The Cleaner Crotch

FROM THE (AT LEAST CLEANER FOR NOW) CROTCH!

ALLEY!

The alley cleanup went great. Alley Angels did a hell of a job on the cleanup.

At least 2 of the owners are replacing fences.

We are at this time checking to see if we can, with agreement from all neighbors, to block it off. Perhaps with a gate and a lock for access if needed.. I believe the only access needed back there is the Water Bureau. We could provide them with the code to enter.

Something has to happen...too many folks keep putting in hard work only to see it devastated in a few weeks. Perhaps when we get a functional board we can get them to finally pay attention to other areas of Lents besides Oliver Station and stand by residents to get some action from our city government. My alley might be the worst…but it is far from the only area or alley in Lents that is overridden with crime and filth.

Still waiting to see what OLCC and Oregon Lottery are going to do about our problem if anything. The main infestation of that alley is coming directly from one source. I want to be sure that even if fencing it off works we do not just drive them into another area around the corner.

The Sky is Not Falling! - September 12, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH !

THE SKY IS NOT FALLING !

Seems that whatever board we had left has decided to resign and those who had terms running out have decided not to communicate with anyone.

SO WHAT!

I woke up this morning and my lights are still on. Water is running. I called City Hall and they are all up and going. Salem is holding hearings... CNN/FOX and MSNBC are up and going spewing their daily misinformation. Construction is still going on. I saw no signs at Oliver Station that said, NO LNA NO WORK!

Somehow there has been this belief fostered by board members that this NA has some important role in our daily lives. It does not.

The NA's were formed originally to give neighborhoods a chance to get information and get community feedback. 

They were given a voice in the process…but never a vote.

The parting shot by those who controlled the board for years is a mere bump in the road. It shows the real character of those who for years who tried to convince us just how important it was to residents. It never was. It is something that is beneficial...but it has never been necessary.

So lets not have a freak out. 22,000 folks in Lents never attended meetings and I am sure 22,000 have no idea that right now we have no board.

Whatever steps taken over the next few weeks to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. I hope they do not resort to the same questionable actions and ethics of the ones that just left.

This in my mind amounts to that Emergency Broadcast that breaks into your TV in the wee hours of the morning .... only to find it was just a test. I promise we will survive.

That said, Myself I am more concerned about how long it is going to take for Cosmic Coffee to get back up...not the LNA.

From the Crotch - September 10, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH!

I have it from a very reliable source that Cora Potter and Barbara Bader have resigned from the board.

I would like to thank Cora for her time on the board and her thoughtful decision to move on to other things.

Ms Bader has also moved on and that is a good thing for this board. In order to become a real NA responsible to the community and not a small group of those who think the same her departure was necessary. I am afraid however, in her case I cannot thank her for her service as she provided none. She was a tool used by others to do their bidding. Thank goodness that has ended.

Elections are coming up and I for one am curious to see who comes forward to fill these seats. I hope that what does not happen is that a group just like the one that left only with a different opinion does not think they will now rule.

The board should be made up of those that are in tune with the rest of the community. In Lents as far as I can tell we do not want camps or tents. We want safe streets and the ability to engage in the NA without being excluded for our positions on a matter.

I intend to continue to be as hard on the next group if they practice exclusion. Hope this can bring a change to the direction it was going and perhaps bring back some integrity to the board.

We must all be aware that there will be those that will try and load and stack the board and play the same game all over again.

Let's make sure that does not happen!

From the Crotch - September 9, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH !

Hospital band she posted picture of after "SHE" attacked a community member and cried foul!  Claimed the incident was very upsetting to her and she had to go to the hospital.  She herself has admitted on film that she does have some mental issues. 

 "I as a person with a mental illness, major depressive disorder and anxiety…I tell people this because I feel like that it needs to be normalized and out in society and generalizing anxiety disorder with acute boughs of anxiety|panic attacks.  I also have other schizotypal symptoms and oral hallucinations on occasion."

Makes me wonder why she is still on the board after 10 years?

