Portland Oregon or Portland Michigan??

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FROM THE CROTCH !

Today is was announced on the news that the city of Portland Michigan had to put out a PSA letting folks know that it was Portland Oregon and not their city that had allowed such horrible behavior during a protest.

We sympathize with they folks in Michigan as the LNLA group as we too sometimes find ourselves in that situation. Being confused with the other guys can be a real problems at times.

Anyone who watched that on the news should have been horrified by the way innocent bystanders and folks on their way to and from work were treated by protesters. Folks not involved in the protest were attacked and verbally assaulted.

They have this on video, so I cannot see any reason that the Mayor would not give PPD the okay to go and arrest those folks and charge them.

In other news the Mayor states that they are going to crack down on this behavior and forbid and limit groups involved in violence. The ACLU has already stated they will fight any ordinance by the Mayor to do so.

"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...Here I am stuck in the middle with you"

Stealer Wheel

From The Crotch - October 9, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH !

Nancy Cat brought up the subject of skunks and ferals today on the page. As long as we are talking about things that smell, might as well discuss the upcoming second election of our new self appointed NA board.

The board members, all nominated by one person and seated with a mandate landslide of votes (between 20 and 22 ). The problem is that they have not filled even the required amount of seats to be an NA.

At a general election they failed to fill the mandatory board seats.

Everyone that has read the pages saw that we asked, requested and even pleaded to postpone the election until October to give folks more time. Nope we got a bunch of bullshit excuses as to why it HAD to happen.

Well, now they are having another election in October????? because they cannot get enough folks to even want to belong.

Big question? Why did they not just wait? That answer will be clear soon, however I am waiting for phase II of this sham to unfold

By the way, like the last election you will not know who is running or have an opportunity to meet and speak with them. You only need to take the word of those now running the show, that everything is under control. Heavy emphasis on the word “control.”

Today is October 9th and as of yet there are no names. But don't concern yourself with details, THEY have everything under control.

Yep, we can detect the smell of ferals and skunks as it is not a very common odor. The smell of this sham however is very familiar to the nostrils of most in Lents.

I am sure that the city agencies that run and control our board have given them their blessings.

If you would like to make a difference please come attend an LNLA meeting. No bosses, no egos, no drama, just a community meeting not controlled by the city. Where folks discuss Lents issues and get involved in helping Lents residents. Run by and for the people who reside here.

Open, diverse, transparent and independent!

We are not alone. There are many neighborhoods that are frustrated by the behavior of their NA's. I, for one believe it is discrimination for them to acknowledge one community group over another, especially if they are the controlling entity.

Community groups should be recognized for the work they do and should not be penalized or ignored because they are independent of city control.

Read the article about the Downtown Neighborhood Association.

From the Crotch and much more! - October 7, 2018

Thomas Legg

Thomas Legg

Comcast Bill

Comcast Bill

FROM THE CROTCH!

The Brood Boys / Thomas Legg / SQUATTER HOUSES / and other nonsense!

We had a house two years ago in the triangle that we noticed had some squatters in it. Thomas and I went there to see what the story was. The folks we talked to on the trail told us that one girl who was supposedly the girlfriend of the gang leader who was in prison. There were also 2 names we were given that belonged to two of the three males staying there. They were on parole after just getting out of prison.

We found from researching that the owner was not only in foreclosure but he was in the hospital dying. 

We drove and and made our plan. I grabbed a Comcast bill that was on my dashboard. We banged on the door and they answered telling us that they had permission from the owner. They even knew his name. They said he was allowing them to fix the place up while they lived there.

Tom and I told them we had purchased the place months ago and I held up the Comcast bill stating it was a deed. 

I then said to the gentleman, Aren't two of you guys on parole?

The story changed immediately. They did not want the police involved and said they would move out. Now these squatters did not just have blankets and clothes….They had literally moved in beds, couches and stuff and had set up housing there.

They were pretty scared as this would have been a parole violation and back to the joint they would have went. 

We told them we would give them 3 days to move. We also said they had to leave it clean or we would file a report. 

