Neighborhood Notes has received confirmation that Portland Water Bureau is moving forward with plans to install a Portland Loo next to Jamison Square. Anne Hill, Principle Mangement Analyst with the Portland Water Bureau, said the bureau expects to install the loo in spring or early summer.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation has agreed to give up the parking space currently occupied by Zipcar. The loo will be placed in this location. It is our understanding that the Zipcar will be moved one space over—not removed. Our phone calls for confirmation have not yet been returned.
According to Hill, the Water Bureau's policy that the loo be open 24/7 is not negotiable. After the loo is installed, the PDNA Livability Committee will monitor its operation.
The Water Bureau will meet with the Planning Committee of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association this fall—possibly late October—to discuss the maintenance and operation of the Jamison loo. The Water Bureau has a budget for these items, but the provider has yet to be determined.
We realize that many neighbors are concerned about maintenance and operation issues of the Jamison loo. As soon as the Portland Water Bureau/PDNA meeting is scheduled, we'll add it to our events calendar.
Meanwhile, if you'd like to join the Planning or Livability Committees and get involved in the process, visit the PDNA web site.
So I sent a note of concern to Randy Leonard?s office regarding my perceived lack of community outreach with respect to this issue and this is the response I received back?
?Mr. Leonard had the following response to Sandra Ammerman, which I believe effectively responds to your email as well: "I respectfully disagree with your request [to perform neighborhood outreach beyond the elected Neighborhood Association]. Portland is proud of its neighborhood association based system of government. I do not support not respecting that system. I do appreciate you writing me...thank you"
So Commissioner Leonard is refusing to speak with citizens, if we want to be heard we need to be at the PDNA Planning Committee Meeting on October 20th at Dynagraphics, 300 NW 14th Ave. I wish I had been at the last meeting but was unaware of it?Shooter (who is making these postings), Per the Neighborhood Notes site it looks like you are also Ken (and married to Lynette and you both have also been posting as well as reporting) and I appreciate that you are supportive of the loo (and that is cool, we are all entitled to our opinion), but in the interest of fairness, I hope you will post when Planning Committe Meetings are taking place (unlike the September meeting.) If Neighborhood Notes is truly to be a source for news, then it cannot ?selectively? omit reporting on opportunities for citizens? voices to be heard. This is a ?hot? issue and deserves real input and debate.
The comment that the 24/7 operation is non-negotiable worries me quite a bit. Instead of meeting a market need, we are now creating market.
We need to have our voice heard. Apparently only showing up at their meetings counts. So mark your calendar and go to their meetings, and say "NO LOO IN THE PARK".
http://www.pearldistrict.org/calendar.htm
Sorry I think everyone who is against the Loo is worrying over nothing. It's just a bathroom, IF problems arise afterwords, I'm sure it will be handled.
Having a loo in a busy park should be standard.
Davey O: Slow down, neighbor! Commissioner Leonard didn?t refuse to speak with you (or any other concerned citizen) about the Jamison Loo. He simply asked that you respect the neighborhood association system?by participating.
Regarding my identity: Yes, my name is Ken Aaron and I?ve written under the screen name Shooter (because I am a photographer, not an assassin.) on Neighborhood Notes for 4 years. That?s not a secret. Likewise, Lynnette Fusilier has written under the screen name Pearlgirl?again, you guessed it, not a secret. [For the record: we?re not married.]
In the interest of fairness: we?re doing our best to keep neighbors?both those for and against the loo?in the loop on Neighborhood Notes. Not only have we reported everything we?ve learned in an unbiased fashion, we?ve encouraged neighbors to get involved by providing links to the PDNA web site and its calendar. [FYI: general meeting dates and times are also listed on the right side of this web page under the ?About Pearl District? section.]
Regarding the ?selective omission?: we do not post regularly scheduled neighborhood association board or committee meetings on the Neighborhood Notes events calendar. [We?d love to, but our admin panel doesn?t let us post recurring events and we don?t have the time, manpower or money to post all of those meetings for 95 neighborhoods. That?s why we provide links.] Therefore, it is not out of character, or an act of ?selective omission? that we did not post the PDNA Planning Committee meeting on Sept 1.
