Hosing the public is what Fireman Randy does best.
Who is he trying to convince that he is being very honest?
Certainly not us, we know better.
The man has a hidden agenda that simply will not quit.

"Complete with an iconic neon rose"?

I certainly hope the Oregonian reporter was trying to be funny with that - but I doubt it. He was probably just sucking up to our civic leaders: "Let's all keep saying it's iconic. Maybe eventually someone will agree."

Remember when the tram was going to be our Eiffel Tower? Same sort of thing.

Coincidentally, I saw the word "iconic" used somewhere else today, so maybe it would help the Neon Rose City to see how it looks when it's used correctly. Here's the background:

The farthest I ever got in comedy was doing a project for Sam Denoff who just passed away. This guy collected Emmy nominations like your dryer collects lint.

Talking to him on the phone was like talking to the essence of show biz: "Bill, I'm going to rewrite this, but don't worry about it. I rewrite parking tickets."
He won 4 Emmys, 2 for the Dick Van Dyke show. Now, there's something you could call iconic and they do. The iconic "Dick Van Dyke" show. See how different it sounds when it's true?

But a neon rose that's 2 years old? Iconic? Get over yourself.

Maybe a judge could be convinced to make them take it down. It was illegally built.

Can someone explain this to me; "
Hill also spent 86 hours on marketing and sales for the Portland Loos"? I thought this was a toilet project. Am I wrong, or are they selling tickets?

Randy's last day on the job can't come soon enough. He has forgotten, if he ever realized, his job as a public servant was to serve the best interests of the city. Instead, his primary concerns have been finding more pensions to collect, his pet projects, and greasing his friends palms/pursuing vendettas against his "enemies". Mission accomplished, I guess

Portland: The city with its hand out!

Neon is a greenhouse gas. Just sayin'

i found one of the loos to be a very welcome sight when i needed it last evening. i imagine a lot of people do. (the guy after me was sure appreciative also.) i don't support paying for them with funds from an unrelated stack of money, if that's what happened. are these water bureau related because they are plugged into the water/sewer system?

The biggest of the Loos is over on Mt. Tabor. The flush is really something.

They're water-related because you-know-who says so.

L'etat c'est moi.

Leonard the Fourteenth.

delete...delete...delete...

Randy will make the City of Portland a better place when he finally leaves office.

There is a silver lining here in all this. Randy has given up on the idea of being mayor. A few years ago I was sure he was next in line. Goodness gracious, we've been spared that.

"He has forgotten, if he ever realized, his job as a public servant was to serve the best interests of the city."

Not quite - He is quitting.

So who's shoes is Shaff going to shine next?

Classic example of an arrogant buffoon.

He's the just the starkest example of Portland leadership. They don't work for us. They tell us how it's going to be, and you're either on board or you are a non-entity. Ever notice how criticism of City Hall just sort of "vanishes" in this city? It's never really followed up on. It just lives in the papers for a couple of days, then "poof".

There have been so many documented, reported on, examples of wrongdoing in this city in just the last two or three years. Nothing happens. No follow up. No public advocate. Nothing.

Why wouldn't they do whatever they hell they want? What's going to happen to them? There can be a front-page serious in our only daily newspaper: "Water bureau spending our money illegally".... And NOTHING happens.

People see Portland as such a benign place, but I see a lot of curruption here. It's hidden in plain sight, because like Randy here, the politicians don't even realize they're corrupt.

Portland - The City that Works (you over)

While we focus on events here- this is happening all over. There is a serious disconnect between elected representatives and the citizens they are supposed to represent.

Commish Leonard is an easy target because he is so arrogant and ever willing to let you know it.

Randy has always been an arrogant jerk to people and that will never change.good riddance when he will be finally gone for good.

The reality is what we have is a failure of legitimate opposition. At least in theory the reason the two-party system works is because they each are supposed to keep the other honest. Alternating successive iterations in power by the opposition is a good thing. But here, what we get is differing flavors and variations of liberals, differing only in personality and whatever their own particular pet projects may be.