We went by everyday and like they said, They were moving out. When Tom and I went over on the 3rd day they were gone.

There was a note saying they finished the painting on the outside, cleaned up all the trash and they even cut the grass and cleaned the yard. 

We found the brother of the guy who owned it and he moved in. Never had a problem with that house again. 

Amazing what you can get done with an old Comcast bill.

Hope to see a lot of you on the 20th of October at the Thomas Legg Memorial ........

LNA USE OF OUR PAGES!

Since the sham election there have been 3 attempts to post by the new self appointed board. All were removed and the following was explained.

The pages began when folks had no where they could voice their opinions. On ILL and on the LNA pages folks were blocked, censored or had their posts deleted if they did not conform to whatever crap was being pushed.

If you as a newly appointed member of the LNA wish to post on either LNJ, I Love Lents 2 or the LNLA page you can do so, as soon as the LNA page is open for posting and commenting to all residents of Lents.

In all three cases I got no response back.

SQUATTER HOUSE 103RD AND KNIGHT!

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David Potts and I went by there last night. You can see from looking in the windows that this place is still pretty active, The house is filled with garbage that they have hauled in. How horrible this neighborhood has to put up with this. We spoke to the guy who lives close by that just moved here last year. He said they are in and out all night. Other neighbors are terrified and worry about leaving their homes alone even to go to work. If you folks get a chance call this one in 10326 SE KNIGHT. I will be posting pictures later.

CAMPERS
86th Court and Insley

The woman who was concerned about the campers in her alley just texted me stating they have moved. After 3 visits by David, Char and myself we convinced them that they needed to move to a different location. When I was there at 3:30 am there were 6 folks there and I told them if they were not gone in the morning that we were going to gather neighbors and call in the media. I know about half of the folks that were hanging there… not anyone you would want within a half mile of your home. Glad they are gone so these folks who live in that area can relax...

LNA
LET IT DIE PEACEFULLY!

We, as can be verified from the numerous posts on the subject all but begged these few folks pushing for a quick fix to slow down. We heard many excuses:

1. Someone was running they did not want on the board I will not post his name. False
That person claims he never ran, nor did he ever tell anyone he was. And even if he did, what type of board is this to choose who can run? 

2. Lets have the election now and you can vote yes or no to those who run.? False
There is no provision to vote NO. Since there were only 4 positions with nominees all it took was one vote.

3. We have to hurry as we will not have a board. False
There is no board now. This boards first action as a board is to violate its own rules, You had a general election where you could not fill the mandatory seats required. Game over.

4. No need to wait…everyone knows the elections are on September. 
Which means they chose not to vote.

There was no hurry. In fact waiting and slowing the process down may have had much better results then the 24 total that showed for a general election.

Fact is they could not even fill the open required seats with nominees. Both our By Laws and ONI standards require that the 7 seats SHALL be filled. This board is not legitimate. The inability to fill the 7 required seats speaks for itself. We have a board that was nominated by one person and voted in by a max of 24 votes!! Really ?

Now they claim they are going to have another election to fill the seats. Where does it say you can do that? Remember these are the same folks that said we could not put the election off for one month..who now come back and say they are having an election in one month. The hypocrisy oozes.

So lets be factual. The membership did not show. The board could not fill the required positions. We have no LNA Board. Most did not know they existed before.... I am sure very few will be aware of its absence. If it takes a vote to convince you, that can be easily arranged.

Let's put in on the agenda for the November meeting and vote to keep it... or dig a hole and bury it! I will bring a shove!

From the Crotch - Thomas Legg | Daryl Turner - October 5, 2018

Daryl Turner PPS

Daryl Turner PPS

FROM THE CROTCH!

About a month ago both Hing Ming’s and the Space Age gas station were broken into on 84th and Foster. I did not post anything as I did not want to give a heads up to the bad guys. We have since been given the names of the three that did this and passed it on to the owners who I assume will notify the police. One of them is the person we have identified twice as shooting guns off in the alley. This guy needs to get a vacation behind bars.

