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Hillsdale leaders:
Speak up now
for our transit future
In 15 years, will the civic and commercial heart of Hillsdale be?....
a) An important transit gateway, via a light-rail tunnel to OHSU and Downtown Portland?
b) A stop on a Bertha/Capitol Highway loop route for large, articulated buses or Light Rail trains running mostly on, or next to, Barbur Boulevard.
c) A disconnected transit island removed from new high-capacity rapid transit running exclusively on Barbur along the edge of Hillsdale?
If you want a say in the answer to this multiple-choice (and there are many other choices) question, the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association is inviting you, no URGING you, to come to a presentation at its Wednesday, Feb. 4, meeting at the Watershed Building, 6380 SW Capitol Highway, at 7 p.m.   The meeting is one of a series being held in communities affected by prospective mass transit improvements in what is called "the Southwest Transit Corridor,." The corridor runs from Downtown to Tigard and Tualatin. OHSU and Portland Community College are key destinations within the corridor.
Without the multi-billion dollar transit improvements in the Metro regions's rapidly growing Southwest quadrant, the freeways are expected to be overwhelmed with traffic and resulting pollution in 20 years
In a joint statement, Hillsdale Neighborhood Association President Mikal Apenes and HNA Transportation Chair Glenn Bridger called the transit project "the largest public investment in our community during the next 20 years," adding that Hillsdale is in the middle of all routes being considered. "We need this investment to strengthen our community," they said.
Don Baack, transportation chair of the Hillsdale Business and Professional Association and president of SW Trails, has already posed several questions to the planners in anticipation of the Feb 4 meeting.
Among many questions, he is asking for cost estimates, planned provisions and improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians, estimated construction times, the time-frame for the work, station locations and sources of funding.
The core of Hillsdale includes the commercial Town Center with many small businesses, three public schools, a well-used public library, numerous bus lines, a farmers market and low-income housing, whose residents often rely on public transit.
Metro Senior Public Affairs Specialist Noelle Dobson said Metro project staff and project partners have spent the past six months exploring options for high capacity transit - light rail or bus rapid transit - and related roadway, bicycle, sidewalk and trail improvements in the corridor.
Over the next 18 months, the planning team wants comment from affected communities as planners look for a preferred package of transportation options to forward to federal officials for environmental review.
In December of this year, a Steering Committee of top elected officials and transportation managers will consider a proposed choice. Then project partners and stakeholders will review the proposed preferred package until May 2016.
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Developer backs away from building in Sunset Triangle
Developer Tim Roth has abandoned plans to develop two acres for housing north of and adjacent to the Hillsdale Town Center in the Sunset Triangle.
Roth had six months to explore building a "planned unit development." Initially his plan called for 21 houses on the land, which would have combined two next-door, separately owned parcels of an acre each.
The City of Portland insisted that the development include provisions for an extension of Dewitt Street.
But the proposal drew immediate criticism from neighbors concerned about the potential for increased traffic on narrow 18th Drive and the density of the development. They also said the development would be inconsistent with the "character of the neighborhood."
Further, the proposed density, even after Roth dropped the number of houses to 19, would have violated private, 74-year-old restrictive covenants for the old subdivision. The covenants require far lower densities than the "townhouse" density allowed by the City of Portland.
Whether the covenants are still legal became a matter of debate that might only be resolved through expensive legal action. To change the covenants requires a majority vote by the 31 property owners in the old subdivision.
Without majority approval of the development plan, legal uncertainties also could make lenders nervous.
Recently Roth had explored cutting his original plan back to a 15-unit development, but the time ran out on his six-month-long option to buy the properties. Moreover, Roth was concerned that any proposal that was economically feasible would meet opposition.
Roth's decision has left Lance Johnson, one of the two lot owners, with decisions about how to proceed. Roth had been the fourth developer to take a run at putting together a development package, Johnson said.
Now, Johnson says, he's going to act on his own and is considering various options, including negotiating with the other one-acre lot owners, Jim Porter and his wife, Evelyn.
