Portland is touted for its great parks system, but if you live on the far east side of the city, east of I-205 you wouldn't know it. But hopefully that is about to change. Over the years, Portland Parks & Recreation has acquired a number of great properties for future parks on the east side. They have already completed Master Plans for several sites and made initial improvements where funding allowed. And when a bond measure is passed in 2-3 years, building out new east side parks will be a priority. On this episode of Locus Focus we're joined by Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish, who is the Commissioner-in-Charge of Portland Parks, to talk about plans to vastly improve the parks system in this rapidly growing part of town, and why he doesn't want to wait implement them. He also talks with host Barbara Bernstein about other initatives to improve the health of Portlanders—and our environment: expanding community garden plots, removing junk food from Portland Parks recreational facilities and banning plastic bags in the city.
Nick Fish is Commissioner-in-charge of the Portland Housing Bureau and Portland Parks & Recreation. He also serves as Council liaison to Elders in Action and as a member of the Board of the Oregon Cultural Trust.
- KBOO