I hear these same names involved in various crimes and incidents around the hood.

The alley between 83rd and 84th is on its second week of being clean. Outside of a few needles and a little trash it has stayed reasonably clean....

Don't forget the Thomas Legg Memorial on the 20th. It is posted on the page. Tommy dedicated the last 3 years of his life to the SWT and the Lents neighborhood in making it a better place to live.

He was sadly taken from us after a liver transplant. All that knew him come celebrate his life. If you did not know him.. come and find out who he was.

Sgt Randy Teig, East Precinct

Sgt Randy Teig, East Precinct

On the 11th we have Daryl Turner coming to the meeting at KingPins. Come to a meeting where you actually get to engage, it is refreshing.

I was on the By Laws Committee for the LNA until the election...suddenly there is no more activity. Plenty of contact previously..but then again.. who believed anything would change. From the attendance only 24. No problem. Just let me know when they are passed as there are some removals of board members that need to be addressed.

There is a camper living at the dead end street of 86th Ct off Insley, It is our old friend Renee. I went by there telling her that people were concerned and she claims there are guys that come around at night uninvited. If you live by that camp and can get any pictures please do. There has already been a car break in not 50 ft from it in the NAYA parking lot.

You folks that care please call this in. There are some folks that live by there that are frightened. I guess they have called and as of yet no results. Lets help them out.

From the Crotch - Reedway Rally - September 30, 2018

ThomasLegg2.JPG

FROM THE CROTCH !

Reedway Rally .. and the Legend of Tommy Salami!

You all remember the Reedway Rally. That was when Nick Fish was scouting the Lents area looking for a place to put a camp. We were given a heads up by our source and the 4 locations. Thomas and I went out to all of them and came to the conclusion that Reedway would be the spot.

Thomas then made several night trips to that area to talk to campers. I remember we found that there were at least 2 maybe more LNA board members that were aware of this but did not disclose it to the neighborhood. One of those folks resigned within months, the other just last month.

We printed up 500 flyers and Tom, Jessica Ard and myself handed them out at Fred Meyer for 3 days straight. We posted them on every page we could and we spread flyers even outside Lents.

Thomas took another 300 flyers and drove all over Portland giving folks flyers and it paid off the day of the rally. We had well over 300 folks show for that and with the help of Neola Larsen we had every news station as well as some radio stations and neighborhood papers.

It was a big success and it killed any further attempts to move a camp in Lents. We came up with the slogan "No Tents in Lents" and they knew we meant it.

Folks like Thomas Legg never cared about recognition. Some months later a person would claim they put that rally on. 

Tom's reaction was let them, our goal was to stop it...not to benefit from it. I can attest as can dozens of others that the person had zero to do with anything except show up at Reedway and walk with us through the neighborhood for 5 minutes

The majority of work done on that Rally was the footwork of a man despite being sick with cancer made sure that the word got out and folks showed. You folks in that area should never forget the reason there are no tents in your neighborhood.It was because of the effort Tom put in. Don't get me wrong others were involved but Tom was a driving force in that rally being a success.

I remember the smile he gave me at the rally when the streets were packed with folks and signs telling them we were not going to allow it. He smiled that Thomas smile and said “Brother we did good!”

Later this month we will have a Memorial for Thomas which will be listed on the page. I hope that anyone who was touched by this man while he was alive attends this on October 20.

I plan on posting more information and stories about my time with Thomas and invite you to do the same. I only knew Thomas for 3 years but he had a hell of an impact on this old fat mans life. I lost a true friend and brother and we all lost a very dedicated advocate for Lents when he left us. Please come out and remember him.

Next Story : Thomas and I meet the Brood!

From the Crotch - September 28, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH !

ELECTION or REJECTION? / WAPATO AS A SHELTER?

The board held it's annual election. We will not go through all the games, deception and manipulating, it is tiring and redundant .

