For those who might be wondering what all the fuss is about as regards Portland these days, here are a couple of articles that highlight why the charter reform we voted in this past November is so important for the future of the city. Why we ever put up with only 4 councilors and a mayor to decide the fate of the city is beyond me, but we’ve gone a long way in rectifying the problem with charter reform. For at least a century, this city has mostly been ruled by rich/wealthy folks on the west side. I think that having 12 councilors, 3 each from 4 newly-drawn districts that address in part the representation problem we’ve had forever, will energize political participation in the city. The fact that 6 of the 12 councilors will represent the always under-represented east and north of the city is HUGE!!!
As always, however, the Portland Mercury sums up so well the frustrations of many of us in the Rose City in the past 3 years in particular; here’s an excerpt from their reporting, along with the articles mentioned below that:
“But get this! As a member of Gov. Kotek's downtown revitalizing task force, Mayor Ted Wheeler came to the meeting with a laundry list of requests that he would like the state to do for him. (Not exactly the point of a brain-storming task force... but okay.) Among the usual asks—help with trash pickup and graffiti, money to convert empty downtown buildings into housing—he also wants the governor to assign 100 Oregon State Troopers to help police the city, which is a terrible idea since he can't control the cops he already has, and there's little chance the troopers would even agree to do it. BUT HERE'S THE THING THAT MADE ME LOSE MY GODDAMN MIND: Wheeler also asked the state to pay for an advertising campaign “to improve Portland’s reputation.” Soooooo... let me get this straight: He wants me—the taxpayer—to pay for an ad campaign to counter the negative campaign against Portland launched by his cynical, terrible rich pals in the business community and police union? Is he fucking kidding me?? HOW ABOUT THIS INSTEAD: The city pays for a "Portland is actually great" campaign, but then sends the invoice to "People for Portland's" Kevin Looper and Dan Lavey, the chief of police, the constantly shit-talking rich developer community, Commissioner Rene Gonzalez, this fucking guy, and everyone else who has profited from driving Portland's reputation into the shitter! (Jesus, they'll let anybody on this business-friendly, performative task force!).”
Ultimately, our current leadership thinks we can police our way out of our problems. Which is a recipe to continue a slow moving disaster.
Mayor Wheeler wants nearly 100 state troopers to help police Portland
Claims stating downtown's pandemic recovery is prolonged lack evidence