2010 Hillsdale News FLAG
IssueTopIssue #134
Posted August 4, 2014   
Also in This Issue
* Volunteers make book sale, pancakes happen
* Bertha blockade questioned
* To the rescue of Dachshunds

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Micro-transit and Community 

As we well know, Hillsdale offers a variety of services and businesses. It is also exceedingly well served by TriMet bOlympia Typewriteruses.

The problem is, because of our steep hills (and dales) and lack of sidewalks, the only way for many of us to reach Hillsdale's amenities is by private car.

And that raises issues as small as finding parking and as large as global warming. You could also throw in the cost of owning a private vehicle.

But suppose we used new technology like that used on Uber and Lyft to start our own non-profit, micro-transit service?

On-call volunteers would drive those needing a lift to and/or from a Hillsdale destination, be it Food Front or one of our bus stops.

At the end of the work day, bus commuters could simply pull out their smart phones and use their Hillsdale Micro-Transit apps to beckon a car to pick them up at the bus stop. Shoppers who have been delivered to Food Front via HMT could call when ready to go home, laden with groceries.

And here's the deal...HMT users would be invited to make donations to the non-profit system. The contributions would go to the Hillsdale Community Foundation, which would set up and manage the HMT. Donations might also be used to reimburse volunteer drivers for mileage.

Some of the money likely would be needed for liability insurance coverage. Details, details....

The service might provide a tidy source of revenue for the Foundation and would raise its visibility in the community. Volunteer vehicles might sport "Papa John's"-like magnetic signs and roof-toppers reading:

Hillsdale Mini-Transit
Ride
provided by your Hillsdale Community Foundation

By the way, if you are unaware of the Foundation, know that it organized the recently completed Hillsdale Book Sale, which raised $4200 by reselling donated books (thanks donors!). Half the money is going to Wilson High School to pay for much needed new computer equipment and half is going to maintain the Foundation/Main Street-funded plantings along Capitol Highway in the Town Center.

The Foundation also was the "parent" of Hillsdale Main Street, which just completed its four-year run. Among its many accomplishments were, in addition to the plantings, improvements to store fronts and to parking (particularly in front of the post office)

Robert Hamilton, who quietly volunteers on myriad good works, and I have contacted "RideConnection" about how we might set up a micro-transit system here. If you are interested in this idea and would like to pursue it with us, give me a call or e-mail me at [email protected].

Rick Seifert
Editor

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Letter to the Editor:

"Attack" on government officials is unreasonable

I was sorry to read the opinion piece about the Southwest Corridor transit project coupled with complaints about property tax inequality.  I think the tone of the newsletter works against collaboration and attacks City Council, City bureaus, and the State legislature unreasonably.  Property taxes in Hillsdale are a small part of a much larger need to overhaul the State tax system, so demanding a $2 billion dollar tunnel project while complaining about inequity of property taxes seems selfish and short-sighted.  This neighborhood should not be obstructionist or so critical in approach.

A coalition of Southwest neighborhoods and jurisdictions created a Southwest Corridor Plan to guide decisions for communities all along Barbur, not just the Hillsdale neighborhood or one employer. The Steering Committee rightly represents large and small cities all along the corridor.  The government agencies represent the interests of people in the entire region, and a $2 billion project would command citywide attention and probable opposition.

Serving growing children, senior residents, families, students and workers into the future is the main objective. Hillsdale should do everything we can to support improvements to the transit system in Southwest Portland, which means we would accept the ultimate decision that the Steering Committee believes will be most cost-effective. Improved transit on SW Barbur without a tunnel also could do wonderful things for this part of town. Further study of impacts of different options is fine, but please don't fight the ultimate decision to do something good for SW Barbur and cast doubts about the decision-makers.
Joan Hamilton
Hillsdale

Letters to the editor are always welcome. Write  [email protected]
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After nearly five decades of scoops, Baskin-Robbins awaits the wrecking ball.
31 Flavors ends 47-year run 
Razing to make way for new Wardin Building and OnPoint 

Hillsdale Baskin-Robbins has gone from 31 flavors to zero. No flavors and no building.

After 47 years here, the ice cream store is being leveled to make way for the new Wardin Building, whose anchor tenant will be OnPoint Credit Union.

Two other spaces in the new building at 6361 SW Capitol Highway, are expected to be ready for occupancy in February. Tenants have yet to be identified.

