all five Sunday Parkways events
this year.
(Photos © J. Maus)
The second of five Sunday Parkways events happens this weekend and the City of Portland needs financial help from the community to keep them going.
A similar call for help went out last year when Sunday Parkways program manager Linda Ginenthal told us that “We know you don’t often receive requests like this from your City agencies. But Sunday Parkways isn’t business as usual.”
This year, PBOT tried to tap into the General Fund for some cash, but that request was denied. So now they’re left with four more events (including Sunday), and according to Ginenthal, they’re still about $97,000 short.
Mayor Adams has committed to put all five Sunday Parkways on, but PBOT does not have the money to do all of them and remain in the black.
Check out what your donation helps support (list furnished by PBOT):
- $1,000 will help us fund our Sunday Parkways Organizer for a month to reach low-income families and communities of color all across Portland.
- For $500 you can cover (literally) one shift of Intersection Superheroes in those nifty green Sunday Parkways t-shirts.
- For $250 you can support the bike parking for one Sunday Parkways event.
- $100 pays a fantastic Sunday Parkways band or musical performer for the day.
- For just $50 you can help us reach 150 east Portland households so they can request a lawn sign and sign up to volunteer.
If you donate $40 or more, PBOT will send you a limited edition Sunday Parkways 2010 bandanna (available only to repeat volunteers otherwise). To find out how to donate, visit PortlandSundayParkways.org and click the “Donate” button.
The CRC advocates aren’t holding a bake sale! Priorities….
Exactly. There’s always enough money to fight wars but never enough to keep kids exercising or educated.
how about shooting for $1-10 donations that can be collected from event participants during this Sunday’s event?
I sure don’t have $500 or even $50 to donate to Sunday Parkways but I bet tons of people would part with $5-10 during the event!
I appreciate your bringing this to our attention, Jonathan. And especially the breakdown of what some aspects of these events cost. In my imagination it should be possible to organize and hold these without spending so much money. Although I realize flyers cost money, I was under the impression that nearly all of the time and labor (e.g. intersection superheroes) was donated. Police and City staff overtime may also be a (big) factor–I don’t know.
I’d be curious to know how other cities and jurisdictions around the world pay for these–or organize them at (perhaps) lower cost.
We will have donation stations around the route and at all the Information Booths to toss your coins and dollars in.
As you know, every bit helps.
See you on Sunday. Janis
Wait, did they not do a budget before planning these events? How does this happen?
I’d donate under these conditions
a) Cut the police staff by 80%. I saw too many cops doing nothing all day, most likely getting paid overtime. Cops and teachers deserve extra pay, but not for this event.
b) Kill the $3 billion CRC.
c) Make any Salem politician pay $400 to ride the event.
I’d try to help fundraise, but I’m scared some poster will report a bus driver if I do so.
If you love it….. if you use it….chip in !
I think this is a great event. I just don’t think the city has any kind of clue when it spends our money. Those fliers we all got in the mail alone must have cost a huge chunk of change, Hundreds?- of policepersons out working intersections on a sunday at $40.00? hr, this should be done by someone making minimum wage with no beni’s.
I would like to see a cost breakdown of this whole event. I think they sneak the police in without acting their costs to this event.
I just rode the event as a volunteer mechanic.
The energy was high, people were smiling and laughing and having a grand time on car-free streets and perhaps getting a glimpse of what a future with less car dependence could look like.
Sadly, there were a number of intersections that did not have monitors — along with the cash shortage there appears to be a real volunteer shortage as well.
I’m told that in Bogota [Colombia, home of the original Ciclovia], route monitors are PAID to do their jobs every week, and provided with uniforms and training on interacting with the public. Bogota is not the wealthiest city by any means, so where did they come up with the money?
If funding was found here to cover the cost of paying people (minimum wage or a little more) to monitor intersections and simultaneously reduce the police presence there a little, I’m sure it would be cheaper; and in this economy there would be a line out the door of people waiting to apply for paying work.
How about it?
Beth- If you pay attn. these guys will sometimes pull a baggy out of their backpacks and give them to certain passerbyers. This is how they are funded.
Why not make this a sanctioned rose festival event? One quality event per year. No stopping at 2:00, make it last all day. different location each year.
I volunteered today also.
Honestly did not see that many policemen all day….maybe 5 times today over 3 hours…..and they were very helpful.
My thought through the whole volunteer process was that a significant portion of the budget went to marketing…
I didn’t see so many police this year either, not like other years. Maybe because this is a low incident event and there are a lot of other things going on this weekend also
Maybe if there were three Sunday Parkways each year that rotated to different locations each year, this event would be more affordable for the city?
Also I did see some roving “donation stations” this year–white plastic buckets for dropping off money.
My family has resolved to volunteer for future events.
@ beth h (#11) – I usually find it instructive to compare health care spending when asking questions like “where do they get the money?” For instance (according to the WHO:
Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2006): 626
Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2006): 7.3
That’s for Colombia as a whole, of course, not just Bogota. But it is instructive compared to the U.S. numbers:
Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2006): 6,714
Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2006): 15.3
We spend more than ten times on health per capita than Colombia, and more than double on health as a percentage of GDP.
So that would be one place where they get the money. Military expenditures are probably another, and I would bet energy expenditures are another.
As for results, well:
Colombia — Probability of dying under five (per 1000 live births): 21
U.S. — Probability of dying under five (per 1000 live births): 8
Life expectancy is lower in Colombia, as is healthy life expectancy. So that would be another place they get the money, and another reason why health expenditures are so much lower: more people die, sooner, than here.
But I seriously doubt you would argue we should secure the funding to pay Sunday Parkways monitors by letting people die.
Oh man, if even the “bike community” apparently thinks this event is a waste of money, I can only imagine what the grouchy “motorist community” thinks. I predict we’ll see fewer events in the future in light of how critical people are.
Can’t spend money you don’t have. Thats why I say one quality event per year. Possibly rope in some Rose festival funds