The Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association Board of Directors has voted UNANIMOUSLY in favor of remaining with Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition, and to refer this motion to the membership for approval:

The Motion

Motion to apply to the City of Portland’s Office of Community and Civic Life to have Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association continue receiving support services from Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition when new district coalition service area boundaries take effect on July 1, 2024. 

BACKGROUND

The City of Portland recognizes Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association as part of its citywide system of 94 Neighborhood Associations that exist to create livable communities and promote civic participation.

For the last 50 years, all Neighborhood Associations in Portland have received training, support, and resources from a “district coalition office” funded by the city to provide services to the neighborhood associations located within their geographic districts. Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition has served as the District Coalition Office for our neighborhood and 19 others located in inner SE Portland and parts of NE Portland.

In January, the city announced its decision to change the District Coalition Office boundaries - effective July 1, 2024 - to match the four new City Council voting districts that will debut at this November’s election. (Note that this decision was NOT part of the charter amendments adopted by Portland voters to elect City Councilors by district, and it was made without input from neighborhoods or district coalitions. This motion will have NO IMPACT on City Council voting districts.)

Fortunately, the City policy that governs neighborhood associations and district coalition offices includes a process where a neighborhood association can apply to receive services from a different district coalition provider. You can learn more about the City’s rules for this process here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wGlHOxz3kU1qKSz-Iy18RO1UkLn6qXJ1rmg-X5A1a5M/edit?usp=sharing

If we do not pass this motion to remain with Southeast Uplift, the neighborhoods of Eastmoreland, Ardenwald-Johnson Creek, Reed, and Sellwood-Moreland will no longer be part of the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition district, where we have worked in solidarity to improve our communities for decades. Instead, our neighborhoods would become part of the District 4 coalition whose district will include all Portland neighborhoods west of the Willamette River.

We have already cleared the first step!

In April, the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association Board of Directors voted UNANIMOUSLY to refer a motion to you on this year’s ballot asking for your support in requesting that we stay at Southeast Uplift. If a supermajority/two thirds of our neighborhood membership votes “yes” below, our application may advance to the Office of Community and Civic Life. Civic Life is aware of this effort and is inclined to honor the voice of our community. 

We are not alone. 

The Boards of Directors for the neighborhood associations in Ardenwald-Johnson Creek, Reed, and Sellwood-Moreland also voted UNANIMOUSLY to refer this question to their memberships this month. It is our collective hope that all four communities will receive support from their memberships to proceed through the City process together. 

Here’s why we all believe that continuing with SE Uplift is in our community’s best interest:

1. We share the same concerns as surrounding neighborhoods regarding transportation corridors, watersheds, air pollution, and other issues that impact our southeast neighborhoods. We advocate together for our common interests. 

2. SE Uplift is our community. We have a long-running relationship with the organization, and they know our neighborhood needs. We participate on their board and community committees and interact with our SE Uplift neighbors in the same commercial areas, schools, parks, restaurants, farmers markets, and neighborhood events. 

3. All four of the neighborhoods requesting to stay in SE Uplift share physical borders with neighborhoods already in SE Uplift. It doesn’t make sense for the city to move our four neighborhoods to a coalition of neighborhoods on the west side of the Willamette River where community and livability issues are vastly different.