Tag: Louise Hoff

Community, Government

MNA Election and Bylaws Update

On November 12th, the Montavilla Neighborhood Association (MNA) held its annual election, adding two new board members and reelecting Louise Hoff for another two-year term. The membership also voted to update language in the group’s bylaws to remove membership term limits and mail notification requirements for shorter annual meeting notices, along with other minor updates. Due to an access issue, the in-person meeting was relocated from its planned location to Montavilla Brew Works at 7805 SE Stark Street.

New board members Steph Cleary and Colleen Howard received unanimous approval from 21 ballots, as did the write-in incumbent Louise Hoff. Cleary is a freelance writer and is a former high school English teacher. She will take on the Secretary board position, freeing former Secretary Spencer Knowles to take the newly renamed leadership position of board President. Howard has lived in Montavilla for 40 years and is a retired nurse. She wants to use her sense of strong community involvement to keep Montavilla a “great place for everyone.” Hoff, a former board chair, will continue to lead the Parks committee for the neighborhood. Sarah Hartzel will continue in the Treasurer position, and Laura Mulligan will remain in the second leadership position with its new designation as board Vice President. Hartzel will continue to serve as the Neighborhood Coalition Delegate until another board member takes on that role and the SE Uplift board accepts their nomination from the MNA.

Neighborhood Coalition Executive Director for SE Uplift, Nanci Champlin, oversaw the election and provided the posted notice of the venue change at the Montavilla United Methodist Church. Montavilla Brew Works opened its covered outdoor seating for the MNA members and turned on their heater, quickly warming the space during the rainy night. A few members purchased pints to support the business offering last-minute meeting accommodations.

Prior to the elections, Spencer Knowles presented the proposed bylaws updates. The bylaws remained unchanged since its last review in 2015, and community concern over membership eligibility requirements expressed during the 2023 board elections prompted a reevaluation. All but two members voting by raised hands approved the bylaws edits. In the changes, the MNA determines eligibility by an adult person’s primary residence, rented or owned, existing in the Montavilla boundary. Owners of property or a business are allowed membership. Alternatively, one representative from a business or organization within the neighborhood can join on that group’s behalf. The updates also removed the three-year term limit on membership, allowing people to retain members until they are no longer eligible. Neighborhood youths 14 to 17 can become members with parental permission, and anyone can still request membership exceptions from the board to join.

The bylaws no longer require an Election Committee to manage elections, shifting that responsibility to the board. Updates to the board officers listed in the bylaws now use the term “President” instead of “Chair” and added Neighborhood Coalition Delegate to the list of officers. In other new language, the bylaws retain the required seven-day member notices of an upcoming Annual Meeting but no longer need that notice to happen by Postal mail if not presented within 30 to 60 days by communication in another form. People can review all updates that include minor word changes in the proposed bylaws document.

Although the annual election is the most efficient way for people to join the MNA board, processes allow mid-term board appointments. People wanting to serve should contact the MNA to learn more. Perpetual free general membership is now as simple as attending a meeting and affirming that you meet the requirements and want to join. The MNA recommends people subscribe to the non-profit’s email newsletter to stay up to date. More information is available at montavilla.org.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Disclosure: the author of this article served as MNA Board Chair until 2023

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Community, Event

MNA’s 2020 Online Election

UPDATE – 2020 Montavilla Neighborhood Association (MNA) elections have two candidates running for open positions on the Board. As both positions are currently unfilled, each candidate is running unopposed. Taylor Wells seeks the position of Public Safety Chair. Jacob Loeb seeks the position of Corresponding Secretary. Elections will be held online starting at 6:30 PM on November 9th, and ending 24 hours later. Those who have attended a general meeting in the past year are eligible to vote. You can attend the November 9th meeting (via zoom) and vote after the meeting.

Original post from September 26th, 2020.

It is election season all over the country with many important positions up for a vote. That includes the often overlooked election for Montavilla’s neighborhood association. Unlike national and other Oregon elected positions, association board members do not appear on the standard mail-in ballot. Historically they are elected through in-person votes at board meetings.

As with neighborhood association meetings throughout Portland, COVID-19 forced most association’s board elections online this year. “All our neighborhoods have done online elections, so [Montavilla is] not the only neighborhood that has or will conduct elections in this manner.” Explained Mireaya Medina, SE Uplift‘s Communications & Small Grants Manager. Many elections have already taken place. “Nearly all 20 [SE] neighborhoods have already completed their 2020-21 Neighborhood Association Elections.”

The Montavilla Neighborhood Association (MNA) can have eleven board member seats. The MNA website lists only eight active members. Montavilla community members wishing to join MNA do not have to run against any current board members. Candidates only need to be willing to participate in meetings and committees. SE Uplift offers resources for new board members. Reading through that information can further define what is required by serving on the board. 

