Category Archives: City wide issues

Portland's First Community Board for Police Accountability
City wide issues

Now Recruiting: Serve on Portland’s First Community Board for Police Accountability

TL;DR Summary:
The City of Portland is seeking volunteers to serve on a new Community Board for Police Accountability (CBPA). This board will play a key role in reviewing police conduct and recommending policy changes.
Applications are open now and due by Monday, April 14, 2025.

A New Chapter in Police Oversight

In 2020, Portland voters approved a measure to overhaul the city’s police oversight system. After years of community input, a new Office of Community-based Police Accountability (OCPA) has been established to lead this change. Now, Portlanders have a chance to directly participate by serving on the very first Community Board for Police Accountability.

This is a unique opportunity for residents from all walks of life to help shape the future of public safety in our city. The goal: a fairer, more transparent system that centers community voices.

What’s Happening

The City of Portland is now accepting applications for 21 volunteers to serve on the CBPA. These board members will:

  • Work with OCPA to investigate reported misconduct by Portland Police officers and supervisors
  • Review cases promptly, fairly, and impartially
  • Impose appropriate discipline when necessary
  • Recommend changes to police practices, policies, and directives

Board members will meet monthly on weekday evenings and receive a $500 annual stipend.

Why It Matters

This board is a cornerstone of Portland’s reimagined police oversight system. It’s designed to be community-led and independent, giving everyday Portlanders real influence over how public safety is handled in our city.

Importantly, the city is actively seeking people who may not have been involved in this kind of work before. Your lived experience, your neighborhood perspective, and your voice are all valuable.

How to Get Involved

Let’s Make Sure East Columbia Is Represented

If you’re passionate about fairness, public service, and accountability—or if you know someone who is—please consider applying or sharing this opportunity. This is a chance to help build a more responsive and inclusive public safety system for all of Portland.

Questions? Want a speaker at an upcoming meeting?
Reach out to Kristen Thorp from the Office of Community-based Police Accountability at kristen.thorp@portlandoregon.gov.

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City wide issues, Local Issues

Help Shape the Future of Central Portland: Apply to a TIF District Working Group

TL;DR Summary
The City is forming short-term Working Groups to guide the first 5-Year Action Plans for Portland’s new Central City TIF Districts. Applications are open through Friday, March 21.

Be Part of Portland’s Next Chapter

If you live, work, or have ties to Central Portland, here’s your chance to help shape how new public investments are made. The City is forming Working Groups for each of the three newly approved Central City Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts, and community voices are needed to set priorities for the first five years.

What’s Happening

The Portland Housing Bureau and Prosper Portland are putting together 13-15 person Working Groups for each of the following new TIF Districts:
– Central Eastside Corridor
– Lloyd-Holladay
– Westside

These Working Groups will help create 5-Year Action Plansthat determine how early TIF dollars are spent to grow economic opportunities and expand affordable housing.

The districts were approved by City Council in October 2024 and will begin collecting tax revenue starting July 1, 2025.

Why It Matters

TIF (Tax Increment Financing) is a tool that uses future tax revenue to fund current community improvements—everything from new housing to business support. With a 30-year lifespan ahead, the early priorities set in these action plans will shape long-term outcomes for jobs, housing, and equity in the Central City.

This is a unique chance for residents, business owners, artists, workers, and advocates to help steer investments where they’re needed most.

How to Get Involved

If you have a connection to one of the districts and experience or insight related to housing, economic development, arts, culture, or community well-being—your voice is welcome.

– Meetings: 8 meetings total, between April and November 2025
– Deadline to Apply: Friday, March 21, 2025
– More info: https://prosperportland.us/portfolio-items/central-city-tif-exploration/
– Questions? Email: cctif@ProsperPortland.us—

Help spread the word—or apply yourself! These Working Groups are a chance to make sure public investments in Portland’s core reflect community values and real needs.

Contact: cctif@ProsperPortland.us
Application Deadline: Friday, March 21, 2025

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City wide issues, Local Issues

Community Voices on Interstate Bridge Replacement

As the Interstate Bridge Replacement project continues to take shape, community members have raised important concerns about its design, accessibility, and long-term impact.

Barbara Kerr, a Portland resident and active member of our neighborhood, has shared her thoughtful insights on how the project can better reflect the needs and values of our community. [see below]

Barbara emphasizes the importance of prioritizing safety, accessibility for alternative transportation, and responsible coordination with other local infrastructure projects. Her letter highlights how decisions made today will shape our neighborhood for decades to come.

We encourage you to read Barbara’s full letter below and consider how this project affects our community. Together, our voices can help guide this project in a way that benefits everyone.

