Whats on my mind is (among hundreds of other things, given that its me) is the street fee. I drove around a lot in the last few weeks. SE 28th between Burnside and Broadway is literally down to the brick. I was in neighborhoods in SE Portland (and they are everywhere) where there are many many completely unpaved streets with giant craters and no sidewalks. My understanding of the arguments Ive heard have to do with accountability (will the money be spent on what its intended to be spent on) and whether we should have the right to vote on the fee. I am a big believer in good government and that starts with accountability and transparency. And if we want accountability I really think we need to change our form of city government. I really believe we need a city manager. I want my elected officials to be working on policy, not running bureaus. I also think we should elect commissioners by district (save maybe the Mayor). We have a terrible history of lack of geographic, gender and race diversity on the council. Back to the fee. I have loved living in Portland for the last 35 years. I appreciate that those who came before me built street and parks and planned carefully to preserve what was so special about this city while it grew. I feel grateful to be able to make the same contributions to future Portlanders. I know that many of us are just barely making it (and many of us arent even housed). Talking about sacrifices is a different conversation for many of us. I confess to not knowing if the current proposal is the best we can do for everyone, but I do know we need to do something. Our dominate culture tends toward individualism. I believe this is one of our greatest threats to the future. I believe that for my family, assimilation into white culture meant losing a sense of ethnic culture that was rich in caring for the collective us. I hope we can embrace a collective us as Portlanders and find a way to maintain and build a city rich in opportunity. For those that read this, thank you...just had to say it.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 19:52:42 +0000