From student-led rallies and political campaigns to bond projects, bag bans and a brutal attack, here’s what grabbed our attention in Lake Oswego this year
Change is the only constant, the old saying goes, and that was certainly true in 2018.
Lake Oswego said goodbye to its fire chief, police chief, library director and two city councilors, and a new school superintendent is on the way. The community also said goodbye to a beloved elementary school and saw the oldest Catholic university in Oregon close its doors.
We bid farewell to young Lake Oswegans who died before their time, and to World War II heroes who lived long and noble lives. And in December, we lost Holocaust survivor Alter Wiener, whose story deeply touched all who met him and reminded us that nothing will ever change if we do not remember the past.
Among Wiener’s closest friends was Lakeridge High freshman Claire Sarnowski, who has vowed to carry on his legacy by working with state Sen. Rob Wagner to make Holocaust education mandatory in Oregon schools. “I will get this done to honor Alter,” she says.
It is a heartfelt promise, to be sure. A solemn vow. And in its own way, it just may express the greatest change we saw in 2018: the rise of student voices — young people who, on everything from gun violence and racial injustice to city and school district policy, decided it was time to stand up and speak out.
You may not know Sarnowski’s name now. May never have heard of Margo Sidline and Michael Murray, or Brooke Baker and Sonnet Lawson, or Penelope Spurr and Anne Marie Gunther and Anushka Nair.
But you will. Because in 2018, each of them — along with hundreds of their fellow students — decided they were tired of waiting for real change to happen.
Accordingly, they lead our list of the Top 10 stories of 2018.
1. The rise of student voices
It was perhaps the perfect ending to a year in which Lake Oswego’s young people found their political voice: When a motion was made at a December City Council meeting to take away the voting rights of student members of boards and commissions, not a single city councilor was willing to second it.
Several students — including Youth Leadership Council members Margo Sidline and Brooke Baker — testified at that meeting, spurred on by Lake Oswego High sophomore Michael Murray’s “Spare Change” column in The Review.
“Students are affecting real, local change,” wrote Murray, who in addition to serving on the leadership council is also the founder and executive director of Hunger Fighters Oregon, “and we as a city should be doing everything we can to encourage other youth to follow in their footsteps, take ownership of their community and become local leaders.”
Throughout 2018, students did exactly that. Penelope Spurr and Anne Marie Gunther now sit on the Lake Oswego School Board, while Anushka Nair was elected co-chair of the school district’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee. Spurr, a junior at LOHS, also co-founded Students for Change, a group with members from both sides of the lake that continues to lobby the Oregon Legislature to enact common-sense gun reform.
In March, those students traveled to Salem to rally on the Capitol steps and meet with lawmakers — including state Rep. Andrea Salinas and state Sen. Rob Wagner, who vowed to incorporate the students’ 10-point plan in bills they will carry to the Legislature in 2019.
And that was but one example of involved students taking a stand. In April, sixth-grader Sonnet Lawson responded to a racist incident at Lake Oswego Junior High by organizing and leading a “March for EquALLity” through the streets of Lake Oswego. A cadre of local politicians walked with her.
There were other walkouts and rallies, including a Day of Silence at Lakeridge High to demand safer schools; podcasts and publications created to give more students a voice in local issues; even a student-sponsored debate that asked high school teachers to argue both sides of a variety of hot-button issues.
Through it all, tolerance, kindness and inclusion have been consistent themes, especially in the eloquent columns that Sidline and Murray have written for The Review. But Lawson probably summed up the year best after her “March for EquALLity,” which she said made her feel hopeful for the future.
“Alone, I’m only one voice,” she said, “but together, we can be the change that this world needs. We may be one town, but slowly, we can fix this broken world.”
2. The rise of diverse voices
Eight candidates threw their hats into the ring for three open City Council seats in 2018 — more than in any other Lake Oswego City Council election since at least 1998. But even more remarkable was the diversity of those candidates: The roster included two candidates of color and three women, one of whom identifies as bisexual.
(Term limits prevented Councilor Jeff Gudman from running again, and Councilor Joe Buck ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Metro Council instead.)
Lake Oswego has had female candidates and elected officials before, and former Councilor Jon Gustafson openly identified as gay. But the November election appears to be the first in which women and people of color made up the majority of the candidates. And in fact, Daniel Nguyen and Massene Mboup appear to be the city’s first council candidates of color in at least the past 20 years.
