On the sunny side
I see that the "We Believe in Portland" brigade got several hundred people to walk around downtown picking up garbage on a sunny spring Friday. It looks like most of the bright, young trash picker-uppers were being paid by their employers to be there – including some Portland police – and the whole thing had quite a social vibe about it. But hey, it was normal people downtown, doing something positive, so there's that.
What worries me just a little is that some folks are going to look at this event and say, "See? Everything is fine. We just need to send out the volunteers to clean up every once in a while." Mayor-wannabe Carmen Rubio was there, enjoying the festivities as the reigning symbol of the status quo. The "Prosper Portland" folks took a break from burning tax dollars and setting traps for real estate investors to parade around for a while. It was just a little too pat. You'll pardon me for being slightly suspicious of the whole thing.
Yes, get out there and tidy up your 'hood. But the best thing you can do for Portland is vote for Gonzalez, Vasquez, Dexter, Brim-Edwards, and Burke. They're the real cleanup crew.
You are 100% about Prosper Portland scheming to burn more tax dollars. Check out this event. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/central-city-tif-exploration-open-house-tickets-878225113957?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios
ReplyDeleteEven California had the good sense to outlaw "tax increment" financing.
DeletePicking up debris is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteNow, find a way to protect us good guys from the “useful idiots “ in black hoodies.
A city that can't pick up the garbage on its own streets is not a city where everything is fine. Volunteering is great and all, but it shouldn't be necessary to keep the streets clean.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! What are all those tax $$$ for?
DeleteThey do clean up regularly, but the bums come right back and start making a mess within days.
DeleteThe Mecury had a recent issue of "say nice things about Portland" whereby the editor blamed all the problems on business folks and conservatives. Talk about living in bubble of make believe. Another article tried to paint a rosy picture but lamented how Lloyd Center has become a ghost town due to excessive theft and vandalism.
ReplyDeleteI saw that. They were ranting about how the "dominant" political forces in Portland are the private business people. The kids at the Merc (and Grampy running it) need to adjust their microdoses.
DeleteIt's funny, last Thursday I was walking around my neighborhood picking up trash. My little community has gotten a lot worse since the private school was transferred to a public school, there's liter everywhere. One neighbor yelled across the street to me "Hey, thanks for picking up trash, are you doing this for earth day, or because this is just a hobby?" "It's just a hobby" I replied, but that was an easier than saying I want to live in a community with some goddamn dignity and I'm tired of the little shitbird children trashing the place, and out of a 1,000 homes I'm just the one willing to spend a nice afternoon doing it. Same reason I mow my neighbor's lawn and chase tweakers out of the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to go downtown and improve property values for the Goodman family, that's for suckers.
Wish you lived next to me
Delete