Draft Minutes of March 1, 2010
Southeast Uplift Board Meeting, 7-9pm
Members present:
Marianne Colgrove, Ardenwald-Johnson Creek, Chair
Jeff West, Buckman, Secretary
Julie Ratcliff, at-large
Joanna Beatty, Montavilla
Bryan Agee, Mt. Scott-Arletta, Vice Chair
Mary Louise Ott, South Tabor
MJ Coe, Laurelhurst
Pete Jacobsen, at-large, Treasurer
Roy Hartley, Richmond
Louisa Lakos, SE Uplift, Office Coordinator
April Burris, North Tabor
Paul Leistner, Mt. Tabor, Past-Chair
Moshe Lenske, Woodstock
Blythe Pavlik, SE Uplift, Communications Program Manager
Shirley Nacoste, IRCO
John Noel, Sunnyside
Outside attendees:
Lee Perlman, Freelance Writer
Beth Sorenson, PP&R
Chris Dearth, PP&R
Rich Cassidy, Sunday Parkways
Paul Tourville, Brentwood-Darlington
Sarah VanKader, Brentwood-Darlington
Quorum established at 7:02pm and meeting called to order by Marianne.
Minutes from January 4th, meeting (Marianne Colgrove):
Correction: change date from February 2nd to February 1st; change “land user committee” to “land use committee” in the last paragraph of the Land Use Committee Update section. Moshe moves to approve minutes as amended, Bryan seconds, one abstention (April)
Sunday Parkways (Rich Cassidy):
Rich Cassidy updates the Board that there will be five (5) Sunday Parkways, adding two dates: one in Northeast in May and one still to-be-determined on September 26th.  
The Southeast route will be the same as last year except that they will cut off Mt. Tabor – this part of the course was a nightmare from a control/police perspective.   Police asked for a few changes this year: the hours now reduced to 10am through 3pm (last year 9am-4pm), and the route will be on the west side of Mt. Tabor. The route is still a 6 mile course and will hopefully be the same weekend as the Hawthorne Street Fair.
Rich also notes the SmartTrips program is coming to the Green Line corridor.  Smart Trips is a comprehensive approach to reduce drive-alone trips and increase biking, walking, public transit ridership, carpooling, car sharing and combining trips.  Key components include biking and walking maps and organized activities which get people out in their neighborhoods to shop, work, and discover how many trips they can easily, conveniently and safely make without using a car.  Bike couriers will deliver materials from SE 72nd to SE 122nd Street, including walking kit, pedometer, etc.   Volunteers may be needed to lead bike rides, etc.
April inquires about possibilities for the September 26th date.  Rich notes that downtown, Northwest and/or the Pearl District are in consideration per the request of the Mayor – but it’s still being worked out.   BikePortland.org is currently doing a poll online on where to hold the fifth Sunday Parkways, and St. John’s, Woodstock, and Sellwood have emerged as other possibilities.
Parks Bond Measure Information (Chris Dearth):
Chris Dearth updates and gives slide show re: the early initiative to potentially have a 20-year Portland Parks & Recreation bond appear on the Fall ballot.   A list of capital projects was handed out totaling $236.5 million (programming concerns will not be addressed), which address urgent needs (fixing restrooms & sports fields, replacing play equipment, providing parks/centers to areas that currently have none).  While bond is 20 years, projects would be built out as quickly as possible (5-8 years).   Any potential bond initiative will stress four main points: safety, basic maintenance, access, accountability.
City Council will consider if it will be on the ballot on mid-April.  While bonds are under consideration for schools, libraries, arts community, etc., it is likely the Parks bond would be the only one on the Fall ballot as the final determination will be if they think the economy is strong enough to support passing the bond.
Bylaws (Pete Jacobsen):
Pete notes proposed bylaw changes were sent out 14 days ahead per legal requirements.  Each will be discussed and voted on separately.
Change 1 - Article III
Proposed text:
The Southeast Uplift area shall be defined as the area of Portland south of the Banfield Freeway to the southern city limits and that area east of the Willamette River generally to 82nd Avenue (south of Division Street) or I-205 (north of Division Street), but may include unincorporated areas within City-recognized neighborhoods which lie partially or wholly outside the city limits.
Bryan moves to adopt change, Moshe seconds.  Motion passes w/o dissent.
Change 2 - Article V, Section 1, item 4
Proposed text:
Up to five (5) directors as at-large persons with special expertise or interest.
Discussion:
April, Shirley, John and Roy raise concerns regarding proposed new balance of board members.   Concerns are raised that new at-large members may not be from neighborhoods, recruited at-large members would turn the organizational focus more inward and take away focus from neighborhood(s), and that given all of the slotted board spots (currently 20 for neighborhoods, 4 for business associations, 5 for community groups, and 3 for at-large members) are not currently being used already, isn’t adding new board slots a premature solution to recruiting new members with defined skills that the organization may need?
