Another expensive job creation project. $20 million spent, 0.5 jobs created.

It doesn't matter. They are all Democrats.

Any fool or corrupted jerk can be a city commissioner in Portland. They need only be a Democrat.

Have we not all recognized this?

They need only be a Democrat.

No, that's no guarantee. To win, they need to (1) promise to do what the government employees' unions want; (2) get the "young creatives" like the Bus kids behind them; and (3) preach "green" and "sustainable." Plus, being gay and running against a straight opponent gets you 10% of the votes cast, right off the top.

On the upside, the cost is estimated at "$0.00".

It should be a community garden, which is apparently in short supply. Then have a drawing for the opportunity to use it.

That looks really cheap! I bet it will pay for itself!

Hahaha...
Doesn't get any better than this!
LOL!!!LOL!!!

Wonder how much frozen rain the building will support?

Will the garden be deep enough to hide the bodies???

Does that really say "Hops" on the diagram? Awesome, now they can really brew their own Sam Adams in the mens room!

nIncomePoops!

The fiddles will probably start up any day after the recall deadline passes like a silent fart.

Thank god, there is something in City Hall that will see daylight.

Geez Jack, are you always so phobic that it makes you look stupid? We don't vote as a block. Some of us even signed the recall petition. Oh wait, common sense and lawyers = oxymoron !!!!!!!!!!!

Not phobic at all. Just stating a fact. In Portland, if you are gay and running against a straight opponent, you start with an advantage.

Of course, gay people don't all vote the same way. I never said that. There is a block of voters who favor gay candidates, for whatever reason.

And BTW, my cowardly anonymous correspondent, that's the last chance you get to call me names. I don't call you names, although I could think of a few right now. Grow up.

Mojo: why aren't you out there circulating recall petitions? You could probably help finish the job in no time and be part of making a difference.

If you already are circulating petitions, I apologize for my snarky tone. It's just that I'm getting pretty tired of some of the posters here complaining and at the same time apparently not doing anything to help the recall effort.

I don't live in Portland, or I certainly would be out there. I've done tons of petition circulating in the past - always as a volunteer - and I can assure you it's more fun than you'd think, plus very satisfying to meet your fellow citizens, more of whom agree with you than you thought.

Dear JoWriter: that wasn't snarky as much as patronizing and condescending, especially the explication. No biggie. Take 'er easy. 10-4.

Hmmm, two areas are marked "habitat" is that for 'humanity'? Or will it just be a new place for homeless camps? Just wondering. Also wondering what kind of retro-fitting will have to be done to enable the roof to hold all this extra weight. I'd be willing to put money on the fact that it wasn't originally designed to hold all that extra weight of soil and water.

The pinheads of city hall strike again.

I finally saw my first Recall Sam Adams petitioner, set up on the back side, side street of St Philip Neri on Sunday. No exposure, not close to the main entrance and exit of the parking lot where the congregation was. Just a nice shady location, innocuous and safe...she was not a bit snarky and I explicated the need to be where the people are.

100 yards up the street the throngs attending the Church of New Seasons came and went-eth.

There are other voting blocks out there Jack - right wing Christians, Catholics given directives from the pulpit, Mormons, various ethnic groups, etc. I don't see you making any points about the effects of that. Or is that just politics as usual.

As for my identity, you've had it once and you will have it again by email.

And if you don't like name calling, then don't do it. I am not a coward and I would gladly meet you in person for coffee.

native oregonian--that was my question too. Retrofitting won't be cheap; not just the basic structural work, but then all the work inside to re-sheetrock/paint after the walls and beams are beefed up, plus when you do a remodel it's always a good time to get new carpets, drapes, and furniture....

I guess this comes from a different pot of money than the pot that keeps people hired. How they can justify this when they're laying people off in droves...I just don't get it.

Soylent Greens.

If every downtown building had an ecoroof--*every building*--the impact on the local environment would be negligible.

City Hall knows this. It's a feel-good PR move, like handing out a few tomatoes from the "City Hall garden".

In other words, the ecoroof is what you do when you don't want to make hard policy decisions. City hall also knows what those hard decisions are.

"Does that really say "Hops" on the diagram? Awesome, now they can really brew their own Sam Adams in the mens room!"

That reminds me of my favorite Sam Adams sex scandal joke: In Portland you have to be 21 to drink beer but only 18 to have a Sam Adams.

"Just stating a fact. In Portland, if you are gay and running against a straight opponent, you start with an advantage."

Care to offer any support for this assertion--or proof of this so-called "fact"?

Portland may be relatively liberal, like a lot of other northern and coastal cities, but I hadn't heard that we've so completely conquered homophobia that it's now an outright advantage to be gay if you're running for public office.

Also, besides Adams, who are your examples of openly gay candidates who were elected to office in Portland? You talk like we see this "gay advantage" time and time again in this town.

"If every downtown building had an ecoroof--*every building*--the impact on the local environment would be negligible."

Depends, if you want surface water management its a very expensive way to do it.

If you want to impact your carbon footprint, you'd do so much more if you just painted the roof white. Of course, that's not a significant enough gesture for these simps.

On the gay-straight stuff. Portland obviously wants gay leaders. Because people in Portland want quirks in everything, and value entertainment above all. And we all know that gay people, on average, are more entertaining than straight ones. I spent my first year in college sharing a couch (and pretty much everything else, except underwear) with my gay friend, a conservatory student who fascinated me from the first instant I met him. We were in line for food on the first day of orientation, and he broke away, sat down at the piano in the foyer, and just let loose in Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
Everyone in line gaped. Seriously, who could compete?

Portland is really a pretty cool place, in spite of all the people who like Sam. We just landed us a dud in a horrible city government.