Stop Portland City Council from Ignoring Neighborhood Associations

I support the petition. Neighborhood Associations need to be an active part of our city.

Neighborhood Associations are the fabric of communities. They are centers of collaboration, information sharing and idea exchange. PDX should not downgrade their status in City deliberations and decisions.

We owe thanks to our neighborhood association for so many community-building and livability initiatives: planting trees, concerts in the park, neighborhood clean-ups, raising awareness around issues that concern all residents and providing a venue for community advocacy. Please don't take away the voices and the community-organizing power of Portland's ordinary citizens!!

Portland's Neighborhood Associations are an important and valuable piece of the social fabric of this city. They offer any resident the opportunity to play a role in their local government and community. Bureaucrats already have too much power in Portland. The neighborhood associations are pure democracy in action. To remove them is to strengthen autocracy. Shame on those who are trying to do this.

My neighborhood association (Richmond) is very helpful in keeping me informed of multiple neighborhood issues.

We support the petition.

Neighborhood Associations have a long and very successful history in this city and to do away with them now is unconscionable. This is one of the few avenues for Portland residents to express concerns in their own neighborhood.

Appreciate when city listens to residents. Thanks. Heard rumor when in Philly that developers are heading here for our infill! Please be sure numbers are not all hype by developers. With community services in Parks being cut how can we believe other growth beyond what has been set in past land use arrangements. Neighborhoods know the ground level. Plz listen. Thx

Our neighborhood Associations need to be involved and a part of discussion in our city planning. Please vote no on Code 3.96. Thank you,

Do not eliminate or minimize the voice of Neighborhood Associations in Portland!

Reducing one avenue of engagement is the wrong way to encourage others.

Neighborhood Associations represent democracy in its most palpable form. Restraining its influence, stifles the voices of ordinary citizens who would otherwise have less say and influence in processes that directly affect their lives.

Keep neighborhood associations involved!

Respect neighborhood integrity

I soundly support this petition.

Neighborhood associations are crucial for community building and helping people have a voice. It's part of what makes this a great, neighborhood-focused city.

Because of our unrepresentative commission form of government, neighborhood associations are really the only way Portland citizens have a voice. Don't take this away from us.

As a senior citizen, sixth generation native Portlander and resident I have experience with Neighborhood Associations. I never have served on a NA but I have attended meetings, testified and presented issues form time to time. I follow our local NA on Facebook and receive helpful information about my community every day. GenerallyI have found that NAs work well and are as functional as the members who make the sacrifice to attend. Yes, there are conflicts and differences, as in every neighborhood their ar different points of view. At their best, Neighborhood associations in Portland inform all residents of issues of interest where they live. Even if you work at night or cannot attend meetings, the NH provides information and offers opportunities for opinions through letters, emails and personal testimony. If we shut down our local process, our local voice, it leaves a huge gap between Portland city bureaus, planners, commissioners and the people who live in a neighborhood. The big voices of developers will fill that gap because money, jobs and the economy are a powerful motivator that can outshout other concerns. City commissioners will be one more step removed from the voters. As Commissioners, think how many times you have gone to an NA to present a project, give your ideas a platform or listened to proposal. This process can simplify communication with a neighborhood. My experience is that when you have an issue with a big service organization like a PPS, it is the NHA that can help get your voice at least a hearing. These hearings bring facts to light. They open the local conversation about Portland living. These conversations get people thinking about issues in a new way. And for some of us, perhaps many of us, speaking up in a meeting with at least some people you know personally makes it more likely you will speak up. The reduction of the voice of the people by reducing the effectiveness of Neighborhood Associations is a way

Keep our city neighborhoods a key part of the city as they have always been!

Portland