Are Leonard and Adams the only commissioners who bother to actually visit their bureaus and inspect their operations in person?

If you're too busy trying to take over the world, you don't have time for all the little things.

This kind of stuff just irks the heck out of me. How many private entities would pay $4.7 million for a contraption that doesn't work? Amazing how "communication" was the reason it never was fixed in the first place.

They should dock that extra $300,000 out of Sten's pay.

Maybe this will occupy Randy's time so he won't be pushing through a tax on cell phones to compensate for the revenue taken from the city's general fund by the Fire & Disability Fund that will eventually bankrupt the city which he fights zealously for because he fails to realize he no longer represents the firefighters, but actually should be looking out for me and the other tax payers of this city who voted him into the office he now holds.

One sentence, impressive.

One sentence, all right...

The pension and disability issue is clearly Randy's Achilles heel, but I'll take him as a bureau chief over Tram Adams, Opie Sten and Big Pipe Saltzman any day of the week.

Yeah, Randy is the best Portland has, imo. But his career illustrates how limited -and conflicted-any "player" in the system can be. And the need for genuine outsiders.

I think we got off cheaply here. The backup plan was to sprinkle chlorine into Bull Run from an aerial tram.

From now on, whenever you post the phrase "aerial tram" please follow it with "[rim shot]." Thank you.

one more comment (i couldn't get my post-fix for a week):

once again the big O shot itself in the foot by adding the personal, tabloidy (new word) aspect to the article. the political timeline and voting record was completely lost in the stuff that happened 20 years ago. even Randy's receipt of disability benefits is irrelevant.

he has shown that he acts when he feels an injustice has been done regardless of the rules (firing the housing inspectors, turning the woman's water back on, etc.) i respect him doing what he thinks is fair and just.

that is why when i hear him defend a process that pays a guy $25,000 to go to culinary school and then is still paying him $3,000 a month i question his allegiance.

i don't want to take his retirement, he is entitled to that for putting his life on the line and his service to the community. however, it makes my blood boil when i see my tax $ go to a guy who makes a very nice living 'facilitating' for paul allen or giving me the traffic conditions from a local news helicopter.

I think we got off cheaply here. The backup plan was to sprinkle chlorine into Bull Run from an aerial tram.

And bioswales. Don't forget the bioswales.

“In the last three weeks, we’ve had more interaction with the engineers than in the previous three years,” Schenk said.

That says it all.

"How many private entities would pay $4.7 million for a contraption that doesn't work?"
Compared to the recently departed CEO of Morgan Stanley, a capitalist concern IIRC, that seems to represent a bit of a bargain, even discounting said CEO for not being unambiguously a "contraption". To say nothing of the cost of Enron management. Not that I'm condoning incompetence in government. It should not be tolerated, and it should have consequences other than putting otherwise sensible programs (like a publicly owned public utility) out of reach. Meanwhile, let's all applaud the applause for Randy Leonard's diligence in the water bureau.

Man....I like Erik, he was our voice of the 'youth' when X-Pac and our age crew helped get him elected....I like his gap-toothed young chubby look. But damn...he's slowly going closer to the incompetance side of the road. I'm not even sure I would hire him now, if he interviewed with me. I know the work is time-consuming and he has a new family, but there are certainly ways to do things better and more efficiently in less time; it just involves taking a full macro look at processes in the workplace.

"One sentence, impressive."

It was awesome. I think I woulda gone ahead and just deleted that single comma.

"Man....I like Erik, he was our voice of the 'youth' when X-Pac and our age crew helped get him elected....I like his gap-toothed young chubby look. But damn..."

Someone admitted it!! I have known there was something about this foolish child that some important subset had seized on and probably would never let go. I still think they will not. Glad for your comments, nevertheless. Personally, it has always seemed to me that his "voice" hit irrelevant and self- (or group) indulgent notes. The man he has grown into is decidedly worse, though I expect to see his reign for a long time to come. Maybe you can keep him out of the mayoral seat.

When the commissioners exchange bureaus, it follows that they will soon be in each other's drawers. First Randy, exposing the water mismanagement, followed by Eric, with a proposal to fix up the retirement and disability plans. That can't be a bad thing, can it?

...followed by Eric, with a proposal to fix up the retirement and disability plans. That can't be a bad thing, can it?

Except Sten had the Fire Bureau before this as well and didn't do this.