Oh, really? You don't say! (Jack Bog's Blog)

I see that the former manager of the O is a little upset that he can't get potholes fixed on his street:

[T]he city's bureaus have requested nearly $25 million more in general fund money from us next year, including plenty of money unrelated to cops, firefighters, sewers, parks or streets. The mayor's asking for an additional $907,000 to fund pet programs in his own office.
The requests run the gamut. They include money for school athletic fields, money for the Portland Schools Foundation, money for school arts education, money for a city education director -- all noble goals, but when did the city take over functions traditionally performed by our school districts? And how about the money for Last Thursday, the symphony, the food bank, the Hispanic and African American chambers of commerce, children's theater and concerts? Each a worthy cause, I'm sure. But from where I stand on my battered little street, if you can't find the time to fix my potholes, you can't afford things that aren't basic city services.

I wonder if this fellow recalls all the editorials in his own newspaper a few years back about how the streetcars and trams and PGE Park Remodel 1.0 and Pearly totem poles and SoWhat aerial tram [rim shot] were "snazzy" and "linchpins" and "catalysts" that would "pay for themselves."

Because they don't pay for themselves. Which is why basic services in Portland are in the toilet and about to be flushed away beyond recall. You reap what you sow, pal. Go by streetcar!

Comments (9)

Hart's like Teddy K getting religion about fiscal responsibility and making hard choices now that he's term-limited out of the governor's office: you're worried about this NOW, after you had many, many, MANY opportunities to pay attention to and fix this when you ACTUALLY HAD SOME INFLUENCE??!!

Posted by Eric | May 3, 2010 3:05 PM

It is Karma, just Karma.

Posted by John Benton | May 3, 2010 3:39 PM

BTW, permits for youth and adult sport leagues (as opposed to school leagues) held on school athletic fields are issued by Portland Parks, which permit fees are "supposed" to go towards athletic field maintenance. That is the reason school athletic field improvements also may come from the city general fund.

Posted by Travis | May 3, 2010 4:15 PM

Jack,

The Oregonian abdicated their responsibility to investigate local corruption long ago. Instead, they act more like a mouthpiece for the condo/lightrail/progressive mafia.

And no, covering "TravelGate", or editorializing in favor of the recall effort doesn't count. They're just rearranging the deck chairs.

Let's hope Mr. Oregonian doesn't have to live on a fixed income or depend on Tri-Met to get to doctor's appointments and groceries.

Posted by Mister Tee | May 3, 2010 4:15 PM

Crying about potholes? How about all of the streets East of Cesar Chavez Blvd that aren't even paved? Yet we've got plenty of money to rip up MLK and run a streetcar nobody wants. PAVE THE DAMN ROADS!! Then if there is any money left over you can buy your toy trolleys.

Posted by Drivin' Fool | May 3, 2010 4:42 PM

In especially liked the part where the "lady" (who he doesn't name) has the time to come out and look at the damage 3-4 times, just doesn't have the time to call him back. Or get anything done.

The City That Works! indeed

Of course, neither does Sam

Maybe he should have Tweeted it in?

Posted by T | May 3, 2010 5:16 PM

My karma just ran over your dogma...

Posted by Britt Storkson | May 3, 2010 6:29 PM

It's not any one part of the city that's immune from poor street maintenance. It all pretty much sucks. Weekdays, I commute into Washington County (don't live that far that far from the boundary). For a number of years it's been easy to see where Portland ends just by looking at the condition of the pavement. Go by pothole.

(Sorry if this double posts but the site is being wonky)

Posted by LucsAdvo | May 3, 2010 6:39 PM

When I read Jack Hart's opinion piece (actually a fact piece) I thought I was reading my own experiences with Sam's Pothole Line.

I have called the Line 4 times in 9 months to fix 37 holes in three blocks. First time they semi-fixed 7. I called and reminded them of the others. A crew came out to spray paint circles around just some of the remaining potholes. Months went by, no action. I called again, crew came out to fix 6 more. I called again and offered to help the "circle painting crew" identify and apply the paint to all the holes. Paint crew came out to repaint the fading circles of the previous painted holes. To this day no action.

And this is one of Sam's bike path streets he designates in his $800 Million Bike Plan. I love it when he claims his Pothole Line is a major accomplishment of his glorious mayorhood.

Posted by Lee | May 3, 2010 8:58 PM

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Monday, May 3, 2010

Oh, really? You don't say!

Comments (9)

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