June/July 2010
1. PDSI
Board Elects FY '11 Officers and New Board Members
2. Mounted Patrol Unit Update
3. Clean & Safe Security
4. Clean & Safe Maintenance Program
5. Westside Community Court Program Update
6. Sidewalk Ambassadors
7. Business Census & Survey
8. June Pedestrian Count
9. New Chair of the Downtown Retail Council
(DRC)
10. New Compassion Coupon
11. Downtown Retail Strategy
12. Retail Recruitment
1.
PDSI Board Elects FY '11 Officers and New Board Members
At the
board's Annual Meeting on May 27, Michelle Martin of Ashforth
Pacific, Inc. was elected unanimously to serve a second year
as chair of the Business Improvement District (BID) board.
Joining her on the Executive Committee will be Ron Beltz of
KOIN Center as Chair-Emeritus, Dave Williams of NW Natural
Gas as Vice-Chair, Deanne Hulden of the World Trade Center
as Treasurer, and Ad Hoc members Greg Goodman of City Center
Parking and Dave Hamilton of Norris and Stevens. Mike Kuykendall
of the Portland Business Alliance will serve as the board's
President/Secretary. New board members elected were Stephen
"Skip" Frank of the University Park Condominiums, who will
represent the downtown condominium owners on the board, Sylvia
Roll of Grubb and Ellis, who manages the downtown Wells Fargo
holdings, and Ed Blackburn of Central City Concern.
Back
to the top
2.
Mounted Patrol Unit Update
In the
proposed city budget for next fiscal year, the Mounted Patrol
Unit was slated to be cut. The new Portland Police Chief Mike
Reese, however, made the unit a priority during his first
week in office he was able to identify funds in his budget
to maintain the Mounted Patrol Unit (MPU) for next year. This
decision will keep seven police officers and their sergeant
on horses working in and around the Business Improvement District
and is a great benefit to downtown. In April, MPU made 79
arrests, including 20 for drug offenses. MPU works alongside
and shares a radio frequency with the Clean & Safe security
and police officer bicycle patrols.
Back
to the top
3.
Clean & Safe Security
The Office
of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI) issued a Commercial Burglary
Alert after police noticed an up tick in commercial burglary
in certain areas of Central Precinct last month. It is believed
that a group of thieves are working together casing businesses
and stealing popular items including Apple Computer products
such as the iMac. ONI makes the recommendations to safeguard
you and your employees:
- Take
extra precautions as to who enters your office;
- Secure
high value items in safes, secure cages, or locked areas;
- Leave
select interior office lights on at night to deter criminal
activity;
- Eliminate
obstructions to visibility both outside and inside your
business;
- Inventory
and record serial numbers on important equipment;
- Train
and encourage staff to call Clean & Safe at 503-224-7383
or 911 emergency;
- If
you are a victim, make a police report. It matters. Call
the non-emergency line to report the theft at 503-823-3333.
 Long-time
Clean & Safe Officer Jim Bare received a Unit Commendation
Medal from the Portland Police Bureau on June 10 for his assistance
to the Services Coordination Team (SCT). Formed in 2004, the
SCT apprehends and provides drug and alcohol treatment to
chronic criminal offenders in downtown, and has played a large
role in the more than 35% reduction in the Clean and Safe
District since 2005. Jim is a retired Portland Police officer
and over the years has amassed critical knowledge of the SCT
clients and their diverse treatment needs. This award is much
deserved - Congratulations Jim!
On June
15, Clean & Safe Officer Tyler Dahl came upon a person who
had been struck by a Max train underneath the Burnside Bridge.
At the time of the call, emergency services had not been notified.
Officer Dahl quickly assessed the injured person's condition
and ensured the scene was under control before radioing Clean
& Safe dispatch with a request for medical assistance and
then stayed with the person. Due to Officer Dahl's quick handling
of the situation, a more rapid response was initiated and
the wellbeing of the injured person was ensured.
Clean
& Safe security patrols made over 14,550 citizen contacts
in May and June. These include:
- 9,969
business assists and referrals
- 16,435
pedestrian contacts
- 130
arrests by Clean & Safe police bicycle officers
- 238
exclusions
- 209
enforcement non arrest problem solving activities.
Back
to the top
4.
Clean & Safe Maintenance Program
The Clean
& Safe security and cleaning team met in June with Skip Frank,
who was recently elected to the Clean and Safe board to represent
the condominium property managers. Mr. Frank was briefed and
given a tour of Clean & Safe headquarters to familiarize him
with what the program offers to the condo owners in the district.
Mr. Frank is organizing a meeting in July with all ten of
the condo property managers and their board chairs to help
get the word out about the program.
Central
City Concern is currently conducting mock interview sessions
to assist the temporary Clean & Safe janitors as they transition
in the Life after Clean & Safe class. Supervisor Matt Bellet
is also coordinating with Central City Concern Volunteer Coordinators
to host a volunteer graffiti removal event in downtown this
summer, in partnership with the Office of Neighborhood Involvement.
Every year our cleaners remove approximately 25,000 graffiti
tags in the district.
Cleaning
Statistics for May and June:
- 3,747
graffiti tags removed
- 3,670
bags of trash
- 1,548
citizen cleaning responses
- 1,983
needles and items of drug paraphernalia
- 3,261
restroom inspections and cleaning
Back
to the top
5.
