From the Crotch - September 19, 2018

Sabina Urdes

Sarah Wines

Nick Christensen

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 !

From the Crotch - September 17, 2018

FROM THE CROTCH!

Asia in the alley off 83rd between Foster and Ramona. Screaming and shooting dope into her infected leg. Perhaps someone from one of these social programs the Mayor brags about can get this kid some help. They talk a good talk. We have attempted to get that girl help for almost 2 years,

She is screaming and angry as she cannot find a vein anymore. I can hear her all the way in the other side of my house.

I called it in...for all the good it will do. This girl will likely be a statistic real soon.

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!