LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

1/4/2006

2 Comments

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YOURS NOT TO QUESTION Y

As President-Elect of the Board of Directors of the YWCA of Greater Portland, I speak for the entire Board when I tell you I was disappointed with Angela Valdez's article "Asking Y" [WW, Dec. 14, 2005]. The story lacked the context of the information provided to the reporter by the YWCA and failed to include material from our partner organizations. The text of the table of contents was particularly misleading, and I was surprised and upset with the lack of balance in the story.

The YWCA has been serving women and families in our community for 104 years. In 2004-05, we served close to 35,000 people. The way this organization has survived is that we have been able to change our services over time to meet the evolving needs in our community while preserving our mission. We are proud of the tremendous community support that helps us provide our programs and services focused on seniors, women in transition, homeless families, and health and wellness.

Running a nonprofit organization is challenging. We must always struggle for the resources that make it possible for us to deliver services. The current economic climate demands that we operate leanly with an eye on the bottom line if we want to survive.

As stewards of a strong organization with a long record of achievement, our Board of Directors is dedicated and committed to our mission. Strategic decisions are not made in a vacuum but engage and involve the County and partners such as Loaves and Fishes. We have identified a vital need to expand our mission-aligned program services in our own building. It makes no sense for us to look elsewhere to do this.

The YWCA Board, staff and clients appreciate Adella Macdonald's effective leadership and personal support as a major donor.

Emi A. Donis
President-Elect, YWCA Board of Directors
Southwest Altadena Avenue

THEY KEEP THE LIGHT ON FOR ME

I have been a client of the Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery for the past 18 years. They have introduced and supported many wonderful artists and have made a vital contribution to the Northwest artist community since 1988. Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery is always very professional in all aspects of its business.

Over the years, there have been many times when I stopped by the gallery on a Sunday when they were changing a show and they stopped to offer consultation or answer questions. Often, with a phone request ahead of time, one or both owners would stay after hours to accommodate a late client visit to work around my busy schedule.

All business owners know that if you own a small business, you work all of the time. The article you printed on Dec. 14, 2005, titled "Flashing Lights" was very petty and a most unfair characterization of their business. You failed to note the great contribution they make to the art community on many levels.

Pulliam Deffenbaugh just recently completed the renovation of a new gallery space and completed the challenge of moving to the new space. You certainly owe them an apology for the unprofessional and tacky article you published.

Margaret Stroebe
Vancouver, Wash.

01.05.2006 at 10:00 Reply

Story Forum Archive

the block the police ignoreFirst I would like to say to the (former?) owner of YES! clothing,I was cheering for you from the moment you painted over my scull & cross bones I left behind as proof that BOOTY VINTAGE had exhisted.You are a brave person and I hope you learned a serious lesson,one that haunts me daily. In this city,as in any,location is EVERYTHING. I am sure you are aware that location doest simply mean where you choose to open your business,but also,how you are treated by the surrounding businesses,the local residents,the city,the police,and of course the ever growing number of DRUG DEALERS POSING AS DAY LABORERS FROM SOUTH OF THE BORDER! I often tried to get store front restoration on my portion of the building,if not the entire building,and was allways met with lingo sutch as,"sorry the city is out of funds",or"we'll get back to you later",.Meanwhile both sides of the street between 7th & 8th(both owned by wealthy local land barrons)are getting complete store front restoration , payed for with city dollars. As for local business support,yeah,every one agreed that the phone booth put in by the owners of the market brought in even more drug traffic. —wendell cunningham

the block the police ignore CONTINUED...SORRY I am writing fron the library and my time ran out ,please allow me to continue. On several ocasions,several business owners including myself fantasised about someone putting a chain around that pesky phone booth,hooking the other end to a truck and ripping it out of the ground.Instead i just kept complaining to the phone co. untill finaly it was made an out going calls only phone(the dealers would wait by the phone,when it rang, that meant money.Isaw more than one fight over who would answer the phone) Shall we direct our attention now to the corner of 6th &east burnside. This corner is plagued with what blind,deaf,and dumb bleeding hearts like to call Imigrant workers being victemized by American labor laws.(we have labor laws to protect AMERICANS).The thuth and the fact is, most of these laborors are nothing more than common criminals,drug dealers,drug addicts,drunks and strong arm theifs.How can I make such statements you say,easily,Isaw it every dayfor a year.On two sepperate occasions while in the company of my wife and my 6 year old child.one of these poor imigrant workers showed me an entire hand full of bags of Heroin,asking if i needed some chiva.I called the cops! now you are wondering ,"how does this make it the block the police ignore?" Well, hold onto your espresso's kiddies,.here comes the punch line. I began complaining about the drug dealers just after opening BOOTY VINTAGE,about how they were selling drugs in front of my store,doing drugs infront of my store,threatening me and my wife about keeping our mouths shut,robbing people,and anything else that is part of being in the drug trade.BUT... more importantly,the were chasing away my legitimit customers.after all ,i am trying to run a business,right! After calling 911 over and over,only to be told to call the non emergency number,Idid just that,I called the nonemergency number to report crimes taking place at that moment in plain view,STILL NO RESPONSE! finaly while talking to a random officer about the problem,he gave me the name SNO MCMURRY,and told me to contact him as he was the head of vice for the area. I called,and I called,and icalled, but never could find this person,finaly I had had enough! This time when i called i was pissed,REALLY PISSED! i left a very bold message saying how insulted i was that the police would not help a local business owner curb the drug problem,i am a tax payer,and all of that pointless stuff we say when city hall wont listen. As i returned from lunch 5 police officers aproached me in my store.the leader SNO,told me in no uncertain terms to mind my own business contact me for the rest of the story@ 503-422-5894 or cunninghamwendell@yahoo.com—wendell cunningham

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

1/4/2006