“I’m excited to see the diversity in our candidates, and to give Lake Oswego a chance to really embrace diversity,” said Willie Poinsette, one of the co-founders of the grassroots group Respond to Racism. “I don’t know what the outcome of the election will be, but just to be able to have candidates who want to be here and who want to do something for our community I think is a real plus.”
In the end, it was Nguyen — the son of Vietnamese refugees and co-owner of the Bambuza restaurant chain — who broke the color barrier, garnering more votes than any other candidate. Former School Board member John Wendland and incumbent Councilor Jackie Manz were also elected to four-year terms.
Mboup, a Senegalese immigrant and the executive director of the International Leadership Academy, finished fourth — only 47 votes behind Manz. But even that was a victory, he said, and he has hinted at another run in 2020.
“This is no longer ‘Lake No Negro,'” because I am here,” Mboup said. “I’ve knocked on thousands of doors, and thousands of doors have opened to me — but not just those doors. People’s hearts as well.”
Also of note: Lake Oswego is now home to a state senator (Rob Wagner, who defeated Lake Oswego resident David Poulson for the SD 19 seat), a state representative (Andrea Salinas, who ran unopposed in November), two county commissioners (Martha Schrader and Sonya Fischer) and the Metro Council president (Lynn Peterson). That’s a lot of political power in one place, and it will be interesting to see whether Lake Oswego can benefit from those close connections in 2019.
3. Diversity, equity and inclusion
When the grassroots group Respond to Racism was formed in 2017 in response to a racist road rage incident, founders Willie Poinsette and Liberty Miller believed few Lake Oswegans would accept their invitation to come together for a conversation. They were wrong.
The group’s monthly meetings regularly draw big crowds, and the conversation has expanded across the city.
Incidents of racism still occur — a hateful note passed to an eighth-grader at Lake Oswego Junior High in February caused deep wounds. But the response from the school district and the community was swift, including listen-and-learn sessions for children and adults and a citywide program to encourage citizens to “Speak Up.”
In the months since, city leaders, police and school district officials have traveled to the Museum of Tolerance to learn strategies for responding to incidents of hatred. The LOSD named David Salerno Owens its director of equity and strategic programs, and appointed a 22-member Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee charged with addressing everything from curriculum to hiring practices.
In the midst of the campaign for City Council, Respond to Racism and the group LO for LOve sponsored a candidate forum focused solely on equity and inclusion — and 150 people showed up. A similar crowd attended an interfaith prayer service just a few weeks later.
And in December, at the urging of a city-appointed equity group, the City Council passed a resolution affirming that Lake Oswego is a place where hate in any form is not tolerated.
“The City’s cultural and policy environment is made better when all of our City’s residents have the opportunity to fully participate in the social, civic and economic fabric of their City,” the council declared. “Our City is stronger when all people are free from fear, intimidation, harassment and uncertainty.”
4. Standing up for Fawad
If there was any doubt that Lake Oswegans truly believed in diversity and the value of personal connections that cross ethnic and racial lines, it was quashed when the community came together to support Palisades Market employee Mohammad Fawad Mohammadi, who was injured in a brutal attack on the Oregon coast.
Mohammadi, an Afghan immigrant and former translator for the U.S. military, was involved in a minor traffic accident in Lincoln City in March. But when he and his wife exited their vehicle to assess the damage and exchange insurance information, the other driver put his car in reverse and drove toward the couple.
Mohammadi was able to push his wife to safety, but he was struck by the vehicle and pinned between the two cars. Police said the assailant, Perry G. Nicolopolous, 68, of Puyallup, Wash., then put his car in reverse, backed up and rammed Mohammadi’s car again before speeding away.
In the aftermath, Mohammadi underwent a series of surgeries, including one in which doctors were forced to amputate his right leg about 6 inches below the knee, and he battled an infection that slowed the healing process.
In response, community members donated nearly $110,000 to a GoFundMe account to help defray medical costs. Additional funds were also raised through checkstand donations at the grocery store, and Mohammadi continues to recover in his Beaverton home.
His assailant, meanwhile, is in prison. In October, Nicolopolous was sentenced to 11 years behind bars after pleading guilty to several charges, including two counts of felony assault, misdemeanor DUII and reckless endangerment. Prosecutors said his crimes were not movtivated by bias.
5. Transitions
City leaders and other government officials come and go. It’s the nature of the beast, really, as some in mid-career move on to better opportunities — like Deputy City Manager Jordan Wheeler, who left in December to become city manager in Sandy — and others at the end of their careers, like beloved Library Director Bill Baars — opt to retire.
