Here's a fellow who was part of the City Council that set Portland onto its current path to oblivion -- he sat alongside Mayor Vera and gave the place away to Homer Williams. The South Waterfront fiasco was conceived and locked in under his watch. Since then, Hales has made a living literally hawking streetcars across the country. He's on record as wanting Portland to be "the best European city in America."
Gong!
He may not be a pathological liar with a teenage lover in his closet, and he'll talk a good line about economic development, but he wouldn't change things much. He's all about the condos. There's got to be a better candidate out there.
Comments (28)
Also -
Eileen Brady - Nah
Dan Saltzman - Nah
Jim Francesconi - Nah
Jeff Cogan - Nah
Earl Blumenauer Nah – Nah
Nah – Nah – Nah
Can’t we find anyone that isn’t a clone of the Portland Beirut Party mentality?
But I'd vote for him (if I could; after voting for Sho and watching him lose I moved out of Portland and into Tigard) in a heartbeat for Mayor of Portland. Heck, I'd even campaign for him, volunteer for him, and slap a nice big "W '11" sticker on my car.
(But please, leave Dick Cheney at home in Wyoming. We have enough of them (you can imagine what I'm thinking here) already serving in City Hall.)
Looks like “sly as a fox” Charlie wants back in the city saddle again.
Could it be that selling streetcars in other cities is not so lucrative right now?
Hard economic times, so the plan is to ride back into the town where his
“smart growth” plans wrecked livability, and to ride herd over us again?
No Thank You!!!
He did enough damage.
This city does not belong to him to reshape,
it belongs to the people who live here.
Want to reshape? Then go in with the big boys Homer, etc. if such aspirations.
We don't need a Mayor who wants to push his brand of development.
This city has had enough of his kind.
So Charlie wants Portland to be "the best European city in America." Would that be Stockholm where much of the transit system is run by a private company, or Stalingrad.
You know all those "skateboard lane" signs in downtown that go absolutely nowhere. You can thank Skateboard Charlie for that.
What's really troubling is that Charlie was such a big-time skateboard advocate because his son was really into it. My guess is that Charlie needs to get back into the public sector so he can get insurance that pays for his family therapy sessions.
Clinamen: Choo Choo Charlie may have already figured out the US DOT is broke and that those streetcar sales will decline to almost nothing by 2012. And, of course, he will need another job to scam the public out of their taxpayer dollars..
Charlie has my vote. I worked with him for ten years and he's smart, fiscally conservative, has actually worked somewhere other than government, fought with Vera most of the time, and is the only one who has a chance at winning over Sam. Keep up this negativity Jack, and we'll be stuck with disastrous Sam for another four years.
That was stunning ignorance and you just blew up whatever credibility you may have had.
Hales is a career liar of the worst ilk.
He would mean an even harder push towards fiscal suicide with his cult like fanatisim for rail transit and the heavily subsidized TOD development he has been paid to peddle.
Under the charade of somehow being preferable to Creepy he would likely be an even worse disaster and push back any chance of recovery from these lunatics even further.
Consulting for government is hardly working somewhere other than government.
So what do you suppose Hales' wisdom and leadership would bring towards Milwaukie Lighr Rail, Lake Oswego Streetcar and CRC-Light Rail, all of which are being advanced AGAINST the will of the citizenry?
You worked with him for 10 years and concluded he is smart and fiscally conservative?
I'd say you aren't too samrt and haven't the foggiest idea what fiscally conservative means.
IMO Hales, similar to Blumenauer, is the worst possible candidate to surface so far.
The only worse choices would be Homer Willaims, Vera again or a Rex Burkholder.
The idea that any member of the rail transit/planning cult would be an improvement over the Creep is just ridiculous.
ben--I agree with your harsh analysis of Hales but find your words towards Mary to be hurtful and degrading. I did not support Mary in her bid for council but do not appreciate your venom towards her.
Sorry, but "fiscally conservative" and "Streetcar" cannot belong in the same book. (Forget same sentence or paragraph.)
After all, just look at the mess TriMet is in because the City of Portland siphons off $6 million a year from regional TriMet funds to pay for the Streetcar. Maybe the City is being fiscally conservative - they make the poor folks out in Forest Grove who are two miles from the last 57 bus stop pay for the (fare free for most riders) (City of) Portland Streetcar. Just like the City doesn't pay for the bridges, folks out in Corbett get to.
But I'd vote for him (if I could; after voting for Sho and watching him lose I moved out of Portland and into Tigard) in a heartbeat for Mayor of Portland. Heck, I'd even campaign for him, volunteer for him, and slap a nice big 'W '11' sticker on my car."
