Over 260 applicants for our CAC!

In the twenty days between March 28 and April 16, 2017, staff received over 260 applications citywide from members of the public wishing to serve on the PedPDX Community Advisory Committee (CAC). This excites us greatly -it's amazing to see this much community engagement!

To make committee selection decisions, we used the following objectives and selection criteria:

Demographic diversity: Staff applied a racial equity lens intended to ensure we have broad demographic representation on the committee, in terms of race, gender, and ability.

Geographic diversity: Because one’s walking experience in Portland varies greatly depending on which part of the city one lives, works, or attends school, we sought to create a geographically balanced committee, with even representation from various parts of the city including North Portland, East Portland, Inner NE, Downtown/ South Waterfront, NW, SW, and Inner SE.

Offering engagement opportunities to new participants: Additionally, we prioritized applicants who have not yet had an opportunity to engage with City processes in an advisory manner, with the exception of dedicated liaison roles from applicants representing Oregon Walks, our PBOT Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC), and our PBOT Bureau & Budget Advisory Committee (BBAC).

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Meet the members of the PedPDX Community Advisory Committee!

North Portland:

Peggy Alter

Above: Peggy Alter and her bike.

I have always chosen to live in areas with proximity to most every day needs. I spent many years in Boulder, CO. where I became an appointed member of the Downtown Management Commission. We managed permits for many activities in the downtown, reviewed storefront extensions and outdoor structures, and made recommendations for parking, traffic and transportation. The goal: to keep the downtown area vibrant, welcoming and well utilized for all.
I have participated in running, racing, walking, cycling, and dragonsports, and helped with events for all of the above. I have been an auto owner and max rider; a restaurant owner and outdoor vendor, and a handicapped pedestrian; a mother and grandmother taking little and older kids out and about; a teacher and event coordinator.
My current home on N Williams enables me to live, work, shop and play within my neighborhood. A few years back I ended up with short term limited mobility and used a walker for several months. Even with wide sidewalks and positive access to shopping and public transportation, navigation was sometimes difficult. I was taken aback by obstacles created by businesses, individuals and vehicles seemingly thinking of little beyond their own wants. Now that I am walking more easily, when I see that sign in the middle of sidewalk I carefully move it out of the way of pedestrian/wheelchair traffic. I appreciate this opportunity to better understand and hopefully help with issues and solutions to make getting around better and safer for all.

Ewnetu Tsegaw

East Portland:

Eugenia (Jenya) Andreev

Silvia Gomez

Gudeta Wak-woya

Inner NE:

Matthew Steven Cramer

Alex Saro Youssefian

Above: Alex Saro Youssefian and his dog walking across a wood bridge.

Proud to hail from Portland, Alex is passionate about this city and making sure it works for everyone who lives here. By being a part of PED PDX Alex will support and work to help the City of Portland discover initiatives and investments to make the city safe and comfortable for all.

Shelly Garteiz

Above: Shelly Garteiz and her dog smile in a close-up.

I moved to Portland in 2003 to finish my undergraduate degree, and over the past 14 years I've grown to love the city as my home. Moving away from my hometown of Houston, TX was a big and welcome change- I sold my car and lived near school. Years later, I still don't own a car and choose to walk, bike, or use transit to get everywhere I need to go. I especially love walking across the Broadway bridge in the mornings to watch the sunrise.

I wanted to join the PedPDX CAC to have the opportunity to contribute to improving walking in the city. I'm so proud and happy to have the experience that I do, and I want to help form a place where everyone can share in a similar experience.

Downtown/ S. Waterfront:

Matthew Denney

Above: Matthew Denney portrait in a suit and tie.

I’m a 29-year-old staff attorney at Disability Rights Oregon and a downtown resident. I’ve also lived in every quadrant of Portland except NE, however, having lived one year in Southeast Portland, a year and a half in North Portland, about three years downtown, and four years in Northwest Portland. I’ve never held a driver’s license and rely exclusively on public transit and pedestrian mobility to get around.

