Happy March!
We are pleased to report more good news this month. Thanks in large part to our lobbying efforts, Multnomah County's recently passed budget contains $210,000 to help implement Portland’s gas leaf blower phase-out ordinance. That includes a county employee ($130,000) and funding for education/training and incentives in 2024-5 ($80,000). The County has been an essential partner in the campaign to eliminate gas leaf blowers in our region, with Chair Jessica Vega Pederson championing the policy effort. See our special shout-out to the County to learn about the many ways they’ve contributed. We look forward to their continued support.
In other news - we have more postcards for you! If you'd like to ask your neighbors or specific property owners or managers to switch away from gas-powered leaf blowers, give these postcards a try. Contact Albert to arrange for as many as you’d like.
Also, we need more help in the kitchen. Some of our main steering committee members are getting deeply involved in other projects right now and we could use a couple more people who'd like to join us at our strategy meetings. If that's you, please get in touch!
Finally, there's a great article below that talks about how electrifying one area of your life can lead to other behavior changes. Check it out and pass it on!
Thanks again for your help in making our region quieter, cleaner, and healthier. We'll have more to share once we learn who is hired for the Multnomah County position - we may also share the position once it's posted. We should also have some updates soon on the work we're doing to secure funds from PCEF (Portland Community Energy Fund) to assist small contracting businesses with their transition off gas leaf blowers.
Have a great summer!
With appreciation,
The QCPDX Steering Committee
Michael Hall, Albert Kaufman, Tamara Olcott, Stan Penkin, Brian Stewart, Judy Walton
PS - Please help spread the word by using the share buttons or "view as a web page link" above! Thank you!