But come AND go in the same year? Well, that’s not how it usually works.
• Michael Musick was chosen in January to replace Lake Oswego School District Superintendent Heather Beck, who left at the end of the 2017-18 school year to become deputy head of school for the Canadian International School in Singapore. But in November, Musick announced that he would not apply for the open superintendent position and instead would leave next summer.
Two weeks later, the School Board concluded a nationwide search that drew 75 applicants by selecting Lora de la Cruz, an area superintendent and learning community director for the Aurora Public School District in Colorado, as the next LOSD superintendent.
De la Cruz will officially begin her new job on July 1, 2019, although she said she expects to spend time in Lake Oswego each month between January and July, “deepening my understanding of district priorities, student achievement, family engagement and community partnerships.”
• Police Chief Don Johnson announced in April that he would retire after 39 years in law enforcement and seven years as LOPD chief. He did so on July 1, and Capt. Dale Jorgensen was promoted to take his place.
But as it turns out, Johnson isn’t staying retired for long.
Just last week, City Manager Scott Lazenby fired Fire Chief Larry Goff over what Goff says is a dispute over the possible closure of the South Shore Fire Station. Lazenby says he simply desired a change in leadership. Either way, Goff is gone as of Dec. 31, and his replacement will be — Don Johnson.
“This decision in no way diminishes the value of Larry Goff’s 36 years of service within the fire department,” Lazenby said. “But Don Johnson’s leadership in the Lake Oswego Police Department resulted in what I consider to be one of the best, highest-performing police departments in the State of Oregon, and I believe he will have the same positive influence on our fire department.”
Johnson begins his new role on Jan. 9.
6. Schools, a pool and other bond projects
Voters looking for results from the $187 million bond they passed in 2017 found changes waiting for them at the front doors of schools across Lake Oswego when students returned in September. Every elementary school now boasts a secure vestibule designed to keep kids safe.There’s a new covered walkway at River Grove Elementary, too, and a covered play area at Forest Hills. Technology upgrades have boosted internet connectivity throughout the district. And projects are in the design or planning phases for renovation work that is expected to begin in 2019 at Oak Creek, Uplands, River Grove, Westridge and Lake Oswego Junior High.
But the biggest project of all? Well, let’s just say things are about to look a whole lot different on Jean Road, where demolition of Bryant Elementary is scheduled to begin in mid-January to make room for a new Lakeridge Junior High School.
Temporary classrooms and restrooms will await displaced sixth-graders when they return from winter break, along with a temporary gym. Current and former students already said their goodbyes to Bryant at a district-sponsored party in November.
Once demolition is finished, work will begin on the new junior high. Mahlum Architects unveiled their plans for the 141,000-square-foot project in November, featuring cafe-like dining areas, a large courtyard and innovative “learning studios” inspired by a goal to make every classroom a STEAM/maker space.
The LJH campus will also be home to a new district swimming pool. Construction of that piece of the puzzle isn’t expected to start until the summer of 2021, but a superintendent-appointed task force is at work now on the details.
7. The latest developments
What do you mean Lake Oswego is built out?
Construction cranes already tower over two big projects in the city: The Springs Living retirement community at Kruse Way and Boones Ferry Road; and Beacon Lake Oswego, a mixed-use development at Third Street and B Avenue that will include ground-floor retail, two floors of office space and a rooftop event center.
But that’s just the beginning.
• In September, the Development Review Commission cleared the way for work to begin on Mercantile Village, which will replace the existing three-building complex across the street from The Springs Living retirement community with a four-story apartment building, a smaller retail building and a “festival street” with shops, restaurants, community gathering spaces and more.
• In November, the City Council gave its approval for a new $41.8 million City Hall that will house the police department and emergency dispatch center in addition to City staff. Councilors are also waiting for developer Vanessa Sturgeon to return in January with plans for a “luxury boutique hotel” at the North Anchor project along B Avenue.
• Renovation work is expected to begin at the Oswego Village shopping center on State Street, which was purchased for $34 million in November. On Jan. 9, Bamboo Sushi will become the latest shop to open in The Windward, which celebrated its grand opening over the summer.
And did we mention the upcoming road projects?
Work is scheduled to begin in January on the stretch of Country Club Road between 10th Street and the “Six Corners” intersection; it’s likely to cause traffic headaches for six to eight months. And on Jan. 10, the City will host an open house to share maps, artists’ renderings and other final details as design work wraps up on the Boones Ferry Road Improvement Project; construction is now expected to start on that in mid-2019 and take two and a half years to complete.
