Ya know, I was indifferent about the whole situation until I started seeing him go against his entire constituent base and push for subsidizing the stupid hotel, subsidizing more sports, subsidizing soccer, and dumping a metric ass ton of money into the stupid I-5 12 lane choice. He's gone almost 100% anti-leftist Portlander and anti-rightist Portlander and definitely pissed off a ton of Libertarians (which I'm sure he already did).

Needless to say it's starting to look a bit rough for the guy.

And deservedly so.

I'll believe it when I see it. It's gonna take a lot more work than I think people are willing to put in to it. I think people would like to see him go, but not if it inconveniences them.

Thank you, Joe Weston, for your letter. I appreciate the implications it throws towards Mayor Adams. I also strongly concur with your opinions about the Bureau of Development Services. Like you I have experienced 40 years of this bureau. No matter how much PR they put out it has progressively worsened. I remember when you could go down to the two story building on the present Portland Building site with an adjacent parking lot. Terry Sandblast and a few other staff members would expedite a permit in a few hours if it wasn't too complicated.

Last time we applied for a new resident permit it took a year. The builder missed the up market, now is trying to sell a innercity westhills lot at a loss. It is very unlikely they will ever take the building risk in this city again.

It's a pretty good letter. Still, George W. Bush & Co. demonstrated that you can do an immense amount of damage if you maintain a hammerlock on your turf and rely upon most people being ill-informed or uninvolved.

Weston's just pissed that he didn't get his 10th and Yamhill condo deal from the City, but other developers are getting fast-tracked. This is nothing more than sour grapes from the old guard; a new generation is sidling up to the public trough.

Jack:

Joe's letter is a good one and he is a hitter. Others no doubt share his assessment, and today's Oregonian editorial fans the flame, two full months before July 1, 2009. Sam will save us a lot of time, trouble and money if he resigns this Monday, a decision he should have made before filing his candidacy, lying to the press and voters and standing firm, when it all became public. It looks like he maybe trying to add issues upon which he deserves recall, to obscure that the real reason, that his office was procured by fraud.

Is Weston doing his own typing? He could really use a proofreader if his stuff's going to make it into the public. "Marshall Clickman"? "...sold the city by Bill of Goods"? (Admittedly, I might be missing a reference there to a nickname for someone named William.)

I'm glad Darrelplant said it first. His point may be well taken but please, grammar, punctuation and spelling are so poor it makes him look uneducated.

Mr. Weston was probably so angry he couldn't even see straight enough to proofread. If city officials, movers, and shakers made as few mistakes in magnitude and number as Mr. Weston did in his letter, there'd be a lot less grief in Mudville, and Adams never would have made the team.

Heck, Adams has already struck out but he's standing in the dugout with his bike helmet askew, swinging his bat and clobbering everything and everyone in sight, thinking he's still in the game. Meanwhile, Randy keeps shoutin': "Good hit!"

What a bunch of bad bananas.

So what have you got against the Mercury, Jack? (See Matt Davis' comment.)

BTW, back in the early- to mid-70s, I lived in some of Weston's apartments. I could say a lot of bad things about Weston, but the more important point is what his letter says about Portland politics.

Weston was part of Goldschmidt's light-rail mafia. Is Adams trying to usurp that group with some kind of sports-stadium mafia?

what have you got against the Mercury

I don't read it. But somebody sent me a copy of this, which was pretty good.

I want to say the idea of reviving the Mt. Tabor volcano for a dinosaur theme park will never get past their neighborhood association. Of course, once the dinosaurs start feeding that won't be a problem.

The Mercury's Wow Column is a hit. It's going to be a damn shame when the writer gets hired by the Mayor's office.

I do read The Mercury--missed the WOW Column. Good thing I stop here as well!

I can't believe there hasn't been any real brouhaha about the Mayor's recent claim that the City should take over the maintenance of the five Willamette River bridges currently under Multnomah County's care.

It's like he lies awake nights thinking of new ways to spend money we don't have.

If I were Mr. Weston's accountant or tax attorney, I would probably want to have a talk with him about alter-egos and piercing the corporate veil.