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Food Front's Board calls
on national cooperative group's expertise
The governing board of the two-store Food Front Cooperative Grocery, roiled by red ink, stiff competition and staff complaints, has called in experts from the Iowa-based National Cooperative Grocer's (NCG) to advise and even help implement solutions to the problems. The personnel issues first came to public light in the NW Examiner Newspaper when editor Allan Classen printed pointed criticism by former and current staff. Former board member Tom Mattox and past chief financial officer Joe Bailey were among the outspoken. The Hillsdale Food Front store has lost money every year of the six it has been here. Managers say they are close to being in the black, and would be if they could increase the monthly customer count by 75 or get existing customers to spend $3 more each visit. Other Hillsdale businesses have indirect financial interest in Food Front's success as the store is the anchor of the Hillsdale Shopping Center. Food Front's top managers have warned that unless the situation in Hillsdale is turned around soon, the co-operative may not renew its lease when it ends next year. The cooperative has approximately 10,000 members and roughly 130 employees. Renewed interest
At a board and owners' meeting on Jan. 22 at Friendly House in NW Portland, a standing-room only crowd of nearly 80 listened as CE Pugh, NCG's chief operations officer, said that the entire cooperative grocery sector shares many of Food Front's problems. Large national chains, such as Whole Foods and Natural Grocers, specializing in natural foods, now command 41 percent of a natural foods market that cooperatives had virtually to themselves. Then, he added, "Old Friends" such as Safeway, Kroger (owner of Fred Meyer), Costco and Walmart jumped on the natural foods band wagon. Now they have 40 percent of the $10 billion-a-year sector. The annual growth rates for both kinds of corporate stores are above 10 percent. Meanwhile, cooperatives have experienced growth in the 5 to 8 percent range, Pugh said. Pugh also noted that other cooperatives that have expanded to second stores have had problems similar to Food Front's. A NCG team of seven recently studying Food Front found that while the situation here is "serious, it's not desperate" financially, he said. Both Food Front stores have loyal customers and community support, he noted. In a survey of prices, Food Front's "line up well" with New Seasons', a major competitor in the Hillsdale area, the team found. New Seasons will soon open a store just blocks from Food Front's flagship NW Thurman Street store, and Food Front must be prepared to take a financial hit when it does, Pugh said. He said the Hillsdale store could be improved by "picking low-hanging fruit" such as lowering the prices on loss-leaders, making sure the store is adequately stocked, having "value offerings in every category," and reducing personnel costs. The problem of low employee morale, Pugh said, could be traced to lack of accountability, poor communication, a flawed grievance process, inadequate training and fear of reprisals if complaints are made. All contribute to Food Fronts high staff turnover, he said.
People solutions
Pugh shared the maxim "there are no business problems; only people solutions." He added that communication with owners needed to include business reports.... "We have some work to do...," he said. Another top NCG manager, Peg Nolan, will remain in Portland "for several months" to help make needed changes. After Pugh's talk, several owners from Hillsdale were among those who spoke. Mike Roach, co-owner of Paloma Clothing and president of the Hillsdale Business & Professional Association, praised Pugh's presentation, calling it one of the best he had heard in his 40 years in business. "I'm encouraged by the knowledge and experience you all have," Roach said. Meanwhile Ted Coonfield's application to be nominated to the Food Front board was submitted at the meeting. Coonfield is well known in SW Portland for his board leadership of Neighborhood House and The Hillsdale Farmers Market. In other Food Front news, board member Brandon Rydell has stepped down as board president and has been replaced by Linda Jauron-Mills, first elected to the board in 1997. Nick Kampars, an attorney, has resigned from the board, leaving four members. Food Front's by-laws state that the board can have from three to nine members. A Google Groups Food Front discussion site has been set up on line. To join, create a Google account if you don't have one. Then browse to http://tiny.cc/FFCF and click the blue "Join group" button. It currently has 58 members. Robert Hamilton contributed reporting to this story.
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Wildfire danger expected
to grow in Hillsdale
Wildfires were not foremost on the minds of most Hillsdale residents on the wet, winter Wednesday night of January 21, but they were for a small gathering of the Hillsdale Alliance.
That's because of what happened on the afternoon of Sept. 11 last year.
According to the Portland Fire Bureau, a power line came down near the busy intersection of Terwilliger Parkway and Capitol Highway. Sparks ignited the underbrush and within minutes a wildfire spread sending smoke billowing up the hillside.
Glenn Bridger, a co-chair of the Alliance, who lives in a small, box canyon neighborhood up hill from the fire, remembers the smoke and the smell. Farther up the hill, at Wilson High School, smoke alarms sounded and the building was evacuated.
Fire crews put out the fire before it could spread far, but the blaze and the charred trees, which still can be seen along Capitol Highway, are reminders of a danger most of us aren't aware of.
And should be.
So the Alliance, a group of neighborhood leaders who meet quarterly, devoted much of their meeting to the threat of wildfires.
Just days before the meeting, climatologists had reported that 2014 was the hottest year on record. The summers are getting hotter and the vegetation is getting drier each year, notes Scott Beyers, a Fire Bureau shift chief at Hillsdale's Engine Company #5.
Strong winds coming out of the east and northeast can drive a fire up into the west hills very quickly, said Beyers.
The Alliance group worried about how neighbors might be warned of future fires. A good start is organizing neighborhoods for disasters with the help of The Hillsdale Neighorhood Emergency Team and the fire bureau.
