Selling Soul’d Out YOUR ONLINE LOCAL Onward, upward Organizers make festival more Winterhawks enter next musically eclectic DAILY NEWS series happy with game — See LIFE, B1 www.portlandtribune.com — See SPORTS, B8 Portlandthursday, april 4, 2013 • twice chosen the nation’s best nondaily paperTribune • www.portlandtribune.com • published thursday PCC lands SUN(n)Y East side squeaky wheel catch for top post gets city’s funding grease Candidate Jeremy Brown rises to the top of president search By JENNIFER ANDERSON The Tribune Portland Community Col- lege began negotiations this week with one of the three candidates vying to replace President Preston Pulliams, who will retire in June. The candidate, Jeremy Brown, hasn’t been waiting by the phone. Two weeks ago, he accept- ed an offer to serve as acting president of SUNY (State University of BROWN New York) Canton, a two- and four-year college in North- ern New York for about 6,000 students studying technology, health, management and public service. “We were aware of this,” says Deanna Palm, co-chair- Jose Estrada smooths pavement for a new woman of the PCC board and sidewalk in front of storefronts being president of the search commit- remodeled on Southeast 92nd Avenue in tee. “Obviously, (SUNY) wasn’t Lents. East Portland is getting a healthy sum his first choice, and he made us of city urban renewal funds, including the aware of that during the entire current project to make the commercial interview process.” heart of Lents more walkable. Brown was named as acting president of SUNY when its president left to take a job in Washington state. “Acting pres- ident” means that he may par- ticipate in the search for a new n president, which will start this Neighborhoods east of I-205 see big changes as tax dollars flow fall, or may be considered for the permanent job, according he squeaky wheel is getting more coalitions of neighborhood associations in each to Canton officials. grease when it comes to city spend- part of the city: Northwest, Southwest, North, Brown, a nuclear physicist, ing in East Portland. Southeast, Northeast, Central Northeast and had served as provost and vice T Neighborhoods east of 82nd Ave- East. chancellor for academic affairs nue and Interstate 205 are There are now three at SUNY seeing more city dollars years of budget maps avail- Canton from flow their direction, accord- Story by Steve Law able, and the newest data “His broad 2003 to 2007. ing to “budget maps” pre- Photos by Christopher Onstott shows East Portland is get- spectrum of Having one pared by the city Office of ting a fairer shake in city foot in the Management and Finance. spending. experience door at his In 2011, then-Mayor Sam Adams ordered his Initial budget maps for 2010-11 showed East will lend old stomping budget staff to starting pinpointing where city Portland ranked near the top of the eight dis- ground dollars are going, in response to complaints by tricts for police and fire spending, though those to his “didn’t East Portland community leaders that their were somewhat dubious achievements, more a leadership in change his area was getting shortchanged, particularly on reflection of greater poverty in that part of Portland.” desire to be parks and transportation spending. The result- town. at PCC,” ing budget maps divided the city up into eight — Deanna Palm, Palm told the areas, one for the central city and seven for the See EAST SIDE / Page 2 PCC Board Tribune on co-chairwoman Tuesday. “We’re very confident in “Without this advocacy we wouldn’t his abilities to lead PCC, to work with the board, faculty, After a community outcry, Mayor Charlie Hales pledged Wednesday to staff and community.” build a sidewalk (at spot located above) on Southeast 136th Avenue. be getting our fair share.” Palm says a contract with Hales’ press conference, attended by several elected officials, reflected Brown could be ready for ap- the area’s growing clout. — Jean DeMasTER, HUMAN SOLUTIONS INC. proval at the next board meet- ing on April 18. The new presi- dent’s position begins July 1, the same time his post at SUNY was to begin. Portland came calling after a national search process that be- gan in September. The search committee had TriMet’s progress stuck in low gear narrowed the field from nine semifinalists to three top con- tenders in February, then held n Budget, light rail, union issues a round of public forums with Brown and the other two last on table, but big shift unlikely month. Those two — Tod Bur- nett and Richard Duran — were By JIM REDDEN Labor contract: Members of notified this week that they The Tribune Amalgamated Transit Union were out of the running. 