What is really Sammy Insane is that he's considering taxing park benches because they are on city-owned property. He'll use the money for more equity.

Those bus passes are in lieu of Portland Public Schools having to run school buses for their high school students. Seems to me that PPS should be dealing with TriMet, not Sam.

Seems to me Portland should get rid of Trimet and just open the market to anyone or group that wants to operate a transit system.

Utter dysfunction

Adams is such a pompous a-hole, and he is seriously abusing some sort of drug. I was at a meeting recently that he attended and you look into his eyes and no one is home, like he is stoned out of his mind. Really wish the mayor and council had to submit to random drug testing.

From the same brilliant mind that is attempting to bring the "head tax" (unless your poor!). For a mass transit proponent, Adams sure seems to hate busses, especially as compared to trains. Get this lunatic out of office, please.

Numbers I wish some wonk would work up for our entertainment:

1. PPS annual property tax revenue losses to all CoP urban renewal, each and total of last eight years.

2. PPS annual property tax revenue losses to CoP urban renewal for URA deals initiated or extended under Adams, each year and total.

3. Dollar value of daring, visionary, outside-the-box, flowers-because-I-stood-you-up, CoP gifts back to PPS during same years.

This is the act of the absent father who sails in once a year with candy and toys but doesn't pay the child support.

Wow, Jack may be right. It's almost as if Red Chief Sam is ransoming himself now in a psycho sort of way.

...Get this lunatic out of office, please.

It was tried twice with a recall.
I wonder how many people regret now they did not sign or take that petition seriously.
It seems to me that after the second recall didn't succeed that Adams escalated his agenda and hasn't looked back. Who knows? Maybe it is all about retaliation.
189 days left.

I signed both petitions, and encouraged anyone I knew in town to do the same. That said, Portland got what it bargained for in Sam Adams. Maybe he has a deal with Hales and Smith to go completely nuts this year to make them look sane by comparison, in return for their support of his endowed urban planning seat at PSU

I am planning on providing public testimony on another Adams Scheme you've already discussed, that being the Arts Tax. The Resolution for this Arts tax is so poorly written I can't believe the city won't be sued enmass if this thing were to pass at the ballot box. No where in the resolution does it mention individual state and federal tax filing returns. How and the heck do you collect an individual income tax if you don't also have copy of the state federal income tax filing? It does mention auditing businesses. This would seem to mean it's almost like a payroll tax, which the state has various restrictions against.

The really crazy thing is Jefferson Smith might turn out to be just as bad or worse than 'ol crazy Sam. Sleep well, Portland.

You know the old meme about history repeating itself? Suddenly, the name "Caligula" keeps running through my head.

Random drug test ?
How about the entire city council and their staff be directed to submit to testing.
While we are at it maybe the planning and sustainability people too...

Hey Bob Clark - thank you for testifying - I don't see how this "tax" can be legal either - but they will get away with it unless someone sues them. What can we do to make sure someone is able to take that action?

I signed both petitions against Adams but to no avail. For all of these pols who say they are working to "help people" they are basically pushing working people out of this city - first because there are few to no jobs and because as rates and fees increase across the board average to poor people can't afford to live here. Who do they think pays these higher fees? Landlords pass on higher costs to renters - obviously.

Let's get serious about stopping these illegal moves to steal our money. Let me know what I can do to make this happen.

Sam just has a problem with buses because the people that ride buses (myself included) aren't good enough for his ego.

So he complains about them.

Nevermind that 2/3rds of TriMet's riders are on the bus, but I guess they aren't part of his elite constituency. Nevermind that the Streetcar is so utterly useless. Nevermind that most people do not ride a bike.

Why should I have to pay an additional fare, given that:

1. I live outside of Portland city limits,
2. My commute requires only several blocks of City streets; with the rest of my transit experience on state maintained highways,
3. Regional taxpayers have had to pay $9 million a year for the City of Portland Streetcar...maybe the City will be happy to give that money up and fund their streetcar themselves since they pride the streetcar on not being part of TriMet? Why should Tigard residents pay for it?

(And...eliminating both the Streetcar subsidy and WES would solve TriMet's budget fiasco. Just those two cuts.)