Surely you would not want him for his interpretation of sound fiscal policy? His visage in the photos from the TX stadium suggest that a pie in the face is far more appropriate than a vote for any elective office.
And, of course, he will need another job to scam the public out of their taxpayer dollars..
...and of course, the insiders may very well want to position him in place to continue taking from the public and giving to the private. He is perfectly adept at that!!
If you want someone who will be effective in Portland's dysfunctional City Government, it will have to be someone who has extensive experience there. Anyone else will be eaten alive by the insiders and never know what happened to them or their campaign promises.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (28)
Also -
Eileen Brady - Nah
Dan Saltzman - Nah
Jim Francesconi - Nah
Jeff Cogan - Nah
Earl Blumenauer Nah – Nah
Nah – Nah – Nah
Can’t we find anyone that isn’t a clone of the Portland Beirut Party mentality?
Posted by John Benton | May 23, 2011 4:51 PM
There is someone better- you Jack! BoJack in 2012!
Posted by NoPo Guy | May 23, 2011 4:53 PM
Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%....
Same Old, Same Old.
If you didn't have a real life Jack, you would be great...but why would you?
Posted by Portland Native | May 23, 2011 5:55 PM
Jack, please. We are begging. Throw your hat in the ring! Step up to the plate.
Posted by dm | May 23, 2011 6:07 PM
George W. Bush made a lousy President.
But I'd vote for him (if I could; after voting for Sho and watching him lose I moved out of Portland and into Tigard) in a heartbeat for Mayor of Portland. Heck, I'd even campaign for him, volunteer for him, and slap a nice big "W '11" sticker on my car.
(But please, leave Dick Cheney at home in Wyoming. We have enough of them (you can imagine what I'm thinking here) already serving in City Hall.)
Posted by Erik H. | May 23, 2011 7:45 PM
How would Charlie Hales change Portland?
Bike only Trams?
Lay streetcar tracks over the few downtown streets not presently clogged with MAX trains, buses, and trolleys?
Subsidies for developers who tear down condos?
A national outreach to street urchins and drug addicts?
Sell all of PPB's cruisers and replace them with Segways?
Mandatory blue jeans on Friday?
Posted by Mister Tee | May 23, 2011 8:12 PM
Hey, at least he'll add one more magic word to sustainable and green for all the handout money - Streetcars.
Leave now while you can and take your kids with you rather thean dooming them to a future of ignorance and mental darkness that will be Portland.
Posted by Steve | May 23, 2011 8:44 PM
We elected a re-tread for governor.
Why not Streetcar Charlie? "Hey, I can't possibly be worse than Sam Adams," he quipped.
Posted by Max | May 23, 2011 8:50 PM
Hey,Jack,
you only go around once, eh?
Lumberjack?
Nah!
Mayor?
I'd donate both of my dollars...
Posted by cc | May 23, 2011 9:56 PM
Looks like “sly as a fox” Charlie wants back in the city saddle again.
Could it be that selling streetcars in other cities is not so lucrative right now?
Hard economic times, so the plan is to ride back into the town where his
“smart growth” plans wrecked livability, and to ride herd over us again?
No Thank You!!!
He did enough damage.
This city does not belong to him to reshape,
it belongs to the people who live here.
Want to reshape? Then go in with the big boys Homer, etc. if such aspirations.
We don't need a Mayor who wants to push his brand of development.
This city has had enough of his kind.
Posted by clinamen | May 23, 2011 10:11 PM
So Charlie wants Portland to be "the best European city in America." Would that be Stockholm where much of the transit system is run by a private company, or Stalingrad.
Posted by Evergreen Libertarian | May 23, 2011 10:49 PM
And Charlie even told us that light rail DID NOT cause development:
http://www.portlandfacts.com/vid/PortlandCouncil_10-23-96-communityPlan-Hales%28256k%29.wmv
thanks
JK
Posted by jimkarlock | May 24, 2011 12:20 AM
You know all those "skateboard lane" signs in downtown that go absolutely nowhere. You can thank Skateboard Charlie for that.
What's really troubling is that Charlie was such a big-time skateboard advocate because his son was really into it. My guess is that Charlie needs to get back into the public sector so he can get insurance that pays for his family therapy sessions.
Posted by Garage Wine | May 24, 2011 6:36 AM
Clinamen: Choo Choo Charlie may have already figured out the US DOT is broke and that those streetcar sales will decline to almost nothing by 2012. And, of course, he will need another job to scam the public out of their taxpayer dollars..
