City of Portland staff will share information about the forthcoming Montgomery Park Area Plan.
From the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability:
Barry Manning, Senior Planner
Joan Frederiksen, City Planner
Shawn Canny, Transportation Planner
The Montgomery Park Area Plan is a long-range plan proposed for the area in Northwest Portland between NW Nicolai and NW Vaughn Streets, west of Highway 30. It is an outcome of the Montgomery Park to Hollywood (MP2H) study and the follow-up to the MP2H - Northwest Plan Discussion Draft from late 2021. The plan proposes to transition the current industrial and employment area into a climate-friendly, transit-oriented future mixed-use neighborhood that includes opportunities for new employment, housing, and services. These changes would complement a planned extension of Portland Streetcar to Montgomery Park, via NW 23rd Avenue and NW Wilson/Roosevelt Streets.
Information about the MPAP Proposed Draft will be on the BPS MP2H website next week. Probably Tuesday. You can look for it at Montgomery Park to Hollywood Transit and Land Use Development Study | Portland.gov.
Montgomery Park Area Plan
Portland Planning Commission and Design Commission Hearing
May 21, 2024 at 5 p.m.
Please check the Planning Commission schedule one week before the hearing to confirm the time of this agenda item.
View the complete Legislative Notice (PDF)
Timeline:
April 16, 2024 Publish Proposed Draft Plan
May 21, 2024 Planning Commission (PC) and Design Commission (DC) Public Hearing
May - June PC and DC Work Sessions
June 2024 (anticipated) PC and DC Decisions and Recommendations to City Council
August 2024 (anticipated) Publish Recommended Draft Plans
September 2024 (anticipated) Portland City Council Public Hearing
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Multnomah County Candidates District 1
Meghan Moyer
My name is Meghan Moyer, and I’m running for Multnomah County Commissioner in District 1 because, like all of you, I want to ensure that we have the safe and supportive communities we need so that everyone in our county can thrive. I am the Public Policy Director at Disability Rights Oregon. I have nearly 20 years of experience creating and successfully passing policies that provide services and support to those who need them most.
I am also a former business owner, having run my own building contracting company, building affordable housing in the Willamette Valley. My wife has owned her own business here in Portland for over a decade, so I have firsthand knowledge of the challenges faced by business owners and their families. We are raising our two amazing boys, and I want them to inherit a thriving and vibrant community.
For more information about my campaign and my vision for the county, please check out my website: MeghanforMultnomah.org.
Meghan’s intro at the April Meeting :
I’m Meghan Moyer, and I am running for Multnomah County Commissioner in District 1. I’m currently the Director of Public Policy for Disability Rights Oregon, and I was
formerly the Government Relations Director at Portland Community College. One of my areas of expertise is how we deliver services to our most vulnerable through Medicaid. I’m a Medicaid expert, and I believe that are county should be utilizing the 70% of costs that the federal government will pay toward services. I’m an advocate for pulling down every federal dollar we can.
The other part of my career is that I've been a contractor. I owned my own construction company, and I've worked for other large construction companies. I’ve actually worked with many of the contractors located in this neighborhood. Having worked in construction and project management, I understand how to plan a project, how to work within a budget, how to work to a timeline, and what accountability looks like. I worked as a Senior Project Engineer for Skanska, at a major chip manufacturer in Oregon, building clean rooms, and there is zero tolerance for not being on time and not
delivering a high-quality product.
And frankly, I wish that that were the attitude at the county. That’s part of why I’m running for county commissioner. I know that there are solutions to the problems with county services. When you work in public policy, you look at who does these things right, and the county has not made the progress that it should have. I have a very clear and concrete plan to improve county services. There is a way to build a Medicaid- backed system that will be able to provide mental health and addiction treatment services to people when they are ready for help, and when they choose diversion options. And instead of discharging people into homelessness, we can get them into long-term services and support.
And I say this both as somebody who cares a lot about people who are experiencing mental illness and addiction, and also as somebody who cares about the city of Portland: the status quo is not okay. It’s hurting us economically and it’s hurting our viability as a competitive city for business. We can have both a compassionate approach and understand the concerns of local businesses. It’s not compassionate to continue to have people suffering on our streets; that's not an acceptable way for us to treat each other.
