1) Happy Holidays!
2) OKNA asks city to include restrictions in homeless camp permit
3) Holiday parking advisory
4) Want to get married in a Portland park in 2016?
5) Marijuana Policy Task Force
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The Overlook Neighborhood Association wishes you and yours a wonderful holiday season. We hope these weeks are full of merriment and joy.
2) OKNA asks city to include restrictions in homeless camp permit
As mentioned in an email earlier this week, the Overlook Neighborhood Association Board sent a letter to Mayor Charlie Hales asking that eight items be included in any permit for homeless camps along N Greeley Avenue. Read the full letter here.
OKNA Board Member Chris Trejbal discussed the letter and the camp on KBOO radio this week.
Also this week, City Commissioner Nick Fish discussed homelessness, including the camps on Greeley, on on KGW’s Straight Talk.
“I don’t think we should ever accept the notion that a tent over your head is a good substitute for roof over your head,” he said. “Once you normalize things like tent cities, once you say that that’s an acceptable alternative, then you really let [public officials] off the hook.”
The full discussion about homelessness is worth watching to hear a view that differs from the mayor’s approach. It begins at 10:19 in the video. (Click here if video fails to load.)
Traveling downtown during the holidays? Portland Bureau of Transportation SmartPark garages will close at 11 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 24, and remain closed all of Dec. 25. They will re-open on Saturday, Dec. 26 at 5 a.m. The one exception is the O’Bryant Square SmartPark garage. That garage will close at 7 p.m. on Thursday, December 24 and will not re-open for regular business hours until Monday, December 28 at 6:30 a.m.
If you are headed downtown on Dec. 25, on street parking will be free all day.
Garages will remain open for regular business on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. On-street parking will be free New Year’s Day.
4) Want to get married in a Portland park in 2016?
Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) is the proud steward of more than 200 parks, gardens, and natural settings that can be reserved for weddings and/or receptions. These lovely settings are great locations for ceremonies and celebrations.
Portland Parks & Recreation will begin taking wedding reservations for 2016 events on Jan. 4 in person, via phone, and by mail and fax only. The PP&R Customer Service Center opens at 8:00 a.m. for walk-in service on weekdays, and on Jan. 4, staff will begin answering phones at approximately 11:00 a.m.
First come, first served. Walk-in customers will receive assistance before phone callers, mail or faxes are addressed.
We provide hot beverages to those standing in line, to help customers through the early morning chill! Typically, many eager future happy couples stand in line prior to the center’s opening to ensure they get their first choices of PP&R wedding venues and their preferred dates.
Online reservations will not begin until Jan. 11, but by then many of the best locations and dates will be taken.
5) Marijuana Policy Task Force
Portland residents are invited to apply to serve on the 2016-17 Marijuana Policy Task Force. The task force will inform the ongoing development of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement’s Marijuana Policy Program by engaging community and industry stakeholders with different skill sets, perspectives, and priorities to ensure the safety and livability of Portland neighborhoods.
The Marijuana Policy Task Force will meet monthly from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of every month from Jan. 27, 2016 to Jan. 25, 2017.
Interested parties are encouraged to apply to serve for a year-long term. Download the application here. Please complete, sign, and mail this application along with your biography or résumé and any additional information by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6. Send completed application materials to the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, Attention: Marijuana Policy Program, 1221 SW 4th. Ave. Rm. 110, Portland, OR 97204.