These notes are only a summary of the meeting. The official minutes were taken by secretary Ronda Johnson, and will be approved at the next Sumner Association of Neighbors (SAN) meeting.
Treasurer’s report — SAN has $2,020 including $595 raised by the neighborhood cleanup on May 16. We’ll have an additional $2,000, our annual budget allocated via Central NE Neighbors (CNN), added to our account on July 1.
Guest speakers — Mark Wells, crime prevention coordinator, and Portland police officer Amanda McMillan, spoke about budget cuts, the new ‘North’ police precinct, and how community policing works.
In short, budget cuts largely spared neighborhood policing, graffiti abatement, and similar programs this year due to public outcry. But Wells and McMillan warned that next year’s budget could be much worse.
The sprawling North precinct will pose some challenges for police, but Sumner benefits from having a fire station (on NE 87th off Sandy) where police can stop.
McMillan says community policing works best when neighbors share their concerns about chronic issues and are specific about where, when activities are occuring. When contacting the Neighborhood Response Team, include information about the times of day, days of the week, addresses, and vehicle numbers of the suspect activity.
Sumner neighborhood action plan — Attendees reviewed the 2009-2010 neighborhood action plan, reputed to be its first plan ever. The plan covers the areas of membership, community outreach and involvement, land use, transportation, clean-up and crime prevention. The action plan will be presented for a final OK at the Oct. 8 general meeting. (A future blog post will detail the action plan in greater detail.)
Special meeting set for July 9 — A special SAN general meeting — open to the public — was scheduled for Thursday, July 9, at 7 PM for two specific issues:
- Planning for the National Night Out barbecue at Helensview High School on Tuesday, Aug 4.
- Brainstorming for a Sumner neighborhood survey to be conducted this summer. The survey would help inform the priorities set in the 2009-2010 action plan.
The special meeting location is the CNN office, 4415 NE 87th Ave (back door of the fire station on NE 87th between NE Prescott and NE Sandy).
