2012 April Meeting Minutes

Humboldt Neighborhood Association General Meeting
April 10, 2012

Board Members Present: Paul Anthony, Brooke Chilton Timmons, Mike Salmond, Will Villota Brian Murtagh, Dave Ketah

Board Members Absent: Susan O’Connor, Breanne Antonious, Isa Dean

• Steve Jacquot from North Portland Precinct
  • In & Out Market now seems to be in compliance (not selling things that could be used in a drug trade, limiting types of alcohol)
  • New Street Crimes Unit out of North Precinct- Two Officers and a Sergeant, few hundred arrests- an email/note to the Commander would be great if the new unit is appreciated or if residents notice a positive difference
  • Lots of car break-ins in March, especially between 4:00 and 8:00 pm
  • Questions from resident: Is it possible to find out the demographics of people who are being arrested?
    • Those things are tracked. Officer Jacquot does not have those statistics with him tonight- Paul will get that information for the group
• Is it possible for more warnings to be given rather than fines/arrests?
  • Sounds as if the fines/arrests are happening for repeat offenders
• Concern from resident: Increased drug traffic being pushed off Killingsworth into the residential streets, happens during the lunch hour- may be high school students?
• Anika Berry and Lizzie Medford from Catlin Gable
  • Urban Studies class- I-5 corridor, more people in the neighborhood could mean more pollution, Columbia River Crossing – high density housing
  • Gathering information from residents about their opinions/awareness about the health effects of pollution – have been distributing surveys
  • Hoping to present final product to the City Council
  • Discussion with Representative Lew Frederick regarding Humboldt Elementary Closure
    • The situation is fluid, a lot of ideas are floating around right now
      • Best information right now is that the School Board plans to close Humboldt and merge the school population with Boise-Elliot, with potentially some students going to King
      • One idea has been to create an Early Learning Center at Humboldt spurred by the Governor’s Early Education Plan
      • Think closing Humboldt is a bad idea
      • Why are families choosing not to send their kids to Humboldt
        • Families don’t have confidence in what will happen there in a couple of years- historically there have been many changes
  • 90% Students of Color, 96% FRL- Neighborhood boundaries are 70% White Students
  • Neighborhood Association could demand that something good happen for the kids of this community
  • Stop the school from becoming surplus property- Kenton Elementary School- leased to De La Salle and Collinsview leased to Riverdale
  • School District continues to disrupt the program at the school
    • School board needs to hear others talk about Humboldt, not just parents
• Meeting on Thursday night came about because none of the meetings were near to Humboldt
  • Seems like there was very little thought put into the decisions and community involvement
  •  25 students for every FTE- only 205 students currently enrolled
  • Don’t have any support staff- the school board is saying that it is mathematically impossible for Humboldt to stay open
  • Using the word “proposed,” but it seems like it’s a done deal
  • Send a copy of your letters to news organizations
  • Families need to see an advantage in sending their students to our neighborhood schools
  • For it to be successful it needs to be a racially mixed community school
• Closing Tubman- Young Women’s Academy
  • Program does extremely well- small classes, full science lab
  • Again parents have been unsure if it will be open for the last 3 years
• Choice issue
  • Whitest class at Humboldt is Pre-K, some stay for Kindergarten- many of those families aren’t even from the neighborhood
  • Historically, Humboldt was part of the desegregation plan
  • One of the possibilities is to create a middle school at Tubman
  • K-8 programs primarily happen in poor neighborhoods, difference in Science Labs, elective choices
• Humboldt- working to close the achievement gap- seen phenomenal growth there
  • Once something has been successful, the school board seems to close it
• Jefferson High School rename
  • Haven’t had one Jefferson Alumni tell me that they want to rename the school
  • Been having this conversation for 20 years
  • This is not a primary issue for me at – much more concerned about having a true comprehensive high school
• LewFrederick.org- please let me hear from you
• Encourage your message to be about what you want this area to be in 5 years- what would we see?

• NECN- Schools Working Group
  • Paul involved with starting this

• BES- Tree Planting along N. Missouri/I-5 Soundwall
• Approval of minutes: March HNA minutes approved
• Humboldt Board Election Process
  • Needed: Chairperson, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Parliamentarian, Historian, three At-Large Positions
• NECN Announcements
  • NECN Business Development Committee Forum- May 1, 2012
  • Killingsworth Street Clean Up- April 21, 2012
  • Humboldt Neighborhood Clean Up- April 28, 2012
  • EMSWCD Naturescaping Class- May 19, 2012
• PCC Bond Advisory Committee- meeting with small group
• Jefferson Frontage Improvements look like they are going to happen
• Meeting Adjourned