SOUTHEAST EXAMINER Your Neighborhood News Source February 2020 Created and Powered by the Love of Community southeastexaminer.com Our 31st Year Vol 31 No 2 Portland, OR RIP Gains Traction Amid Calls for More Density BY MIDGE PIERCE ability, by allowing bonus units in lower income projects. Like it or not, quadplexes and possi- While elimination of single fam- bly six or eight plexes are likely coming ily neighborhoods is already mandated for soon to Portland’s single family neighbor- most Oregon cities, Portland’s proposal to hoods. allow quads, goes beyond state legislative That is the expectation following city allowance for duplexes. council testimony largely supportive of the After testimony, three of the four sit- long-simmering Residential Infill Proposal ting Commissioners signaled readiness to (RIP) to allow multiplex housing in resi- adopt RIP, possibly by the time you read Image courtesy of the Portland Water Bureau dential neighborhoods. this. Mayor Ted Wheeler said the longer At January’s two-day public hearing, Portland waits to implement upzoning, the PWB’s Pro-Filtration Position it was no longer a question of whether to longer neighborhoods remain exclusive. add multi-units, but how many. Commissioner Chloe Eudaly refer- A Deeper Affordability Bonus en- enced the need to end discriminatory zon- Examined dorsed by pro-densification groups calls ing. Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty told for doubling the number of allowable units the chamber it was time to stop letting BY NANCY TANNLER Commissioner Fritz was initially op- from four to eight. Questions persist about income determine zip codes, despite an posed to building anything back in 2006 whether deep densification will improve earlier admission that RIP did not address Many people are not aware of the when the EPA first enforced the LT2 rul- affordability, slow demolition and lessen affordability. Portland Water Bureau’s (PWB) plan to ing. “There was minimal Cryptosporidium displacement. Soon-to-retire Commissioner Aman- build a filtration plant or why it is being then but we have received more and more After nearly five years of revision, da Fritz was the lone dissenting voice. She planned. hits since then. Our system has been com- planners claim RIP limits the size and scale said she and the late Commissioner Nick Critics of PWB’s plan to comply with promised,” she said. of houses, while allowing duplexes, tri- Fish reviewed city planning assessments the Environmental Protection Agency’s At that time, Commissioner Randy plexes, quadplexes and other middle hous- showing capacity for multi-family houses (EPA) Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Leonard, supervisor of PWB, wanted to ing types like cottage clusters. Structures on 249,000 buildable lots, most along Water Treatment (LT2) ruling believe this build a filtration plant which Commission- with multiple units could be 3,500 square transportation and commercial corridors final recommendation to build a filtration er Fritz opposed. feet; larger than RIP’s single family home that would not require demolitions or scat- plant is expensive and unnecessary. PWB “I don’t regret that decision,” she allowances of 2,500 square feet. tershot “one-size fits all” development ev- does not. said. At the time there was a recession The proposal also removes on-site erywhere. LT2 addresses the health effects as- going on, the city was losing more low- parking requirements and includes some continued on page 19 sociated with Cryptosporidium and other income assistance and there was less risk. incentives, but no guarantees for afford- microbial pathogens in surface water used According to the EPA’s website, as a drinking water supply. “Additional treatment is only required for The Southeast Examiner’s article last those [water systems] at high risk.” month, “Treating Portland’s Water: Filtra- Are we considered high risk? tion vs. UV and Ozone,” opened the con- Fritz believes the risk is greater now. versation surrounding this subject for our One of the reasons for changing her posi- readers. Jaymee Cuti, Public Information tion is in part due to the climate crisis. She Officer, PWB, found inaccuracies that this spoke of the Eagle Creek fire that came follow up article will address. close to the Bull Run watershed, turbidity In an interview with Commissioner in the water from excessive run off and the Amanda Fritz, supervisor of PWB, Jaymee threat of earthquakes. Cuti and David Peters, Principal Engineer Other concerns include emerging at PWB, The Southeast Examiner was able contaminants, algae, sediment in the dis- to clarify the Water Bureau’s positions on tribution system, reliance on groundwater why they chose a filtration plant and how and future EPA regulations. Commissioner they plan to pay for the expense of the proj- Fritz said filtration will better serve the ect. growing number of people coming