Getting soaked

It's that time of year again, when we receive from the City of Portland a glossy mailer telling us how wonderful the city water bureau is. It's a particularly interesting year in that regard, in that this week we learned that the average residential sewer and water bill here just cracked $2,000 a year. Then the politicians wring their hands and moan, "Why are rents so high?"

And the fun has just begun. Wait until we have to pay off the hideous Bll Run reservoir filtration system, one of Randy Leonard's big success stories from his time on the City Council. Remember when it was a $500 million deal? Multiply by five, kids.

To get back to the flyer, it is ridiculous, and as we've pointed out before, unnecessary. All the city is legally required to do is send customers a notice (like on your water bill) of where the annual water quality report is posted. But this being Portland, we have to pay somebody's nephew to make up a photo montage, generate some turgid prose, and translate it all into Klingon. At least they've got it down to one slick piece of paper, 8½ by 11. It used to be twice that.

You have to laugh at the photos. Guess who!

If you really wanted to talk about the drinking water in Portland, you could at least come up with something less staged. Here's an idea. Remember this fella?