It’s also important to be realistic about what we can and cannot do. I’ve heard other candidates proposing ideas for solving the issues in our county and I appreciate the passion, however, I’ve worked in this policy area for a long time and many of the proposals are not legal. Why not just sweep the camps? Well, there's a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that says you can't sweep camps until there are alternative options for someone to go to. There has to be a shelter or a safe rest village spot. That’s currently the law, and I’m not interested in things that are going to get us sued.
I’m interested in getting things done from day one and asking the hard questions:
Where are the available options? Why aren’t there more options available?
Why are we not making progress and why has it taken this many years to come up with a sustainable plan?
We do not have addiction treatment for people when they’re ready for help. That’s totally unacceptable. We do not have long-term care for people whose mental illness is so severe that they’re never going to be able to take care of themselves. Right now, they cycle over and over through our system: through a criminal justice system, through involuntary treatment at the state hospital at tremendous cost, and then, unfortunately, we discharge them to homelessness, and it starts all over again.
We don’t need more money for these services, and I don't say that lightly. We actually have the money, but we could not be spending it worse. We couldn’t be getting worse outcomes for every dollar we’re putting in. And that’s what I’ll bring to the county. I know how to build a system that will be funded by the federal government. I know where the holes are. I know where the barriers are. I work with the Oregon Health Authority all the time - that's the state agency that runs Medicaid. I work with other counties on these issues, and I already have the necessary relationships with the governor's office and with the federal government.
I’m not running because I want to be an elected official. I’m running because I care about these issues and I want to fix them, and I happen to have a background and an area of policy expertise to get the job done. I'm not looking to be a career politician or to be your next congressperson. I know about what the county does: the county delivers human services, and that's my area of expertise. I want to fix these problems - that’s my entire goal. I know it’s not particularly sexy. I’m a bit of a policy nerd, but I have a very strong background and a lot of accomplishments in this area. I’ve passed dozens of bills in the state of Oregon, I helped design our Medicaid program, I was on Governor Kitzhaber’s Health Care Transition Team, and I helped write our state’s Medicaid Long- Term Care Plan for the federal government. I'm a bit of a nerd, but I think we actually need a nerd with a vision to get things done, and that’s why I’m running.
Meghan’s answer to the last question about bridging the gap between city and county commissioners:
I think that there were a lot of very good, solid recommendations in the recent audit of the Joint Office of Homeless Services about this. I’ll make sure those are implemented. And fundamentally there is no concrete, measurable, accountable plan where everybody knows who the point person is for a particular area, and what success looks like. That’s a huge problem. I think that we have to make sure that it is clear the county owns these services, the city has other responsibilities, and it’s all part of one cohesive, comprehensive plan that everyone understands. That needs to be improved because, right now, there is a major dysfunction between the two entities.
Vadim Mozyrsky
Let me be blunt: Too many of our local systems are broken.
People in our community can’t count on a quick response from first responders. We’ve funded first-rate mental health and addiction services, but too few people actually get services. Unsheltered homelessness has reached emergency levels, and it's gone on far too long. As an experienced public servant and administrative law judge, I can make these systems finally work for our community. I’ve volunteered thousands of hours with citizens’ committees in our city. I’ve always been a collaborative problem solver that brings people together for practical, commonsense solutions.
Walk Card
About Vadim
www.votevadim.com.
Margot Wheeler
www.margotdistrict1.com
Kevin Fitts (Kevin will not attend the meeting)
I proudly serve on the Democratic Party of Oregon's State Central Committee and am an active Multnomah County Democrat. Additionally, I was a hospice volunteer for five years and a public cable access television producer for three years.
My community involvement and advocacy for policies aiding the vulnerable motivate my candidacy. I aim to tackle homelessness, considering stable housing a basic right and prioritizing safe, affordable housing access while addressing underlying causes like poverty, mental illness, and addiction.
With firsthand experience in behavioral health, I advocate for a holistic approach to mental health and addiction, encompassing prevention, early intervention, and evidence-based treatment.
I am dedicated to systemic changes to combat homelessness and addiction, including improving affordable housing availability, and mental health resources, and decriminalizing homelessness, striving for a just and equitable society where everyone can access necessary resources.
https://www.vote4kevinfitts.com/
I will be adding the transcription of the candidates' introduction and Q&A to the NIBA Website next week.
Please feel free to send any other questions you may have or contact them directly