November/December
2009
1. Central
Precinct Update
2. Condominium Lawsuit Update
3. Resource Access Center
4. Shelters Open for Winter Months
5. Clean & Safe Security Update
6. Clean & Safe Maintenance Program
7. Neighborhood Based District Attorney Update
8. West Side Community Court Program
9. Sidewalk Ambassadors
10. PDX Pop-Up Shops
11. Holiday Lighting Program
12. Holiday Construction Moratorium
13. 2009 Business Census and Survey
1.
Central Precinct Update
After
nearly four years at the helm of Central Precinct coordinating
all local public safety efforts for downtown, Commander Mike
Reese transferred to East Precinct effective December 10.
In what is believed to be one of the longest tenures running
Central Precinct in the history of the Police Bureau, Commander
Reese leaves a legacy of true excellence as a public servant.
Just a few highlights of his time at Central include:
- A more
than 35 percent reduction in the Business Improvement District
(BID) crime rate;
- The
establishment of secure funding from the city for the Services
Coordination Team, which has resulted in an 81 percent reduction
in crime by chronic offenders, most of which are drug and
alcohol affected;
- A 21
percent reduction in car prowls during the holiday season;
and
- The
return of the popular Mounted Patrol Unit to downtown.
He also
maintained very close and successful working relationships
with Clean and Safe, the Downtown Public Safety Action Committee,
the Downtown Security Network, the Downtown and Old Town-Chinatown
Neighborhood Associations, and the Central Eastside Industrial
Committee.
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Michelle
Martin and Mike Kuykendall present
Commander Reese with a gift acknowledging his
contributions to downtown.
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To recognize
Commander Reese's work, a reception was held on December 7
where he received a gift of a framed commander's badge, a
Clean & Safe badge and a photo of him on mounted patrol duty.
Commander
Dave Famous, who formerly supervised the Bureau's Internal
Affairs section, is Central Precinct's new commander. The
Alliance and the BID look forward to working with Captain
Famous.
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2.
Condominium Lawsuit Update
In June,
the Portland City Council changed the District Property Management
License Fee ordinance to require condominium property managers
in the Downtown and Lloyd Business Improvement Districts to
pay the BID fee. One of the 10 downtown condominium associations
filed a lawsuit in the Oregon Tax Court this fall challenging
the imposition of the fee.
On December
11, the Court issued its Order and found that applying the
Property Management License Fee to condominiums does NOT constitute
a property tax that is subject to Measure 5. A copy of the
Court's order is attached. The Portland Downtown Services
Inc. board will now work with the condominium homeowner associations
to select their representative to the board. All financial
resources secured from inclusion of the condominium properties
will be used to increase Clean & Safe coverage in the BID.
More
information >>
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3.
Resource Access Center
A groundbreaking
ceremony was held in November for the new Resource Access
Center (RAC). Featured speakers included Portland Development
Commission Chair Scott Andrews, Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner
Nick Fish. The RAC will be located near NW Broadway and Hoyt
streets and provide social services; day shelter including
showers, lockers and laundry facilities; temporary housing
for 90; and affordable housing for 136. The facility is scheduled
to open in the spring of 2011.
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4.
Shelters Open for Winter Months
A 90-bed
warming shelter opened November 1 on the lower eastside to
assist with homeless individuals who want overnight shelter
during inclement weather. During the daytime hours, the Harbor
Light day shelter now serves up to 40 individuals from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. daily and operates round the clock during inclement
weather. These two shelters have assisted greatly in reducing
the numbers of individuals sleeping on sidewalks and camping
under bridges. Portland Police and Clean & Safe are directing
individuals to these shelters and others as a way to ensure
individuals can find shelter and keep sidewalks available
for pedestrian traffic.
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5.
Clean & Safe Security Update
The Portland
Police Bureau reports that Part I serious crimes in the BID
are down 7 percent since January 2009. There has been a recent
upswing in petty theft, however, which is attributed to coordinated
groups of chronic shoplifters entering a store, distracting
staff, and then stealing items. The Downtown Security Network
has posted pictures of suspects in many of these crimes on
the E-Alert site in hopes of aiding police in capturing these
individuals. If your security provider is not participating
in the Downtown Security Network, please contact Clean & Safe
Director Norm Sharp at nsharp@portlandalliance.com
for more information.
Clean
& Safe security patrols made more than 9,000 citizen contacts
in November. These include:
-
2,570
business assists
- 4,434
pedestrian contacts
- 55
arrests
- 99
exclusions
- 47
enforcement 'problem solving' activities
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6.
Clean & Safe Maintenance Program
The cleaners
are readying themselves for this year's ice and snow and have
stockpiled two tons of ice melt for de-icing operations should
we experience storms like last year's.