Ken. We will have to agree to disagree. I think the Neighborhood Notes postings surrounding the loo with respect to giving advance notice on important meetings is poor at best. And Randy Leonard is ignoring us. And the email from his staff was rude. On one hand, we are told to go to the PDNA, and if the report in the NW Examiner is correct, then Ms Gardner is telling us this is a city decision....so which is it? I attach the link for everyone's review. See page 9.
http://www.nwexaminer.com/issues/10October2009.pdf
The problem is that the process stinks on this. Both the city and PDNA are unresponsive. Do you know if the loo is being discussed at the PDNA Planning meeting tomorrow? Also great quotes from Sip & Kranz and Fenouil...they support the loo provided it is nowhere near their establishments....interesting, but not surprising.
Davey O: As Ken said, we don't post regularly scheduled meetings here on Neighborhood Notes [for good reason], but we do provide links that list the meetings. If advance notice is important to you, then please bookmark these links and add the meeting dates to your calendar, and if you'd like to volunteer and post those meetings on Neighborhood Notes each month, please let me know. lynnette@neighborhoodnotes.com
Background: Two years ago, Central Portland Families (facilitated by Pearl neighbor Nancy Davis) led Commissioner Leonard on a tour of the neighborhood. Patty Gardner was also invited to attend this tour. During that tour, the need for a toilet in Jamison Square was pointed out by this group. Fast forward a couple of years: Commissioner Leonard responds by proposing the Jamison Loo as a solution [to a problem raised by Pearl residents]. Leonard left the final decision [to loo or not to loo] up to the PDNA. In a nutshell: The need for a toilet in Jamison was pointed out by Pearl neighbors, and a solution proposed by the City and approved by our neighborhood association. I hope this clarifies your question about this being a city or neighborhood decision.
We don't know if the loo is being discussed at the Planning meeting. You should contact Patty Gardner about that. [Her contact details are on the PDNA web site]
FYI: After you sign up to receive emails from the Planning Committee, you'll find that the meeting agendas are emailed the day prior to the meeting. Again, I'd suggest that you get involved and become an informed neighbor?rather than insist on being spoon-fed information. In this regard, we think your performance is poor. And, while we're at it: why don't you use your real name? Just as Allan pointed out in his editor's column, people take a different tone when cloaked in anonymity.
Interesting, but not surprising.
I live across the street from Jamison Square and I support a 24 hr. bathroom and a person's right to pee with dignity. Having this heavily used park without a public bathroom needs to be rectified. Perhaps having this bathroom will also cut down on surreptitious urination. Resulting problems, if any, can be addressed as they arise.
Andy and Irwin, Thanks for taking a few moments and contributing to the conversation about the Loo. We appreciate everyone's comments.
Ken/Lynette.
My apologies if I offended. I do not expect to be spoonfed. But given the concern over the loo, I would have hoped that important meetings would be posted (in an article.) I have consistently stated that the loo may be, in fact, the way to go. But I think the jury is out, based not only upon the lack of input but also the performance of the existing loo in Old Town. Clearly, the loo in Jamison is going to happen. I hope for the best but I am extremely skeptical. I hope you are right and I am wrong. As for my name, it is David. I used Davey O as it is a nickname a friend gave me. I have always posted under this name. My questions arose when I realized that the same people were writing articles under one name, and making posts commenting about the article under another name. Why not just post under your byline to avoid confusion? I don't see anything wrong with anonymity, but I felt it was deceptive. Perhaps I am wrong; I will let others judge. In any event, my intent was not to alienate but to question the fairness of the process and the roll of Neighborhood Notes. My bad if I offended. I am sorry.
Davey O: In both articles, whether in the body or comment section, we have provided links to the PDNA web site, its calendar and pertinent contact details. As I pointed out, the meeting agendas are sent the day prior to the meetings. We reported the information that was available: meeting dates.
I'm sorry if you find our screen names confusing. Based on your feedback, we're going to change our screen names to our full names. That wouldn't be a bad policy to institute for commenters either?especially when dealing with questions of integrity.