The tweakers and the gangsters have it all to themselves

Here's a sad story, but hardly surprising: Portland's brand as a tourist destination is waaaayyyyy down in the bottom of the Port-a-Potty. It won't be back for a decade or more.

The survey showed that half of event planners and two-thirds of attendees surveyed recently indicated that their “likelihood” to book or attend meetings in the city over the next two years was heavily influenced by the “visibility” of racial and social protests.

“The impact of this is that we likely won’t even get the opportunity to bid on many conventions for the next two years, which will affect our long term successes well into the future,” said Jeff Miller, the president and CEO of Travel Portland. 

Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan said one of his friends who recently volunteered at a convention texted him about her experience with visitors who felt unsafe in the city. The woman told Ryan “it was really depressing to have so many people approach her, that looked angry, that we allowed ourselves to even host a big convention... like we weren’t ready for it.”

It's great that we have a taxpayer-funded Convention Center hotel, though, isn't it? Thanks to all the great people at Metro, especially the now-retired genius Tom Hughes, for making it happen. A real blessing. Even Dud Wheeler, when he was running the county, was smart enough to avoid that stinker.