Almost
3,000 bags of leaves were picked up in the BID during November
and countless drains have been cleared during the heavy rains.
The cleaners have also purchased leaf blowers that conform
to decibel restrictions on the downtown streets. Remember
to call the 503-224-7383 Clean & Safe dispatch number to report
large piles of leaves, clogged drains, graffiti and other
special clean-up tasks.
The cleaners
report the following:
- 1,357
graffiti tags removed (public/private and Tri-Met)
- 1,595
bags of trash
- 2,975
bags of leaves
- 652
citizen cleaning responses
- 569
needles and items of drug paraphernalia
- 1,220
restroom inspections and cleaning
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7.
Neighborhood Based District Attorney Update
The Neighborhood
District Attorney reviewed 200 cases for November and issued
196.
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8.
West Side Community Court Program
West
Side Community Court statistics for November
- 221
defendants were ordered to perform community service
- 96
defendants were in compliance
- 109
defendants working toward completion
- 16
defendants unsuccessful and facing additional court sanctions
- 14
jail days saved by the program
Westside
Community Court Work Crew statistics for November
- 655
block faces covered
- 46
bags of trash removed
- 0 hours
spent at Loaves and Fishes
- 1,048
street cleaning hours · 392 drains cleared
- 131
People reporting for crew
Theft
Accountability Class
The program continues to retain an average 77 percent success
rate. For the month of November
- 91
defendants sentenced to attend
- 42
successful completions
- 14
failures to complete resulting in jail sentences
- 35
open cases
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9.
Sidewalk Ambassadors
The Green
Team has ramped up to six full time Ambassadors for the holiday
season to provide visitor assistance, give directions and
act as "eyes and ears" on the ground for Clean & Safe. They
are also using the rainy weather as an opportunity to stop
in and contact restaurants and shops. In November, the Ambassadors
began tallying customer contacts at their information kiosk
and in the first four days over 206 citizen contacts were
entered. The new bicycle information kiosk, reported nearly
850 contacts for the month.
The Ambassadors
helped at the pop-up shops' ribbon cutting with Mayor Adams
last month. While posted there, Ambassador Greg reported a
suspicious man who was intoxicated and engaging in lewd activity
outside during the opening at S.W. 4th & Morrison. The man
was eventually arrested after Clean & Safe security and police
bike officers coordinated with Pioneer Place mall security
officers. Great work Greg!
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10.
PDX Pop-Up Shops
 Portland
Pop-Up Shops, a new program organized by the Alliance in conjunction
with the Portland Development Commission, the City of Portland
and the Downtown Retail Advocate, launched in mid-November.
This program is supporting 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 to tenant with start-up
retailers through the holiday season. Shops feature young
local designers and artists and a wide range of merchandise.
Each shop features an element of activity that visible from
the street level, including live DJs, informal modeling, and
designers sewing new creations inside of the shop. The shops
are Workroom 719 at 719 SW Morrison; Flurry
at 401 SW Morrison; Egg Press at 625 SW 4th Avenue;
and By Oregon at 910 SW Morrison.
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11.
Holiday Lighting Program
 The
Annual Holiday Lighting program kicked off on November 1;
last year, the tree lighting program went through a conversion
of all lights to energy saving LED lights. This year, enhanced
lighting on Yamhill and Morrison streets will help support
the Mayor's Downtown Retail Strategy to enhance the retail
signature streets. Lighting crews worked with the Urban Forestry
department to wrap 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. Lighting will extend through March, keeping
downtown lit up during the darker months of the year as an
added public safety component. Additionally, 50 small fir
trees have been planted in cedar boxes and placed on SW Yamhill
and Morrison from 4th to 10th avenues.
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12.
Holiday Construction Moratorium
The Holiday
Construction Moratorium will be in place from Friday, November
20 though January 1. Travel lanes will be clear and on-street
parking restored throughout downtown during this time period.
The Holiday Construction Moratorium Committee will continue
to review all requests for exemptions and retailers will continue
to have representation on the committee. Three projects within
the Retail District have requested and received exemption
waivers and may continue construction work during this period
but with limited reserved parking spaces, and the only street
closure will be SW 9th Avenue between Yamhill and Taylor,
to allow for the completion of work at Director Park.
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13.
2009 Business Census and Survey
As part
of our commitment to the vitality of the urban core and to
assist property owners and brokers, the Downtown Services
Department at the Portland Business Alliance collects and
disseminates information each year related to downtown real
estate, development and BID services. The annual Business
Census and Survey of all businesses, governmental entities
& non-profit agencies located in the I-5/I-405 loop has been
printed and recently sent out to each of the 4,500 businesses
operating. Data collection for the census is underway, and
results should be finalized by late Spring 2010.
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