757 are still working under the Brown’s simultaneous over- Crews demolish TriMet’s domination of management contract imposed tures to SUNY and PCC are his a warehouse news coverage during the last year by the arbitrator. The latest moves in a fast-moving along Highway past few weeks has focused state Employment Relations career. 99E to make on labor problems, budget Board has not yet ruled on the In the past 20 years, he’s held way for a new issues, safety concerns, gov- challenge to the ruling filed by six top spots at academic insti- 7.3-mile MAX ernance and challenges to TriMet’s largest union. tutions, none for more than five line from the Portland-to-Milwaukie Bargaining sessions: Bar- years. Most recently he served downtown light-rail project. gaining still has not started on as president of Dowling College Portland to Despite increased scrutiny, the next contract between Tri- — a 6,300-student liberal arts Milwaukie. little has changed with the re- Met and ATU 757. Multnomah institution in Long Island, N.Y. gional transit agency — and lit- County Circuit Judge Leslie The Orange Line He left 15 months into his three- tle change is likely in the fore- Roberts says she cannot decide expects to open year contract at Dowling, which seeable future. Here’s a run- whether state law requires the in 2015. was set to expire in June 2014. down of the most recent devel- sessions to be open to the pub- TRIBUNE PHOTO: opments for those keeping CHRISTOPHER See PCC / Page 4 ONSTOTT score. See TRIMET / Page 9 “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to n Portland Tribune Robert Plant will Zeppeliner Robert Plant will help the Rose City pop a tall cool one when he joins the closing deliver balanced news that reflects the night of the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival in July. Search: Blues festival. stories of our communities. Thank you rock blues fest for reading our newspapers.” Online Read it first at portlandtribune.com — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, April 4, 2013 East side: Prosperity Initiative aids region n land, which has 16.1 miles’ worth. From page 1 Northeast Portland has the low- est amount, less than 1 mile’s But the newer maps provide a worth. fuller budget picture, and show Of East Portland’s 403 streets, that East Portland ranks third- 3.4 percent are unpaved, the highest among the eight districts third-highest share among the in urban renewal and housing eight districts. Southwest has spending on a per-capita basis. the highest proportion by far, It’s also getting more attention in with 4.9 percent of its 326 streets parks spending, such as the re- still unpaved. Less than 1 per- cently completed E-205 parks cent of Northeast’s 187 streets initiative, which focused on im- are unpaved. proved playgrounds and other DeMaster argues that South- active recreation sites in East west and East Portland residents Portland. The area also gets new face different situations. Many of attention from PDC via its Southwest’s dirt streets are little- Neighborhood Prosperity Initia- used cul-de-sacs, she says, while tive. many people in East Portland East Portland leaders have no- must walk on dirt roads with no ticed the increased spending. sidewalks to get to grocery “I think what this means is stores, banks or payday lending that advocacy is paying off,” says shops needed to pay their bills. Jean DeMaster, executive direc- n Street improvements tor of the nonprofit Human Solu- East scores the third-highest tions Inc., and a leader in pro- capital improvement sending moting the East Portland Action this year by the Portland Bureau Plan, a recipe for community of Transportation, with $16.3 mil- triBUne PHOTO: cHRISTOPHer onstott improvements in the area. lion. Southeast has the largest by daman Quintana, 3, plays on the swing with his mother emily nearby at the east Portland community center. the playground is one of several The greater spending, to some far, with $96.8 million, because of new park improvements in east Portland funded by the e-205 initiative. extent, is based on the area’s the Sellwood Bridge and Port- greater needs, DeMaster says. land-to-Milwaukie MAX con- $191 per person, behind only She also credits the East Port- struction. Northeast, at $201 per person. land Action Plan, which brings On a per-capita basis, East Southwest has the lowest police together some 60 leaders who ranks fourth-highest. Central spending, at $139 per person. advocate for the area on a regu- Northeast has the lowest of the Those figures reflect crime lev- lar basis at City Hall. eight districts in total spending els in the neighborhoods. “Without this advocacy we and per-capita spending. n Police response time wouldn’t be getting our fair The Oregon Department of The average police response share,” she says.