Southeast Portland neighbors are organizing in opposition to a clinic that treats sex offenders, which moved into an office complex at Southeast Stark Street and 126th Avenue last month.

Neighbors are upset in part because they didn’t know that the Whole Systems Counseling & Consultation clinic moved in until they read a story in The Oregonian on Sunday.

“Initially, I was mad, mostly because I was afraid for my kids,” said Pamela Martel, who lives across the street from the clinic.

“I would liked to have known before it moved in. It’s a little scary that there are people with documented criminal records walking our neighborhood and we didn’t know for a month.”

The David Douglas School District sent an administrator to meet with Johneen Manno, the clinic’s owner, to gather basic information about its clients, its hours and other topics.

“We’ve heard from some concerned neighbors,” said school district spokesman Dan McCue, who met with Manno for about 90 minutes on Thursday. He invited her to attend the school board meeting on April 11 to introduce herself, but said the clinic will not be part of the agenda.

However, a meeting between the clinic, neighbors and school officials has been scheduled for April 30 at 7 p.m.

Linda Wilburn, a bus driver for the David Douglas district, also lives across from Whole Systems and said she has gathered signatures from 13 neighbors opposed to the clinic.

She said there’s a middle school bus stop across from the clinic and that some students walk to the stop by themselves.

She didn’t know about the clinic until co-workers told her this week.

“I was just kind of floored by this,” she said. “I thought somebody’s got to start something and not just let this happen.”

Manno moved her business from its offices at 7304 S.E. Milwaukie Ave. at the end of December following opposition from residents in the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood who said a clinic that treats sex offenders was inappropriate for a neighborhood that includes families and a Montessori school.

And, like Manno’s critics in her new neighborhood, Sellwood residents said they should have been notified when the clinic moved in.

But Manno said she’s worked to notify her neighbors since moving into her new office in early March. She sent a letter to other businesses in the office complex and held an open house. She said she also sent a notice to two neighborhood associations in the area.

She’s also inviting community groups to schedule visits on Fridays or Tuesdays to learn about the clinic. Finally, Manno said she wants to have a community discussion about creating guidelines on where clinics like hers can locate.

Manno said she wasn’t surprised to hear that some of her neighbors are unhappy with her clinic’s arrival.

“Of course there are going to be some people who are upset because they only hear we’re a sex offender treatment clinic,” she said. “It’s not like we’re busing in sex offenders.”

--Stephen Beaven; 503-754-4664



--Twitter: @SEPDXReporter



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