While Alpenrose Dairy, which owns 180 Baskin-Robbins outlets in four Northwest states, including the one in Hillsdale, isn't interested in taking one of the spaces, other ice cream vendors have shown interest.

At Alpenrose Dairy, located at 6149 SW Shattuck Road, Co-President Rod Birkland remembers setting up the first Hillsdale Baskin-Robbins in 1967 with Albert Wardin. Three of his children still own the property and much of the commercial space in the Town Center.

The Wardin family owned the Fulton Park Dairy but sold much of it to the Portland School District as Hillsdale was going through a building boom after World War II.  Wilson High School and Rieke Elementary Schools were built on Wardin dairy land.

Birkland recalls that in 1967 a single scoop ice cream cone cost 16 cents. The Hillsdale store was the third that Alpenrose built.

In Hillsdale, as at the other Alpenrose owned outlets, Chocolate Chip Mint has been the biggest seller. Business doubles in the summer, Birkland said.

Birkland said Alpenrose decided to pass on the moving to the new building because rent will be higher and in and out traffic flow could be a problem, as it was with the old building.

Pile-Driving to follow demolition

After the Baskin-Robbins demolition, nearby neighbors and businesses are being told to prepare for a week of noisy pile-driving on the new Wardin Building site. The work, by Yorke & Curtis Construction of Beaverton, should begin as early as Aug. 7 and as late as Aug. 12 and last for no more than a week.

Architect Richard Brown said that because of the soil conditions on the site at 6361 Capitol Highway at least 18 steel piles must be driven about 25 feet into the ground. The work will take place between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Residents of the Hillsdale Heights apartment complex immediately behind the construction site have been notified, he said.

Ardys Braidwood, the Wardin sibling who manages the Hillsdale properties, said those troubled by the temporary noise, should be thinking of the outcome, which will rid the Town Center of an unsightly vacant lot and replace it with an OnPoint Credit Union Branch.

She added that  construction will also require temporarily removing parking from in front of the Wardin property's professional building immediately to the east.

Anyone with questions about the work can call her at (503) 241-0245

The building should be competed in early- to mid-January. 
The blueberry pancake breakfast is going strong after 37 years.
Hillsdale celebrates mid-summer with Book Sale and Pancakes
 

The success of this year's Hillsdale's Books and Pancakes Sunday, on July 27th, can be measured by 640 blueberry pancake eaters and book sales netting $4200 for the Hillsdale Community Foundation.

Half the book money will go to help Wilson High School upgrade its computers; half will go to maintain street plantings along Capitol Highway.

As much fun as these events are, they don't "just happen." They take a lot of volunteers. An estimated 70 worked on both events.

The pancake breakfast, put on by the Hillsdale Business and Professional Association, was the 38th annual and, as one veteran volunteer put it, was the "smoothest breakfast ever." The organizers of the breakfast said two big differences this year provided the syrup for success.

HBPA president Mike Roach singled out Noe Garnica, owner of Verde Cocina and his wife Anna, for their lending griddles, stoves, propane and the expertise to make them operate efficiently.

The griddles alone saved the breakfast $400, the normal cost of renting.

OnPoint Credit Union, which plans to open a branch here early next year in the new Warding Building, added six members to the crew of 50 working the breakfast stations.

And there were other worthies as well, notes Roach. Starbuck's Joy Mangus, delivered coffee for 600 plus.  Casa Colima opened its kitchen for blueberry washing. Food Front grocery ordered and stored the food and cooked sausages.

Book buyers supported the Hillsdale Community Foundation.
The book sale relied on the donation of books in the four Sundays prior to the sale at the Farmers Market. Between 5000 and 6000 were donated this year. Volunteers sorted them into categories before they were ready for display.

Deep Roots Farms once again contributed tables and tents, and Community Partners for Affordable Housing's Watershed provided in-door book storage as well as the sale site.

This year's sale marked the ninth summer for the event. In the first year, 2006, two sales were held, but one was in December.

For the first time, left-over children's books went to two worthy causes:

* Children being treated for cancer at Doernbecher Children's Hospital. The donation was spearheaded by Girl Scout Troop 41078 at the initiative of 11-year-old Eleanor Potter.

