The West Hills need a day care center for the grownups

Who would have thought that our own West Hills would be home to a case to rival Bush v. Gore in purpose if not in significance?  Here's what I understand of the facts so far.

Once upon a time a group of West Hills residents formed the Southwest Hills Residential League (SWHRL) as an unofficial neighborhood association.  I say "unofficial" because SWHRL was formed in 1969, before the City of Portland started to recognize and encourage neighborhood associations.

Some years later the City adopted a formal program to recognize and support neighborhood associations, including some already formed and some formed afterward.  In general the City wanted each area to be represented by one and only one association, but here and there it allowed overlaps.  For example, a slice of territory around NW Vaughn Street lies within the area of both the Northwest District Association (NWDA) to the south and the Northwest Industrial Neighborhood Association (NINA) to the north.

The territory claimed by SWHRL includes portions of two city-sponsored associations: Homestead, Healy Heights, and Bridlemile, and all of the Healy Heights association's territory (a City map is here).  SWHRL's domain includes about 80% of the Homestead association, reports the Oregonian's S. Renee Mitchell.  The Bridlemile Neighborhood Association is willing to continue the overlap, and so wrote to SWHRL (click on the link there to BNASPB.pdf for the letter itself).

When the City didn't act to SWHRL's satisfaction, SWHRL sued the City and received $10,000 in settlement, plus about $20,000 for its attorney's fees.  Some SWHRL residents thought that the association shouldn't be suing the City for money damages -- the association is a non-profit -- and mounted a campaign to replace the president and some of the board with a new group.  On May 18, they won.

The League of Women Voters, which posted two observers to watch the festivities, says the election was clean.  However, the ousted president says that the election was not clean, and has sued the winners to prevent them from taking over SWHRL. 

I confess that I don't know what to think about the whole affair, except that if anyone at the City wants to get out of the business of supervising and supporting the neighborhood associations, the folks in SWHRL have handed them the perfect excuse.