Posted by Dave A. | May 24, 2011 6:53 AM
On the plus side, Charlie isn't quite as in debt to Randy as is Sam, is he? Anything (well, almost anything) to break up the SamRand power duo.
Posted by Michelle | May 24, 2011 7:19 AM
Charlie has my vote. I worked with him for ten years and he's smart, fiscally conservative, has actually worked somewhere other than government, fought with Vera most of the time, and is the only one who has a chance at winning over Sam. Keep up this negativity Jack, and we'll be stuck with disastrous Sam for another four years.
Posted by Mary Volm | May 24, 2011 7:56 AM
Mary,
That was stunning ignorance and you just blew up whatever credibility you may have had.
Hales is a career liar of the worst ilk.
He would mean an even harder push towards fiscal suicide with his cult like fanatisim for rail transit and the heavily subsidized TOD development he has been paid to peddle.
Under the charade of somehow being preferable to Creepy he would likely be an even worse disaster and push back any chance of recovery from these lunatics even further.
Consulting for government is hardly working somewhere other than government.
So what do you suppose Hales' wisdom and leadership would bring towards Milwaukie Lighr Rail, Lake Oswego Streetcar and CRC-Light Rail, all of which are being advanced AGAINST the will of the citizenry?
You worked with him for 10 years and concluded he is smart and fiscally conservative?
I'd say you aren't too samrt and haven't the foggiest idea what fiscally conservative means.
IMO Hales, similar to Blumenauer, is the worst possible candidate to surface so far.
The only worse choices would be Homer Willaims, Vera again or a Rex Burkholder.
The idea that any member of the rail transit/planning cult would be an improvement over the Creep is just ridiculous.
Posted by Ben | May 24, 2011 8:59 AM
ben--I agree with your harsh analysis of Hales but find your words towards Mary to be hurtful and degrading. I did not support Mary in her bid for council but do not appreciate your venom towards her.
Posted by teresa | May 24, 2011 10:05 AM
OK you're right
I should have said
"Mary,
I believe you are mistaken."
Then ripped into the idiotic, dishonest and fiscally reckless Hales.
Sorry Mary.
Posted by Ben | May 24, 2011 10:16 AM
That's the spirit we love.
Posted by teresa | May 24, 2011 10:37 AM
fiscally conservative
Sorry, but "fiscally conservative" and "Streetcar" cannot belong in the same book. (Forget same sentence or paragraph.)
After all, just look at the mess TriMet is in because the City of Portland siphons off $6 million a year from regional TriMet funds to pay for the Streetcar. Maybe the City is being fiscally conservative - they make the poor folks out in Forest Grove who are two miles from the last 57 bus stop pay for the (fare free for most riders) (City of) Portland Streetcar. Just like the City doesn't pay for the bridges, folks out in Corbett get to.
Posted by Erik H. | May 24, 2011 10:40 AM
Re: "George W. Bush made a lousy President.
But I'd vote for him (if I could; after voting for Sho and watching him lose I moved out of Portland and into Tigard) in a heartbeat for Mayor of Portland. Heck, I'd even campaign for him, volunteer for him, and slap a nice big 'W '11' sticker on my car."
Erik H., no need to wax hyperbolic regarding this guy:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/A-J-Pierzynski-chases-foul-ball-meets-George-W?urn=mlb-wp7540
Surely you would not want him for his interpretation of sound fiscal policy? His visage in the photos from the TX stadium suggest that a pie in the face is far more appropriate than a vote for any elective office.
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | May 24, 2011 12:23 PM
And, of course, he will need another job to scam the public out of their taxpayer dollars..
...and of course, the insiders may very well want to position him in place to continue taking from the public and giving to the private. He is perfectly adept at that!!
Posted by clinamen | May 24, 2011 2:01 PM
Isn't there anyone out there channeling the spirit of Mildred Schwab?
Posted by umpire | May 24, 2011 2:44 PM
I was hoping Amanda would be the new Mildred but she hasn't taken up smoking and drinking.
Posted by Robert Collins | May 24, 2011 3:17 PM
Incredibly, it is a day after BD turned 70; yet no notice of that temporally significant event has been taken by anyone anywhere on this blog. Ergo,
"Don't follow leaders
Watch the parkin' meters."
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | May 25, 2011 12:27 PM
Lyrics to political world:
http://www.mp3lyrics.org/b/bob-dylan/political-world/
Posted by clinamen | May 25, 2011 11:47 PM
If you want someone who will be effective in Portland's dysfunctional City Government, it will have to be someone who has extensive experience there. Anyone else will be eaten alive by the insiders and never know what happened to them or their campaign promises.
Posted by sweetbriar | May 27, 2011 10:38 AM