The night before last approximately 24 residents out of 22,000 elected a new board. Yes 5 members were seated with a max each that could be obtained of 24 votes. That means 99.99% stayed home. I am told another six attended that were city employees to perhaps help with the election I am not sure if the 24 includes them, however with or without them added the response to what these guys were selling was dismal as best. More folks slept in my alley this week.

We were told come vote for me or vote against me. There is no system to vote against. That was very misleading and not factual. You had 5 choices for 5 seats. The only way you could have prevented a member from being seated is if they did not vote for themselves, as they ran unopposed.

I was told...folks know there is an election so we do not have to put it off. Remember that point.

5 of the 24 there were vying for seats on the board. There were I believe 11 openings. None had any opposition. What that means LITERALLY is that 1 member of the community could have elected all 5 members. I do not think that is an election

We asked for this process to be slowed down. Take your time. Get folks involved. I saw no argument from anyone except those running. There was no reason to hurry, at least any legitimate one.

So they had the election. For every board member elected there was an average of 4.8 members at that meeting ...counting them.

A mandate! A referendum! 99.99% of Lents residents did not show.

Now we get back to the statement that folks knew there was an election and no reason to delay. If that is true.. then what you had was a NO CONFIDENCE showing by the community for this board and those that ran. They chose not to show.

After all by their own words.. People needed no more time... they were aware. 
We have these elections every year at this time.

I know from our admin records over 250 folks from the pages were reading the posts about the elections even given the short notice on the circumstances that were not known yet, until just days before.

They will now say we are negative. Not a new ploy. They will argue that they represent change, when all can see they are just a continuation of the old...from the start. They will in fact do everything and perhaps more then their predecessors while now defending it.

That now we cannot disagree, because it's them. They will band together and again decide that they know what is best for the neighborhood of 22.000 folks because 24 people said so.
And they will do it with a straight face. The very folks that condemned this behavior from others before, now own it. But remember…it's different now ..because it's them!

We had a By Laws committee that had some very good by laws in place. I hope those rules are not changed in that draft to protect board members from being accountable. I urge the board to vote on them quickly so that we might start implementing some of them immediately.

No fresh start... just more of the same!


WAPATO AS A SHELTER!

On another note the meeting put on by the Police Union was very good. Very good ideas. A very well run meeting. Daryl Turner of the PPA put out some good info and got a lot of feedback. It is still a possibility and would hold 600 folks.

Not everyone agreed but for the most part it was civil. One person kept talking behind us so that it made it hard for the rest to hear, but other then a little lack of manners it was a good meeting. I encourage folks to get involved and bring their ideas to the next meeting which we will posted.

These politicians will do little unless we unite to get this problem resolved. I agreed with and enjoyed his reasoning. The crazy thing is that the facility that we just sold for a huge loss could have still been ours when implementing this.

Please attend the meeting on the 11th of October and hear what he has to say. It is posted on the LNLA page.

From the Crotch

FROM THE CROTCH ! - September 24, 2018

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I have lived on this block for 13 years. Up until 3 years ago I could care less about an LNA or any other group for that matter, like the 99.9 percent of the other 22,000 plus reside in Lents. The neighborhood was not perfect but it was livable.

Slowly things started changing. We started noticing a growing number of street people. I am not going to use the word homeless to confuse the issue. I have no beef with the homeless, however I am clear in my head that there is a difference.

Friends in other states were telling me about it happening there also. I started researching it and it was something that was growing. Then is started. We wound up having one of the largest homeless populations in the USA. The SWT and our neighborhoods were soon overflowing with criminals, drug addicts and mentally ill.

Our Mayor at the time decided to allow them to camp...and camp they did. The feces, urine and garbage by the tons came to our trails and throughout our neighborhoods. They picked up literally thousands of needles during the cleanup.

Before that all started I along with others, decided to go to an LNA meeting and ask what our neighborhood was going to do. I was shut out, I was told I did not know what I was talking about. I was silenced at the meeting and cut off from commenting on social media. Everything I said in my concerns came true and then some.

That is when the first of groups were formed. Getting involved in that I came to realize just how unaware and uncaring that group was.