The public should be aware of "Red Flag days" when the danger of fire is particularly high. The Fire Bureau beefs up its wildfire staff on those days, said Leo Kirk, another battalion chief stationed in Hillsdale.
Accumulating brush on the hillsides becomes potential fuel for fires. A carelessly thrown cigarette or a fire in a homeless camp (of which there are several in the West Hills forests) and downed power lines can all spark fires.
Escape routes need to be identified and publicized, Bridger said. "It's one more reason that connectivity in our neighborhoods is important," added Bridger, who is also chair of the neighborhood association's transportation committee.
The Portland Fire Bureau also advises property owners to take steps to protect their homes. Among them are:
* Creating a space around your home that provides a clearing of inflammable materials or vegetation. Remove invasive trees and shrubs, plant trimmings, firewood, fiberglass boats and recreational vehicles around the home.
* Using fire resistant building materials, particularly roofing and siding as well as decking and pavers.
* Landscaping with fire resistant plants
For more information about wildfires and preventing and preparing for them go to www.portlandoregon.gov/fire/55225.
Hillsdale emergency team gets new leader
Experiencing a natural disaster, like an earthquake or a wildfire, wasn't the reason Lisa De Graaf joined the Hillsdale Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET).
 | | Lisa De Graaf |
Instead it was an article about the NET organizations around the city that got her attention. She read the story a year ago, took the 30-hour volunteer certification course and signed on.
In January, she became the new head of the Hillsdale team of about 15 volunteers.
"I have big shoes to fill," she says. She replaces co-chairs John Morris and Lynn Rossing, who have served for eight years.
De Graaf, a former land-use planner, says she has been involved in planning and public service since getting her degree in public administration at the University of Colorado.
The NET group has an operations plan in case of an emergency here, but to adequately carry it out, more volunteers are needed. De Graaf sees much of her job as recruiting and retaining volunteers.
Within days of taking over she discovered a grant program with an application deadline just three days away. She jumped on the chance to get City money to expand the group's emergency equipment cache.
She notes that Hillsdale resides on a major earthquake fault. And as the accompanying story points out, wildfires are a serious problem.
If there is an emergency, neighbors should know that the Red Cross will set up rescue facilities on the Wilson High School football field. The NET team will be based in DeWitt Park next to the fire station.
De Graaf also encourages families in clusters of homes within the neighborhood to have a plan. The Portland Bureau of Emergency Management will send a representative to help neighbors organize.
Families should make their own plans, she adds.
To contact De Graaf about Hillsdale NET, e-mail her at de_graaflisa@hotmail.com.
For more about NET teams go the Bureau of Emergency Management web site, http://www.portlandoregon.gov/pbem/31667
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Business Briefs
Connection gets new lead reporter
The Southwest Community Connection newspaper started the new year with a new lead reporter.
Kelsey O'Halloran replaces Drew Dakessian, who had been with the Pamplin Media Group-owned newspaper for two and a half years. She is returning to graduate school at Oregon State University.
 | Kelsey
O'Halloran |
O'Halloran, a 2013 graduate of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication, has had experience at several publications including The Oregonian, the Forest Grove Leader, the Capitol Press and the Portland Tribune.
She grew up in Sherwood, where she graduated from Sherwood High School. She now lives in Southwest Portland.
She said she is still getting a feel for her new job but plans to write more business features and profiles for The Connection.
O'Halloran said she is pleased to be writing about the community where she lives and to be "getting to know my neighbors."
The Southwest Community Connection has a circulation of 12,500 copies monthly and was founded in 1994 as The Hillsdale Connection by Rick Seifert, editor and publisher of the Hillsdale News. After five years, he sold the paper to a small chain that was subsequently bought by the Pamplin Media Group, which owns the Portland Tribune.
Mid-march completion seen for Wardin Building
The new Wardin Building on Capitol Highway is taking shape and should be finished by mid-March, said property manager and part owner Ardys Braidwood.
Two of the new building's three tenants have been named: Oak and Olive, an Italian restaurant and deli, and the OnPoint Credit Union. Braidwood is not ready to announce a third tenant.
Braidwood owns the new building with her brothers. The three are descendants of the Wardin Family that established itself as the Fulton Park Dairy in Hillsdale in 1908. In 1952 the family sold much of their property to the school district. Wilson High School and Rieke Elementary School reside on the old pasture land.
Two businesses leave Hillsdale
Two other Wardin commercial spaces are going through a transition. Indigo Traders, two spaces to the west of Food Front in the Hillsdale Shopping Center, is closing after 2 ˝ years in Hillsdale. The retailer of Mediterranean goods and textiles will keep its original shop in Multnomah Village, said Samir Naser, co-owner with his wife Karla Bean.
