Tag: Steve Novick

Government

Portable Sidewalk Signs No Longer Require Paid Registration

On June 25th, the Portland City Council passed new rules governing portable signs placed on city sidewalks. Previous legislation from 25 years ago required businesses that placed sandwich boards and a-frame signs in front of their establishments to pay an annual fee, last set at $114. According to city officials, the cost of the complaint-based enforcement program exceeded the income raised by fees, meaning this removal unburdens businesses that had been paying for these types of signs and could save the city money by not investigating unregistered boards.

Councilor for District 3, Steve Novick, brought the code amendment before the Portland City Council after months of work on the initiative. Novick explained in an interview last March that his Chief of Staff, Spencer Knowles, brought this issue to his attention as an unprofitable pain point for small business operators. “We checked, Spencer discovered that it costs more to administer the permit requirement than it brings in,” remarked Novick. The amount of fees paid into the program dipped from $181,295 in 2013 to $39,308 in 2025. He speculated that its decline likely reflected businesses failing to participate due to lax enforcement or because operators did not know that registration was required. “There’s some well-informed, conscientious people who have to go through the process of paying a fee and waiting for a permit. That just struck us as silly,” said Novick.

A sign for 'glaze' featuring the text 'household gifts & goodies' on a sidewalk, with shops and pedestrians visible in the background under a blue sky.
Image showing Glaze’s sidewalk sign with permit sticker. MV News added the red oval to highlight sticker

Novick’s team recognized that this effort did not require immediate attention, as more impactful city issues took precedence before the amendment reached a vote. However, its passing has a measurable impact on business owners who pay the fee each year, particularly in walkable business corridors. Portable signs help advertise a shopfront at a human scale. Capped at four feet tall, A-Board messages are often blocked from the view of passing traffic by curbside parked vehicles. So they target pedestrians, keeping a sidewalk visually active and letting visitors know that, just a little further down the street, another destination may welcome them. Sidewalk-positioned signs can also help businesses stay visible when healthy street tree canopies block traditional over-doorway signage. As Portland works to increase pedestrian area shade by encouraging tree-lined streets, some business operators have noted that the greenery blocks their signs. Portable sandwich boards have long offered a remedy that does not require an adjacent business owner to aggressively prune the greenery.

A sidewalk sign advertising 'Black Fang Tattoos and More' with details about tattoos, t-shirts, stickers, art, and gifts. It includes the message 'Walk-Ins Welcome' and is positioned outside a store, with another sign for a cookie shop visible in the background.

Business owners may no longer need to pay to register portable signs; however, they are still responsible for maintaining a clear, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)- compliant frontage. Signs cannot block the sidewalk or curb ramps and must be located in front of the business. Shops using these signs should still review City rules and ensure they are not obstructing the public right-of-way. The change will likely not significantly increase the number of sidewalk-placed signs, but should create an equal environment for businesses to use this way-finding tool without annual costs.

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Portland City Council District 3 members are up for reelection in November 2026. Montavilla News does not endorse individual candidates or ballot measures.

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Community, Construction, Government, Infrastructure

Montavilla Picnic Shelter Added to Budget

On May 20th, at the end of a marathon budget session, the Portland City Council approved an $8.5 billion city budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 with a $755,000 line item for a replacement Montavilla Park picnic shelter. Portland City Council Member Tiffany Koyama Lane’s amendment to the budget came back to consideration at the tail-end of the proceeding after a quick revision to specify Parks Local Option Levy money as the intended funding source. This budget addition passed seven to five at the end of an evening Council session that saw many failing amendments with 6-6 ties as city leaders addressed a $160 million revenue shortfall.

A construction site showing the partial demolition of a building, with scattered debris and a bulldozer in the foreground.
Montavilla Park picnic shelter demolition October 2021, photos by Weston Ruter

Political interest in funding a replacement picnic shelter ramped up recently; however, the community’s desire for its replacement began years before. In October 2021, demolition crews removed the aging picnic shelter at Montavilla Park and installed new grass turf rather than preparing the site for an already-designed replacement structure. Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) postponed the planned modern 2,000-square-foot open-walled replacement shelter due to a department-wide budgetary shortfall. Before its removal, the area was fenced off for safety concerns. Earlier this month, a community group began circulating a petition to build that Montavilla Park structure.