to the area requiring clean water. As stated in last month’s article, other similar water systems have opted for less expensive UV/Ozone plants. PWB already spent $16 million on the designs for a UV plant that now, on its own, does not comply Photo courtesy of Oregon Senate Democrats with the LT2 ruling. Nor, says Peters, is Ozone by itself a Commissioner Nick Fish Passes good solution for Portland to comply with the LT2 Rule. He explained that our cold Away water requires a large quantity of Ozone to inactivate Cryptosporidium, which is not BY DAVID KROGH cost effective. When asked why other similar water Portland City Commissioner Nick of the Portland City Council, first elected systems using a UV/Ozone combination Fish lost his battle with stomach cancer in 2008 and he served under three different are in compliance, Commissioner Fritz Thursday, January 2 and passed away at his mayors. Known as a consensus builder and said that yes, Seattle, San Francisco and home with family present. Only two days a commissioner who was more accessible New York are similar, but each one had a prior, Commissioner Fish had resigned his to the public than his fellows, he is fondly mitigating factor that made them different. position in the knowledge that he could not remembered by many. San Francisco’s watershed runs continue any longer with his failing health. During his time in office he was a through granite and a less dense forest, so Fish was 61. strong advocate for affordable housing, en- they don’t have the turbidity. Seattle has He was a native New Yorker and vironmental protections and services to aid two systems, so one can be shut off in the trained as an attorney before moving to the homeless. case of turbidity. New York has a filtration Portland in the 1990s when his wife be- Fish most recently oversaw the Bu- waiver that doesn’t guarantee its system’s came a history professor at PSU while he reau of Environmental Services and Port- future. practiced law. land Parks & Recreation. He was previ- continued on page 18 Fish was the longest serving member continued on page 17 2 THE SOUTHEAST EXAMINER FEBRUARY 2020 less safe. “We’ve been orphaned. Police Strive to Turn Tide of Crime prevention is twisting in the wind.” She says OCCL told Crime and Negativity her the program was nixed after a survey indicated concerns about retirements over the next few racial profiling. BY MIDGE PIERCE years. Former safety manager “Portland is the last place Mark Wells charged “Current A perfect storm of condi- in the country that people want to (OCCL) leadership does not sup- tions: an unprecedented police come work,” East Precinct Com- port police and public safety.” He shortage, anti-police sentiment mander Tashia Hager told the Mt. said OCCL staff is decimated, un- and diminishing crime prevention Tabor Neighborhood Association filled positions are unposted and activity may threaten Portland’s (MTNA). case management interfaces with safety. This summer’s contract Her area covers 36 square police are evaporating. negotiations could add to the tur- miles with 225,000 people. Her OCCL, when questioned, moil. force is down roughly a third. She referenced website descriptions While actual crime reports faces the daily choice of deploy- of its revamped Community are down, perceptions of a rising ing officers to “the work that has Safety Program that promotes crime wave are reality. Officers the most impact” – life threaten- safer communities through train- say statistics reflect deceptively ing crime with weapons. ing and practices that provide low data input. A major reason is Despite long response connected, inclusive engagement under-reporting of incidents by a waits, Hager and her lieutenants of all Portlanders. A staffer said distrustful public and the dearth urged the public to report crime that despite reports to the con- of overworked officers who are so that staffing and funding re- trary, noise abatement and graffiti slow to respond to low level sources can be properly allocated. removal continue under separate crimes. To stop crime, they said, police programs. Police struggle to rapidly need to know about it. When PSAC members answer emergency and radio Sharing stories about posi- raised the possibility of transfer- calls. Non-threatening incidents tive police interactions is another ring a $1.4 million crime preven- and thefts get short-shrift, taking way Portland residents can help tion package from OCCL to PPB, hours or days to address. Police turn the tide of negativity that Assistant Chief Michael Frome have little time left for follow- makes recruitment so hard. said it was a tough sell given all up investigations, paperwork and the challenges police face. In- data crunching. When arrests are PSAC Takes Action stead, he reiterated, the way to made, those caught are often back At a downtown Public Ac- stop the circle of crime and criti- on streets the same day.