West Side Community Court Program
Updates
Neighborhood
Based District Attorney Update: In May and June, the Neighborhood
District Attorney assistant reviewed 505 criminal cases for
prosecution. The Neighbor DA subsequently issued 481 cases.
Twenty-one cases ended in non-complaints and three were declined.
Westside
Community Court statistics:
- 495
defendants were ordered to community service
- 184
defendants were in compliance
- 270
defendants working toward completion
- 41
defendants unsuccessful and facing additional court sanctions
- 118
jail days saved by the program
Westside
Community Court Work Crew statistics for June: Multnomah County
officials have asked Clean & Safe for information about cigarette
butt pollution in downtown after one year of the non- smoking
law. The crew began counting cigarette butts removed from
sidewalks, tree grates and other public spaces and, after
twelve days of counting, the total was nearly 36,000 cigarette
butts removed. Thanks to our crew leader, Wayne Baseden, for
taking this project on.
Crew
Statistics for June:
- 1,924
block faces covered
- 142
bags of trash removed
- 2,064
street cleaning hours
- 71
drains cleared
- 258
individuals reporting for crew
Theft
Accountability Class:
- 166
persons sentenced to attend
- 93
open cases
- 58
persons successful
- 15
failures awaiting additional court sanctions
Back
to the top
6.
Sidewalk Ambassadors
June welcomed
Morgan Beltz (top) and Alex Reese (second from
top) as Summer Ambassadors. They arrived just in time for
Rose Festival season and the better weather made the job a
lot more fun for them. During the Rose Festival Parade, Ambassador
Marcus Marchand handed out an amazing 1,700 Downtown Dining
Guides. The "Green Team" had more than 4,600 contacts despite
the record rainfall we suffered in May and June. Well done,
Marcus and all of the Ambassadors!
Back
to the top
7.
Business Census & Survey
Data collection
for the 2009 Census and Survey has been completed and the
report will be released in July. Preliminary results show
a gain of about 400 employees in the downtown area (last year
roughly 3,000 jobs were lost) and very positive attitudes
regarding cleanliness and safety of downtown. The City of
Portland has requested that we coordinate with them on our
future surveys by utilizing the employment data they track
in the central city and allowing for more consistent and unified
reporting throughout projects such as the Central City Plan
Update and the Economic Development Strategy.
Back
to the top
8.
June Pedestrian Count
Pedestrian
counts took place June 17-19 and showed an overall increase
compared to June 2009 and June 2008 results. Counts on SW
5th and 6th Avenues appear to have been positively affected
by Transit Mall completion and the addition of MAX trains
in September 2009, and the SW 3rd and 4th Avenue locations
showed a decrease most likely due to the closure of the temporary
bus mall.
Notable
results include:
- SW
4th and Morrison: Almost 15,000 pedestrians with results
up 6 percent to 2009.
- SW
5th and Yamhill: More than 19,000 pedestrians, with results
up 24 percent to 2009. Saks Fifth Avenue is in the midst
of a store-closing sale, generating increased foot traffic
to that location.
- SW
6th and Morrison: More than 26,000 pedestrians. This corner
ranks as the most heavily utilized corner downtown
- SW
Park and Yamhill: More than 8,000 pedestrians with results
increased 11 percent over 2009, due primarily to the completion
of Director Park.
Back
to the top
 9.
New Chair of the Downtown Retail Council (DRC)
After
almost two years of service, Sandra Rollinson, Marketing Director
at Pioneer Place, will be stepping down as chair of the DRC.
William Palmer, a longtime Portland retail professional and
current manager of Brooks Brothers will take over as the chair
beginning in July.
Back
to the top
10.
New Compassion Coupon
The 'Compassion
Coupon,' which runs July through September, was developed
at the behest of the City of Portland to roll out in conjunction
with the city's larger Sidewalk Management Plan. The program
encourages Portland-area residents to print off online coupons
and bring them into participating downtown stores and restaurants.
For each Compassion Coupon redeemed, $5 will be donated to
New Avenues to fund a Masters Level Caseworker who will lead
their Road Warrior program. The Alliance, through its Charitable
Trust and the Kevin Montgomery Smith Fund pledged $10,000
toward this effort. For a list of the participating 35 downtown
restaurants and retailers (plus SmartPark), please visit the
Downtown Portland website: www.downtownportland.org.
Back
to the top
11.
Downtown Retail Strategy
The Downtown
Retail Strategy Task Force continues its work on a number
of action items this year. These items include new branding
and programming such as:
- Featuring
the new Dining Month (June) and Fashion's Night Out (September)
- Activating
key vacancies, including developing an interim use strategy
for the SW 10th and Yamhill Smart Park garage retail vacancies
- Making
physical improvements to the Yamhill Smart Park garage including
landscaping, street furnishing and enhancement to the right
of way as envisioned by ZGF architects.
Back
to the top
12.
Retail Recruitment
Downtown
Retail Development Manager Lisa Frisch and Downtown Retail
Advocate Cori Jacobs attended the annual International Council
of Shopping Center (ICSC) Retail Real Estate convention in
Las Vegas in May along with 25,000 other delegates representing
cities, brokers, and retailers from all over the world. The
team made contacts with several retailers targeted for recruitment.
Alliance staff created new promotional materials for retail
recruitment efforts, including a demographic analysis of the
Portland population segmented into customers, as well as a
section devoted to the Downtown Retail Strategy and the various
downtown Portland management organizations.
Back
to the top
|