Elections are coming. Had we a valid section on recalls, this election would have been to replace all of the members, They however have managed to delay and postpone them for 2 years now. By any standard of measure in actions by an NA that is pathetic.

There is a draft out there by the By Law Committee headed by Sabina Urdes that needs to be looked at, have adjustments and then passed by the membership.

This board for too many years has been a one person show who has bullied and controlled what is supposed to be a Neighborhood Association.

Two past chairs that were female and minorities were forced off this board when they would not go along with the status quo that has made our LNA Board the joke of the NA's throughout Portland. Four board members just resigned over the constant badgering and interference by other board members.

While there are many areas in Lents that are going through bad times with crime and the homeless situation the focus of the board under its current leadership has been on the new construction.

Past and current board members have withheld information regarding our neighborhood as they believe they know what we should know and not know.

There are other groups in this community that have been fighting to bring some type of sanity back to Lents, not a section of Lents.....but the entire neighborhood.

The current direction of this board is one of exclusion, self promotion and questionable ethical behavior as board members.

The new By Laws will make it so that board members are not only accountable to the board...but to the membership.

There is a stark contrast between the unauthorized By Laws proposed by certain board members and the authorized set put forth by a legitimate sitting committee.

The author and leader of that unauthorized committee helped with the By Laws that we are replacing on at least 3 different occasions during her tenure. We do not need to repeat that mistake.

Ironically the act of submitting those By Laws without board approval or any input from the membership directly correlates with the 3 violations found against this member.

THe Neighborhood Association should represent all Lents residents, regardless of their location,religion, race,gender, sexual orientation disabilities, or political affiliation. It is about time it happens.

From the Crotch - September 6, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH!

I am working with Sgt Randy Teig as well as other officers and agencies on the problem around 84th and Foster and the alley issue. I am posting my letter to him and his response. You can see that he has already been contacted by the State Police in connection with OLCC and Oregon Lottery. I appreciate their quick responses and involvement. Sooner or later that alley will be a crime scene for something horrible. My neighbors and I have been threatened by folks with machetes, boards, pipes, bricks and even threats of arson to our homes. Hopefully we can get some action here.

The clean up is scheduled and we plan to have media out there. I hope that in the not to far off future I can change the name of my posts to FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD and not the CROTCH which right now is a fitting name.

Here is letter and response.

Randy

A great deal of the problems we are having with my neighborhood and the alley, stem from the store on 84th and Foster. We had a National Night Out there just about 2 years ago where we did a giant clean up. We had PGE put a light in the alley. Several commissioners and I believe Captain King and others attended.

It stayed that way for about 7 months then started going back down hill. It is now to a state where we are hauling tons of garbage out of there. It is full of junkies daily and we pick up about 30 rigs a day.

I have been told by the homeless that the owner of that business sells crack pipes and syringes. 

The overflow from there winds up in the alley.

I spoke to a Detective McIntyre from the State Police who works for OLCC and have calls into the Oregon State Lottery. There is drug use in that parking lot and alley continuously, as well as prostitution. They crap and urinate back there to a point where neighbors on the block are complaining of flies...and the rodent population is brave enough to come out and say hello during the day.

I know that you are a busy man and I am the last one to misuse or bother PPD on issues that I can probably have more success with as a private citizen, then you guys can as law enforcement. That statement from me comes with sadness. I am no dummy to how it works.

I would ask if it is possible to get you or an officer that can speak with us to meet us at the clean up we have scheduled for this alley on September 15th. If not that day any day prior to that. This group along with me have cleaned this alley a dozen times..only to find it like it is today...only a few days later. It is disgusting, it is unhealthy and unsafe.

I will be forwarding that Detectives number to you, I do not have that phone with me at this time.

Like always Randy you know that I along with my group members both privately and publicly support law enforcement. Most of us understand the limitations and barriers you and your officers have to work with.

The recent ruling of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals further spits in the face of both citizens and police officers by their ambiguous ruling in that Idaho case. The only relief I have is knowing that this ruling came from a court that has been overturned by the Supreme Court in 79% of their decisions.