Architectural drawings of a picnic shelter, including a floor plan and elevation views from the east/west and north/south. The design features a metal roof, wood rafters, and a concrete foundation.
Proposed Montavilla Park Picnic Shelter from 2021

The petition effort, led by members of the Hope & Bread Street Church who gather in the park for Sunday service, gained community interest, with ABC Television affiliate KATU and MV News covering the campaign. On May 17th, Councilor Koyama Lane from Montavilla’s District 3 included shelter funding as part of her seven proposed budget amendments, later receiving expressed support from other elected officials, including Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards and Oregon Representative Thuy Tran.

Votes for the Montavilla Park picnic shelter did not fall strictly on Portland City Council District lines with District 3 and District 1 residents having local access to the park. District 3 Councilor Steve Novick voted against the funding due to reservations regarding project priorities, given the City staff reductions and program cuts necessary to balance this year’s budget. He expressed support for the project but worried about the potential to overlook other needed projects without an evaluation process to rank community needs. “I would love to be able to vote for this. This is important, but I think that we should make all of these decisions in the context of considering trade-offs, and parks as a huge maintenance backlog,” said Novick, preceding the vote. “I just can’t make this decision out of context. Maybe if we took a long look at all the things that communities have been promised in the maintenance backlog, this would rise to the top. But I can’t say that I’ve done that work, so I can’t support this today.”

Black and white photograph of NE 82nd Street at NE Glisan Street, featuring a mix of storefronts and residential homes, with a wet road and power lines visible.
1933 Portland Archive image. 82nd Ave roadwork looking north from NE Glisan St. A previous Montavilla park shelter is visible at the right but is not the one removed in 2021

Some petitioners supporting replacing Montavilla Park’s picnic shelter had been watching the proceedings since early afternoon and had to wait until nearly 9:30 p.m. for the session’s final budget amendment vote. The Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission will conduct a legal review of the amended budget. The council can make further adjustments to the approved budget, provided that no individual fund is adjusted by more than 10%. In June, the Portland City Council must formally adopt the budget ahead of July 1st, when the new fiscal year begins. At that point, Parks planners can begin project planning for the return of a Montavilla Park picnic shelter, restoring a nearly 100-year run of having a covered outdoor gathering space at this location.

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Portland City Council District 3 members and Representative Thuy Tran are up for reelection in November 2026. Julia Brim-Edwards is seeking the Multnomah County Chair position. Montavilla News does not endorse individual candidates or ballot measures.

Update: Portland Archive image description expanded to note that the shelter shown in 1933 photo is not the one demolished in 2021. It was removed at an unknown date.

Crime, Government

Reining in Chronic Nuisance Properties

Portland City Councilor Steve Novick wants to amend a 1992 chronic nuisance property ordinance to lessen the threshold for triggering mandated remedies. He is proposing these changes with the intent of reducing the impact on afflicted neighborhoods from human trafficking and gun violence. The City Council will hear first reading on this proposed amendment at the March 18th session held at 6 p.m. this Wednesday.

Former Congressman Earl Blumenauer introduced the first version of Portland’s chronic nuisance property ordinance while serving as a Portland Commissioner. It received several updates in the years following its enactment but has remained relatively unchanged since 1997. The proposed update considers the current list of Nuisance Activities to be too narrow and the timeframe for accumulating violations to be too restrictive for law enforcement to adequately address contemporary instances of harmful behavior. “We’re proposing that instead of having to have three instances in 30 days to initiate this process —which is a lot, a hell of a lot of bad stuff can go on in the location, and you still don’t have three reports in 30 days— we’re proposing it become two in 90 days,” said Novick.

The councilor says this ordinance has never been intended to punish property owners. Instead, it is designed to encourage responsible site operations. “What it means is, it just gives the police a little more leverage to lean on property owners to play ball,” explained Novick. However, enforcement is not without significant consequences if people ignore recurring complaints. “Well, I don’t know if that’s ever happened, but if you can’t work out an agreement, then the city can go to court, which has happened rarely, and the court can order them to take abatement measures. Then, only if they don’t take abatement measures, then the last resort is that they forfeit the property,” Novick said. Ordinance infractions only accumulate for specific activity from a list of 25 defined types that occur within 200 feet of their property. Those activities include assault, Firearm-related crimes, drug crimes, and prostitution.

Police car blocking a street with crime scene tape in a suburban neighborhood.

