We’ll round out our series this week with two references to info on CommissionerSam.com.
First, there are survey results up from the folks who attended Sam’s neighborhood coalition meetings. A couple of headlines:
- Attendees would rather fund a solution to the whole backlog than a partial solution.
- Top three preferred funding methods in order: Gas Tax, Carbon (Guzzler) Tax, and Street Maintenance Fee (with a parking space fee finishing just out of the money).
Next up, another round of neighborhood meetings in September is now on the calendar (literally, on our calendar):
ALL OF THE MEETINGS ARE 7pm- 9pm
Central Northeast
September 10th
Firehouse #12
4415 NE 87th Ave.Southwest
September 17th
Multnomah Center
7688 SW Capitol HwyWest/Northwest
September 18th
Friendly House (Keystone Room)
1737 NW 26th Ave.East Portland
September 20th
East Precinct (Community Room)
737 SE 106th AveSoutheast
September 24th
St. Philip Neri – Calvin Hall
2408 SE 16th AvenueNortheast Portland
September 25th
Kind Neighborhood Facility
4815 NE 7th AveNorth Portland
September 27th
Kenton Firehouse
8105 N Brandon Ave.For special accommodations, please contact Jamie Waltz at (503) 823-7101.
2 responses to “Maintaining Portland’s Streets: Wrapping Up (for now)”
Nobody seems to have said this, so I wil. As much as Sam Adams sometimes grates on my nerves, I have to say that I really respect him pushing a very challenging topic. He is being very upfront and listening well. To be honest, it’s hard to see a political win for him from doing this- and for that, for doing the right thing, instead of the easy thing, he probably deserves our thanks.
I am not sure just how these various projects should be prioritized, but the fact that a number of new fees are being proposed shows that the sum total is very expensive. I attended one of the first meetings in Multnomah village; there seemed to be quite a lot of concern that the economical route was not being explored to solve the problems. Rather, various guesses and unofficial in-office estimates were producing a rather high cost estimate.
I haven’t had the time to analyze all that Mr. Adams is now proposing–and venture into this comment with due wariness and add a “potential bs disclaimer”, too– but Adams now seems to be in the process of selling that estimate to the public, instead of looking for a way to restrain costs and cancel unneeded or unwanted projects.
My question: If this portends what will happen in other urban improvement projects and the ultimate solution is to find new fees to charge to the residents —- who will be able to afford to live here? We wil turn into a city of corporate climbers and those in their retinue since they will be the only ones with incomes high enough to pay all the new taxes, fees and charges.
I know I have oversimplified the argument but
doesn’t pandering to corporate climbimg work against the liberal mandate to restrain corporate abuses and privileges?