I have no issue with homeless folks and have helped many. Confusing homeless folks with criminals and service resistant folks is a very grave mistake by our Mayor.

Sincerely, 
Robert Santangelo

His response:

Bob

The detective did contact me a couple weeks ago he said he was looking into it. I will have Mele and Ramic check it out and see if there is something we can do that will have a long term impact.

Randy

From the Crotch - September 3, 2018

Sean McCoy Weaver

This group is full of people saying really horrible and unhelpful things. I'm sorry that you all feel the things you are calling for (jailing, labor camps, tracking devices) are reasonable. These things deprive humans of their basic rights. They allow you to talk about and treat people in our city, who have already had most of our society turn their backs on them, as less than human.

They are not. I was not. I am not. They are, and we are, your equals.

And if you think otherwise then I do not feel safe that you are my neighbor.

I hope you all change your mind. Until then, I will not be part of your exclusionary "livability" group.

Good day.

FROM THE CROTCH!

-We had a gentleman today who was a member of the LNLA for one day go off on members because of their stance on the "service resistant folks" and the destruction done by them in our neighborhood.

There are those that believe we should not make such a fuss over it.  I strongly disagree. Three years ago when this all started we attempted to go to an LNA meeting and talk about it. We were shut up. The LAW page and then the LNJ page were started so that people had a place to vent and to show through posts and pictures what they were going through in their neck of the woods.

I will continue to call out the city. I will continue to expose and post the nasty, filthy, dangerous things that are happening in our neighborhood. My belief is that if you continue to expose it eventually they have to respond. It worked with the trail, it worked with Reedway,, and if we continue to tell the stories and call it what it is, it will work again.

I have nothing nice to say about people shitting in my alley or neighborhood I have no use for those dragging trash in my alley or neighborhood. Outside my home is not your shooting gallery.  They have robbed, beaten, stabbed and intimidated residents for the last 3 years and it has only escalated.

So if my posts about the " service resistant" offend them GOOD.. they have been offending me and many others for years.

The Last Nerve - August 31, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH !

The last nerve.

I am afraid we have reached the end of the line. We have run out of patience. I have very little compassion left for the scum that wanders our streets day and night destroying our neighborhoods. We have had 4 burglaries on our block in the last year and numerous accounts of theft and destruction.  One of them was a vacant house, The other three were minority folks in the neighborhood that most likely did not even report it. The last one I just found out about.. They broke a window to get in and stole a very precious piece of jewelry from the folks, among other things. Very sad.

They have been lucky in picking the houses they have broken into as they haven't hit mine, I would finish off anything the dog left.

The alley has been a major part in what is happening in this area and sadly so has Hing Ming's on the corner of 84th and Foster. Several years ago we worked with him to clean that alley and spruce up his building and try to get him to control the folks that hang out there. It worked for almost a year, but has rapidly declined and has gotten worse then it ever was.

It is time to stop it. If that means closing down a business then so be it. Folks in the surrounding neighborhood should not have to endure this any longer. Sooner or later someone is going to get hurt.

We have been told that pipes and syringes are being sold in the area and if this is true it needs to stop...and stop now. I am all for a person trying to feed their family.. but not off the misery of an entire neighborhood.

It has to come to an end now!

From the Crotch - August 29, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH !

Last nights LNA meeting proved quite interesting. If you remember the last meeting video, it showed the rude behavior of a board member screaming at Robert Schultz who volunteers to film the meetings.

Ms. Bader who was less than 2 feet from Robert got pretty loud in her question about whether the camera was rolling. What was she worried about - it would be filmed?

If you watched further you saw Paul the "Interference Officer" from ONI totally ignore the outburst and behavior of Bader and ask Robert why he did not respond. How clearly biased his actions were.

What should have happened is he should have asked Ms. Bader why she felt she had to scream at Robert, which I felt was very intimidating. This is not accidental  .The board does not want Robert there filming them. Why? Because it shows the community the truth about their behavior and also their false claims about all the hard work they put in.  It is laughable.