8. Fighting climate change
Lake Oswego continues to be a leader in the fight against climate change. In April, for example, the City adopted a Climate Action Plan that asks both the City and community groups to address four specific areas: transportation and connectivity, buildings and energy, consumption (food and materials), and resources and resilience.
One of the more visible results of that plan came in August, when the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network and the City’s Sustainability Advisory Board hosted an electric-vehicle fair in the parking lot of the Oswego Heritage House. Attendees got to explore a wide variety of EVs and actually test-drive everything from the Tesla Model S to the BMW I3 and Chevy Bolt. The lineup also included electric rental scoooters and even a couple of fully electric motorcycles.
But the biggest step taken by the City this year? That would be the adoption in December of regulations that will ban single-use carryout plastic bags beginning in mid-2019.
The ordinance, which also includes a 10-cent pass-through fee for paper bags, requires larger retailers to comply within the next six months and smaller retailers to comply within the next year. The ban applies to all retailers, including restaurants, and to all City facilities, the farmers market and other City-sponsored events.
9. Gone after 125 years
Declining enrollment and dwindling finances forced Marylhurst University to announce in May that it would cease operations before the end of 2018 — a decison that left students, faculty and alumni heartbroken, angry and looking for answers that never came.
But there was this: By the 2017-18 fall term, enrollment at the oldest Catholic university in Oregon (and the first liberal arts college for women in the Northwest) had plummeted to just 743 students, and projections for 2018-19 showed those numbers would continue to decline. Trustees said that “at the end of every analysis, under every rock we looked, we grew to understand that the structural deficit of Marylhurst could not be overcome.”
Faculty members argued that university leaders hadn’t considered all of their oprtions, including exploring ways to operate a smaller Marylhurst with a narrower educational mission. In late May, the teachers joined with students to form a group called Marylhurst Resistance, saying they would do anything possible to keep the school’s doors open.
But in the end, there was nothing to save. Students moved on to other universities; so did unique programs like Art Therapy, Music Therapy, and Food Systems and Society, And on Sept. 22, a small group gathered on the bucolic Marylhurst campus for one of the final events at the school: a vigil where they were able to pay their last respects.
10. In memorium
Lake Oswego said goodbye in 2018 to many residents who lived impactful lives. Here are a just a few of the deaths that hurt our hearts:
• Hundreds of mourners filled the Lakeridge High auditorium in April to celebrate the life of 18-year-old Nina Heidgerken, who died in the early morning hours of March 31 from complications related to the flu. Nina loved history and English classes at Lakeridge and was passionate about the school’s performing arts programs. She also loved sports, and in May, her teammates on the Pacer softball team retired her No. 2 jersey and vowed to wear a special sticker on the back of their helmets for the rest of the season. It featured Nina’s name and jersey number on a softball diamond, backed by angel’s wings.
• Gabriel Spaccarelli, 44, the son of Riccardo’s Ristorante owners Riccardo and Georgette Spaccerelli, died in September when he lost control of his motorcycle on Highway 218 near Antelope and crashed in an adjacent field. Spaccarelli and his siblings — sister Maria and older brother Nathan — all worked during their childhood years at Riccardo’s; his death sent a shockwave of grief and heartache throughout the community, which remembered him as a man of ingenuity and altruism.
• James B. Thayer and Arthur “Art” Sorenson, two men who shrugged off the word “hero” but lived undeniably heroic lives, both died in 2018. Thayer, who joined the U.S. Army in the days following Pearl Harbor and became a highly decorated World War II hero, died in September at the age of 96; among other things, he is credited with the capture of 800 SS troops and the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp. Sorenson, whose exploits with the U.S. Army during World War II earned him a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart and many other honors, died in November at the age of 96; he, too, participated in the liberation of a camp where Nazi scientists and soldiers were starving Jewish prisoners.
• Martin Forbes, who served as the managing editor of both the Lake Oswego Review and West Linn Tidings from March 2001 until May 2014, died in October at the age of 66. Forbes was extremely thorough in how he did his job, and he strived to be fair and balanced in every decision. He was never afraid to speak his mind or stand his ground on any issue. But he did all of that in a soft-spoken manner and with a kind smile, and he was very much a fatherly figure to many young reporters.
Reporters Claire Holley, Anthony Macuk and Sam Stites contributed to this story. Contact Lake Oswego Review Editor Gary M. Stein at 503-479-2376 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..