This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on December 11, 2011 3:08 PM.
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The unholy alliance between Portland City Hall and Portland State University gets tighter by the month. They're now both firmly controlled by the local development mafia -- so much so that PSU resembles a real estate firm more than an educational institution. The school's academic departments preach the gospel of smart growth, streetcars, condo bunker infill, and the like, and are always at the ready with a consultant to promote the latest building project on which the local taxpayers will be taken to the cleaners. This serves City Hall, which has the same goals, quite well. And when the politicians and bureaucrats burn out or get bounced from their City Hall posts, PSU is always waiting to welcome them with open arms, and some sort of tangential job.
And so it comes as no surprise that when the city's water bureau produces a book revising the history of the city's water system to more closely match the current party line, Portland State is at the ready to teach the official version to impressionable young minds. Here's a list of everyone to whom the city has given a free copy of the book. Aside from dozens of copies to Admiral Randy, for whom it was like an authorized biography, the city also handed out an electronic copy to a professor at PSU, apparently with the understanding that she could disseminate as many copies as she wanted to her students. Just think how many dozens of young people will be sent out into the real world with the City Hall mantras on their lips.
We know about the book deal because Floy Jones, the meanest watchdog in town when it comes to shenanigans with the city's water system, sent us the list today. It seems she's miffed that they're making her pay for her copy of the tract, while letting so many others have a free ride. More importantly, she's outraged that the book left out and carefully spun the water bureau's many screwups over the last decade or two, as well as sanitizing details from the more distant past.
This time, she's upset about nothing. The real history of Portland government is not being written by the people in City Hall. For all their tweets and twists of the facts, they're fooling fewer and fewer residents each year. It will probably take many more years, but when the rebellion finally comes, being on the free book list will be a badge of dishonor.
Comments (17)
Beth Slovic of the O returned her copy. Maybe didn't want to be seen as accepting a bribe? Or just didn't have room in her library for another fluff piece?
A book about the history of the city's water system?
I have a lot of interests in arcane and generally trivial matters, but the water system?
Then again, this is the same water bureau that owns a luxury bus manufactured by a company better known for its limousines so that it can take folks on city paid day trips up to Bull Run. Think highly of ourselves, don't we...luxury buses, autobiographical books...what's next?
What's next?
Please refer to the magazine "Super Yachts" where 200 to 400 foot mega yachts from around the world are regularly featured for sale and lease.
I doubt that Randy and Sam will ever actually be able to afford such toys, but it is something to which they can aspire; "to dream the impossible dream" as it were.
This past weekend there was a building industry convention with many seminars. One seminar on green roofs was certainly telling. The PSU/CoP speaker said Portland's $4 Million dollar green roof program didn't cost Portland taxpayers any money. A friend asked "Well, nothing is free, so where does the $4 Million come from-the Water Bureau??" Gosh, he was just just guessing. The speaker sheepishly said, "Yes, from the Water Bureau". "Aren't water bureau fees and other skimming the bureau employs really like taxes?" the questioner asked. No was the reply from our employee.
And that is what we're up against, the mantra continues. But we have to keep questioning these kinds of replies from OUR public employees. We need a "re-education" initiative.
Oh, here's a followup on that GreenRoof seminar. When the speaker was asked what do you do when the flat roof he was exhibiting leaks, his reply was "you fix it like any other flat roof." Ahhhh, sure.
Later his powerpoint showed a flat roof of one of Portland's fire stations that this program forced on the fire bureau. In the first major snow/ice storm the overflow scuppers got plugged by poor design when the melting occurred. The interior got saturated. The fire bureau told other city bureau to get rid of the GreenRoof crap after they had to remove the whole system.
The speaker admitted that over 90% of the GreenRoof projects were government buildings. It's like the Fed/OR/PGE/EcoTrust solar panel story-ripping off taxpayers for the few.
"Cultural Learnings of Portland for Make Benefit Glorious Department of Water Bureau."
More appropriately, the chronicles of Dear Father and Great Leader Leonard
have finally been codified for the future benefit of Portlanders who may forget his glorous efforts on behalf of Portland people.
