Project Tries to Move City's Alleys in the Right Direction
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Portland— See PORTLAND LIFE, B1 Tribune— See SPORTS, B8 THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPER • WWW.PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED THURSDAY Metro’s Buckman drive-less ■ Bud Clark Commons brings justice to street Pool may campaign be drained fuels up by budget Public’s help sought City subsidies could on survey to reduce be at an end for vehicles on the road aging park facility By JIM REDDEN By JENNIFER ANDERSON The Tribune The Tribune Oregon wants you to drive On Wednesday afternoon less, and Metro has to make during Spring Break — on a that happen. day when kids and teens of The state’s goal is to reduce all ages might be looking greenhouse gas emissions that for something fun and free are believed to contribute to to do — the Buckman Pool climate change. Metro, the re- sat nearly empty. gional government that in- Two boys played on an inner cludes Portland is required to tube while one lifeguard sat, present its plan to the 2015 watching from the deep end, Legislature. The cities and while the other lifeguard wel- counties within Metro are ex- Larry Turner (right), director of the behavioral health program for Transition Projects, helps Matthew Breen shave his beard before comed the slow trickle of pected to adopt it. heading into court at the Bud Clark Commons. Breen is homeless and has not made it to many of his community court dates. He is on time guests at the front desk. As part of the planning pro- this Friday with Turner’s help. Portland cess, Metro is taxpayers pay considering en months ago Mult- $10.27 in gen- “Over time, many ideas to eral fund dol- encourage you nomah County lars per Buck- the user to reduce your opened the nation’s A NEW HOME FOR THE man Pool user, base has driving. They fi rst court set in a per visit. been vocal include in- T That’s more creasing the homeless facility. Nobody than twice as and cost of driving, showed up. much as the engaged making transit average pool STACEY more conve- In what court authorities subsidy of and has a nient, building around the country labeled a $4.99 per user. clear more bike and walking paths, potential breakthrough experi- Grant Pool, at and encouraging you to live Grant High emotional closer to where you work and ment, the Multnomah County School, has investment shop. community court last year the lowest in the “We can reduce our carbon moved its Friday afternoon op- COURT subsidy, at facility.” footprint without punishing eration to Bud Clark Commons. $2.52. ourselves. It can be a win-win,” Doreen Binder, executive director of For years, — Claudio says Metro District 6 Councilor The court deals mostly with low-level Story by Peter Korn Bud Clark Commons and the driving the Buckman Campuzano, Bob Stacey, who represents citation crimes such as drinking in pub- Photos by Christopher Onstott force behind the new court, says that’s Pool has been city budget portions of Northeast, South- lic and small thefts. Many of the ac- progress. And, Binder says, the prog- Portland analyst east and Southwest Portland. cused are homeless. The hope was that ress is best measured not by how many Parks & Rec- Metro District 5 Councilor defendants might be more willing to session, one defendant showed up, out accused offenders actually make their reation’s most Sam Chase, who also repre- show up for their court dates if court of 16 who had been issued citations and court date, but by what happens to expensive pool to operate, sents parts of Portland, agrees. were held in a facility where many of ordered to appear. those who do. with the lowest use. “I want to live in a region the defendants spend their daytime Last Friday, 65 people were ordered Of the 15 who appeared in court two Located in the basement of that’s doing everything it can hours. to appear at the Bud Clark Commons weeks ago, fi ve agreed to perform com- Buckman Arts Focus School to reduce global warming and The second week the court was in community court and 21 did so. munity service and one chose to take at Southeast 16th Avenue and make communities healthier his case to a full trial. Three opted to Pine Street, the pool is owned and better places to live, and work with social workers to get treat- by Portland Public Schools that’s what the Climate Smart ment for addictions or attend groups to but the city has operated it for Communities project is all help them deal with the problems that the past 70 years. about,” says Chase, whose dis- have played a role in their homeless- Nearly every year for the trict includes Northwest and ness. Six had returned to the court after past decade, the pool has land- North Portland, portions of completing work with social service ed on the chopping block dur- Southwest and Northeast Port- agencies. ing the city’s budget process. land, plus the city of Maywood Those last nine, according to Binder, The parks bureau estimates it Park and part of Washington are the reason it makes sense to hold could save $88,762 per year if County. court in a facility that serves the home- the city ceased to operate it. Examples abound in Port- less. Yet every year neighbor- land, which has embraced “We’re trying to turn the court into hood residents rally to keep Smart Growth high-density an entryway into services rather than the pool open, a testament to planning concepts for years. something people view as a punitive in- the strength of that commu- They include the Portland stitution,” Binder says. nity’s voice. Streetcar that connects North- Still, the fact that only about one in To those residents, it’s a west Portland and the Pearl three defendants makes their court ap- matter of getting their share. District to downtown, Portland pearance shows there is still work to be “A complete and fully func- State University and South done. Failure-to-appear rates for com- tioning community center at Waterfront. It eliminates the munity court have long been a problem, Washington High will not hap- need for automobiles for many though nobody can say exactly how pen for 10 years with this eco- trips and has encouraged new large a problem since Multnomah nomic climate,” writes Chris- mixed-use developments. The County court offi cials don’t keep re- tine Yun, organizer of the streetcar also will connect Judge Jean K. Maurer presides over Community Court Friday at the Bud Clark Commons. cords on appearance rates. “Save Buckman Pool” Face- with the TriMet’s new MAX Maurer approved the moving of the court to Bud Clark Commons last year, and oversaw book page and petition drive. line in South Waterfont and the transition along with former District Attorney Michael Schrunk. See COURT / Page A2 “With the loss of Buckman See METRO / Page A7 See POOL / Page A6 Project tries to move city’s alleys in the right direction ■ Students, By STEVE LAW Led by cities like Van- ways to put the spaces to The Tribune couver, B.C., Melbourne, TribTown better use. Imagine, for neighbors San Francisco and Chi- example, a community overcome You never know what you’ll fi nd cago, communities are SOUTHEAST garden instead of a trash- ‘block’ on strolling down the unpaved alleys rethinking ways to use lined gravel road. of outer Southeast Portland. decrepit and underutilized alleys. Alleys originally were created to forgotten Abandoned car tires. Construction Caldwell and fi ve other Portland State move things away from the street, says spaces debris. Fences riddled with graffi ti. Fe- University urban studies graduate stu- Derek Dauphin, one of the six grad stu- TRIBUNE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT ral cats. Syringes. dents are bringing the movement here, dents. Think garbage cans, utility lines Christian Smith enjoys a backyard campfi re with friends Sarah Malony, “Some of them you just don’t feel via a project they call Alley Allies. and garages. Many fell into disuse, Becca Pollard and Erica Bjerning. Smith is working to improve the safe in,” says Shavon Caldwell, who A main goal is to help residents becoming sort of a no-man’s land. Foster-Powell neighborhood, but also erected a large fence to shield lives in the Foster-Powell neighbor- overcome “mental blocks” about al- his lot from the alley. hood. leys, Caldwell says, and envision new See ALLEYS / Page A11 “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune Environmental ■ The Portland chapter of the Sierra Club came out Wednesday against the water fl uoridation deliver balanced news that refl ects the groups say no measure on Portland’s May ballot. Search: Fluoridation. stories of our communities. Thank you Online for reading our newspapers.” to fl uoride Read it fi rst at portlandtribune.com — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, March 28, 2013 Court: Leaders say don’t expect miracles man can go straight from his ■ From page A1 court appearance to one of those beds. The penalty for failing to ap- Turner’s bigger pitch has to pear can be a fi ne which many do with longer term housing. never pay, knowing they won’t All of the social services of- be sent to jail anyway.