sidewalk between Dewitt and 18th Drive.

Saturday, May 26

Spring clean-up and recycling

9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Portland Christian Center parking lot, 5700 SW Dosch Road. SOLV and SWNI volunteers will be dispatched on litter patrols. Recyclers will be on hand to accept metal, wood, old appliances etc. at the site. Drug turn-in will not be available at this location this year. Seniors and the disabled may call for pick-up of recycleables. Deadline to call is Wednesday, May 23. Phone (503) 823-4592.

PRO BONO:

Church volunteers help spruce up
Wilson High School

Church volunteers at Wilson
On Saturday, April 28, more than 25 volunteers from Greater Portland Bible Church, located off Vermont Street in Hillsdale, and Waterfront Foursquare Church on SW Bancroft Street joined other volunteers from the Wilson High community to freshen the school's grounds and facilities. The volunteers weeded, chopped, trimmed, planted, spread mulch and power washed for more than three hours.