Additionally, Novick noted that the existing ordinance did not provide sufficient guidance for property owners to demonstrate a good-faith effort to improve conditions. So part of this update is to build that into the legislation. “Washington D.C. came up with a list of abatement measures to be considered. So we’re borrowing from that and saying, ‘here’s a list of things you might be asked to do,’” said Novick. The intent is to ensure people have a clear path to avoid consequences while minimizing the negative impact on the community. As the updates to the chronic nuisance property ordinance developed in committee, City Council members have worked to address business owners’ concerns. “The Asian American Hotel Owners Association’s Taran Patel testified. He said that he was generally supportive of the idea, but was concerned about what if a hotel reports the activity itself? Is that held against them?” recalled Novick. ” We thought that was a reasonable question, so we added an amendment to the law saying that if the property owner reports the activity themselves, then as long as they are cooperating with the police and following up on that subsequently, that doesn’t go on their record as one of the two instances that lead to invoking the nuisance law.”

In addition to the self-reporting amendment, the committee removed noise complaints from this ordinance, recognizing that such complaints are inconsistent with the other listed nuisances, which mostly focus on crimes that reduce perceived safety. “We’re removing noise as one of the chronic nuisance criteria at [Councilor] Jamie Dunphy’s request, and it’s not really what we’re worried about anyway,” said Novick. He explained that the city is trying to tackle serious issues where people suffer life-changing harms, including physical abuse and trafficking of people for sex work. Sex trafficking has become particularly apparent along NE 82nd Avenue near Leodis V. McDaniel High School and within certain storefronts advertising massage services that have spread across the region. “It identifies unlawful, non-compliant massage parlors as one of the nuisance activities. That’s a new thing, and because of the law that Representative [Thủy] Trần passed,” explained Novick. House Bill 3819, which Representative Trần co-sponsored, gave new investigatory powers to the State Board of Massage Therapists starting on January 1st, 2026, and increased maximum fine amounts. Now, the board can post a placard on the exterior of a business notifying the public if the massage facility is in violation of ORS 687.021 by using unlicensed practitioners.

Some critics of this type of legislation fear that without lodging spaces available, it will push sex work further into unsafe and exposed environments, including cars and public streets. This same perspective sometimes attributes the increase in pervasive solicitation on city streets to the 2018 passage of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) that shut down many online forums used for connecting buyers and sellers of sex work. Some of those online tools had reportedly made sex work safer by letting sellers check a buyer’s reputation. Since 2018, the nation has seen an increase in street-based sex work, often with associated ancillary crimes occurring around that activity. Novick explained that he heard that perspective from some people, but that counter testimony convinced him that lodging did not provide substantive protections for vulnerable sex workers. “Robin Miller, who’s a survivor and advocate, testified in favor of the proposal several weeks ago,” recalled Novick. “Her experience was that there was nothing safe about being at a motel and was beaten by a supplier [third-party seller of sex] in front of the hotel owner, and the hotel owner didn’t do anything.” That testimony, along with the councilor’s understanding of community needs, has increased his support for this update to Portland’s chronic nuisance property ordinance. “We are concerned about kids walking this gauntlet of sex trafficking,” said Novick. “So you balance interests, and if you think that there’s a community benefit to doing something —and there’s significant numbers of people most affected who think that it’s the right thing to do— I’m willing to go with what I think has the broader community benefit.”

The expressed goal of this update is to further motivate businesses to assist with the problems surrounding their operations. Landowners may not always live in the same neighborhood as their property, but the city says, with this ordinance, that they have a commitment to those communities that should not be discounted. “The underlying question is, does a property owner have some responsibility for what’s going on on their property? I tend to think that they do,” said Novick.

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Government

Portlanders Vote on Parks Levy

The November 4th Special Election ballot has just one question for Portland voters centered on renewing and increasing a five-year parks levy first approved in 2020. Measure 26-260 asks property taxpayers to renew the Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R) supplemental funding source at $1.40 per $1,000 of assessed value from the previous 80 cents per $1,000. Portlanders tend to vote in favor of supporting parks. However, a recent Portland Auditor’s Office report casts doubt on the Parks Bureau’s fiscal management to date, raising concern among some about increasing park funding taxes without a sustainable budget plan.

A green park featuring trees, a paved walking path, and circular picnic tables surrounded by well-maintained grass.