The area I live in was fine until about 3 years ago. Then it went downhill fast. We united as a group and pushed back. We made some headway with the trail, but our neighborhoods have been steadily impacted by the leftovers and new street folks seem to pop up still everyday.

In a conversation with neighbors the discussion came up about Oliver Station being the heart of Lents. Jokingly I said, Yes, if that is the heart we must be the crotch. They agreed.

I care less about politics. I don't seek recognition or a pat on the head. I want my neighborhood back. When I moved here we had cookouts in our yards, kids played in the streets and folks were not afraid to leave their homes in the morning to go to work.

I was told today that one of our members spoke with Amanda Fritz. I do not know about what. In that conversation it was stated that Amanda liked the LNLA and their work, but did not like the Crotch posts. I am sure she did not. I myself. also want to talk to her, about an idea for Hummingbird Homes for the homeless. I still have the logo that was designed for it.

My message to Ms. Fritz is that I do not like the "Crotch" either but I live here. I, like a lot of folks on my block are where feces, urine, needles and filth are less then a few yards from where we live. Where junkies scream and fight in the middle of the night. Where people shoot up drugs and drag in trash. I would love to post a nice Mr. Robert's Neighborhood and come out each morning and sing, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...but I can't. Burglaries, assaults, threats against me and my neighbors when we attempt to get them to leave. There are few days I can remember our block not having to deal with some issue.

Gunshots in our alley's, baggies of dope all over the ground. We had over 20 tires slashed by a mentally ill homeless guy on my block alone. We had him on video. They could not arrest him for that..but they found a 3 year old warrant he had for failure to appear.... for slashing tires! My neighbors had no money to buy the $250 dollars worth of tires so they could get to work. We made sure they got them. By the way her home was broke in to twice once while her kids were home.

No, a fitting name for it is the Crotch. We have made numerous attempts to change that with little luck. I liken it to the camps that are moved from one place to another with no resolve. We have spent many man hours cleaning this up, only to find it in the same filthy condition just a few weeks or sometimes days later. I left out the 2 squatter houses and a dead body.

So if you would like me to change the name I am using perhaps you can help by changing the conditions we live in. You are welcome to come visit. We can give you a tour, or I send you the hundreds of pictures we have.

It bothers you that I call it the Crotch? Think about those of us that live in it!

How many nights are you woke up a week? I find about 60 needles a week and do not have to walk more then 50 ft in each direction, how about you? How close is the gallon jug of urine or the piles of human feces to your home? Do you open your back door for fresh air only to smell urine and rotting food? Do you have a problem with huge flies like some of us? How about rodents ? Do the pictures of what we endure offend you?

In all fairness, I was not there, so I do not know if this is factual. I want to believe that Ms. Fritz realizes my right to free speech and my right to speak about conditions in my neighborhood. That my neighbors and I should not have to live like this. That if she is reading the Crotch we would like to know why she has not taken action on the complaints and conditions, instead of the format in which they are written.

If she is appalled at the name of the posts, that is her right. If it takes a simple word like "crotch" to get your attention, so be it.Whatever the indignation one might feel over a word, pales in comparison to how we feel and what we have endured constantly for the last 3 years. There is an old saying. "Walk a mile in my shoes"..in my neighborhood it is "Walk a couple of feet, and check your shoes."

I have to applaud David and Char as they see right through stuff like this. When Thomas and I first joined their group I remember the stuff they went through for even thinking about starting a non profit. The lawsuit threats, the microphone meeting and the crazy emergency meeting. The reluctance of those to join that somehow now attempt to want to, as it fits their agendas. The old board was a sham, this one forming now seems to be just like our alley..we just cleaned it up,,, and someone is crapping in it already. The usual sellout, kowtowing and manipulation has begun before they have even formed. The new idea is just the old idea with different players. .

If a person has some deep seeded desire to sellout out and conform for a little praise or a pat on the head, do so. Please do not insult those of us that know exactly what the reasoning is for that. Funny thing is I told folks at the meeting this would happen. I named the players and the game ,,,long before it took place.

