City Hall

Dear Broadband Enthusiast,

Our big day is coming up. Portland City Council will consider adoption of Connecting to our Future: Portland's Broadband Strategic Plan www.portlandonline.com/cable on September 14 @ 2:00 pm. The Plan provides a long-term strategic vision for the role of Broadband infrastructure, devices and services in Portland’s future economy, livability and sustainability.

If you are interested in testifying there will be a sign up sheet outside Council Chambers just prior to the session. Presenters are asked to prepare remarks of 3 minutes or less. Please confirm your attendance and whether you plan to testify by responding to this email. If you have any questions please contact me. Thanks!

Connecting to our Future: Portland's Broadband Strategic Plan September 14 @ 2:00 pm Portland City Hall – Council Chambers 1221 SW 4th Avenue

Mary Beth Henry [email protected] Office of Cable Communications and Franchise Management (www.portlandonline.com/cable) Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission (www.mhcrc.org) Immediate Past President, NATOA (www.natoa.org) 1120 SW 5th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97204

503 823 5414 landline 503 449 7281 mobile 503 823 5370 fax @ 2:00 pm Council Chambers A G E N D A Introduction Commissioner Saltzman
Overview Brendan Finn
Plan Elements Mary Beth Henry

Representatives of Workgroups: Digital Inclusion Kayse Jama, Executive Director, Center for Intercultural Organizing
Economic

Development     Skip Newberry, Mayor’s Office

Education & Miles Ellenby, Director of Pediatric Telemedicine, OHSU

Health    Leslie Riester, CIO, Portland Community College 

Industry Representatives: Mark Farrar, Comcast Chris Denzin, CenturyLink Tom Casey, Integra Telecom Adam Grzybicki, AT&T Wireless Public Testimony Council Q & A

Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and everyone go!

The City Council is bringing together the community partners, businesses, activists, experts and multiple City Bureaus to work on the Portland Broadband Strategic Plan.

The “Connecting Our Future” kick-off event will feature national and local presenters, including two nationally known speakers, Anthony Townsend of The Institute for the Future (www.iftf.org) and Joanne Hovis, CEO Columbia Telecommunications Corp. Locally, Steven Bass, CEO Oregon Public Broadcasting and Lew Frederick, Oregon State Representative will also be amongst the presenters.

The plan is sponsored by Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who stresses that the Council and the City must develop a broadband communications infrastructure as well as connectivity strategies to increase business vitality and job creation, enhance government services, promote sustainability, transportation, health care and regulatory policies; and to improve accessibility and responsiveness of government to citizens through connectivity.

Quite a mouthful, but come at 10 am for a brief coffee mingle to engage your fellow constituents, representatives and thought leaders for some plain talk.

For complete information, including the full kick off agenda and plan charter see PortlandonLine, the Office of Cable Management

Mayor Adams, the Software Association of Oregon and the Portland Development Commission cordially invites you to participate in the development of a key software cluster strategy for the Oregon/SW Washington region. By attending this informative meeting you will play an instrumental part in the process with other top business community leaders.

More:

The deal is: you show up, you get to help direct the resources dedicated to software industry development from the Portland Development Commission, the Mayor’s office and the Software Association of Oregon. That’s pretty much it. The people who go to this meeting are the folks who will be directing the future of the PDC’s “Portland Software Mandate”, which is part of that whole industry “cluster” initiative that targets active outware, advanced manufacturing, clean tech and software. More broadly, this is part of the 5-year plan to guide Portland’s economic growth.

Anyway, you really should attend this meeting next Thursday. If you can’t attend, see if you can get someone you know or a friend to attend on your behalf. We’d want to pack city hall.

That’s right — we’re meeting in the City Council Chambers. It’ll be great. Please attend! It starts at 4:30pm and goes to 6:30pm. And, if you show up we can lead you over to a sweet afterparty. Seriously. It’s gonna be awesome.

The initiatives being discussed are:

• Creating a Knowledge Network to support local user groups – group convened by Warren Harrison of PSU
• Developing a business mentorship network – group convened by SAO’s Matt Nees
• Enhancing a financing network – group convened by Gerald Baugh of the PDC

The City of Portland, specifically CivicApps, and Portland Ten will be welcoming Lunch 2.0 to City Hall on Wednesday, October 20, 2010.

Space is limited to about 150 or so attendees. So, be sure to RSVP for yourself and any guests.

Are you vegan or vegetarian? Please leave a comment so we can plan food accordingly. Thanks.

Wondering what Lunch 2.0 is?

Lunch 2.0 is a phenomenon that began in Silicon Valley. You can read about their current events and the history behind Lunch 2.0 at lunch20.com.

We imported the concept to Portland in 2007, and you can follow all things Portland Lunch 2.0 at the Silicon Florist.

Please RSVP: http://is.gd/1p6Fz

Supporters will meet outside the 4th street entrance to City Hall starting at 2:45, and will walk in as a group at 3:05 for the 3:15 meeting.

"The development of the 5-year Portland Economic Development Strategy has been a community effort and we’re grateful for everyone’s input. This strategy to create 10,000 net new jobs and build the most sustainable economy in the world will be presented for adoption by City Council on July 8th.

We need your help to make sure City Council understands the strong support in our community for business success and economic prosperity. And we invite you to show your support by attending the Council hearing."

For more details: http://catherder.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/visibility-matters/

Solving the Plastic Bag Dilemma: Is Oregon Ready?

A forum hosted by Recycling Advocates

When: September 22, 2008

        6:30 pm - Reception<br /><br />
        7-9 pm - Annual Member Meeting &amp; Public forum<br /><br />

Where: Portland City Hall, Council Chambers, 1221 Southwest Fourth Avenue

RSVP: [email protected]

Countries as diverse as Ireland, China, Bangladesh, Uganda and South Africa have all passed laws that in some way restrict the free distribution of plastic check-out bags and many more are currently considering it. Closer to home, last year San Francisco became the first major US city to pass a bill that will eventually ban all plastic bags from grocery stores and pharmacies. Los Angeles followed suit and Seattle's City Council voted to implement a 20-cent fee for plastic and paper bags at grocery, drug and convenience stores.

Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams recently announced his plans to bring a resolution forward before the end of 2008 that will impose a fee on both paper and plastic check-out bags.

What are the implications of the massive and widespread use of plastic and paper bags? Doesn't Oregon do a good job with recycling them? How does Commissioner Adams' proposal compare to Seattle's or San Francisco's? Why aren’t we proposing an outright ban? How will grocery stores and consumers handle the fee? Where do compostable bags fit into the equation? Now that Portland is considering a solution, when can the rest of Oregon expect the same? The panel includes:

· David Allaway, Waste Prevention Specialist, Oregon DEQ

· Tom Watson, King County Recycling Specialist and Seattle-Times Eco-consumer columnist

· Sam Adams, Portland City Commissioner and Mayor-Elect

· Brian Rohter, CEO, New Seasons Market



This forum is FREE and open to the public.

Please be sure to RSVP to [email protected]

Mayor Tom Potter will also make the official proclamation of “Bicycle Friendly Community Day” and U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer will be on hand to toast Portland’s success.

Platinum Award Party
Portland City Hall, 1221 SW 4th Ave
Thursday, August 7, 2008
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Free and open to the public