Having accessible pedestrian pathways has been incredibly important to my life. As a child, I grew up in small town Ontario, Oregon, and was able to walk to the park and corner store with friends. In middle school, I walked home because we were located only six blocks away. However, in high school my family relocated to a suburban area in Meridian, Idaho. Our subdivision was off a six-lane highway, and there was no pedestrian access. I had to take a bus to school, and couldn’t walk to any of the stores or restaurants located less than a half mile away due to the lack of sidewalks. It highlighted for me how important pedestrian access is to everyday life.              That’s why I chose to move back to Oregon and attend Portland State after high school, and to live in neighborhoods with high levels of walkability. I hope that by being on the PedPDX committee I can help make our streets some of the most accessible in the nation for pedestrians.  

Traci Chenette

David Loftus

Above: David Loftus smiles with arms crossed in a brown suit jacket and red dress shirt.

David Loftus does freelance editing and proofreading for several web companies, works part-time for Portland Streetcar and Portland Walking Tours, and does commercial video and film acting and modeling, as well as standardized patient work for the National University of Naturopathic Medicine and Linfield College of Nursing. He appeared on an episode in the first season of “Grimm” as a French-speaking Reaper, and has acted in stage productions at Lakewood Theater, Classic Greek Theater, Shakespeare in the Parks, Broadway Rose, and other local companies. Also a voice actor, he has performed audio scripts live with Willamette Radio Workshop as well as recorded books for the blind and read literature aloud solo at coffee shops and bookstores. David was a daily newspaper reporter for three years, has reviewed films and books for various websites, and has published three nonfiction books and several articles for the online Oregon Encyclopedia. A native Oregonian, he has lived in Europe for 2 years, Boston for 10, and Portland for the past 26. During his residence in Multnomah County, David held full-time office jobs with PSU Facilities, the City of Lake Oswego Finance Department, and the Rosen Law Firm to support his writing habit. He and his wife Carole Barkley live in the South Waterfront neighborhood with their toy fox terrier, Pixie, and have not owned a car in 14 years.

NW:

Jennifer Chi

Jennifer Loferski

Above: Jennifer Loferski smiles into the sun with sunglasses on.

Hello Portland! I am so excited to be a part of this committee to help our beautiful city become more walk-able to people of all abilities. 

I am a single mom with two young kiddos living in the North Pearl District. I walk to work every day and bike and ride Tri-met with my children on the weekends. I realize first hand the complexities of maintaining walk-able environments in urban areas, especially for people with disabilities and families with children. I dream of a Portland that is accessible for every person. I look forward to being a voice for my community. 

Stephen Sverre Gunvalson

Above: Stephen Sverre Gunvalson stands smiling on a pier with water in the background, holding his small dog.

Over the past 11 years, I have lived in mid-sized cities across the country: Omaha, Minneapolis, and now Portland. As a cyclist, runner, dog-walker, and active individual in Northwest Portland, I see how important accessibility is for providing safe, purposeful design to improve the livability of cities. As someone who bike-commutes to teach at Rigler, a Dual-Immersion School in Outer NE Portland, I experience the the intersectionality of past and present multi-modal plans across the city as a whole. 

I hope to be a voice of community members where I live and work in NW and outer NE. I look forward to advocating for those needs of those most underserved by plans and share with others the passion that I have for getting around without dependence on a motor vehicle. This is what has made Portland great and will continue to in the future.

SW:

Janet C. Hawkins

Beth Omansky

Lucy Brehm

Above: Lucy Brehm stands in sunglasses outside on a paved street without a sidewalk, her brown dog sitting at her feet.

I am a long time resident of Hillsdale in southwest Portland. I went to grade school, high school and law school in Portland, as did my husband - David Newhall. We raised our children in the neighborhood we grew up in. I currently work as the Assistant Director of the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law program at Lewis & Clark Law School.

I joined the Community Advisory Committee for PedPDX because my family frequently walks, runs, hikes, and bikes in Portland. One family member relies almost exclusively on walking and public transportation to get to work on the other side of the river. I have noticed that more and more people are walking for fun, fitness and transportation. I believe that walking allows you to interact with your neighbors, and to notice issues that may not be evident from a car or even a bike.

We are lucky to live in a neighborhood where we can walk to the grocery store, library, parks, schools, and restaurants. In a healthy, vibrant city all neighborhoods should have these characteristics. I want to help make all Portland neighborhoods a fun, safe place for people of all abilities and ages to walk. 

Inner SE:

Eric Koszyk

Above: Eric Koszyk and his wife pose wearing PedPDX t-shirts at the Grand Floral Walk/ PedPDX kick-off event, holding their toddler daughter, who is sweetly enjoying a lollipop.

