Like.... gag me with a water/sewer bill because we know that actually giving business to someone who provides jobs in Portland (unless they're connected to City Hall the right way) is not the right kind of jobs for the bozos in power.

What if I am dead?

Someone else can answer it and take a message for you!

It's becoming increasingly clear that City Hall is imagining a near future where either a)money is obsolete, b)they plan on printing their own after declaring independence from the US, or c)grows on trees.

Aww, baby, we knoooow what they're like!

LucsAdvo, "unless they're connected to City Hall" is the key, the lynch pin.

How do you become connected? I'll never forget the time about 13 years ago in a meeting on land use issues with city staff present. One of the City senior planners said it all about Portland's transparency, open bidding-"We like to work with firms (alluding to architects and planners)and developers that think like we do, have the same agenda, same philosophy, aspirations."

When did our open bidding process include having the same philosophy? That says it all on why Homer Williams and Mark Edlen and others of the True Philosophy seem to always get the trumped up "bids" and "partnerships".

Oh, that remark by the city planners was about Homer and Mark.

If would be interesting if industry groups and other bidders made a point about this, and took legal action. But it's hard to prove, but needs to be done.

I suppose they're realizing they can't milk utility bills forever for general funds, I suppose there's money out here...

Portland, Inc. seeks foreign investors...
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/06/07/daily46.html.

I'm only surprised it wasn't a Florida based biotech start-up.

I am sure I read or heard on the news that none of the phone systems would work, so we should not depend on them.
The power will be gone the cell towers will be down and the regular phone system will be disabled as well.
SO...how is this supposed to help us?

Will they send out automated notices of huge potholes? Or maybe when they have public input meetings for rate hikes with a one hour notice?

As a causal aside, I note that City Hall has gone from being a 'linch pin' to a 'lynch pen'.

I'm just a bit unclear on who is being lynched.

Here is an interesting story in the Oregonian where the city was already using FirstCall and cancelled their service.

"Red Delatte, co-founder of Firstcall Network Inc., said Chief Rosie Sizer canceled the company's contract to save $49,245 in this year's budget."

It would be interesting to see how many times and calls were made by the system to get a cost-per-call break down.

And they keep getting reelected. What is the matter with you folks?

Who would the "you folks" you are addressing be, Mr. Benton? I doubt many of the readers here have been voting to re-elect.

godfry, to help clear up who is being "lynched", it's the Portland taxpayers. And Sam/Rand is about to pin us with a full nelson with a count of three.

Joseph Stalin quote
“It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”

That was then.
Now machines count our votes.

And I suppose that the massive city-wide database of cell phone numbers will have the usual safeguards in place to prevent someone from hacking into it, selling it, or using it for other than the intended purpose.

I could have swore that we already have a system in place for getting information out to people in a broad-spectrum fashion: the Emergency Alert System.

Anyone care to guess on how much money this new thing will cost, in comparison to just buying everyone a cheap battery-operated AM radio?

MSF... now, now..... AM radios are not for the creative class... they don't even know what the hell a radio is.... GO BY IPOD