This book recounts the story of Leader Leonard from his birth at the sacred temple of Bull Run thru his time well-served as people's janitorial service honestly to his efforts protecting the workers from ill effects of fire.
This all culminated in his serving in the worker's plebiscite (aka Oregon Legislature) to merit two pensions for himself and John Minnis.
Within close grasp of Chairman Leonard's final duties serving the workers as the string-puller for comrade Adams, this book shall serve as an everlasting chronicle of the self-sacrifice delivered (along with Portland loos) on behalf of the worker's collective known otherwise as the (almost) free Republic of Portland.
Hey, if the book gives him some comfort in retirement and lets him live his dreams without costing us any more money than he has already, it can't happen quick enough.
And then we wonder why our youth are so easily led astray in one direction or the other (see the crap conservative Christian regions spew on their kids).
Education is no longer about learning to think- it's all about propagandizing the naive to a viewpoint that fits an agenda.
As for the Water Bureau, Orwell would be proud and Stalin envious...
What's next? Please refer to the magazine "Super Yachts" where 200 to 400 foot mega yachts from around the world are regularly featured for sale and lease.
You mean that the City of Portland Water Bureau isn't an investor in the Portland Spirit?
...Within close grasp of Chairman Leonard's final duties serving the workers as the string-puller for comrade Adams,...
Speaking of final duties, note the council agenda this Wednesday...with a request for another $31 million and more for a project up at Bull Run.
If any spending is needed it should be for the deferred maintenance of our water system, money for the foundation of our system, to make certain that our pipes deliver healthy drinking water, and not for glitzy new unneeded projects.
We cannot afford another year of their brand of final duties.
We need to keep a close watch on who continues to be a string-puller for them,
Fish, Saltzman?? We keep hearing about budget cuts, how will they vote on this $31 million and more? Last May it was Fish who gave the third vote needed for the $80 million Powell Butte project and Saltzman disappeared when that vote came up.
Will Saltzman give the third vote this time so Fish can disappear?
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
Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
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: 29
At this date last year: 66
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 (17)
Beth Slovic of the O returned her copy. Maybe didn't want to be seen as accepting a bribe? Or just didn't have room in her library for another fluff piece?
Posted by Don | December 11, 2011 3:42 PM
Four copies were given as retirement gifts.
Sparing the recipients the need to purchase toilet paper?
Posted by Max | December 11, 2011 4:04 PM
If you want to enroll in a PSU course about this, it's called,
"Cultural Learnings of Portland for Make Benefit Glorious Department of Water Bureau."
Posted by Bill McDonald | December 11, 2011 4:06 PM
Zingggg!
Posted by Mojo | December 11, 2011 4:11 PM
Yea Bill. Which Marx will be teaching it?
Posted by Evergreen Libertarian | December 11, 2011 5:33 PM
Rippo.
Posted by Mojo | December 11, 2011 5:41 PM
A book about the history of the city's water system?
I have a lot of interests in arcane and generally trivial matters, but the water system?
Then again, this is the same water bureau that owns a luxury bus manufactured by a company better known for its limousines so that it can take folks on city paid day trips up to Bull Run. Think highly of ourselves, don't we...luxury buses, autobiographical books...what's next?
Posted by Erik H. | December 11, 2011 5:42 PM
Professor Borat will be teaching it. Very nice!
Posted by Bill McDonald | December 11, 2011 5:42 PM
I've been saying for the past several years that there's something fishy going on here, and it just keeps getting fishier.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | December 11, 2011 6:50 PM
What's next?
Please refer to the magazine "Super Yachts" where 200 to 400 foot mega yachts from around the world are regularly featured for sale and lease.
I doubt that Randy and Sam will ever actually be able to afford such toys, but it is something to which they can aspire; "to dream the impossible dream" as it were.
Posted by Portland Native | December 11, 2011 6:53 PM
PSU and CoP is pure synergy.