Debra P. Monzon

Above: Debra Monzon stands in a rain coat in shallow water on the Oregon Coast with her black poodle.

I live in the Mt Tabor neighborhood with my husband Gary, our 2 standard poodles and our cat. We have lived in Oregon since 2000 and in Portland since 2008. We both grew up in suburban neighborhoods (NY and CA) where no one walks or bikes. We were ready for a change and Portland’s progressive policies  on public transportation and the environment drew us to Oregon.

Approximately 2 years ago I became involved in the Thorburn Street Safety Alliance with the goal of implementing safety improvements to our busy/ dangerous street. That project opened my eyes to the complexities of traffic engineering and planning and how they go hand in hand to manage growth and reduce congestion. I took the PSU/PBOT traffic course and gained a deep respect for Portland’s commitment to its transportation priorities and goals.

Then came the November election…. What better way to make a difference than to help Portland plan and prioritize walking…getting people out of their cars thus reducing congestion and pollution. I am honored to have been chosen to serve on the PedPDX CAC and look forward to getting started.

Kelly Chanopas

Above: Black and white photo of Kelly smiling with her eyeglasses on.

Kelly moved to Portland in 2015 and represents the Inner SE quadrant. Prior to Portland, she has lived in Seattle, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, and Grand Rapids, MI. As an architect, Kelly focuses on creating places that support public health and sustainable communities. She is a dedicated transit user and pedestrian and believes the best way to learn about a city, community or neighborhood is on foot. Kelly looks forward to participating in the PedPDX CAC to find long term solutions to make Portland accessible and safe for all residents.

Liaisons:

PBOT's Bureau and Budget Advisory Committee (BBAC): Meesa Long

Above: Meesa Long smiles at a desk, her face catching light.

Meesa Long lives in the neighborhood of Brentwood Darlington (which is as south and east as you can get and still be in SE Portland). This neighborhood has been the site of historic disinvestment in terms of pedestrian infrastructure, with miles of unpaved roads and a glaring absence of side walks. This year, Meesa worked with her community and PboT to garner Regional Flexible Funding to repair and infill the two major sidewalk routes within Brentwood Darlington and to create safe routes to our four community schools. 

Meesa is a teacher at an East County Middle School, and is passionate about working for and with communities and neighborhoods in need of pedestrian improvements. Equity in infrastructure has always been an interest of hers, but has become increasingly important since having children of her own.  In her work with transportation issues in the City of Portland, her main goal has been to increase safe pedestrian travel for children and families within underserved neighborhoods, and to think outside the box to create positive and equitable transportation improvements within the city. Meesa is excited to be joining the new PedPDX Committee as a liaison for the BBAC (PBoT Budget Committee) this year and working with fellow Portlanders to make this city truly walkable for all neighborhoods!

City of Portland's Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC): Evelyn Ferreira

Above: Black and white headshot of Evelyn Ferreira, smiling.

Evelyn is excited to serve as a liaison for the PedPDX Community Advisory Committee and PBOT's Pedestrian Advisory Committee. She is an avid walker and transit user and has lived car-free for all but three years of her driving-licensed life. She hails from New Jersey by way of New York City, Austin, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. She currently lives in Woodlawn, a beautiful and walkable neighborhood in Portland's inner-NE. Evelyn's time living in various cities with ranging active transportation options informs her passion for health-driven and environmentally-conscious city planning and lifestyle choices. She is an Urban Planner by training with a focus on regional and international development, public health, behavior change, materials management, informal settlement rehabilitation, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), and design. She has experience engaging diverse communities including women, children, students, international groups​, low-income populations​, and informal settlement residents.

Social justice organization -OPAL Environmental Justice/ Bus Riders Unite: David Bouchard

Pedestrian advocacy organization -Oregon Walks: Claire Vlach

Above: Claire Vlach smiles on the Tillicum Crossing in a light green sweater, bright blue scarf, black hat, and multi-colored umbrella open over her shoulder.

Claire Vlach is an urban designer and planner with a special interest in active transportation. She grew up talking about urban growth boundaries while riding Tri-Met, and recently moved back to Portland after 15 years away. She can often be seen walking in her neighborhood, running errands and pushing a stroller. Claire enjoys living in a walkable neighborhood, and wants to make it easier for all Portlanders to walk, whether for transportation or for leisure.