Hope Cervantez, Rey Espana, Jeff Beiswenger, Pat Kunert, Brett Walker

Review of Minutes:

The committee reviewed the minutes from the previous meeting, and particularly examined the vision that was created in that meeting. Rey noted that some of the language was very task/goal oriented. Hope stated that as the work of the committee progresses, we need to incorporate fighting poverty and addressing after school programs into our vision and work.

Open Discussion:

Rey began the open discussion by talking about capital improvement and addressing the environmental aspects of the target area as a means to promote the social change we want to see. He talked about the concept of a town square as a rallying point to promote community activity, and capital improvements (such as field lighting) as a means for community justice.

Jeff responded to this by saying that a lot of the planning for physical improvements in the target area has already been spelled out in the Rockwood Action Plan (RAP), and that we need to link into that and other projects such as the Stark St. Improvement, Rockwood Commons, and urban renewal studies.

Hope mentioned the importance of establishing some evaluation criteria as we begin to set specific goals.

Housing:

Hope stated that she thought housing should be one of the major issues we address, and that we should explore a safe haven for people who are homeless due to bad landlord/tenant relations. She also discussed how difficult it is for people with no credit history, such as recent immigrants, to get into housing.

Pat echoed the idea that housing is an important issue for the committee to take on. She talked about the Rockwood Home Ownership Program, and said that she thinks we need to take that further and extend the home ownership effort to those who are left out. This leads to pride in community.

Jeff said that one of the problems is that there isn’t much vacant land in the target area, and it is very costly to revitalize apartments. The idea of community housing/community living center was also discussed.

Pat asked about the family mobility rate in the area, and said that those statistics will have an impact on what type of housing development takes place.

Rey said that mobility trends can give us good information/indicators regarding health/ safety violations in apartment complexes and overcrowding. He also said that he has a set of livability indicators that he will bring to the next meeting. School districts and the Gresham Community & Economic Development office were identified as possible sources of this information.

Transportation:

Transportation issues were briefly discussed. The North/South transportation corridor is a particular concern, because at this time there is inadequate public transportation. A local shuttle from the target area to major retailers was also briefly discussed.

Personal safety at MAX stops was another issue relating to transportation that was discussed. The stops between 172^nd and Ruby Junction have been identified by Tri-Met as being particularly unsafe. Due to the high crime rate at these stops,

Community/Children’s Issues:

The lack of after school opportunities for children in the area was raised again.

Hope mentioned Kathy Minden’s efforts in Vance Park regarding a children’s garden and playground equipment, and also talked about the possibility of a community center on publicly owned land.

Jeff said that with any sort of capital improvement project such as a community center, it is a good idea to make it a grassroots effort, to use volunteer labor, and to use donated materials. This gives people a sense of ownership in the project, and in turn creates greater community pride and involvement.

Rey echoed this by saying that neighborhood beautification and clean-up efforts build synergy and allow the community to take back their space. He suggested park clean up and other community development efforts that employ youth in the summertime as one possible avenue for increasing community pride through community activity.

Maps:

The committee examined three maps that Jeff provided: an aerial photo of Rockwood, an existing land use map, and a neighborhood association map. The aerial photo was instructional in examining the physical environment of the target area. The lack of safe street crossings on 181^st was noted, and it was mentioned that this makes it very difficult for some children to get to local parks. The land use map showed the preponderance of multi-use housing units.

Process Discussion:

The committee spent a few minutes talking about strategy identification and goals. It was decided that we would come up with four or five primary strategies, for which we would identify goals, objectives, tasks, and evaluation criteria pursuant to the Weed N’ Seed Application Guideline Manual. These strategies will be identified at the next subcommittee meeting, and will be based on the issues that the committee has discussed in the first two meetings (housing, transportation, safety, parks, recreational opportunities, community involvement, and youth development) and the philosophical vision that the committee created at the first meeting.

Hope asked each committee member to prepared three sets of strategies, goals, objectives, tasks, and evaluation criteria for the next meeting at which time we will discuss each one and determine which strategies we want to give priority. She will be sending out an email to that effect soon.

Next Meeting:

The next meeting will be on Friday, July 6^th from 9:30 to 11:30 AM at Gresham City Hall in the Springwater Trail Room.