By the way, on Tuesday afternoon, I wrote an email to all twelve of our city councilors, and one of the sentences was similar to what you wrote: "Grow up, city councilors. Your job is to make this city clean and safe for EVERYONE. We pay the taxes, we pay your salaries. Get to work doing what is needed, and stop promoting the suffering of those who live on the streets AND those who have to pay Portland's incredibly high taxes." They definitely need to grow up. As I also said in my email, I was once a young, idealistic person who fought for the underprivileged whom society looked away from, and I still do work with them and fight for them . . . but my idealism mellowed as I became wiser and older.
The implied solution is to dump the DSA faction of the City Council so we can hold on to what minor improvements we’ve achieved. The obvious implication is we need to trash the flawed Ranked Choice Voting in multi-member districts debacle that put them there.
After just spending 2+ hours watching the City Council in action (the DSA clique did most of the talking), I am even more pessimistic about turning this city around. I actually don’t think many of them have ever had non governmental jobs, nor ever worked in the private sector… they’ve lived in a bubble.
Many of us Portland residents blasted the Charter Commission recommendations as idiotic and destined for failure. The composition of the Commission was as PC as anything I’ve seen, with a strong bias toward younger idealistic and left leaning people without the benefit of centrist, pragmatic, and experienced folks who could have kept the car from running into the ditch. But that seems to be the City’s DNA these days, all in the name of mindless “progressiveness.” So glad we moved out of the City before the Commission’s recommendations were implemented. Life is much better here in Clackamas County where elected officials seem to focus on results rather than ideology.
Thank you for writing so eloquently exactly what I've been feeling and expressing. You speak for so many of us, thousands of us, I'm sure.
Judy I agree such a well written opinion and one that is shared by so many of us!
By the way, on Tuesday afternoon, I wrote an email to all twelve of our city councilors, and one of the sentences was similar to what you wrote: "Grow up, city councilors. Your job is to make this city clean and safe for EVERYONE. We pay the taxes, we pay your salaries. Get to work doing what is needed, and stop promoting the suffering of those who live on the streets AND those who have to pay Portland's incredibly high taxes." They definitely need to grow up. As I also said in my email, I was once a young, idealistic person who fought for the underprivileged whom society looked away from, and I still do work with them and fight for them . . . but my idealism mellowed as I became wiser and older.
Was there an solution suggested in this?
The implied solution is to dump the DSA faction of the City Council so we can hold on to what minor improvements we’ve achieved. The obvious implication is we need to trash the flawed Ranked Choice Voting in multi-member districts debacle that put them there.
Police chiefs come an go, each more progressive than the last... but it's the police union that runs this town and always has.
After just spending 2+ hours watching the City Council in action (the DSA clique did most of the talking), I am even more pessimistic about turning this city around. I actually don’t think many of them have ever had non governmental jobs, nor ever worked in the private sector… they’ve lived in a bubble.
Many of us Portland residents blasted the Charter Commission recommendations as idiotic and destined for failure. The composition of the Commission was as PC as anything I’ve seen, with a strong bias toward younger idealistic and left leaning people without the benefit of centrist, pragmatic, and experienced folks who could have kept the car from running into the ditch. But that seems to be the City’s DNA these days, all in the name of mindless “progressiveness.” So glad we moved out of the City before the Commission’s recommendations were implemented. Life is much better here in Clackamas County where elected officials seem to focus on results rather than ideology.