Alameda's 17th Annual Spring Cleanup

May 14, 2011 8:00AM-3:00PM

NE Klickitat between 23rd and 24th Aves.

at The Madeleine School

$10 per car (or pickup truck) load of stuff

• Appliances are fine, but no freon (fridges or A/C units)
• Mattresses are fine
• Small amounts of yard waste
• Very small amounts of concrete
• Paint & liquid solvents
  • no leaking containers
  • 5 gal can size max
  • from personal not commercial use
  • (must provide name & address and must leave before 2pm)
• Computers and peripherals (small per-unit charge for Free Geek)
• Audio and electronic stuff (except broken CRT monitors)
Some volunteer positions for the May 14th Cleanup are still open. For information please contact:
Charles at rice.pdx@gmail.com  or  Jennifer at jenmaevemorrissey@gmail.com
Additional recycling options:

Community Warehouse, 3969 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (corner of NE Shaver) for items too nice to toss:

Items accepted by Community Warehouse

Furniture — Mattresses & Box Springs (especially Twin and Double), Dressers, Kitchen Tables & Chairs, Sofas, Recliners, Coffee & End Tables, Small Desks and Lamps

Kitchenware — Dishes, Glasses, Pots & Pans, Silverware, Cooking Utensils, Baking Pans & Casserole Dishes, Toasters, Coffee Makers, Mixers, Blenders and Microwave Ovens

Basic Household Items — Sheets, Blankets, Towels, Sleeping Pillows, Alarm Clocks, Fans, Space Heaters, Mops, Brooms & Vacuum Cleaners, Irons, Telephones and Wastebaskets

Community Warehouse does not take:  Sectionals or hide-a-beds, large desks, baby items or baby furniture, wood bed frames, console televisions, large appliances, exercise equipment, clothing, or food.

Free Geek Suggested Fee Schedule (donation for recycling)

1. A/V Gizmo ($3.00 ea.)
2. Camera ($2.00 ea.)
3. Computers ($5.00 ea.)
4. Printers ($4.00 ea.)
5. Scanners ($3.00 ea.)
6. LCD monitors ($4.00 ea.)
7. Keyboards and Mice ($1.00 ea.)
8. Networking Devices ($1.00 ea.)
9. Fax Machines ($4.00 ea.)
10. Telephones, including Cell Phones ($2.00 ea.)
11. Stereo Components ($4.00 ea.)
12. Uninteruptable Power Supply ($5.00 ea.)
13. Other miscellaneous gizmos ($1.00 ea.)

Free Geek Will Not Accept:

1. Styrofoam
2. Microwave Ovens
3. Copiers
4. Smoke Detectors
5. Household Appliances (including air conditioners)
6. Batteries
7. Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Alameda Neighborhood Forum:

Portland Public Schools Ballot Measures

26-121 : Bond for Buildings $580,000,000

26-122 : Levy for Operations $19,000,000

Monday, May 2, 2011

6:30 - Sign in, meet neighbors, find seat

Forum will begin at 7:00 and end at 9:00 pm

at the Fremont United Methodist Church

2620 NE Fremont

(enter east end of building)

Hear those who favor and those who oppose these Measures

Professionally Moderated by Resolutions Northwest

* Portlanders for Schools

Scott Bailey & Tess Fields

Favor both measures

* Oregon Transformation Project

Lindsay Bersauer

Oppose both measures

* Learn Now/Build Later

Dr. Eric Fruits

Favor Levy, Oppose Bond

There will be a neutral overview by Alameda Neighborhood Association Chair Scott Rider, then speakers will speak briefly minutes for or against each measure Measures, moderated by Resolutions Northwest.

Following the speakers, there will be up to an hour for 2-minute questions and comments by the audience. The Public Information Officer of Portland Public Schools will be available to provide technical details of schools and plans if requested.

This Neighborhood Forum is presented by the Alameda Neighborhood Association to help assure well-informed voters who will determine the results of the election May 17th.

The Forum is FREE and everyone is invited.

Questions regarding the Forum?  Call 503-528-9651 or 503-284-9829



Sign up for Fall Portland NET training!

The Alameda NET Team needs you! Seats for the Fall 2011 Portland NET Training Classes are still available but going fast. The course is four hours a week (either Wednesday nights or Saturday mornings) for 8 weeks including the Final Field Exam. Everyone over 14 years of age is encouraged to attend.

Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NETs) are residents trained by the Portland Office of Emergency Management and Portland Fire & Rescue to provide emergency disaster assistance within their own neighborhoods. NET members are:

• Prepared for self-sufficiency for 72 hours in any emergency.
• Able to provide emergency assistance to their family and immediate neighbors.
• Able to work as an emergency response team to save lives and property in their neighborhood in the event of a major disaster.
• Able to guide untrained volunteers who want to help others when disaster strikes.

The City of Portland offers the NET training at no cost to people who live or work in Portland, and is committed to training and organizing a team in each of the city’s 95 neighborhoods. Sign up for the classes on the POEM website at tinyurl.com/24atk5.

The School Board Voted: No Boundary Change 2011;Next Year Count On It

As reported by Molly Jorgensen, "The school board voted 4-2 to support the superintendent's recommendation not to make a boundary change this year. Alameda students will be given priority for transferring to Sabin. Sabin will determine the number of transfer spots available by grade. The board made it clear that there will be a boundary change next year."

