Wonderful story about an active curious and widely experienced mind bringing his ability to connect dots to his home City. We certainly need those minds today. Instead we have the myopic and short sighted and ideological.
To suggest how open-minded Oakland was, when he ran for county council, his campaign manager was a man who had a "Bo Gritz" sign on his house. Sam wasn't preoccupied with guarding his image.
Be careful what you wish for. Heed Richard Cheverton of Portland Dissent [1] and don't let Julia Meier, the City Club of Portland or any of the other people behind the revised city charter anywhere near the project to consolidate the City of Portland and Multnomah County.
[1] Mr. Cheverton's 2024 predictions for 2025 included:
"Julia Meier, Portland’s most mysterious power-player, will find something else to turn into a City Club/Coalition of Communities of Color assault on traditions, norms, good sense, and standard-variety democratic elections. Her creation, the veto-proof city council, will prove that what starts as tragedy always ends up as farce. "
Wonderful story about an active curious and widely experienced mind bringing his ability to connect dots to his home City. We certainly need those minds today. Instead we have the myopic and short sighted and ideological.
To suggest how open-minded Oakland was, when he ran for county council, his campaign manager was a man who had a "Bo Gritz" sign on his house. Sam wasn't preoccupied with guarding his image.
Be careful what you wish for. Heed Richard Cheverton of Portland Dissent [1] and don't let Julia Meier, the City Club of Portland or any of the other people behind the revised city charter anywhere near the project to consolidate the City of Portland and Multnomah County.
[1] Mr. Cheverton's 2024 predictions for 2025 included:
"Julia Meier, Portland’s most mysterious power-player, will find something else to turn into a City Club/Coalition of Communities of Color assault on traditions, norms, good sense, and standard-variety democratic elections. Her creation, the veto-proof city council, will prove that what starts as tragedy always ends up as farce. "
https://portlanddissent.substack.com/p/fearless-predictions?utm_source=publication-search
“What did Sam Oakland know in 1974 that we are just realizing”?
That it is not enough to just exist.
That all things idle in neutral until examined, explored, experienced.
That curiosity is the engine of growth.
That life is a verb.
He was my friend. I still miss him.