CBR
picks experienced
manager to lead agency
Photo by David Howell
David Eatwell, who's been selected by the Canby Business Revitalization board to be the agency's new program manager, has lived and worked in the North Portland neighborhood of Kenton for six years.
By David Howell
PORTLAND - Canby Business
Revitalization has chosen the head of a North Portland community economic development
corporation to lead the local agency in the 21st century.
David Eatwell has acted as executive director of the Kenton Action Plan for the past four
years, focusing on using volunteer-led programs to reinvigorate and beautify the
neighborhood and its businesses.
"We've concentrated on livability issues, economic development and creating
partnerships that enhance the business community and atmosphere," said Eatwell, who
was promoted to lead KAP after volunteering for two years.
The Kenton Rose Garden on North Interstate Avenue, the nearby Paul Bunyon Plaza, and
numerous neighborhood cleanups and code enforcement campaigns have all been achieved with
tiny grants and huge amounts of volunteer labor from local businesses and citizens, he
said.
"We want to enhance the feeling people had driving into Kenton," he said.
"Kenton was selected as a 'target area' by the city (of Portland) because it meets
federal targets for low income and low employment, but Kenton is extremely rich in people
who want to roll up their sleeves and get involved to make it a better place to live and
do business."
Kenton was essentially founded by the Swift Meatmaking Co. at the turn of the 20th
century. It bought 3,400 acres in 1905, and the neighborhood's distinctive chiseled-stone
buildings were constructed by Swift.
"The whole area was built in about 13 months starting in 1909," Eatwell said.
"They laid out what we now see as Kenton . . . At one time, 70 percent of all the
people in Kenton worked in stockyard businesses."
However, Swift pulled out of Kenton in the 1950s, and Armor and Oscar Mayer also later
closed their operations. The Portland Union Stockyards, which were started by Swift,
closed its doors in 1988.
Eatwell is proud his first Kenton project - removing old advertising billboard A-frames
from the roofs of businesses - cost a total of $11.60 for refreshments for volunteer
workers.
"It made a very dramatic effect on Kenton's appearance in just one day of work,"
he said, estimating he has since been involved in 60 to 70 other local projects.
"That's how you get people excited."
The 50-year-old father of two grown children sees a number of geographic parallels between
urban Kenton and rural Canby.
"They have a great deal in common," said Eatwell, who has published the
quarterly Neighbors Between The Rivers newspaper since 1995. "They both have a
railroad and highway run right through them, and they both have two rivers run around
them."
He also believes both communities - Kenton has about 6,700 residents, while Canby has
about 12,500 - are imbued with a similar can-do, volunteer spirit.
Eatwell hopes to work on bike-and-hike trails, parks and downtown business regeneration in
Canby, among other projects. But he will ease himself from his current responsibilities in
Kenton during the next two months.
"One of the first challenges is going to be familiarizing myself with a whole new
list of sources and potential partners in Canby," he said. "I want to find out
what people want to get involved in, then find resources to make it happen, and then bring
it all together with volunteers.
''Canby has so many of the elements about which I have a passion. It's a community in
which people know each other by first name, and it's a community right on the cusp of
taking off."
Eatwell will be responsible for developing, coordinating and completing the CBR program
within the policies established by its board of directors. The CBR's mission is "to
facilitate revitalization and to support the business district as a thriving,
self-sustaining commercial and social center for Canby businesses, residents and
visitors."
CBR board members conducted extensive interviews with three applicants, and Eatwell's
application was the only one to be sent to the full board of directors.
"We are very excited to have David come on board," said Bob Trappe, chairman of
the CBR's search committee. "He brings both the people skills and technical skills
that we were looking for in a director."
April and May will be transition months for Eatwell as he gradually lets go of the KAP
reins and picks up the CBR slack in Canby. He said he's eager to get to work in Canby, but
is committed to seeing two Kenton programs reach fruition in the near future: a North
Interstate MAX light-rail system, and the Portland City Council's adoption of an urban
renewal program for Kenton.
Nevertheless, Eatwell said he hopes to be devoting the majority of his time and efforts to
Canby's future from May 1 onwards.
And, despite enjoying many years in the urban environment, he looks forward to returning
to his rural roots.
"I grew up in small towns in the Willamette Valley," he wrote in his application
letter to the CBR. "Continuing my work in a small-town community, such as Canby,
would be a homecoming for me."
Eatwell, who was born in Lebanon and who "graduated the eighth-grade in a two-room
school," intends to relocate to Canby as soon as possible. He said living locally is
an integral part of his new job.
"It's an important element in my kind of work," he explained. "You've got
to have the commitment to make an investment in the local community. One of the joys of
living in Kenton is I can step out on my front porch and enjoy the fruits of my
labor."