*  The Neighborhood House Early Childhood Education Program at Stephen's Creek Crossing. Neighborhood House Executive Director Rick Nitti personally carted hundreds of children's books from the Watershed sale site for storage until the Children Center Head Start opens in September.
Diverted traffic backs up on Bertha Court. At Capitol, a left turn onto Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway is prohibited, prompting illegal U-turns. 
Detour called unnecessary, causes confusion, evasive driving  

Since the middle of July you no doubt have encountered numerous public works projects in Hillsdale.

Each presents  challenges, but none is more puzzling and frustrating than the blocked northbound lane on Bertha Boulevard just north of Vermont.

Normally that lane would feed traffic onto Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway going west.

No longer.

If you miss the detour sign at Vermont that directs you all the way to 30th, you are forced onto the one-block-long Bertha Court ... and a conundrum.

At the end of the street you are forced to make a right turn.

City is being asked why this segment on Bertha needs to be closed.
But, remember, you really wanted to go left onto Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway.

You may simply sit out the frustration and calculate what you can do to reverse directions legally. Alas, the legal options are few, complex and unmarked.

Or, as many do, you can avoid the right-turn-only intersection by cutting through the Papa John's Pizza entry, drive to one or two of the Hillsdale Shopping Center exits and go across three lanes of traffic to head west.

If you take the first of the exits, you have to cross two double yellow lines.

Or, some who wait for the light have actually made U-turns in the middle of the busy Capitol Highway.

The rerouting is crazy-making and dangerous.

But here's the strangest part, as Hillsdale Neighborhood Transportation Chair Glenn Bridger notes: There's no apparent reason to close the segment of Bertha in the first place.

And on Friday, August 1, Bridger wrote a complaint to the Bureau of Environmental Services, the agency whose work inspired the detour.

"You need to find a way to reopen (Bertha northbound) ASAP, and use project flagging only when active use of the roadway cannot be avoided," he wrote, Becky Tillson, whose job is BES Community Outreach and Information

Tillson wrote Bridger that she would get back to him on Monday, August 4, after this issue's deadline.

The work cited by BES is construction of an outfall at the head of Fanno Creek. But an inspection of the site shows that, for now at least, it in no way interferes with Bertha Boulevard, although it does take a lane away from Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway for a short stretch just before the southbound (NOT the northbound) entry to Bertha Boulevard.

Neither HNA nor the Hillsdale Business and Professional Association were informed of the closure in advance. On July 1, this paper was  initially told the work would begin in early August, but it actually began two weeks earlier because of scheduling changes associated with another BES project at Terwilliger and Capitol Highway.

So there was no advance warning of the troublesome and confounding detour.

The Fanno Creek work is expected to be complete in mid to late August, Tillson says.

Bridger noted the Fanno and Terwilliger/Capitol projects are just two of several public works projects affecting traffic in Hillsdale this summer.

Others are on Burlingame Avenue and Barbur Boulevard. He said the work needs doing and we should be grateful it is happening, but he questions the timing, and, in the case of the Fanno Project, the nature of the traffic management.

Windows on order for RE/MAX Equity

Several folks have complained about the unsightly boarded-up windows on the RE/MAX Equity Group building at the Sunset and Capitol Highway bus stop.

The windows were broken a few weeks back, said Patti Ryan, RE/MAX branch coordinator, by someone who apparently hurled beer bottles through them. She said that the replacement glass, which is enamel-baked and rare, is on order and will be installed as soon as it arrives.

One person who complained cited a theory that found that boarded-up windows are an early sign of a deteriorating neighborhood. Signs of vandalism that aren't removed can encourage other vandals, according to the theory.
Pet store/Dachshund Rescue
to move into 'Second to None' space

As economic indicators go, abandoned Dachshunds are among the obscure.

But Jenell Rangan is well aware of the connection between left-behind "Doxies" and the struggling economy.

Rangan, who founded the Oregon Dachshund Rescue, Inc. says the little, low-slung dogs are often left behind by impoverished owners. Some dogs are even locked in foreclosed and abandoned houses.

Rangan and her organization finds the dogs new homes.

Because that isn't always easy (Dachshunds, while lovable, can be challenging), she has established a network of "foster" homes for the animals. Hers is a "no-kill" shelter operation.

Now she is bringing her non-profit organization to Hillsdale's old Second-to-None shop, 6308 SW Capitol, in the Hillsdale Shopping Center. Appropriately enough that's a couple doors away from Paloma Clothing. Rangan first learned about Hillsdale as a Paloma customer.

The rescue organization's most visible public presence will be as The Bowser Boutique, which Rangan is moving from Sellwood.

