Farewell and Thanks!

Dear neighbors,

I wanted to express gratitude for the Neighborhood Association system and in particular the opportunity to serve on the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood board for the past four years with such thoughtful and caring fellow board members.

It’s been an honor to chair the meetings of people who are showing up to create community by working together for the benefit of everyone who lives, works, and plays here.

As I depart for a sabbatical in the agrarian hills of Southern Oregon in late March, I will reflect on the many accomplishments of our board in which I’ve had the pleasure to participate. Among the more memorable ones are:

The neighborhood-involvement survey funded by SEUL

Supporting Foster Green and the Alley Allies project with Foster-Powell NA

Neighborhood Kickball Champions League also funded by SEUL

Beautifying and caring for the Arleta Triangle & Our Happy Block(fiscally sponsored by SEUL)

The amazing Neighborhood Clean-ups with Foster-Powell NA

And many great fund-raisers including Movies in the Park, Bike bells, and Halloween Kids Party

Negotiating a Good Neighbor Agreement with the new Putters (phew!)
Conducting our MSA neighborhoodTree Inventory

Winning Neighborhood Association of the Year!

I encourage everyone to charge ahead in the great spirit of stewardship our fellow neighbors have demonstrated, so we continue benefitting from your civic engagement and leadership.

Moving forward, I offer some suggestions for potential projects and goals for the neighborhood:

Create plans and preferences for sustainable in-fill policies that promotes increased density along our Pedestrian-friendly corridors - Develop the Neighborhood Main Street plans for Foster and 72nd. Encouraging bike/ped-friendly businesses wherever possible. Advocate transfer of 82nd Ave. ownership from ODOT to City of Portland, then fix it up!

Support the budding Tree Team to set and realize achievable goals for increasing the diversity, health, and density of our urban canopy.

Continue working with the city and place-makers to advocate for closure of the slip-lane to vehicle traffic at the Arleta Triangle.

Support projects that transform alleyways into more active spaces for human and habitat health.

And all the while, Keep having fun with neighbors!

Feel free to reach out to me for inspiration or support on any of these projects.

Best wishes to you all until next time!

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Brandt