This is the music we tighten up with

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson's budget hit the newsstands today. You can see it here. The city's not bringing in enough to keep current services going, and so his budget proposes new taxes, layoffs, and a bunch of accounting gimmicks going forward.

But not everybody's going to feel the pain. The grossly overpaid city administrator, Raymond Lee, is getting four – count 'em, four – new minions in his office. Gotta keep those pocket squares smooth. Meanwhile, the city attorney's office loses two lawyers and a legal assistant. Some 911 operators are also getting pink slips. 

And of course, not mentioned in the budget hype is the fact that somehow there's $120 million (current liars' budget) in the city's dwindling bank accounts for renovations to the billionaires' plaything, the Trail Blazers basketball palace. The new lead owner of the team, Tom Dundon, is turning out to be a skinflint, starting with travel expenses, where he's counting every pickle. One can assume that he'll be a tightwad in every other way as well, and so the taxpayers can't expect any goodwill from him. Whatever deal is made, the Blazers will likely wring every last penny out of it.

At least Wilson is pulling money out of the hideous "partnership" with Multnomah County over homelessness. That's been a black hole for many years. But taxing the little guy even harder while fluffing the nests of people like Lee and Dundon is not a good look. Wilson seemed better than the alternatives in the last mayoral election, but you wonder whether he will have that advantage in 2028. Lately he's been declaring victory on a number of fronts where the facts suggest otherwise.