He said closing the Hillsdale store will give him and his wife more time to spend with their two children, aged 6 and 9.
He called Hillsdale "an amazing community," and wanted to make special mention of Braidwood's kindness and cooperation.
The Hillsdale store will have a stock liquidation sale until it closes at end of February.
No replacement for the space has been found yet, Braidwood said.
Meanwhile, across the street just east of the new Wardin Building, hair salon Cuts and Chemistry, moved at the end of December to a new location in Raleigh Hills. Owner Sue Bosch has re-opened the salon at 11415 SW Scholls Ferry Road. Clients can reach her at (503) 246-2077.
Braidwood said that the salon's old space is being used by the contractors of the Wardin Building. When the construction is completed, a new hair salon will take over Cuts and Chemistry's old space.
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Date Book
Wednesday, Feb. 4Hillsdale's Transit future
7 p.m., The Watershed Building, Bertha Court and Capitol Highway. The Hillsdale Neighborhood Association invites the community to comment on Metro's various planning options for "High Capacity Transit" in the Southwest Transit Corridor. The eventual plan will be important to Hillsdale's future. See story above.
Preschool Fair at Library
4 p.m. to 6 p.m., The Hillsdale Branch Library. Looking for a preschool? Find one at the Library's preschool open house. Meet representatives from Southwest-area preschools to ask questions and gather information about their programs
Saturday, Feb. 7
The Joy of Litter-picking
9 a.m. Meet at the Food Front "veranda" for one hour of fun litter patrolling with the "Usual Suspects." Post-clean-up, volunteers are treated with breakfast sandwiches, courtesy of Food Front. Plus there's often the ever-surprising "Pick of the Litter" show-and-tell.
Saturday, Feb. 14
Walk: Gabriel Park to Alpenrose & back
9 a.m. to noon. The 5.5 mile walk starts from behind the Wilson High School bleachers. From there participants will carpool to Gabriel Park. From the park, walkers will amble to Alpenrose Dairy and return. Bring a snack and water and dress for the weather. Well-behaved dogs are allowed but they must be on leash. No smoking on SW Trails walks. For more information or to volunteer to lead a future walk in your neighborhood, contact Sharon Fekety at fekety@hevanet.com.
Sunday, Feb. 15
SW HOPE starts food drive
February 15 to March 29. Feb. 15 kicks off the eighth annual "SW HOPE: Feed the Hungry" community food drive. The drive involves more than 60 faith and other community partners to collect food and funds in support of Neighborhood House's  Emergency Food Box Program. Each year the SW HOPE campaign rallies support to supplement the sharp drop off in donations that occurs after the holidays. The Neighborhood House food pantry in Multnomah Village provides emergency food boxes twice a month to 450-500 families (approximately 1,500 people per month). The number of families seeking emergency food assistance has not declined over the last four years. The 2015 campaign has set a goal of raising 175,000 pounds of food or the cash equivalent. Because every $1 donation is equivalent to approximately four pounds of food purchased through Oregon Food Bank, cash donations are the most effective way to support the program.
Supporters can also make food and cash donations at Neighborhood House, located at 7780 SW Capitol Hwy., or online at www.swhope.org. For more information about the food and fundraising drive and how you can help, contact Neal Nyssen, Neighborhood House Emergency Food Box Program Coordinator, at (503) 246-1663 x5118 or nnyssen@nhweb.org, or go to www.nhpdx.org.
Saturday, Feb. 21
Benefit Concert for SW HOPE
7 p.m., St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 3228 SW Sunset Boulevard. The Portland-based, eclectic Celtic band Kendálin will perform a free, family-friendly event that invites those attending to bring donations of cash and canned food items for Neighborhood House's Emergency Food Box Program.
Sunday, Feb. 22
Food and Identity Panel Discussion
2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Hillsdale Branch Library. Explore the relationship between personal and social identity - not only what it is, but what it should be - at a moderated panel discussion. The panel will consider ways people experience religious, ethical, medical and aesthetic significance through their everyday food choices and dietary practices. Moderator: Dr. Michele Gamburd, Professor and Chair of Anthropology, Portland State University. Panelists: Tuvia Berzow, Executive Director, Oregon Kosher; Dr. Lisa Shaver, N.D. M.S.O.M. L.Ac., Everyday Wellness Clinic; Lisa Hewus Fresh, Python programmer, Mozilla contributor, vegan. Program made possible by The Library Foundation.
Click to go to top of Datebook
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Win/Win/Win's don't come along all that often, but we seem to be closing in on one here in Hillsdale. And the Trifeca could spread to the entire city and even beyond.