This past weekend there was a building industry convention with many seminars. One seminar on green roofs was certainly telling. The PSU/CoP speaker said Portland's $4 Million dollar green roof program didn't cost Portland taxpayers any money. A friend asked "Well, nothing is free, so where does the $4 Million come from-the Water Bureau??" Gosh, he was just just guessing. The speaker sheepishly said, "Yes, from the Water Bureau". "Aren't water bureau fees and other skimming the bureau employs really like taxes?" the questioner asked. No was the reply from our employee.
And that is what we're up against, the mantra continues. But we have to keep questioning these kinds of replies from OUR public employees. We need a "re-education" initiative.
Posted by lw | December 11, 2011 8:05 PM
Oh, here's a followup on that GreenRoof seminar. When the speaker was asked what do you do when the flat roof he was exhibiting leaks, his reply was "you fix it like any other flat roof." Ahhhh, sure.
Later his powerpoint showed a flat roof of one of Portland's fire stations that this program forced on the fire bureau. In the first major snow/ice storm the overflow scuppers got plugged by poor design when the melting occurred. The interior got saturated. The fire bureau told other city bureau to get rid of the GreenRoof crap after they had to remove the whole system.
The speaker admitted that over 90% of the GreenRoof projects were government buildings. It's like the Fed/OR/PGE/EcoTrust solar panel story-ripping off taxpayers for the few.
Posted by lw | December 11, 2011 8:20 PM
"Cultural Learnings of Portland for Make Benefit Glorious Department of Water Bureau."
More appropriately, the chronicles of Dear Father and Great Leader Leonard
have finally been codified for the future benefit of Portlanders who may forget his glorous efforts on behalf of Portland people.
This book recounts the story of Leader Leonard from his birth at the sacred temple of Bull Run thru his time well-served as people's janitorial service honestly to his efforts protecting the workers from ill effects of fire.
This all culminated in his serving in the worker's plebiscite (aka Oregon Legislature) to merit two pensions for himself and John Minnis.
Within close grasp of Chairman Leonard's final duties serving the workers as the string-puller for comrade Adams, this book shall serve as an everlasting chronicle of the self-sacrifice delivered (along with Portland loos) on behalf of the worker's collective known otherwise as the (almost) free Republic of Portland.
Hey, if the book gives him some comfort in retirement and lets him live his dreams without costing us any more money than he has already, it can't happen quick enough.
Posted by Steve | December 12, 2011 8:26 AM
And then we wonder why our youth are so easily led astray in one direction or the other (see the crap conservative Christian regions spew on their kids).
Education is no longer about learning to think- it's all about propagandizing the naive to a viewpoint that fits an agenda.
As for the Water Bureau, Orwell would be proud and Stalin envious...
Posted by Ralph Woods | December 12, 2011 8:57 AM
Apparently an investment to make sure that there is an army of sprouted new ones to continue an agenda.
This is supposed to be an independent thinking institution, not a place to plunk or perpetuate real estate and other policies via propaganda.
Must we across the board, no avenue untouched somehow be indoctrinated? Universities no less, is there no shame in our community?
Posted by clinamen | December 12, 2011 9:43 AM
What's next? Please refer to the magazine "Super Yachts" where 200 to 400 foot mega yachts from around the world are regularly featured for sale and lease.
You mean that the City of Portland Water Bureau isn't an investor in the Portland Spirit?
Posted by Erik H. | December 12, 2011 9:55 AM
...Within close grasp of Chairman Leonard's final duties serving the workers as the string-puller for comrade Adams,...
Speaking of final duties, note the council agenda this Wednesday...with a request for another $31 million and more for a project up at Bull Run.
If any spending is needed it should be for the deferred maintenance of our water system, money for the foundation of our system, to make certain that our pipes deliver healthy drinking water, and not for glitzy new unneeded projects.
We cannot afford another year of their brand of final duties.
We need to keep a close watch on who continues to be a string-puller for them,
Fish, Saltzman?? We keep hearing about budget cuts, how will they vote on this $31 million and more? Last May it was Fish who gave the third vote needed for the $80 million Powell Butte project and Saltzman disappeared when that vote came up.
Will Saltzman give the third vote this time so Fish can disappear?
Posted by clinamen | December 12, 2011 11:05 AM