Rather than playing hard ball, Sammyboy the want to be dictator of Portland is once again demonstrating his sleaze ball aptitude, which includes bribery. For TriMet, the easy way out is to just stop providing bus shelters in the public right-of-way and turn all the existing ones over to over to PBOT to deal with. Sammyboy should be elated with that idea since it gives him more control he so badly yearns for.

Almost everything that happens in local government has already happened on Star Trek.

I am recalling the story of little boy (in their world a powerful super-being) who captured the crew and forced them to play games for his pleasure. When the crew finally refused, he threw a temper tantrum and starting killing them off until his momma found out and released the crew.

Trouble here is there ain't no big momma to send little Sammy to his room and release the citizens from his petty hissy fits.

Shouldn't there be checks and balances when things seem out of control?
Auditor? Personal Physician? Whistle blowers?
I Don't think we can depend on other Council members.
Wonder what Nurse Amanda thinks?

Almost everything that happens in local government has already happened on Star Trek.

And The Simpsons. "Marge vs. the Monorail" needs to be mandatory viewing for all Portland government employees, citizens, residents, and voters.

Sam's Blue Oregon Rant:
"For years, I've believed that TriMet should just allow any young person under age 18 free access to buses and light rail. After all, what better way is there to produce the next generation of transit riders?"

Sounds like this can apply to welfare/food stamp programs.

The last months of the Sam Rand Regime are becoming excruciatingly painful to watch.

http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120420/9626/computer-game-depression-adolescents-therapy.htm
A Video Game that May Be Just as Effective as Therapy for Treating Depression

Some may have to turn to video games to deal with the next 188 days.
_______________________

The SamRand twins once they have more time when retired from their escalation of plans, may come to the realization and may need to forget specific details of how damaging their actions were. Who knows we the taxpayers may have already been paying for this therapy?

http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120622/10417/memory-emotional-disorder-ptsd-therapy.htm
People can be trained to forget specific details associated with bad memories, according to breakthrough findings that may usher the way for the development of new depression and post-traumatic stress disorder therapies.

Tim, I'm reminded of a story that made the rounds about a decade ago. Patrick Stewart had done his best over the previous eight years to get as far away from his "Next Generation" days, so every time Paramount would make an offer for him to star in a new movie, he'd throw out some insane price for his reprising Jean-Luc Picard. Every last time, he'd be both shocked and a bit disgusted that Paramount was willing to meet his fees and then some, because nobody had any interest at the time in seeing a "Star Trek" movie without him in it.

Anyway, he finally came up with a great idea, involving another media property that Paramount, through MTV, already owned. He said he was willing to come back, but only if he had complete creative control over the story. In this story, the Enterprise traveled to the edge of the universe, and the crew blew a hole in reality to view the face of God. That's when God looked upon them and yelled "AAAAAAAAAH! This sucks! Change it, Butt-Head! Change it! AAAAAAAAAH!"

Here is another thought; TriMet should just cut out any money in their budget and stop funding/subsidizing Sammyboy's pricey play toy the streetcar.

I defend SAM on this one!
Trimet has lied to him, as they have to others, and he says it for the record.

AND, Sam is giving them a taste of their own medicine!

ATTA BOY SAM!

Here is that great Simpson's episode on light rail (called mono rail)

https://vimeo.com/36801171

From Sammyboy’s own blog:

“TriMet’s own analysis shows that YouthPass does not actually add to the transit agency’s costs. No new busses, MAX trips, additional routes or drivers are needed to accommodate YouthPass riders.”

And

“This week, I proposed an increased fee on TriMet’s bus benches and shelters that are installed on City property, and on the busses’ impacts on our pavement. While the City used to absorb these costs, we can no longer afford to do so if we are to find the funding to continue YouthPass.”

Here we go again with another pair of lies from Sammyboy. He claims the youth passes doesn’t cost Trimet anything when in reality they cost TriMet lost revenue just like tax breaks for developers and other freebees cost government entities lost revenue. He claims the City is absorbing the costs of amenities such as bus benches and shelters on City property when the capital, maintenance and installation costs are all born by TriMet with no actual cost to the City. The whiz kid is just spinning more lies. It is no wonder why there is no money allocated to pave streets. The guy is just a tax more and spend more wacko with no fiscal accountability.