The report outlines several issues driving PP&R’s budgetary shortfall, including unfunded pet projects from past City Council members and politicized management under the last form of government. However, the report identified the expansion of Portland’s Park system, including new locations and amenities, as a substantial fiscal burden for the Bureau. Building new parks without first securing a maintenance funding source exceeded PP&R’s share of the City’s General Fund, leaving the Parks Bureau with few options other than reducing services or closing locations.

Five years ago, during the pandemic, voters approved the parks levy to support services provided by PP&R after the Bureau cut costs during a 2019 $6 million shortfall. Those funds kept the parks’ programs open but did not address a substantial maintenance backlog. All the while, during its budgetary crunch, PP&R had a sizable source of money from developer fees. However, State and City laws prohibit the use of those funds for maintenance activities. That created a situation in which PP&R could add assets to the parks system without the funding to maintain them.

Sign for Gateway Green Park in Portland, indicating park hours and association with Portland Parks & Recreation.

Current District 3 Councilor Steve Novick also served previously on City Council under the Commissioner form of government during a pivotal time for parks, when its overbuilding phase ramped up due to City leadership’s increasing System Development Charges (SDCs) collected for parks from fees charged to development projects. His history with PP&R’s funding leads him to believe that Portlanders should approve 26-260 to give the current City Council time to rebalance park funding. “It would be rather absurd to take it as reason to vote against the levy because of what the auditor pointed out, which is true, we’ve been building new parks without the money to fix the old ones,” explained Novick.

Sign for Gateway Discovery Park in Portland, Oregon, with decorative sculpture and modern building in the background.

Councilor Novick believes the PP&R leadership has taken the blame for a systems failure that predates the 2019 budget shortfall. “Five years previously, in 2015, when I was on the council, we voted to increase parks SDCs; [Commissioner Dan] Saltzman and I voted no,” recalled Novick. They expressed concern about its impact on housing costs. A concern supported by the current City Council, which recently suspended SDCs temporarily on new residential projects. Novick noted that at the time, he was also concerned that PP&R would build facilities they could not maintain without additional funding that the former City Leadership did not provide. “The attitude of the council at the time was build baby build and don’t really worry about the crumbling assets.”

In Novick’s opinion, the current City Council can address PP&R funding in a more sustainable way, but needs to stabilize the decline before it starts making hard choices. “I think arguing that adopting the levy defers tough decisions is sort of fair, but we shouldn’t be making those tough decisions at the point of a gun in the context of having to come up with a budget that savages the parks system,” said Novick.

Three councilors seated at a table during a meeting, with nameplates indicating their names and positions.
Councilors Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morrillo, and Steve Novick representing District 3 in a March 2025 budget community listening session.

Conversations about park funding took center stage at City Hall during this last budget cycle, where PP&R competed for General Fund money alongside other large line items, such as police, fire, and homeless services. Some of the possibilities City leaders envision require changes to how the Bureau uses SDCs. “One thing that we’re going to do is go to the legislature and ask them to change the SDC statute so that SDCs can be used to repair existing structures, not just build new ones,” explained Novick. This change would allow PP&R to use development-fee-generated funds to maintain existing parks. This approach is favorable, as infill housing development brings more people into existing neighborhoods that may have languishing parks in need of attention to support new residents.

Another potential funding source comes from outside contributions. “I also think that there is a lot more thought now about trying to get some private money into the parks. The example that everybody always brings up is Central Park in New York City, [which is not funded by] City tax dollars. There’s a consortium of foundations and rich people to take care of Central Park,” said Novick. “I think that’s a conversation we need to have with our money elite in the city. Maybe there’s Nike branding or whatever all over the parks. Personally, I would live with that.”

A mural on the side of the Montavilla Community Center featuring colorful mosaic figures engaged in various physical activities, including sports and dance, with the center's name prominently displayed above.

Councilor Novick also noted that the city may need to issue a parks bond to address the backlog of repairs and reduce the operating expenses currently burdened by the system’s condition. “Hopefully, we can do the minor maintenance with this levy. That will prevent us getting to major maintenance costs in some facilities,” remarked Novick. He worries that without Ballot Measure 26-260, the City Council will have to make drastic cuts to parks without the time to plan spending reductions strategically. “What we learned [during the last City budget cycle] is that pretty much everything that parks does is really important to a bunch of people, and if the levy fails, then we’re gonna have to prepare a budget for next year which assumes we’re making massive cuts to parks.”

