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Community Field Project receives
boost from the City!
May 18, 2006
In a surprise move, the Portland City
Council approved $150,000 in one-time money to improve
athletic fields at both Cleveland and Wilson High Schools.
At the beginning of the 2006-2007 budget
process, the Cleveland Community Field Project (CCFP)
made a one time funding request to the city of $200,000
(10% of our total renovation budget), through Parks
Commissioner Dan Saltzman's office. However, after heavy
lobbying by the Cleveland community, the request was
not included in the Mayor's budget released on April
18th. CCFP kept the effort up though, and after continued
lobbying of the council about this important project
- reiterating the need to improve our public recreational
infrastructure in order to meet current and future demands
as population density increases - the project eventually
got the attention of the other commissioners.
Carmel Bender, CCFP Co-chair, testified
along with Kent Roberts, a board member of the Oregon
chapter of the US Lacrosse Association, at the hearing
to adopt the budget on May 18th. Saltzman introduced
an amendment to the budget that included our requested
funding, and Randy Leonard altered the amendment to
make the funding $150,000 each for Cleveland and Wilson,
which had recently begun organizing a similar project.
The motion passed and we are $150,000 closer to our
goal for the Cleveland Community Field Project, and
have set a precedent for city participation in these
projects!
Thank you so much to all of you who participated in
public forums and sent in your written comments. It
was the support we needed to keep pushing and it really
paid off.
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