January/February
2010
1. Activity
under Burnside Bridge
2. Commander Famous replaces Commander Reese
at Central Precinct
3. Downtown's downward crime trend continues
4. "Road Warriors" population increases
5. Recent Success Stories
6. Clean & Safe Maintenance Program
7. West Side Community Court program updates
8. Sidewalk Ambassadors
9. Downtown Census and Survey
10. Pedestrian Counts
11. Holiday Lighting Program
12. Retail Sales
13. Big Belly Solar Trash Compactors
14. PDX Pop-Up Shops
15. Portland Perks
1.
Activity under Burnside Bridge
For more
than two months, more than 100 individuals violated the city's
illegal camping ordinance under the Burnside Bridge, resulting
in 312 calls for police service. During those two months,
Clean & Safe cleaners and security officers cleaned the area
under the bridge every day, at a daily expense in excess of
$200.
On January
20, as a result of escalating verbal harassment of the cleaning
personnel, an increase of rodents, used hypodermic needles
and other biohazard materials, PDSI and Alliance management
determined that it was no longer safe for Clean & Safe cleaners
to perform this cleaning service. In response, Central Precinct
officers posted "No Camping" signs at the area on January
21. Twenty-four hours later, with strong community support
and after determining that the city's emergency shelters had
capacity for additional occupants, the police conducted an
enforcement exercise and asked the remaining individuals to
vacate the area.
Clean
& Safe cleaners then entered under police supervision and
spent several hours cleaning and pressure washing the area,
removing 78 bags of trash and more than 2,000 pounds of debris
including urine stained blankets, mattresses and two dozen
used hypodermic needles. Additionally, scores of rats evaded
the power washing. The cost for the clean up to the BID was
more than $1,000. Police plan to keep the site clear going
forward.
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2.
Commander Famous replaces Commander Reese at Central Precinct
 Portland
Downtown Services, Inc. welcomes Commander Dave Famous, who
replaced Commander Mike Reese late last year as Commander
of Central Precinct. Commander Famous has been with the Police
Bureau for 19 years and served in many assignments during
his tenure including working as a patrol officer, as a sergeant
in the Criminal Intelligence Unit, and at North Precinct,
the Training Division and Internal Affairs as a Lieutenant.
He served as Captain of Internal Affairs until his promotion
to Central Precinct Commander. Welcome, Commander Famous.
We're glad to have you aboard.
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3.
Downtown's downward crime trend continues
Recently
released crime statistics from the Portland Police Bureau
illustrate the continuing downturn of crime in the Business
Improvement Districts' geographic boundaries since 2005. As
of January 2010, the BID has experienced a 35 percent reduction
during the past four years. This continued reduction is directly
attributable to the strong partnership between the police
and Clean & Safe personnel in our nationally recognized security
model, along with the great leadership and support of our
community to address issues in our downtown.
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4.
"Road
Warriors" population increases
Clean
& Safe and the police have noticed the early arrival of a
contingent of the "Road Warrior" population who usually locate
in downtown during the warm weather months on sidewalks in
the retail core area. These individuals often engage in illegal
activity and harass pedestrians. Clean & Safe officers will
be contacting these subjects whenever they observe criminal
or aggressive behavior to encourage them to discontinue this
conduct and to engage with social service providers. Please
contact Clean & Safe at 503-224-7383 for assistance with order
maintenance issues, and 911 to report criminal behavior.
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5.
Recent Success Stories
During
December, Clean & Safe assisted in the downtown car prowl
reduction program by leaving flyers on thousands of vehicles
advising drivers to "Park Smart" by securing their belongings
in their vehicle trunks while they shop. This effort has proven
a very successful method of reducing car prowls, with over
a 20 percent reduction in holiday car prowls since the program
was instituted in 1995.
On December
22, Clean & Safe security officer Ron Mantia spotted
a suspicious subject exiting Macy's. The person had shoplifted
in the store and had a package under his jacket. Mantia and
other Clean & Safe officers followed the subject, giving updates
by radio to the police. Clean & Safe police bike officer Susan
Billard and other Central Precinct patrol officers captured
the suspect a few blocks away, and he was arrested for theft.
