March Meeting Minutes
Humboldt Neighborhood Association
General Meeting- March 8, 2011
Board Members Present: Paul Anthony, Gretchen Brask, Brian Murtagh, Susan O’Connor, Breanne Antonious, Isa Dean, Mike Salmond
Board Members Absent: Will Villota
Introductions
Minutes from February meeting- Gretchen going to be sending them out to the group
Vision Oregon Zero- Brandy Steffen, PSU
o Looking at ways to reduce pedestrian deaths to zero
o Website: visionzerooregon.org
o Talking to folks in neighborhoods right now and going to create a community kit to help neighborhoods create safer roads
Humboldt Elementary- Brenda Ketah, PTA President
· Backpack program
o Food that will help the families with food over weekends and breaks. Humboldt has 270 students, 100% of them qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch
o Food donations from Genesis Fellowship for about 10 families will get the program going. Would like to increase it to 30 backpacks.
o Looking to collect in-kind and cash donations to get the program going, Oregon Food Bank looking to see that the program has been in existence for six months
o Board will need to decide if they are willing to be the financial agent for the work with the OFB
o New partnership with Franz Bakery
· Friends and Family Night at McMenimins tonight!
· In June the PTA puts on a Carnival
o We are starting to look for donations- gift cards, crafts for a silent auction
o Franz Bakery also helping with donations for the event
Jefferson High School Alumni Association- Maggie Mashia, Jefferson Alumni Association- Community member, Jefferson parent and Alumni Association member
· Alumni Association has been around for 4-5 years
· Jefferson will stay open and won’t change much, Middle College will be open to all of the students at the school
· By the time a student completes their four years, a student will be able to earn an Associates Degree
· Students will be able to take college classes during the day, PCC teachers will come to Jeff
· Students have to take at least one college class each year
· Jefferson will still have sports programs
· Alumni Association is asking that PPS build on what is good, not starting over from scratch
· School district bond- considering a rebuild of Jefferson or a renovation- Appears that the district would like to rebuild
· Ways to get involved: volunteers, Alumni Association can help folks find meaningful roles, SEI, Jefferson Alumni Association- jeffalum.com
· Jefferson is looking for a new principal- in the last 12 years there have been 8 principals Need to have consistent leadership and support- school district could write a contract that keeps someone in place for 5-8 years
· Mike- suggested that we write a letter to PPS
· March 16, community meeting about principal selection
· HNA- Would love to have a representative from the Alumni Association come frequently to our meetings
Jefferson High School Name Change- Clifford Walker- lifetime resident of Humboldt and graduate of Jefferson High School
· Thomas Jefferson HS is a memorial to a person who was a slave trader
· Would like to see the centerpiece of Humboldt be something different
· Would like the HNA to be a leader in asking PPS to change the name
· Brian- Am interested in the conversation and how this conversation could open up a dialogue with long time community residents. Maybe it’s an opportunity to change people’s perceptions of the HNA
· The district does not seem open to this change
· Maggie Mashia- Recently changed the name of an elementary school to Rosa Parks, so there is a precedent
o Paul- Albina Ministerial Alliance may have been involved
· Brian- Where do we start? Like to have the discussion at an intellectual level
o Cliff- Current Chair of Oregon Council of Black Affairs
· Maggie- the timing may be right now, this is our community school
· Need to know what the process is and have everything ready, so the school board would just need to make a decision
· Many of the older alumni are disconnected from the school
· Paige- One of the things that we found to be effective when there is not a clear leader is to gather a small number of people to draft a letter together
· Discussion: We are not representative of the neighborhood
· Could the HNA or the Jefferson Alumni Association host a discussion event about this issue?
· What is the current student government opinion on this issue?
· Cliff- it’s good to know the neighbors and to have a discussion
· Maggie- the discussion needs to happen in order to have a united front and find out if people are of like minds
Pennisula Park Community Center- Josh Green, Director
· Working on the windows soon- stimulus money
· 10th largest user of energy in the Parks Department- 100 years old, not removing the current winters, Attaching storm windows to the outside
· Piedmont- Rosa Parks memorial- NE corner, between tennis court and Rosa Parks
· IFCC musical performances
Salvation Army Community Center- Brandon Kyle
· Family Dinner Nights on Wednesday 5:30-7:00, 30-60 people right now
o Looking to partner with the OFB to have it 5 nights per week
· Youth Basketball- Grades 1-5
· Food Pantry
Liquor License at 832 N Killingsworth- Paul Anthony
- Michael Wolfson- Satiricon, Tube, Yes and No, Sunday
- No video poker
- New Killingsworth Dynasty- community gathering place for the young queer Portland community, alternative sports bar
- Standard pub fare
- Liquor License representative for the Buckman Community Association
- Barber shop going into the corner spot
- Planning to start sometime in May/June
Motion to adjourn, motion seconded
Meeting adjourned