After 16 years in the television industry and working for selfish for-profit firms in
Houston, Eatwell said he felt drawn to return to his Oregon roots and - more importantly -
to selfless non-profit work.
"My intent in coming back to Oregon was to get away from the for-profit arena and
into the non-profit area," he said. "I enjoy this kind of work, and I feel drawn
to it . . . I'm a hands-on person who likes working with volunteers."
Eatwell's former jobs also include public information specialist for the U.S. Air Force at
its Shemya, Alaska, base, and information officer for the Houston Veterans Administration
Medical Center. He has studied at Houston Community College, Willamette University and
Portland State University.
Eatwell's new job functions for the CBR include:
- Building and maintaining strong, productive relationships with commercial property and
business owners, the Canby Area Chamber of Commerce, the city of Canby and other
government officials.
- Seeking, obtaining and managing grants to accomplish CBR projects. q Providing
leadership, information and administration to the CBR board and its committees.
- Recruiting volunteers to serve on CBR committees.
- Providing support to commercial businesses through education, resource knowledge and
promotion activities.
- Recruiting new businesses to fill vacant commercial properties.
- Advocating CBR goals and positions in city, county and state issues that impact the
Canby commercial district.
- Providing a "face" for the CBR through personal contacts, public appearances,
written reports to CBR stakeholders and media presentations.
- Conducting CBR business activities, including purchasing, banking, payments and
government reports.
- Maintaining accurate financial and activity records.
The CBR shares office space with the Canby Area Chamber of Commerce at 140 N.E. Second
Ave. So far, the nonprofit agency has collected $140,000 through grants and partnerships.
According to CBR statistics, it has invested $246,000 in public funds and $64,000 in
private funds into Canby development projects.
Business owners pay into a five-year Economic Investment District, which is effectively
known as the CBR. Funds are then used for specific projects aimed at enhancing the city.
The CBR initiated the Canby Growers' Market, managed the Pioneer Plaza and Canby Gateway
Project on Highway 99E, facilitated pedestrian access on 99E, developed the Our Town logo
and shopping guide, and sponsors a retail survey and analysis.
Eatwell's predecessor, Kathy Henderson, had acted as CBR executive director for more than
a year, while also leading the local chamber of commerce.
The CBR's board of directors consists of Vicki Adamson, Peggy Baker, Frank Cutsforth,
Craig Finden, Ray Hoen, Carol Prael, Wayne Scott and Trappe.
For more information on the CBR and its activities, call 266-3720, or visit its web site
at www.canby.com/chamber/cbr.
Canby
Square
remains in limbo
By David Howell
It has been almost three weeks since Roth's Family Food Market closed its
doors for the last time in Canby.
The large retail space at the Canby Square shopping center remains vacant. Its darkened
glass windows look bare without the large signs advertising the grocery store's weekly
specials. The grimy outline of the store's name is the only hint of the 25,000-square-foot
unit's busy past.
Rumors and speculation continue to circulate in the local retail and business community as
to which stores might replace Roth's, which served the local community for 19 years.
The shopping center was built along the south side of Highway 99E in 1976. It has 19
tenants, and, in addition to Roth's, a vacancy in the old Papa Murphy's unit.
Cathy Boshears manages Canby Square for Income Property Management of Portland.
Like Gramor Oregon Inc. officials, the developers of the Canby Market Center, she does not
want to mention potential new tenants or stores until deals have been signed.
"We don't have anything set in stone," she said. "A broker is making his
best effort to get a quality tenant, which is what we want. It can be difficult to lease a
25,000-square-foot unit."
Nonetheless, Boshears said her office is not immune to the proliferation of rumors.
"We hear about two rumors a week here," she said.
Across town at the new Canby Market Center, rumors also circulate as to what might move in
and when.
Gramor Oregon Inc. project planner Matt Grady said whenever he visits the Canby Planning
Department, he's always asked what new restaurant is going to move in.
"I always say, 'I'll tell you when I find out,'" he said.
"We have deals in the works that I can't divulge to you. (A shopping center) is like
a ship in dry dock. You've got to keep it going . . . We're looking for a good mix to go
with our existing tenants . . . We're definitely over 50 percent leased, but I'm not sure
how much over 50 percent."
Gramor has developed more than 30 shopping centers in Oregon and Washington since 1985,
Grady said. Two years ago, Gramor Oregon Inc. split from the other part of the company,
and is currently working on two new retail sites in Lake Oswego, he added.
Grady said the firm's developments focus on grocery stores as the anchor. "People
always need basic services, so (business) is traditionally pretty stable, even in
downtimes in the economy," he said.
State economic information suggests the situations at the two local shopping center may
not be that unusual from elsewhere in Oregon.
