PORTLAND, Ore. — Thieves targeted Gnarlys, a vegan burger food cart in Portland's Central Eastside neighborhood, twice in the span of a couple of days. They stole propane tanks that cost more than $1,000. Without them, owner Chris Hudson said he couldn't open, which cost him more than the stolen tanks.
"Being closed for us is a big deal. Every day matters," Hudson said. "Then I showed up yesterday morning and the tanks were completely gone. I bought a hardened chain that supposed to be harder to cut with bolt cutters and I bought a fancy lock and they just cut right through it. No problem."
He moved the cart to the area in mid-March. Hudson expected he might run into some problems when he moved from Southeast 82nd Avenue to be closer to customers, but he was working to address security gaps as best he could.
"Hopefully step up a little bit of security, but that’s another thing, all of that costs money as well," he said. "I could spend a few thousand dollars for a heavy duty shed and lock it up real tight, and we could spend a bunch of money on a fence, but ... who's got an extra five grand?"
To help, friends and customers donated and bought gift cards. Hudson said he appreciated the gesture.
"There's a lot of small businesses around that are dealing with this and struggling when something like this happens," he said. "So you know, just keep the small businesses in mind when you’re making decisions about stuff."
The Central Eastside is an area just on the east side of the Willamette River. At the direction of dozens of business owners and city leadership, the city of Portland conducted a 90-day reset plan for the district in an effort to address safety, cleanliness, vandalism and crime. It ran from January 26 to April 26.
"Absolutely, we've seen a difference," said Clare Briglio, the executive director of Central Eastside Together.
Briglio said they've learned and accomplished quite a bit in that time.
"The city devoted millions of dollars in human resources and material resources to help us clean up the Central Eastside and make it a safe place for all who live, work, and visit," Briglio said.
Elements they want to focus on moving forward include hiring a new private security contractor for the district, finding alternatives to help homeless people in this neighborhood, continuing graffiti clean-up, and starting a new project to improve lighting.
While this work won't prevent every problem, Briglio said many in the area are beginning to feel a sense of relief.
"Cleaner streets, cleaner spaces that feel more safe, overall really does help shift that and so our work with the Enhanced Service District is to continue that momentum and we do not want to give that up," Briglio said.