Portland

“It feels very active,” said Flood, 34. “Compared to a year or two ago it’s a lot cleaner, all of the plywood has come down, less trash on the streets. It’s just felt like a more vibrant and interesting and engaging place to spend time.”

. . .

There are a few signs that people may be starting to feel better about downtown. Horvick notes that just 38% of Portland area voters polled from Oct. 9 to Oct. 13 had a “very negative” impression of the city center. In April’s poll, 51% had a “very negative” impression.

I'm sure it will make more sense once ballots are in peoples hands.

Edit Ballots started arriving today, not difficult to understand, but man, it's going to take RESEARCH to pick 6/19 and 6/16 and rank them!

Looks like we're in for a freeze! Be aware! Bring in your brass monkeys!

Also, if you rely on MAX for mass transit, it's always delayed in the cold. Frozen switches, ice on the lines, etc. etc.

Theory is a paper mill.

For those old enough to remember trips down I-5, that's what Albany used to smell like(!)

Now before you get all riled up... yes, superficially this LOOKS bad:

"The city of Portland sends the county roughly $30 million per year to fund about 10% of the Joint Office of Homeless Services budget."

But the Joint Office is the same agency leaving budgeted money UNSPENT. $113 million in 2024 alone.

https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/09/multnomah-county-homeless-services-office-reports-it-housed-21-more-people-in-past-year.html

For some reason this article left that part out.

If they failed to spend $113 million, do they REALLY need Portland's $30 million? Would we be better off if Portland spent that money itself?

So if you're not up on the scandal... Oregon offers public matching donations for candidates who get a certain, specific number of campaign contributions.

In order to reach that threshhold, a number of candidates got caught swapping contributions. "Hey, I'll donate to you if you donate to me..." kind of thing.

"The city council candidates under investigation are District 1 candidate Thomas Shervey; District 2 candidates William Mespelt and Sam Sachs; District 3 candidate Luke Zak; and District 4 candidates Chad Lykins, Michael Trimble, Mike DiNapoli, Eric Zimmerman, Bob Weinstein, Sarah Silkie and Ben Hufford, according to Kerns. Mayoral candidate Liv Osthus is also under investigation, Kerns said."

Ranked:

1. Wilson
2. Rubio
3. Gonzalez
4. Mapps
5. Osthus

"After speaking with the rest of the candidates, we don’t see a viable sixth option."

TBH, I'm not sure how many other Portlanders are "here", here. :)

But just in case, here's the link to watch the debate live!

Edit: This link has the full recording as well!

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/elections/portland-mayor-candidate-debate-kgw-oregonian-how-to-watch/283-d69dc5a1-7611-4cd7-b1c2-65f6bc385d65

Also on terrestrial television, channel 8.

This is really the first time I've seen the candidates speak for themselves.

City Council Members:

Rene Gonzalez
Carmen Rubio
Mingus Mapps

Trucking executive:

Keith Wilson

Stripper and Arts Advocate:
Liv Osthus

Gonzalez has drawn fire for more law and order, right wing style policing policies along with a financing scandal for altering his Wikipedia pages.

Rubio has had issues with LOTS AND LOTS of parking and traffic tickets. More than can be rationally explained.

Keith Wilson, I'm sure, is a lovely guy, but he looks like someone voted most likely to be cast as a Nazi in an Indiana Jones movie. ;) I know, I know, totally unfair... but LOOK at him...

This year's International ShakeOut Day is October 17, when millions of people worldwide will participate in earthquake drills at work, school, or home!

At 10:17 am (local time) on 10/17, you can join people across Oregon practicing earthquake safety. While we encourage you to participate with everyone, you can register your ShakeOut drill for any day of the year, and drill at a time of your choice. You can also include people in multiple locations through video conferencing

The hourlong debate begins at 6:30 p.m. and will feature Portland Commissioners Rene Gonzalez, Carmen Rubio and Mingus Mapps, trucking executive Keith Wilson and stripper and arts advocate Liv Osthus.

Watch the debate live Tuesday on OregonLive.com or The Oregonian/OregonLive’s YouTube page. The news outlet will also stream the debate on Facebook.

KGW will broadcast the debate live and also stream the debate on the KGW website, the KGW News YouTube channel and the KGW News app.

You'll have to go to the 'burbs to get your cheap spooky fix this year!

Been seeing a lot of anti-118 ads lately, specifically talking about the harms to "small business" so I had to look it up myself:

FTA above:

"Measure 118 would slap a 3% tax on a business’s Oregon sales above $25 million, then divvy up the money raised among Oregon’s more than 4 million residents, no matter their age.

An analysis by state revenue officials suggests the policy would reap more than $6.5 billion a year, even though it raises taxes on fewer than 2% of businesses. The measure could then send around $1,600 a year to every Oregonian beginning in 2026 — either via tax credits or direct payments."

So, first, if your business generates more than $25 million in sales ($68,493.15 every day!) - you are NOT a "small business".

2nd, we definitely need reform on business taxes to make sure businesses are paying their fair share.

3rd, I'm not so sure $1,600 direct payments to Oregonians is the best use of those tax dollars. It should be used to reduce our overall tax burden. Maybe increase the standard deduction by $1,600 or some such.

The route is EXTENSIVE. Both sides of the river downtown.

Best bet is to steer clear of anywhere close to this on Sunday:

New web series dropped today, it's like Portlandia but more painfully real.

The City of Portland’s Small Donor Elections program has placed a temporary hold on matching contributions from candidates or family members of candidates made after Aug. 7 after learning that many candidates appeared to agree to quid-pro-quo donations to each other.

"Ryan Poffenberger, 38, who has no listed address, pleaded guilty Tuesday to multiple counts of first-degree theft and second-degree burglary, as well as charges of being a felon in possession of a gun and unauthorized use of a car. The plea was part of a deal with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office."