The Battle for Emergency Services

Beginning in April of 1995, Outlook writer John Henderer began reporting on Multnomah County's battle with private ambulance service AMR to take over emergency transport in the county, which includes both Gresham and Portland. An April 12 article outlines how the Gresham City Council voted 4-3 against providing emergency transport, but would be voting again after insistence from Gresham Mayor Gussie McRobert. The following edition of the Outlook on April 15 shows that the council did reverse its decision in a second vote but a follow up article by Henderer on May 3 shows that the City Council, Mayor McRobert, and the fire chief were accused of illegally trying to spend city funds - already scarce due to debt - outside of the city to hurry along the ambulance vote.

[photo to the right: Gresham firefighter Terry Kimball and 14-year-old daughter Alexis on Take Your Daughter To Work Day]

Development Boom in Multnomah County

Development and building happens frequently across many counties in America, but these April through June editions of the Outlook show that it was a huge time for private and public development around the area. On April 1 Outlook writer John Henderer reported that TriMet public transportation service would be rerouted to a local mall to meet rider demand but that would mean a reduction in the available service to downtown Troutdale. On April 8, Henderer wrote that executives from Korean company Samsung were in the area to tour potential spots for a new plant with the mayor. Outlook writer Lynn Nakvasil reported on April 22 about a new Lone Pine apartment complex for low-income disabled individuals and families.

[photo to the right: Group photo at the new Lone Pine apartments]

Tree Cutting Outrage

First reported on April 22 by John Henderer, Gresham city officials imposed a mandate on citizens to trim any trees on their property that bordered the road so that city street sweeping services would be able to work. Unfortunately for the city, the ordinance sparked outrage from local residents like David Hall, who stated "I just don't like being threatened by anybody" in response in an article on April 26.

[photo to the right: Angry Gresham resident David Hall in his front yard]