Ballot Measure 26-260 text says the median homeowner would pay $310 per year if the levy passes, which is just under $26 per month, and represents an $11 increase over what current property taxpayers have contributed to parks since the 2020 levy’s approval. Ballots are due by 8 p.m. on November 4th at a county drop site (multco.us/dropsites) or postmarked in the US mail system by November 4th.

Montavilla News does not endorse candidates or ballot measures.

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Crime, Infrastructure

Traffic Citation Cameras Taken Down for Replacement

After a year, the newer intersection safety camera systems the City of Portland installed along 82nd Avenue are missing from their poles as the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) works with a new vendor to augment the traffic enforcement network. In summer 2024, crews installed new cameras along 82nd Avenue and other places in the City to dissuade speeding and running red lights in areas prone to crashes. The now-removed camera installed at 82nd Avenue at E Burnside Street monitored an intersection where a speeding vehicle killed an area resident in October 2023. PBOT officials removed many existing cameras from City Streets, making room for new devices from NovoaGlobal that crews will install by November 1st. Around that time, project planners expect to add three additional locations to the safety camera network, increasing PBOT’s tools that support its goal to eliminate vehicular-related deaths and serious injuries on city streets.

A close-up view of a tall traffic camera pole against a cloudy sky, showcasing the pole's metal structure and mounting brackets where cameras are typically attached.
Intersection safety camera pole on 82nd Ave at E Burnside St stripped of its equipment

The City of Portland’s change of vendors will unify the traffic law enforcement camera system to a single company for 15 speed safety cameras and 17 intersection safety cameras. Revenue from camera citations and registration fees for traffic safety diversion classes supports the cost of the cameras. The City is required to spend any future earnings from the automated citation system on traffic safety programs or improvements, and fines will not contribute to the City’s general budget.

Close-up of a pole with a circular mount where a safety camera was previously installed, showing signs of wear.
Weather plug on intersection safety camera pole where wires connected to hardware

The City has 32 cameras, and the Portland Police Bureau operates two Traffic Division mobile speed enforcement vans that the City will also upgrade with NovoaGlobal equipment. For some City leaders, that is too few to reduce risky driving behavior adequately, and they advocate for expanding the program. Portland City Councilor Steve Novick said in a KOIN News interview that he is interested in emulating other jurisdictions with fewer traffic fatalities per capita, where they have substantially more cameras in use. However, some residents oppose the automated cameras used in issuing citations. Objections voiced include concerns about excessive government surveillance, fining drivers instead of building infrastructure that encourages safety, and the inequitable distribution of cameras across the City that could penalize poorer communities.

Traffic camera pole graffiti reading “For The love (heart symbol) of money (dollar sign)”

In more extreme cases of community protest against citation cameras, people sometimes tag or vandalize equipment. Portland’s network of cameras suffered damage in 2024 at the hands of a shooter who targeted these devices. Police apprehended a suspect in the case who they accused of causing over $500,000 in damage to more than a dozen traffic cameras across the City. The message from these destructive and sometimes dangerous activities often focuses on the fines’ impact on people. PBOT and some street safety advocates in favor of this type of deterrent stress the importance of changing harmful road behavior through a variety of methods, including fines. There is a recognized danger of systems becoming dependent on fines and favoring revenue growth over correcting harmful behavior. However, rules on camera placement and revenue use could limit the potential for misuse.

Drivers in Portland can expect to see up to 35 cameras operational by the end of 2025, with a new unit on SE Powell Boulevard at 34th Avenue monitoring westbound drivers, NE 82nd Avenue at Fremont Street facing southbound motorists, and NE 82nd Avenue at Klickitat Street watching northbound vehicles. All new cameras have a 30-day warning period before people caught by the devices receive citations. By January 2026, PBOT will install two cameras on SW Barbur Boulevard in the 5900 to 6100 blocks.

PBOT notes that incidents involving speeds higher than posted are a top contributing factor to deadly crashes across the Portland region. Additionally, ignoring traffic signals causes a significant number of crashes. Camera citations are not the only solution needed for safer streets. However, a majority of surveyed Portland residents support the expanded use of traffic cameras. People should anticipate the new cameras returning in the next few months as crews rebuild the network under a unified system.