DRAFT SEIS PUBLIC COMMENT
Barbara Kerr
NE Faloma Rd., Portland, OR

Both as a resident of Portland and as a resident of the affected neighborhood, I have the following concerns about the Interstate Bridge Replacement project:

One – The design of the Interstate Bridge Replacement needs to reflect the input of the public. Its beauty needs to be a testament to the people and their values. Safety first. If we must build a new bridge, it needs to be as safe and durable as possible. A bridge built for safety and durability can be elegant and beautiful in its simplicity. It can say to those who enter our states that we value the wellbeing of people more than a monument to the designers and the political powers. Adopting a more expensive design just for aesthetics will say we are people who care more about “showing off” than taking care of people’s lives. It will reflect negatively on us for decades to come. We have so many better and urgent ways to spend money. 

Two – As has been pointed out by others, the Interstate Bridge Replacement proposed design has a glaring mistake in that the paths for walking and biking are not easily accessible to the location of the light rail. Alternate forms of transportation should be the first consideration in the design. If the bridge is to meet the needs of the future, it must take into account that there will be fewer car trips and that freight will move toward train travel. To value car/truck travel higher than coordinating walking/biking and light rail is to build in planned obsolescence. 

Three – As a publicly funded project, the IBR has a responsibility to the taxpayers to coordinate with other transportation projects in the same area or adjacent to it to maximize the public benefits and minimize the expense. Specifically, the 40-mile Loop should be incorporated into the IBR without barriers, crossings, or interruptions, and the IBR project should extend to connect to the 40-mile Loop. In doing so, IBR must coordinate also with the work on the levy being done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Four – The local neighborhood stands to be greatly affected by the IBR and the changes to the streets that feed it. IBR would be grossly negligent if coordination with Portland Bureau of Transportation and the citizens are not highly integral in the design and planning. Decisions made now will affect the community for decades to come and corrections will not be easily made or funded. It is fiscally irresponsible for the IBR to not address these concerns. Of immediate issue is the truck traffic on Marine Drive East, which is a neighborhood street and runs on the levy. The design must direct truck traffic to Columbia Boulevard instead.

Click here to learn more about the IBR Project and how you can share your thoughts with decision-makers.

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PDX CEI Hub Task Force
City wide issues, Local Issues

Urgent Call to Action on CEI Hub – Support Needed for Upcoming Ordinance & Public Hearings

We have three critical updates on the CEI (Critical Energy Infrastructure) Hub in our community. These developments are urgent, and your support is crucial:

1. CEI Hub Public Awareness Campaign

    2. Support the Proposed Risk Bonding Ordinance

    This week Multnomah County commissioners will hold a briefing on a proposed ordinance to require CEI Hub operators to carry risk bonds –  financial guarantees that they will cover the costs of emergency response and recovery in the event of a fuel or hazardous material spill. See Nov. 7 agenda, item R.4.  Without financial responsibility guarantees, those costs will fall on residents and taxpayers. Risk bonds are commonly required in other industries, such as construction and home repair.

    We need to let the county chair and commissioners know that there’s community-wide support for risk bonding. 3 things you can do:

    • Show Your Support: Multnomah County commissioners will discuss an ordinance requiring CEI Hub operators to carry risk bonds, ensuring they cover spill response costs, not taxpayers. Attend a county meeting on Nov. 14 or Nov. 21 at 9:30 am in the Multnomah Building (501 SE Hawthorne Blvd.). Wear RED to show solidarity! Verify the agenda posted at the beginning of each week here!
    • Take Action: Sign the support letter for Neighborhood Associations or contact commissioners via County contact info.

    3. Voice Your Concerns on Zenith Energy’s Permit

    Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality [DEQ] is taking public comments until Dec. 16 on Zenith Energy’s application for an Air Contaminant Discharge Permit for their CEI Hub operations. The problems associated with Zenith’s operations were one of the six points raised in the joint letter your NA signed earlier this year. 

    It’s important to hold DEQ accountable for protecting public and environmental health and safety. 3 things you can do:

    • First, learn more about Zenith’s operations and the current situation, here.
    • Sign a petition calling on DEQ to deny Zenith’s Air Contaminant Discharge Permit, here.
    • Come to the DEQ public hearing on Tues., Nov. 19.  Rally at 6pm; Hearing from 7-9pm. Buckley Center Auditorium, University of Portland. Or join via zoom.  More info here.
    • In advance of the public hearing, attend the Rumble on the River Zenith Comment-Writing Workshop on Wed., Nov. 13, 7:00-8:00pm. This session will provide background, talking points and comment writing tips. –zoom link

      You can let us know that you’re signing on to the attached letter, schedule a presentation, or ask for further information by replying to this e-mail or to ceitaskforce@gmail.com 

      MultCo-Letter of support for Risk BondingDownload Letter

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      City wide issues, Local Issues, Uncategorized

      Help Shape Houselessness Solutions in Portland

      The Homeless Solutions Coalition of the City of Portland District Four Coalition is seeking your input!

      Please take a moment to rate candidates’ responses by completing these quick online surveys:

      Your feedback helps guide our community toward better solutions! Learn more about the initiative here.

      Link to YouTube Recording

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