This is sounding more like "Caine Mutiny" here, what are the citizens to do when a Captain or in this case an Admiral gets weird? Let him run our city into the ground? He won't even give the time of day to the businesses in our city including the huge water user Siltronic, that are very concerned about increased water rates. Will businesses have to leave and who would come into this arena with buffoons operating? There is something so wrong with the entire picture.

They have played their financial games on the community for years, but this time they are also playing with a human right, a basic necessity, water.

We should have a water commissioner who is on our side, a good steward of our best city asset, our water. Instead we have a complete sell out, using EPA as an excuse to do so. This became ever apparent when we found out that New York got a reprieve until 2028 and are asking for more time until 2034. Our council has been repeatedly asked to do the same, at a hearing in 2009 and again this last May, but to no avail, as they continue to spend and add more debt.

In my opinion the Admiral jumped the ship of public interest, hooked us on to his own little boat and with his hand at the wheel is steering us right into corporate waters. He is definitely wrong headed here and our community could lose control of our water. The Mayor is supporting him, he is a wimp too on this. We do know some about the financial side of this, but the other hammer that will be dropped on us LATER after all is done, and unless we insist they stop and ask for a Waiver, is the serious matter of our drinking water being degraded with toxic chemicals and the radon situation. This Council has absolutely no conscience about this. So hammer and sickle we have over us, or more like hammer and “sicko” – someone wants in here to get our water, and it looks like Leonard is the deliverer with Council’s backing. After reading the O article, it is apparent he has convinced himself he has done the best for Portland, I imagine in order so that he can justify his betrayal of the community.

We need the community to put enormous pressure on our Council, and also on ALL our elected officials, Senators, Congressional and State Representatives to save the gift those geniuses from previous generations gave to us, one of the best water systems in the country.

Did Leonard even bother to comply with State Procurement Statutes before starting off on his pet projects using City employees or City equipment? He might want to read:

279C.305 Least-cost policy for public improvements; costs estimates in budget process; use of agency forces; record of costs. (1) It is the policy of the State of Oregon that contracting agencies shall make every effort to construct public improvements at the least cost to the contracting agency.

(2) Not less than 30 days prior to adoption of the contracting agency’s budget for the subsequent budget period, each contracting agency shall prepare and file with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries a list of every public improvement known to the contracting agency that the contracting agency plans to fund in the budget period, identifying each improvement by name and estimating the total on-site construction costs. The list shall also contain a statement as to whether the contracting agency intends to perform the construction through a private contractor. If the contracting agency intends to perform construction work using the contracting agency’s own equipment and personnel on a project estimated to cost more than $125,000, the contracting agency shall also show that the contracting agency’s decision conforms to the policy stated in subsection (1) of this section. The list is a public record and may be revised periodically by the agency.

(3) Before a contracting agency constructs a public improvement with its own equipment or personnel:

(a) If the estimated cost exceeds $125,000, the contracting agency shall prepare adequate plans and specifications and the estimated unit cost of each classification of work. The estimated cost of the work must include a reasonable allowance for the cost, including investment cost, of any equipment used. As used in this paragraph, “adequate” means sufficient to control the performance of the work and to ensure satisfactory quality of construction by the contracting agency personnel.

(b) The contracting agency shall cause to be kept and preserved a full, true and accurate account of the costs of performing the work, including all engineering and administrative expenses and the cost, including investment costs, of any equipment used. The final account of the costs is a public record.

(4) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section do not apply to a contracting agency when the public improvement is to be used for the distribution or transmission of electric power.

(5) For purposes of this section, resurfacing of highways, roads or streets at a depth of two or more inches and at an estimated cost that exceeds $125,000 is a public improvement. [2003 c.794 §98]

Did Leonard even bother to comply with State Procurement Statutes before starting off on his pet projects using City employees or City equipment?...

Hanson,
What legal steps can be taken if Leonard did not comply with these State Procurement Statutes?