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Community, New Business

Oak Street Village Shelter Opens

On February 19th, representatives from Multnomah County, the City of Portland, and Montavilla community leaders joined the Oak Street Village shelter operators at 333 SE 82nd Avenue for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. This event officially opened the temporary shelter site that can house up to 40 adults in 29 sleeping pods with 33 parking spots so residents can store their personal vehicles. This opening follows years of delays while the Joint Office of Homeless Services, now transitioning its name to the Multnomah County Homeless Services Department (HSD), worked through its community outreach efforts to sufficiently include area residents and business owners in a Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA).

  • ADA parking next to accesible pods
  • 24-hour staffed office
  • Accessibel restroom

Before invited guests help cut the ribbon, marking Oak Street Village‘s launch, they addressed the gathered crowd of neighborhood visitors and TV news crews. Montavilla East Tabor Business Association president Neil Mattson and Montavilla Neighborhood Association president Laura Mulligan both expressed their appreciation for the efforts undertaken to develop a GNA that should mitigate many concerns Montavilla residents and business people expressed in the several community meetings held ahead of opening this shelter site. They also voiced their appreciation for the support of Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards, who helped align the site’s construction schedule with the community outreach and GNA work. When addressing the crowd, Commissioner Brim-Edwards remarked on the success of the community engagement’s outcome.

  • Montavilla East Tabor Business Association president Neil Mattson
  • Montavilla Neighborhood Association president Laura Mulligan
  • Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards
  • Commission Chair Jessica Vega Pederson
  • Pastor Dwight Minnieweather
  • HSD Director Dan Field

Multnomah County Commission Chair Jessica Vega Pederson joined Commissioner Brim-Edwards in stressing the importance of shelters like Oak Street Village in addressing homelessness. The County’s efforts to address the housing crisis include layers of support that attempt to prevent people from losing their housing and transition people off the street through various shelter formats. This unique village configuration allows those living in cars to move into more suitable shelters with electricity, heating, and cooling. The Pallet shelter branded sleeping pods have locking doors and an integrated bed. Oak Street Village also offers residents trash services, showers, restrooms, laundry facilities, and a communal kitchenette in shipping container-style units surrounding the site. Similar shelters offer the same amenities, but this location allows people to keep their vehicles, which may be their most valuable possessions. Giving up a personal car can remove one’s ability to find employment or travel to places to receive services. Oak Street Village’s configuration may better support certain people’s transition back to regular housing and jobs by not requiring them to give up their vehicles before receiving help.

  • Inside sleeping pod
  • Shower room
  • Pet relief area

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson celebrated this shelter’s opening and thanked the Montavilla Neighborhood for its support. His fondness for the community predates his elected position. While running for office, he helped open the PDX Saints Love Day Services Center across the street from Oak Street Village. Both locations complement the Mayor’s plan to end unsheltered homelessness in the city. He also thanked the former Montavilla Neighborhood Association president, Spencer Knowles, for his work bringing the neighbors into the GNA process for both facilities. Knowles stepped down from the board to take a position on Portland City Councilor Steve Novick’s staff. Knowles and Councilor Novick attended Oak Street Village’s opening ceremony along with Portland City Council Vice President Tiffany Koyama Lane.

  • Council Vice President Tiffany Koyama Lane
  • Councilor Steve Novick

Pastor Dwight Minnieweather leads this shelter’s service provider, Straightway Services. His remarks focused on the importance of encouraging people to see their self-worth. He shared his story of addiction recovery from decades ago and how it was the words of one person who set his life back on track. He intends to offer the same supporting guidance to as many people as possible coming through his shelter. His organization recently rented office space across SE 82nd Avenue from the county-owned shelter site, and he intends to make roots in the community. HSD Director Dan Field spoke about his appreciation for Pastor Minnieweather’s commitment to his work and acknowledged that as a black man, Minnieweather faced heightened expectations. Field also talked about the challenges of creating shelters like Oak Street Village while being good stewards of public funds, and he thanked all those public employees involved for their dedication to delivering this project.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson

Residents and staff will soon begin moving into the Oak Street Village. Outreach specialists invite people to become residents, prioritizing people living in a vehicle, excluding recreation vehicles or motor homes. Straightway Services will focus on serving people in the Montavilla area first before inviting others from around Portland, ensuring the shelters keep people in their chosen communities and reduce unsheltered homelessness around the Village site. People should anticipate seeing activity at 333 SE 82nd Avenue within the coming weeks as people slowly take residence at Oak Street Village.

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