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ForeignAffairs's comments:
on Ballot Measure 5 Turns 20
I purchased my home in January 1986 for $95,000 in a run down neighborhood close to Portland's city center. Today my property taxes are $8,400 a year. ($700 a month in property taxes alone!) That's too much. Now the city is charging an additional $30 to take the leaves from the trees on the street they also force us to care for.
posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Private vs. Public Liquor Sales
There is only one issue at play here: who makes money from hard liquor sales. Most states allow sales of liquor in all stores without any problems, and at a much lower cost to consumers. A seperate store for liquor is as silly as having a seperate state-owned store for milk.
posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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on New Police Leadership
Last evening at the street fair I saw many officers as well as Chief Reese and who I believe was Officer Turner. Being out in public I feel is an excellent way to get closer to the people of Portland. There has been a "us Vs. them" feeling not just on the part of Portland citizens but also the Police. I chatted with officers who were very friendly and open last night and it felt good. When people are friendly it only comes naturally to become friends rather than not. Officers should feel free to treat non-threatening citizens in a friendly manner as many did last evening to build that trust and friendship among police and citizens and get out support and understanding. That is step one in my opinion.
posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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on The Crossing at a Crossroads
From what I see, the vast majoity of traffic using the I-5 and I-205 bridges are commuters working in Portland but living in Vancouver and surrounding areas because at one time it seemed an easy way to evade higher taxes, and housing costs; to live in Washington, but evade sales tax by shopping on Oregon.
I believe a new bridge over the Columbia built as wide as practicle to accomodate future needs especially of alternative methods of transportation like light rail, bicycles, etc., should be built as soon as possible.
The best way as well to help limit or force more use of smarter alternative transportation methods is to impose a toll of at least $5 one way on both major bridges to make those who use the bridges car pool or use other methods to commute, or to force them to live close to where they work as they should. This would make those who use the bridges pay for the bridges. Why should I or anyone else who do not abuse our government or transportation methods pay for this project?
posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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on Independent in Oregon
I really don't see how you can consider yourself "Independent" if you belong to any party at all. The problem I have with most party members is that they have a tendency to vote along party lines. That is not independent. I have regestered as "non-affiliated" for this reason, but feel it is unfair that I can't vote for certain candidates in primary elections. And while I more often lean a bit left of center, I still voted for both Republicans and Democrats during the last election. I feel I am truly "Independent".
posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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on The Beauty of Bridges
I suggest to all who haven't done so to experience the bridges by riding their bike over one or more, the Morrison is now great because of the big wide safe bike lane, and another great way to see them is to take a boat under them! An amazing way to experience the bridges and the river from a vantage point many don't see. I have lived in PDX my entire life, and crossed the bridges thousands of times, but the view from a bike or the river adds a wonderful new dimension!
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on DNA Evidence and Eyewitness Testimony
Unfortunately, eyewitness testimony can be so flawed that without solid physical evidence to back it up, it should rarely if ever be trusted. Not only does a person who is tramatized commonly provide false information, but many people lie with little concern for their "victim", the person now convicted wrongly. As a juror, I simply do not accept circumstantial or witness obtained evidence all by itself, unless it is overwhelming.
On a side note, someone who is wrongly convicted and their lives ruined should be highly compensated for this injustice by the government. It may help prevent overzellious prosecuters from pushing for trials and convictions without a much more solid case. Any falsely imprisioned person to recieve a minimum of 1 million dollars per year for this injustice.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Southern Oregon's Green Economy
Alcoholic beverages are a formerly illegal product. You can die from an alcohol overdose. Alcohol consumption has been directly responsible for many deaths. Yet it is still sold and taxed for government profit. Tobacco products as well have caused many deaths, but is also very profitable for the government and so it is still available. Marijuana consumption can not be overdosed on. Billions of dollars are being wasted on a product almost everyone under 60 has used making the vast majority of citizens today criminals. It is also proven that marijuana is not a "gateway drug". I do feel our resources would be better used if marijuana were legalized as is liquor and tobacco products, perhaps sold in liquor stores next to the cigars.
posted 2 years, 12 months ago
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on Immigration Law
Many seasonal employers, i.e. farmers, say that they can't get enough legal people to work in their fields for the price they can afford to pay. Well I certainly don't mind paying more for my produce if it means the people picking it from the fields are legal and paid properly. I also don't mind paying a few cents more for a burger so the workers are legal. I feel one of the major problems with the current economy is wages too low to sustain a proper life and support a household. The minimum wage should be at least $10 an hour. I feel this would solve most of uor economic problems today. I do support making certain illegals can not work in the U.S.
posted 2 years, 12 months ago
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on The Meaning of Jefferson High
A student body of only 400 in such a large facility simply is not an efficient use of resources in a time of serious budget problems. It is analigious to owning a fancy sports car used very rarely, yet paying a great deal for storage, upkeep, insurance etc. when you just lost your job and you already have an economy car that will serve you well. Though painfull, we simply have to economize as everyone is these days. Out government, their workers as well as our school system must all learn to do with less as the rest of us are.
posted 3 years ago
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on Cleaning up the Gulf
Although this disaster will do a great deal of damage, it is another wake up call and an additional reason for all americans to realize that we must move away from our dependance on fossil fuels. The cities of the U.S. were designed around cheap fuel and the love of driving. A visit to European cities built prior to the automobile show many places where people very rarely use vehicles on a day to day basis. I moved my business literally an eight minute walk from my home. I live very close to the city center, a close walk or bike ride to many shops, stores and restaurants. I'm glad Portland is moving in the direction of more mass transit. We will find in the decades ahead that we have a system of mass transit, street cars and the like, much more like those days prior to the automobile.
posted 3 years ago
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on Searching for Kyron Horman
Why are there no cameras at all outside doors and any other points of interest at all of our schools?
posted 3 years ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Entrepreneurs
I started my business during the "great recession of the early eighties" here in Portland. I was being underpaid as many people are during a recession, and side work I was doing to make ends meet was more profitable than my reqular job. So I quit my regular job and began my side work full time. I paid off my bills, bought a home in 1985, and still operate this business to this day. It is the sort of business that does well in a good economy, but especially well in a poor one. I repair automobiles. Today many people can't afford a new car, so they are keeping their old ones, and not trading them in every two or three years as they were up until just a couple years ago. They have to pass DEQ testing, and as vehicles have become very complex now, the average "shade tree mechanic" can't do much anymore. So business today is great.
posted 3 years ago
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