Ron Mantia is a retired Portland Police officer working at
Clean & Safe. Great spot, Ron, and good work by everyone.
This is a great example of the teamwork that occurs daily
by Clean & Safe.
On January
5, Clean & Safe Officer Ron Mantia was walking east
on SW Madison near 6th Avenue when contacted by the operator
of the Tower Sundry and News shop. She pointed out a man who
had stolen a newspaper without paying. Officer Mantia overtook
the man and suggested he pay for the hidden newspaper. The
suspect handed the paper to Officer Mantia, who returned it
to the store. Officer Mantia commented it probably was not
a very newsworthy day. Good job, Ron.
On January
6, Clean & Safe Officer Chuck Ault was notified of
a man on the MAX using heroin. As Officer Ault entered the
train, the individual concealed the drugs in his left hand.
While talking with the person, Officer Ault observed cotton
balls in a baggie. The man then exited the train quickly while
shedding his coat and shirt. Officer Ault then notified the
police. Great work, Chuck.
Clean
& Safe security patrols made more than 20,000 citizen contacts
in December and January. These include:
- 6,585
business assists and referrals
- 16,528
pedestrian contacts
- 135
arrests
- 154
exclusions
- 138
enforcement problem solving activities.
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6.
Clean & Safe Maintenance Program
Central
City Concern announced receipt of a $9 million stimulus grant
to purchase the former Burger King property at 707 W. Burnside
Street near Broadway. The existing building has been a vacant
for years and will be torn down in February, and a medical
clinic for Central City Concern clients will be built in its
place. Congratulations, Central City Concern!
Maintenance
Director Matt Bellet assisted the Alliance with a presentation
to officials from the City of Eugene on how the homeless to
work program functions in downtown Portland. The visitors
were particularly impressed that more than 70 formerly homeless
people participated in the program last year. Matt and cleaning
supervisor Matt Smiley are also taking part in "Achieving
Leadership," a program to develop leadership skills.
The maintenance
workers are currently developing new ways to clean the ten
new bus shelters on the mall and TriMet loop. The unique design
presents some challenges to cleaning the roof of the shelters
using our current methodology, but those should be ironed
out soon. The cleaners also took care of the small holiday
trees on SW Morrison and Yamhill streets that were placed
in the retail core shopping area during the holiday season
and did a great job of maintaining them for us.
The cleaners
report the following for December and January:
- 3,306
graffiti tags removed
- 4,399
bags of trash
- 1,443
citizen cleaning responses
- 1,311
needles and items of drug paraphernalia
- 3,121
restroom inspections and cleaning.
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7.
West Side Community Court program updates
Neighborhood
Based District Attorney Update: The Neighborhood District
Attorney and her legal assistant reviewed 306 cases in December
and January, issued 289 and declined 17.
West
Side Community Court statistics for December and January:
- 373
defendants were ordered to community service
- 160
defendants were in compliance
- 187defendants
working toward completion
- 26
defendants unsuccessful and facing additional court sanctions
- 22
Jail days saved by the program
Westside
Community Court Work Crew statistics for December and January:
- 1,581
block faces covered
- 120
bags of trash removed
- 2,000
street cleaning hours
- 99
people reporting for crew
- 175
drains cleared
- 250
defendants reported for crew
Theft
Accountability Class: The program currently has an 84
percent success rate for December and January 2010. Other
statistics for the time period:
- 142
defendants sentenced to attend
- 54
successful completions
- 17
failures to complete resulting in jail sentences
- 61
open cases.
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8.
Sidewalk Ambassadors
The Ambassadors
distributed more than 23,000 dining guides to businesses and
hotels throughout the BID. Between the kiosk and the mobile
bicycle kiosk, the Ambassadors contacted more than 1,000 citizens
in the BID in January. The Ambassadors welcomed Ambassador
Merlin Varaday back into the ranks. Merlin's outgoing personality
and knowledge of downtown is a welcome asset to the team.