As sportscasters have reminded us, "The opera ain't over til the fat lady sings!" (A reference to hefty ladies in Grand Opera in earlier times.) Well, folks, she has sung. And the Alameda-Sabin school boundary won't change--for a year. That much is "settled."  But our sportscasters might also advise us the game has gone into overtime. For a year. This gives us all time to dig into the facts of our neighborhoods and sectors thereof. It affords us time to learn what's been tried, is being done, has been planned, what "can't" be done and why.

The neighbors who led the move for more careful consideration may take a week to breathe deeply, check on family and friends in other parts of the world, and get set for the serious work ahead. The neighbors who were roused from pleasant tranquility in Alameda's ungated community found not barbarians at their virtual gate, but neighbors eager to solve genuine problems. We have not a reprieve but an exceptional chance to be part of determining the way a boundary will be shifted, and for what purposes.

An unabashed plug: Alameda Neighborhood Association's board meets every 4th Monday at 7:00 pm at Fremont United Methodist Church, 2620 NE Fremont St. and all neighbors are invited to attend and participate in creating new relationships and considering new solutions. The board has revised its committees for a more vigorous neighborhood role, yielding a couple of plum positions for community service for neighbors who feel they ought to be doing something that really matters. Come February 28th and see.

Ad Hoc committee voted 2:1 in favor of the Superintendent's recommendation

PPS Board members Bobbie Regan, Ruth Adkins and Pam Knowles (chair) listened attentively to the eight members of the public who had signed up online to comment during the half-hour allowed. One spoke for Alameda families who live in sections D&F (the 57th Ave. area); one spoke as an Alameda parent worried by the overcrowding; one (a BAC Sabin rep) spoke of being welcoming of students from outside the Sabin boundary but not "eager" for them, and of the importance of the International Bacculareate program; a member of the Sabin PTA wants ACCESS included in all the studies that delay will make possible; a parent of two ACCESS students and one Sabin student hopes Sabin continues on an "upward trajectory"; an Alameda parent of a 3rd and a 5th grade student emphasized that the scope of the PPS study was far too limited and very much too rushed and lacking opportunity for public response for the results to be accepted as reliable; another Alameda parent said parents can and will do what they deem necessary to assure their children attend a good school, and said nobody in the affected areas was involved in the study, which needed every viewpoint available; the final speaker noted that the BAC was charged to do the impossible: to balance economic diversity.

In their discussion among themselves after public comment, members of the board and staff recognized that they had seriously fumbled in not thinking to find a way to inform parents of children not yet in school. But they felt they had no other way open than to rely on vigorous neighborhood volunteers. In haste they had also omitted and offended several other constituencies, but they revealed little concern that they should avoid such poor communication in the future, other than to post a bit more on the PPS website. A staff member said they "typically involve neighborhood associations."

The Alameda Neighborhood Association had new officers coming in during November and December, but the communication chair (with 5 years tenure) received no information from PPS about the study or BAC or any other aspect. In fact, on Oct.28th the newsletter editor asked a writer to prepare an article based on a message from an Alameda parent saying a study and possible border change was afoot. The principal, asked about the matter, said "Currently there is no decision about boundary or anything like that. There is no plan at all, many possibilities about Alameda are being talked about... The only thing that is true is that I asked the District to figure out a plan to help with Alameda numbers....I suppose people can talk all they want and make assumptions but currently none of those assumptions are even remotely true."  Next thing the editor heard was a BAC was actively working during the holidays, with an orange and a blue plan coming forth from the district's magical hat. And on 01/09/11 ANA gathered some 50 people to try to get more light and less smoke. The ANA sent a detailed letter to the Superintendent and PPS Board members objecting to the narrow scope, inadequate public disclosure and frantically rushed schedule and requesting a delay for a better process and plan.

Finally the Superintendent determined that the plan pushed through the BAC left too many issues unresolved, that the effort, however valiant, could not overcome the lack of time to get current data, adequate community involvement, and sufficient breadth of scope to reach a solid plan now. Her recommendation was a one-year delay during which heavy-duty work will be required. Ad Hoc committee member Bonnie Regan agreed, but emphasized the delay was more of a "pause," not a decision for status quo. Ruth Adkins appeared to think that more time would yield less budget, no more agreement or support, and would provide students and teachers another year of gridlocked classrooms. Pam Knowles, with an ironic grin, voted with Ms. Regan to send the Superintendent's recommendation with a few remarks to the full PPS Board for their vote on Feb.7th.

Today at Blanchard Ed. Ctr. 5:00 pm

Reminder. The PPS Ad Hoc committee will discuss the Superintendent's recommendation, but now will meet in the Auditorium, and now will hear public comment before they discuss the recommendation. Those wishing to comment will need to sign in to do so, and comments will be limited--expect 3 minutes per person.

"Ad Hoc Committee of PPS" will discuss Superintendent's Recommendation Feb.3 at 5:00pm

The Ad-hoc committee of the PPS Board will meet on Thursday, February 3rd at 5:00 pm to discuss the Superintendent's Recommendation for the Alameda-Sabin-Beaumont boundary and program change. This meeting is open to the public; however no public comment will be allowed during the meeting. This is where we can see whether we can expect the Superintendent's Recommendation to be brought to the PPS Board for approval.

The meeting is currently scheduled to meet at the Willamette Conference Room, Blanchard Education Service Center, 501 N. Dixon, Portland OR 97227. Check at the last minute to see if the location has been changed.

If you have not been to this building before, drive westbound on NE Broadway. Turn right at N.Larabee (just before the Broadway Bridge). Turn right at Dixon (the first street). Take the first left into the parking lot of the BESC (Blanchard Education Service Center). Visitor parking spots are immediately on the left.