In closing, I submit a single picture that kind of explains our situation, The fence you are looking at is about a week old...just replaced... The feces was there the next morning.. I filled 5 bags with garbage yesterday and picked up 16 needles. About a dozen good folks just cleaned it on the 15th.

UPDATE : We moved the 7th junkie out of the alley just minutes ago, The picture posted is of the crippled guy who was dumped by a trash can and had his wheel chair stolen by these misunderstood and abused street folks. Some neighbors found his chair 2 blocks away...all his stuff was gone....

From the Crotch - September 21, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH !

Wednesday evening my son saw 2 hispanic men in a taupe colored car, perhaps an older Oldsmobile grab a girl off the street who was screaming and yelling. In this neighborhood it is pretty common. He did not see who the woman was.

This morning I was approached by Asia for a smoke as she was walking down out street, A little while later Brad and Anna saw her being followed by 2 men in a car of the same description.

Then one got out and a few minutes later they were gone and so was Asia.

I have heard from street folks that this has happened to her several times. Either they get behind on their dope bill or these scumbags just pick her up to make money for them,

We have no plate number. Please keep a lookout, I am going to report this to our Neighborhood Response Officer. If any of you witness something like this please PM me or report it and let them know there is already a report. A plate number would be great! A picture would be even better.

From the Crotch - September 19, 2018

Sabina Urdes

Sabina Urdes

Sarah Wines

Sarah Wines

Nick Christensen

Nick Christensen

Robert Schultz

Robert Schultz

FROM THE CROTCH!

So far here are the nominations and the nominees who have accepted. Also a list of the folks that nominated them.

I know that one sitting board member is in favor of putting the election off a month to allow us to get more nominations and more involvement. This person has no problem extending their time one more meeting. I will be contacting the other two. The way things unfolded has left many people confused about the process, If not, there will be a motion brought before the membership for a vote.

With 5 days until the election we do not even have enough folks coming forward to fill the 7 required seats. Doing that would make almost half our board again appointees chosen by the 4 board members up for seats. You will have no say other then to ratify their choices.

Hence, my reasoning for no rush. Give some time for folks to make a decision; on if they want to run and be more informed of who they are voting for. We have a lot of new residents.

Here they are:

Chair - Sabina Urdes Nominated by Robert Schultz
*Vice Chair - Sarah Wines Nominated by Robert Schultz
Land Use - Nick Christensen Nominated by Robert Schultz
At Large - Robert Schultz Nominated by Robert Schultz

* I want to be sure so I put an asterisk by Sarah Wines name as she has told me as far as 3 months ago she was running for Chair.

From the Crotch - September 17, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH!

There was a resignation of 4 LNA members a few months ago. They resigned as they felt as board members that other board members made it impossible to complete even simple tasks without being questioned and bantered by fellow board members.

As we got close to the election it was decided to appoint 4 folks to the board. There was no reason to do so. The board still had enough members and the worst that could have happened even if they did not was what?

This is a board that did not file its paperwork in a timely fashion and almost lost that money from EPNO.

A board that failed to produce a working set of by laws for 2 years.

A board that could not even produce and keep up with simple minutes of the meeting...some dating back over a year.

But they needed to rush to add 4 members ? For what ?

Now with the resignation of Potter and Bader all positions are open. We were officially notified Thursday at a meeting 2 members were at.

The election is in 6 days. Most folks do not know who is running. A lot of folks that do not have facebook know nothing. 
Again we are asked to rush and vote in new members. For what?

Does not sound to me like the start of a new board...just a different old board.

I would like to know who is running before the election. 
Folks should have an opportunity to meet and speak with candidates..before the election...not during it.

I was told this is how the last 3 remaining board members want it, I say it is not their board anymore, it belongs to the membership and they should set the election date as the rules allow.

I have no idea what the rush is?

Postpone the vote until the October meeting and give folks the opportunity to not only vote informed, but decide if perhaps they would like to run.

This is an election...not the 50 yard dash !