Portland neighborhood groups face cuts
Mayor Keith Wilson's proposed budget would hurt association directors and officers
Mayor Keith Wilson’s proposed budget for the city’s neighborhood association program cuts two long-established items: liability insurance for directors and officers of their boards and a small grant program. The associations and their district coalitions are pushing back against these cuts, but there are no guarantees that they will be restored.
It surprises me that the city would want to eliminate the first service, and it surprises me that neighborhood activists consider the second a priority.
Liability insurance protects members of neighborhood association boards and coalitions from personal loss should some party bring a lawsuit against them. Vulnerability to possibly ruinous civil action is not what citizens sign up for, and fear of such should not guide their decisions. Individuals with professional experience and considerable assets, who are valuable to the mix of neighborhood advocates, are particularly sensitive to going without insurance.
The small grants program, on the other hand, provides no essential need to neighborhoods. Instead, it gives them the honor (duty?) of distributing city money to other organizations. If the associations or their coalitions truly need resources for their own purposes, this program does not move the needle. It is like offering a destitute person a donation to the charity of their choice.
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