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431-2024

Report

Accept the Central Eastside Together Enhanced Services District Annual Report

Accepted

Central Eastside Together Enhanced Services District is required by Contract No. 30008262 to provide an annual report to the City Council. The attached report covers the period of July 1, 2023, through March 30, 2024, and is the first annual report under the new contract presented to City Council. For questions, please reach out to the Enhanced Services District Coordinator.

Impact Statement

Purpose of Proposed Legislation and Background Information

Funded by property managers and approved by the City, Enhanced Services Districts pay for extra services that improve quality of life in Portland neighborhoods. Central Eastside Together is one of three Enhanced Services Districts currently active in Portland and it was reauthorized by City Council on July 1, 2022. The new contract contains several provisions intended to increase City oversight and overall transparency of the activities of the district. The annual report to Council is one of these new provisions. This is the first Annual Report prepared under the new contract.

The Contract specifically requires Central Eastside Together to report on the following items:

  • Summary financial information about the district’s activities
  • Descriptions of programs
  • Descriptions of stakeholder outreach and engagement
  • and Subcontractor activities

Financial and Budgetary Impacts

There is no direct impact of this report on the City’s finances or budget. 

Portland currently has three Enhanced Services Districts (ESDs): Central Eastside Together, Downtown Portland Clean and Safe, and the Lloyd ESD. All three ESDs combined encompass 1,230 acres, or nearly two square miles of Portland’s downtown core with Central Eastside Together being the largest and newest, serving 636 acres. 

ESDs like Central Eastside Together perform vital functions that directly and indirectly benefit the businesses, property owners – both commercial and residential – and visitors within their districts. The activities performed by Central Eastside Together benefit the City at large because they help create a safe, vibrant, and healthy commercial district that is appealing to private investment and economic development. 

Some of these functions include:

  • Janitorial work that beautifies the sidewalks and alleys for residents, employees, and visitors
  • Private security that integrates with Portland Police resulting in a unified approach to curbing anti-social criminal activities
  • Public art that enhances the public realm and gives a platform to local artists

The property owners within the Central Eastside Together ESD have opted to assess themselves more than $1.4 million dollars annually to fund the services, augmenting the City services already provided, and enhancing the overall experiences in their district for residents, employees, property owners, and visitors.  Furthermore, this district attracts visitors from near and far who spend tourism dollars year-round. People choose to live, work, set up shop, and/or visit this district in part because it is home to:

  • Hoteliers like KEX Portland, Jupiter, Hotel Grand Stark, and more
  • Foodie attractions like Kann, Shalom Y’all, Le Pigeon, Kachka, Canard, and more
  • Popular breweries like Wayfinder, Away Days, Living Haus, Rogue, Baerlic, and more
  • Acres of some of Portland’s best public art
  • Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
  • Industrially zoned property offering good paying jobs and allowing for creative space use

Because this district is arguably host to some of Portland’s top attractions, lodging, and food, this ESDs’ value and impact cannot be understated. 

Community Impacts and Community Involvement

Central Eastside Together provides cleaning, safety, graffiti removal, and public art services for their district.

Contract year July 2022 – July 2023 Cleaning Numbers: 

  • Facilitated more than 2,000 cleaning requests
  • Removed over 15,000 large items from the right-of-way (e.g., furniture, shopping carts, etc.)
  • Removed over 3,200 biohazards from the right-of-way
  • Removed more than 51,000 needles from the right-of-way
  • Fostered nearly 7,900 community interactions (business and houseless contacts)

Contract year July 2023 – March 2024 (9 months – not full year) Cleaning Numbers:

  • Removed 29,523 large items from the right-of-way (e.g., furniture, shopping carts, etc.)
  • Removed 15,862 biohazards from the right-of-way
  • Removed 38,085 drug paraphernalia, needles, and sharps
  • Cleaned 3,650 campsites
  • Removed 457,299 pounds of trash 
  • Made 3,377 business contacts
  • Made 4,935 houseless contacts

And since the Central Eastside Together’s founding, it has removed nearly 3,670,000 pounds of trash. 

Contract year July 2022 – July 2023 Graffiti and Public Art project Numbers: 

  • Preserved 7 murals 
  • Complete 42 projects
  • Assisted 32 businesses with graffiti and/or public art needs
  • Removed 1,077 sqft of graffiti
  • Held 31 graffiti paint out events
  • Distributed $30,000 in graffiti abatement/public art installation grant funds 

Central Eastside Together is governed by a board of directors comprised of ratepayers, or their appointed representatives, and meet monthly. These board members represent properties large and small from across the district, including non-profits. Furthermore, the board of directors has expanded from 5 board members to 10. Central Eastside Together also publicly shares monthly updates on their work, including an annual impact report on their website - centraleastsidetogether.org.

There is a direct correlation between the needs of the Central Eastside Industrial District and the services provided by Central Eastside Together – services that would not otherwise be provided for the district. 

100% Renewable Goal

Not applicable. 

Financial and Budget Analysis

No fiscal impact to accept the report. The property owners within the Central Eastside Together ESD have opted to assess themselves more than $1.4 million dollars annually to fund the services, augmenting the City services already provided, and enhancing the overall experiences in their district for residents, employees, property owners, and visitors.

Document History

Agenda Council action
Time Certain
City Council
Accepted
Motion to accept the report: Moved by Mapps and seconded by Gonzalez.

Votes
  • Aye (5):
    • Ryan
    • Rene Gonzalez
    • Mingus Mapps
    • Carmen Rubio
    • Ted Wheeler

City department

Contact

Devin Reynolds

Enhanced Services District Coordinator

Requested Agenda Type

Time Certain

Date and Time Information

Requested Council Date
Requested Start Time
10:15 am
Time Requested
30 minutes
Confirmed Time Certain
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