Marianne notes that even though the bylaws say the board can not be less than 15 members, over her tenure that’s a number SE Uplift has struggled to achieve every year.
Bryan notes that offering board membership to recruits with needed skillsets enhances their buy-in and commitment to the organization by offering them a stake and/or responsibility to SE Uplift by participating on the board.
Moshe moves to adopt change, Bryan seconds.  Eight (8) votes in favor (Marianne, Bryan, Jeff, Julie, Joanna, Paul, Pete, Mary Louise); five (5) oppose (Moshe, MJ, Roy, Shirley, John); one (1) abstention (April). Motion does not carry.
Change 3 - Article X, first paragraph
Proposed text:
A transaction in which a director may have a direct or indirect conflict of interest may be approved by a vote of the Board of Directors if in advance of the vote all material facts of the transaction and the director's interest are disclosed to the board. A personal financial interest shall include a financial interest held by the board member and/or by member(s) of his/her immediate family. Examples of conflict of interest include employment by Southeast Uplift, ownership of property the use or control of which is being considered by Southeast Uplift, etc.
Moshe moves to adopt change, John seconds, passes w/o dissent
Change 4 - Article VIII Committees, Section 5
Proposed text:
Section 5. Solicitation of Funds
Solicitation of funds for Fiscal Sponsored Projects are made only on the condition that SE Uplift retains complete control and discretion over the use of the contributed funds.
Bryan moves to adopt change, April seconds.  Passes w/o dissent.
Land Use Committee (April Burris):
April – no update from land use committee as she did not attend the last meeting.
Laurelhurst/Mynt Gentleman’s Club Update (MJ Coe):
MJ gives brief background on events from last meeting (see previous minutes).  Julie helped prepare letter from Southeast Uplift re: the issue and addressing the location and trustworthiness concerns of the applicant.
OLCC issued its report – even though there was evidence for denial, OLCC staff felt it was not of the high enough magnitude to deny license (4-1 vote), although the license was issued with a narrow, defined restrictions.  Katherine Anderson (Crime Prevention) informed the Laurelhurst NA that Mynt here plans to open either March 12th or March 19th.
Nearby neighbors have since met and have decided to hire legal representation.  These neighbors called for emergency Laurelhurst NA board meeting & convened and entered into contract with the “Near Neighbors” to create “defense fund” of sorts and will potentially ask the OLCC go through “reconsideration” process re: the application.
Despite opting to back the “reconsideration” process, a cause for concern before the Laurelhurst NA is that the restrictions put in place on the license will help the NA in the long-run should any issues arise, and that opting to pursue “reconsideration” and losing may put the NA in a less advantageous position for future problems and/or applicants re: this establishment.
Marianne notes that one key “lesson” learned from this process is that it benefited the NA to *NOT* have a Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) in place before the OLCC issued a license.  Some of the restrictions from the proposed GNA were included as more enforceable criteria/restrictions as part of the application – whereas if they were included in the GNA they would be less enforceable (legally).  An existing GNA makes applicant look more favorable with their application.
ONI Grant & Budget (Paul Leistner):
Paul passes out a handout on the ONI budget.  This year is another “cut year” because of economy.  ONI has conducted the required budget exercise (cutting 3% and temporarily 1%) and, similar to last year, has submitted a proposed “right budget” that addresses the appropriateness of many of these cuts in the budget exercise.   The “right budget” will result in a $516,131 request.  We are not at point yet where they want community members to call council members – Commissioner Fritz will let everyone know when to do that.
Timeline going forward:
March 30th, 9am – ONI will go in & present proposed budget; although there will be no time for public testimony, last year the chamber was filled with supporters and folks are urged to do this again.
End of April – Mayor’s proposed budget
Later in June – city council finally votes to adopt
Marianne notes SE Uplift will have to prepare their budget before the city’s final budget is approved, and the SE Uplift board will have to approve the new grant (“contract”) agreement with city coming up later in the year.
Director's Report: (Marianne Colgrove)
•    Lots of good publicity for Solarize Portland – SE Uplift received award from Energy Trust; SW & NE coalitions are carrying on with similar projects
•    MJ & Marianne met with Tim & Anne to discuss timeline for grant re: stormwater management; at some point a spot in parking lot will include a bioswale-like component and several of the downspouts will be disconnected
•    Work will be getting underway for a companion grant which will allow for some planting of native plants.
•    SE Uplift retreat potentially being planned for early April.  The organization has been using a work/strategic plan that was put in place in 2008.  ONI requires a work plan each year, but since Anne just started at the beginning of the fiscal year, the previous year’s work plan was carried over.    Still figuring out when/what the process will be (maybe Saturday April 10th  -- a morning/lunch wrap-up meeting – although the event is still in the idea phase)