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9.
Downtown Census and Survey
The downtown
services team collects and disseminates information each year
related to downtown real estate, development and BID services
in order to assist property owners, commercial real estate
brokers and gauge the overall health of downtown. This information
gathering, called the Business Census and Survey, reaches
all businesses, governmental entities & non-profit agencies
located in the I-5/I-405 loop. Last year's survey was recently
sent out to each of the 4,500 businesses currently operating.
Data collection for the 2010 census is underway, and results
should be finalized by late spring 2010.
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10.
Pedestrian Counts
Semi-annual
pedestrian counts were completed in the third week of December
at 15 key corners in downtown. Initial results show traffic
patterns to be comparable with results from the December 2007
count (the project was cancelled in 2008 due to sudden inclement
weather). The highest traffic corner was SW 6th Avenue and
Morrison Street with 28,532 pedestrians crossing the intersection
within a 12-hour period, replacing SW Broadway and Morrison
as the intersection with the most foot traffic downtown.
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11.
Holiday Lighting Program
This year
enhanced lighting on SW Yamhill and Morrison streets helped
support the Mayor's Downtown Retail Strategy to enhance the
retail signature streets during the holiday season. Lighting
crews wrapped the bases of trees with LED lights from the
ground to the canopy along the Yamhill and Morrison alignment
to create a more pedestrian friendly environment and promote
retail connectivity; this lighting will be removed in mid-January
per our agreement with the Urban Forester, to reduce potential
harm to trees. The remaining tree lights will extend through
March, keeping downtown lit up during the darker months of
the year as an added public safety component.
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12.
Retail Sales
Downtown
stores reported positive sales results for the 2009 holiday
season. Local stores were hit hard last year with the beginning
of a recessionary period coupled with extreme weather during
critical holiday shopping days. This year, a slightly brighter
economic outlook, mild weather, and enhanced holiday marketing
and programming, kept downtown a vital retail destination
through the holidays.
Downtown
mid-range stores reported increases from last year ranging
between 15 to 30 percent, making up for the declines in 2008
and turning in sales results comparable to 2007. The ultra-high
end luxury sector has continued to be challenging with those
stores reporting sales declines of 5 percent compared to 2007.
Overall, the retail industry will collectively turn in a result
of 5 percent over last year.
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13.
Big Belly Solar Trash Compactors
The second
shipment of the BigBelly solar trash compactors were installed
in downtown Portland in December, sponsored by Gerding Edlen,
TMT Development, Hoffman Construction, and US Bank. Two units
placed by Gerding Edlen to support the new Indigo 12 West
apartment building include a secure recycling unit for can
and bottle collection. A total of 20 units have been installed
in downtown to-date, and a third order of approximately 10
units will arrive in February.
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14.
PDX Pop-Up Shops
 Portland
Pop-Up Shops, a new program organized in partnership between
the Alliance, PDC, the City of Portland and the Downtown Retail
Advocate, ran from mid-November to the end of December. The
shops featured young local designers and artists and a wide
range of merchandise. Shops posted very positive sales results,
roughly $98,000 during the holiday season. The next iteration
of the shops is currently underway and new stores are being
planned for spring.
This program
supported the mayor's Downtown Retail Strategy by creating
more unique retail offerings and activities along the Yamhill
and Morrison alignment during the holiday season. Downtown
property owner Greg Goodman donated three vacant retail spaces
and the city donated one for start-up retailers to use at
no charge to display their wares through the holiday season.
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15.
Portland Perks
The 2010
Book of Big Deals, now named "Portland Perks," funded by the
Downtown BID in partnership with the Downtown Retail Council
and Travel Portland, was released in late December. Roughly
60,000 copies of "Portland Perks" will be distributed this
year, 15,000 to leisure travelers upon check-in at participating
hotels in downtown Portland, and 45,000 to Portland convention
delegates. This marketing vehicle offers coupons for shopping,
dining, cultural attractions, and performing arts organizations.
Most participating businesses are located in downtown Portland.
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