Next a vote was taken to post Sabina Urdes draft of the By-Laws she had produced as Chair of the By Laws Committee. 

By-Laws that have gone undone for 2 years under the leadership of Potter, who I am sure would love to have no By-laws.

Of course Bader and Potter attempted to question her position as Committee Chair. After that failed, there was a motion which was passed by the membership to post the draft on the LNA page for comment.

This was the same process done with the Code of Conduct. 6 of 10 posts regarding the code were removed or hidden by Ms. Potter on the LNA page. That means 60% of the feedback (that we know of) was deleted or hidden. Nothing like transparency and inclusion huh!

None of the posts, and I have them....violated any Facebook rules or were in any way a violation of any terms. There was no profanity, no threats, just peoples reactions

I guarantee that in addition to the grievance that is being filed for that action, this time we are considering a different process to protect our right to have a voice in a public form. One that will provide a more significant and final relief for this behavior. 

It will then also become clear if this is a board action.. or the action of an individual.

Finally we move to Chris.. poor Chris. He sits as an illegitimate board member, attempting to push a Code of Conduct on the community that he himself could not even follow.

Comments about his draft of a code were... "It is .. Subjective, Alienating, Vague."  Instead of giving one a Code of Conduct he provided a list of rules that no one could abide by.  His code was voted down by the membership.

To add to the hypocrisy he got into a heated discussion with Schultz, who pointed out to him that he by his demeanor and responses, had just violated the very Code of Conduct he authored.

And of course then came the typical snowflake response....

Chris's reply was that they had not been approved yet so they were not in effect. I kid you not! Hopefully he will crawl back into wherever he was for the last 2 years and let those who have some knowledge about the problem attempt to find a solution. Perhaps he and Paul can work together on some future projects...outside of Lents!

Finally it is time for us to say goodbye to Paul from ONI. 
He from what I am told is not returning.

Perhaps now we will get a person who makes decisions and upholds the rules set forth for NA's based on their merit instead of who filed them,,,and who they are against.

Happy Trails!

Crotch Alley - June 20, 2018

ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

Yes as I walked the alley (now 3 or 4 time daily ritual) I found a guy fast asleep. At first I thought he was having a seizure. Both his legs were shaking. I called out to him and asked him what was up. I told him about his legs. I said, "You do a lot of meth?"  He said "yes."  I told him he could not be back here slamming dope. He said the owner told him it was cool as long as he did not slam. I told him I knew the owner and I doubt he said that. Just then the homeowner came into the alley. When I asked him if he gave this guy permission he became a little irate. Before long there were 5 of us and the folks in the apartments just above where he was sitting. They are new here.  I asked the man if they had kids and then warned him about the junkies throwing needles over the fence.

After a back and forth where he was attempting to convince us he had the right to be there he finally left. His words as he left .. "I will burn your house down."  So all you advocates better wake up.  How many attacks have their been on homeowners and residents?  How many times have we heard threats like this. No one in our group made any threats to him... until the burn your house down comment.

After he left I moved the tarp he was on and there were 2 freshly used needles....and about 12 feet down there was a nice pile of shit up against an apartment building.

By the way to the folks that claim they are not animals...your right.. even animals don't act like this.

People do not feel safe. While we hear bullshit stories of homeless being harassed.. those of us living in it know the truth,,,,,,,,

The Crotch of Lents - September 13, 2017

The Crotch of Lents

So they just busted a younger girl, long blonde hair, on my block trying to break into a house across from Automotive Outfitters on 83rd and Foster. She was removing the screen and the folks across the street John and Rita called it in. 

Actually watched them put cuffs on her. Officer said she also had a warrant.

Last night a guy dressed in black with a red scarf attacked the Automotive Outfitters building with some type of baton. He was on video acting like a Ninja and left damage to the window about the size of a bowling ball....Hey Jo Cooper Nearing....your assessment of the crime wave in Lents is a tad bogus!

Ninja and Goldilocks both happened the same day... at almost the same location ...yea things are better then last year ,,,,,right! The crotch of Lents is worse than it has been in all the years I have been here...