Becoming a candidate for the board is relatively straight forward. It starts at the next MNA meeting, scheduled for October 12th. Candidates will self-nominate and speak about their areas of interest for community development. This weekend Louise Hoff, MNA Chair, will post notices around Montavilla encouraging participation in the October meeting. Even if you are not interested in assisting in the MNA, attend this meeting to support issues you care about in the community. It will be held on zoom, and people can signup to receive a link at the MNA website. Chairperson Hoff explained that after people speak at the October meeting, “the Board will vote on a roster and SE Uplift will create a ballot which will be available online” at the website montavillapdx.org.

Voting will open at the beginning of November, with the results announced at the November 9th MNA meeting. Outside the historically large turnout in 2017, participation in the MNA elections does not see large turnouts. However, with meetings and the election now held online, this is an easy year to participate. 

Infrastructure

Public Trash Can Expansion

In Montavilla Town, there are only two public trash cans. One sits next to the TriMet number 15 bus stop near McDonald’s. The other is a few blocks away on SE 79th. These two represent the highest density of public trash cans within Montavilla, but soon that could change. In 2016, Portland City Council expanded the city public trash can program into underserved areas. The expansion has been sporadic. However, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) expects it to reach Montavilla late in 2021.

To fund the public trash program, City Council adopted an increase to the solid waste commercial tonnage fee of $1.30. The first use of those collected funds happened in 2017, with a Jade District pilot distribution of new cans purchased from Securr. In the past few weeks, two of the new cans have arrived on NE Glisan near NE 97th Ave.

The Securr trash enclosures prevent misuse and dumping by design. These containers have locking doors and a small trash aperture that only allows individual items. Despite their availability, trash bags have already accumulated around one of the new cans. Outside of financial concerns over public trash collection, trash piled around cans has been the primary concern with public trash can programs.

Not all municipalities see expanded public trash cans are as an accepted solution to litter and dumping on city streets. In 2018, the Harlem neighborhood of New York systematically reduced trash cans. City staff viewed the misuse of the cans as a widespread failure of the program, with cans crammed full of trash bags and debris from homes and businesses. In that case, they removed abused cans and started fining residents for litter in front of their property. The city found it reduced the visible garbage on the street, but some residents felt that the Sanitation Department just shifted the burden onto them instead.

New York has a history of experimenting with trash can reduction to reduce trash. Between 2011 and 2015, New York City removed trash receptacles from select subway stations. Early success in the program demonstrated that garbage did not pile up in areas that had been a problem before removing trash bins. Critics dismissed the successes, pointing to an increase in collection efforts for the remaining cans during the testing period. The test did not accomplish the goals of lowering the garbage collected, just redistributed the volume to other areas. Ultimately they observed a 33 percent increase in track fires due to litter falling off the platform, and the test ended without any permanent changes.

New York is not alone in studying the efficacy of trash can placement on litter reduction. During 2017-2018, the City of Philadelphia conducted a study to test the principals of trash can reduction. In general, liter went up as they reduced the number of waste bins. The report recommended increasing the number of publicly accessible waste receptacles across many city spaces such as commercial corridors, parks, recreation centers, and highly trafficked streets.

Studies like the one done by Philadelphia may seem pointless, as people fell more cans will always reduce litter. However, they can help keep programs like Portlands expansion funded by reinforcing the need for public garbage cans through real numbers. BPS plans to conduct a review of Jade District trash receptacle placement, and study if trash can availability caused a reduction in litter. “With the large expansion of the trash can program into East Portland, we are beginning to plan for reviews of various aspects of the program, including placement and litter reduction.” Said a BPS official, communicating through Christine Llobregat, with BPS Communications.

However, Portland’s BPS doesn’t require a study to proceed with the expanded public trash can program. The Montavilla neighborhood should see new units on the street in November of 2021. BPS expects the citywide deployment to complete in August of 2022. 

Exact garbage can placement in our area is undetermined, waiting on community input. BPS has no existing procedure for involving the public in the can placement process, requiring them to develop that process now.

“We are currently in the process of developing the procedure for how to best gather community input for trash can placement. We will seek feedback and input from a broad array of community members, including neighborhood associations, business associations, non-profit organizations, faith communities, and individuals, with a priority focus on BIPOC communities.”

Louise Hoff of the Montavilla Neighborhood Association expressed interest in participating in trash can placement. Hoff already had a shortlist of locations that were known litter areas that could benefit from the addition of new trash receptacles.

Wide trash can distribution in Montavilla is not a certainty. Allocation happens at the city quadrant level, SE/NE/N/SW. This program should help Montavilla, but it is not the only source of public trash receptacles. TriMet maintains a limited number of cans near bus stops. Local businesses or community groups do sponsor some bus stop trash containers. Otherwise, it is up to TriMet to determine the best placement. Montavilla has a few TriMet maintained cans.

The BPS expansion is an excellent start for increasing the availability of public trash cans. If successful and supported by the public, the program could expand. Early community involvement is a way to signal to BPS that the service is wanted. Like all cities, Portland struggles to keep clean. BPS hopes this program will help reduce litter measurably. The mark of success will be cleaner streets.

Cover image Courtesy of City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. All others are copyright Montavilla News 2020.