"There has been a market slowdown in malls and shopping centers," said David
Cooke, a state economist with the Oregon Employment Department. "Market data shows
very little net (job) growth. There have been openings, like the (Company Stores) big
outlet center in Woodburn, but there have also been closures.
''It looks like the two factors are balancing each other out. Since March 1999, the sector
is up about 2,300 jobs, or about 1 percent growth, which is slow growth in terms of the
last eight years."
Cooke said many factors probably account for the state's currently mixed economic picture,
at least in retail.
"My sense would be it is related to population growth and economic growth in Oregon,
both of which have slowed substantially, compared to the early '90s to about '97."
Canby High gym
has worn out its welcome
By Stephanie South
The gym floor is wearing away at Canby High School, creating an unsafe
space for students, said CHS athletic director Keith Baker.
Baker said the gym, constructed in the early 1970s, is built over a concrete slab with
cork spacers underneath the floor boards. The cork spacers have collapsed, so the boards
are now lying directly on the concrete, making the floor extremely hard.
Not only does the gym floor need replacing, but the boys and girls locker rooms also need
renovating, Baker said.
"Just about everything is wrong with the old lockers," said Baker, listing
plumbing problems, leaky roofs and rusty lockers as main locker room concerns.
Canby High PE teacher Cheri Devine said the lockers in the girls locker room are badly
rusted.
"It's not a good thing when the rust starts rubbing off on the students'
clothing," Devine said.
She said the overcrowded locker rooms make it difficult for her to monitor all of the
students.
"It's a potential safety hazard if I can't see all the students to make sure they're
safe," Devine said. "We need one, big locker room where I can have access to
everyone."
Canby High Principal Bill Westphal said the girls locker room was built in the 1950s and
has never been remodeled.
"It's unsafe and unsanitary, and it's just ugly," said Westphal, adding that
tile in the shower area is cracked and accumulates debris, creating an unsanitary
condition.
Gym problems, along with a host of other maintenance needs at CHS, will be addressed if
the proposed $30.8 million maintenance bond meets voter approval on May 16.
If the bond passes, new locker rooms will be added, plumbing will be replaced and
bleachers will be renovated. Other improvements in the PE department will include building
new storage areas, renovating the concession stand for sporting events and adding an
upstairs weight room facility.
Canby School District Business Manager Don Staehely said approximately $15.9 million of
the $30.8 million bond would be used for maintenance repairs at CHS.
Westpahl said if the bond passes the professional-technical building where agricultural
programs are held will also be renovated.
The technical area was built as a vocational education facility in the 1970s, and Westpahl
said he would like to see the space redesigned into a technology center.
"We want students to be able to come in at a high level of academic education that's
integrated into the hands-on learning that a professional technical program
provides," Westpahl said.
Other CHS maintenance needs include replacing roofs, replacing heating and ventilation
systems based on schedules, upgrading technology and converting existing space to new
classrooms to reduce crowding.
The bond money would also be used to purchase land for future expansion and parking,
renovate the base kitchen and add built-in equipment and cooler, remodel existing science
rooms, add acoustical treatment between music classrooms, add lockers to meet student
growth, replace the chimney, replace the front door entry, install outside speakers, bells
and lights for student safety and add an electronic door locking system for student safety
and building security.
Traffic fatalities
decline 17 percent in
first quarter of 2000
By David Howell
Traffic fatalities declined 17 percent in the first quarter of 2000
compared to the year before, the Oregon Department of Transportation's Transportation
Safety Division reported.
Preliminary reports show 90 traffic deaths through March 31, including two on Highway 99E
north of Canby, which is 29 fewer fatalities than the first three months of 1999.
The 413 deaths during 1999 represented a 23 percent drop from the previous year and the
lowest number of traffic deaths since 1995, ODOT reported.
"We believe many factors are contributing to the drop in fatalities," said Troy
E. Costales, ODOT Transportation Safety Division manager.
For example, about half the people who died in motor vehicle crashes in Oregon last year
were not wearing safety belts, he said.
"Research shows that at least half those people would have lived if they were wearing
their safety belt," he said, "and more than 80 families could have been spared
the loss of a loved one
"Therefore, no matter how short the trip, always wear your safety belt, make sure
passengers do, too, and use the right safety seat or booster seat for children."
So far, six people have died on Clackamas County roads this year, down from seven deaths
in 1999; nine people have died on Marion County roads, down from 12; and nine people have
died on Multnomah County roads, down from 16.
Oregon's statistics reflect national trends, ODOT reports.
Traffic fatality rates hit an all-time low in the U.S. in 1999.
The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled was 1.5 in 1999, down from 1.6 in
1998. The rate was 5.5 in 1966.
The total number of people killed in the U.S. was down slightly from 41,471 in 1998 to
41,345 in 1999, according to officials.