The shop will offer an array of dog art, artifacts and supplies for all breeds. Rangan boasts that she has the largest collection of dog art on the West Coast.

The shop, which will open by the end of August, will have a welcoming, tail-wagging Dachshund or two to greet customers.

Rangan is moving, she says, because Hillsdale is far more "dog and family friendly" and a better fit. "Sellwood is changing," she says, citing the construction of large apartments and fewer families.

The rescue operation, while focused on Dachshunds, isn't limited to the breed. Indeed, Rangan, who grew up with Dachshunds, is an inveterate animal lover. In her 30 years of rescue work she has taken in a horse, rabbits and pit bulls among other critters.

She first witnessed Dachshunds as economic indicators in 2009, just after the beginning of the long recession. The number of abandoned animals took a jump to one or two a day. "And it hasn't gotten better," she says. "It's a sad situation."

For the financially strapped, pets are suddenly an unaffordable  expense...and expendable and abandoned.

In a given week, Rangan hopes she can find two or three new home placements. Until then, she and the volunteers provide shelter for the "homeless."

The good news, she says, is the move to Hillsdale where a plethora of dog parks and dog walkers seem to invite her work. "There are a lot of people here with dogs," she observes.

The non-profit welcomes tax deductible donations...anything from blankets to paper towels to disinfectants (Lysol or Simple Green) and food...especially pet food (chicken and rice preferred), she says.

There's also work for dog-loving volunteers. Among the activities are playing with and walking the dogs, working at the shop and shuttling rescued animals to vet appointments

For more information on Oregon Dachshund Rescue Inc., including donation and adoption information, go online to: www.odr-inc.org. The telephone number is (503) 313-3220, or you can use e-mail Jenell at [email protected].
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Date Book    
   
Wednesday, August 6 

  Hillsdale Neighborhood Association

7 p.m. St. Barnabas Church, 2201 Vermont St. Agenda to be announced.


Thursday, August 7,

Local author reads at Annie Bloom's

7 p.m., Annie Bloom's in Multnomah Village. Hillsdale novelist Jared John Smith reads from his newly published novel, 'Rabbit,' published by Pink Fish of Seattle. He will be joined by Northwest Portland author Dan Berne, whose publisher is Laura Stanfill, founder of Hillsdale-based Forest Avenue Press. Berne will read from 'The Gods of Second Chances,' the first novel in Forest Avenue's fiction catalog.


Saturday, August 9

Walk to Tryon Creek & Lake Oswego

9 a.m., meet promptly behind the Wilson High bleachers for the Urban Trails Walk. From Wilson High School the group will car pool to Stephenson School to begin the walk to Tryon Creek State Park and Lake Oswego.  The walk will be about 5.4 miles with 500 ft. elev. gain. 
 
Bring a snack and water and dress for the weather.  Well-behaved dogs are allowed on leash.    For more information, contact Sharon Fekety ([email protected]).
 
Sponsored by Hillsdale Neighborhood Association.
 
Saturday, August 16
 
Parade highlights Multnomah Days

8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Multnomah Village on SW Capitol Highway.

Organized by the Multnomah Village Business Association and supported by community sponsors, the event brings more than 10,000 people together to celebrate "the village at the heart of Portland." This year's Presenting Sponsor is Safeway.

The popular 10-block-long parade starts at 10 a.m. Groups or individuals interested in joining the parade should contact [email protected] by August 1 for information about participating.

Other activities include: live music, a wine and beer garden for adults, vendors showcasing art, food, crafts and other merchandise, a Kid Zone, Kiwanis pancake breakfast (starting at 8 a.m.) and lunch, a ping-pong party, stage performances.

Monday, August 18 to Sunday, August 24

Pumpkin Ridge Golf events benefit Neighborhood House

Various events at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club: including Nike Golf Junior Clinic and PGA Tour WinCo Portland Open. 100 percent of ticket proceeds benefit Neighborhood House.

Go HERE to purchase tickets. Contact Ann Rogers-Williams at  [email protected] for more information or call her at (503) 246-1663 x2118.

Sunday, Sept. 28

Sunday Parkways comes to Southwest Portland

11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (6 miles). Walk, run or bike the scenic route, including a new SWTrails walk-only trail. Route includes Gabriel Park, Multnomah Village and Hillsdale Shopping Center for food, music, and activities.

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