The makeup on the water droplet reminds me of cryptosporidum, not the association that the Water Bureau wants us to make.

Hey, stickers are cheap. That blogmistress probably costs us $90K/yr with all of her benes.

Don't worry, with 5% sewer increases and the 18% bump in water rates, water isn't the only thing that flows freely at the water bureau.

I can't get too outraged about this. They probably spent $100 on the whole thing, stickers and postage. It'll get kids to think about their water, what's the big deal?

what's the big deal?

This is just the side of the waste in city government that you can see. Multiply it a hundredfold, and you've got some real change. And when there's no money for basic services, it sends a message to taxpayers "we don't care".

And the net outcome with voters? Read Jack's title again: Why people vote against tax increases.

This is just the side of the waste in city government that you can see.

What makes you so sure it is "waste"? You don't agree with it, and perhaps you don't like the idea of giving kids an incentive for thinking about the value of clean drinking water, but I could find dozens of people who disagree with you. Just because you disagree with the premise does not mean it is "waste."

Where's the beef??

Maybe they could come up with a slogan for their waste water also.

"My tap water rocks and my waste water chunks float down the Willamette after rain storms!!"

(okay, could be more pithy...)

Can I earn $90K plus benefits for that?

"What makes you so sure it is "waste"?"

The fact that PWB arbitrarily decides to raise our sewer rates 5% annually and jsut out of the blue popped water rates 18% this year. If NWNat or PGE tried this people would scream, yet when CoP does it - No problem.

Look at this woman's blog, she spends all day writing about water bottles and stickers and it costs us money that could be spent ensuring clean drinking water instead of just "thinking" about it.

"..perhaps you don't like the idea of giving kids an incentive for thinking about the value of clean drinking water?"

Did you need something like stickers when you were a kid to understand the value of clean drinking water? Really? My generation figured that out all on our own. Without stickers, even. The whole site is just another fuzzy-feel good load of effluent.

Oops! Effluence.

I would submit to the water department and its "blogmistress" that the fact that many people already buy bottled water (as opposed to using tap water) despite the higher price suggests that they already understand the "value" of quality water.

If someone is willing to pay money to go to a theater to watch a movie it is by definition not waste. It is just something that a consumer wants.

Dave J. might therefore conclude that the city could make movies and operate movie theaters.

This reminds me of the clean-money versus dirty-money war in political campaigns. If the money is not obtained from tax dollars it must by definition be dirty, and its cost is like a drop in the bucket. A dirty movie would be one that is not funded by tax dollars.

The first public movie might be titled: Rhetoric. It presupposes that there will be differences of opinion and never ending sequels.

Here's something to REALLY think about Portland water users. We're leaving the area by early November to move to Nevada. In our new home, our basic water rates (we rarely exceed the base useage) including sewage charges are HALF what you folks are paying. And yet, you STILL put up with brown chunks in the river every time it rains.

Strangely, I'm reminded of New York State's Bicentennial Commission, which went for similar gewgaws to promote the US Bicentennial in 1976. They must have been doing a really good job with the gewgaws, because the Commission wasn't disbanded until 1980.

What makes you so sure it is "waste"?

It's called a monopoly, Dave. If you are promoting a product that people are going to purchase anyway because there is no competition, then it's waste, by my book.

Dave A., I'm not sure where in Nevada you'll be moving... but if it's to the Vegas area (where I live now), you'll definitely NOT want to be drinking water straight from the tap. It's vile.

Funny though how here in the middle of the desert, the cheapest "utility" we have is water. And with a REALLY big dam next door, our most expensive is electricity. :-)

Still, though it saddens me to say it, living in Vegas is much better than living in the Portland area, at least for me. The water sucks, but the local politics are a lot more entertaining (and a lot less harmful, frankly!) :-D

David Wright: We're moving to Reno, which is in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee River watershed. I would have to dig up the bill to find the name of our local water district, but the rates are a bargain compared to Portland and the water quality is good.

Hey Jack, help me out.

I tried to comment at the PWB blog site. My point was clear, concise, and to the point. No foul language, no angry words, just a plain recitation of why I felt the sticker issue was a waste of time.

My problem is that when I was done, in order to get published, I had to answer the Spam Prevention question to block unwanted spam. The question was:
In the Pacific Northwest, what state is Portland in? My answer: Denial. It's been 2 hours. Any ideas for me?

Clayman- That's funny!!

Check out the comments on the"Water Blog." A couple negative ones, then it appears the whole department was assigned to write something nice. Maybe they're being graded on their contribution. I mean, that drivel is about 6th grade level. Too funny.

Dave J., surely you jest. $100? Not even 40 years ago. A graphic artist was paid to design this sticker, printed by a label company on special sticker material, more than one ink color used, someone paid to write promotional material (if not webmistress, someone else in PR). It probably had to be proofed and approved by the water bureau (after several false starts). Then someone has to deal with the time and expense of getting the stickers out to however many kids write a ditty (envelopes, postage, cover letter, sticker).

Lots of hidden costs here.