It didn't take Tom "Waylon" Hughes long to make us less than proud that we voted for him for president of Portland's oddball Metro regional government. We thought he campaigned as a change agent, but he immediately signed on to the twisted Metro agenda of streetcars, cr-apartments, and boondoggles like the zombie Convention Center hotel.
Today we learn that he's also jumped right in with the globetrotting on dubious "trade missions" around the world. In a year and a half, he's been out of town on business for 50 days -- by our math, that's about two and a half working months:
In 2011, Hughes went on a trip to Germany, organized by the Portland Business Alliance, aimed at recruiting and retaining businesses and to study energy production from waste materials. That same year, he joined Gov. Kitzhaber's trade mission to South Korea and China.
And his two trips to Japan were with Business Oregon, the state's economic development agency, to meet with corporate officials at Panasonic Eco Solutions, Mitsubishi, Asahi Glass and Sanyo. Metro records say this year’s trip was in honor of Oregon-Japan Friendship Week.
Hughes says his travel helps the region's smaller cities, such as Oregon City and Milwaukie, that "don't have the kind of economic development component in their government that you would find in Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro or Gresham, for example." (Records show that companies Hughes visited overseas include Daimler and Adidas, which have U.S. headquarters in Portland; and SolarWorld, whose U.S. headquarters is in Hillsboro.)
"The travel I've done, quite frankly, has been pretty hard work," Hughes says. "Flying isn't all that fun. There are a lot of parts of travel that aren't that fun."
Poor Hughes. Suffering his way through Germany beer gardens, and he's doing it all for Milwaukie.
Disappointing. I had hoped for better when I voted for him. It's hard to believe that we can't field anyone better than him, Charlie, Bus-Boy, Novik, Nolan....
Hardship pay is the least we could offer this poor wandering soul. (In my experience, when someone has a to-do list that includes foreign travel, that seems always to float to the top. And it's not just a public sector phenomenon.)
It's hard to believe that we can't field anyone better...
We can. It is just a well greased mode of operation here that prevents others from being seriously invited to participate equally in important debates or even considered in the media other than a one-liner.
Somehow, I don't think that will change with our new Office of Equity. I think those in charge of our city like things just the way they are.
On the other hand, I have been to a few candidate debates, and it is pathetic how few people attend, is it apathy or do people know the scene here and just don't want to waste their time on it anymore?
If travel to Germany was so tough, I'd be willing to do it. Put in a few good words for Oregon. "You know, we bought your light rail cars, those Siemens cars in Portland. And everyone loves them and talks about them. Everyone wears Adidas, and soccer is king. Whaddya say, invest in us?"
And spend the rest of the time getting drunk off German beer and sleeping off the hangover on an ICE.
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 (8)
Was he there during the German Oktoberfest?
Posted by clinamen | August 15, 2012 3:22 PM
"don't have the kind of economic development component in their government that you would find in Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro or Gresham,"
Hint: Local economic development does not come from government halfway around the globe.
Posted by Leaving now | August 15, 2012 3:46 PM
Disappointing. I had hoped for better when I voted for him. It's hard to believe that we can't field anyone better than him, Charlie, Bus-Boy, Novik, Nolan....
Posted by Max | August 15, 2012 3:58 PM
Hardship pay is the least we could offer this poor wandering soul. (In my experience, when someone has a to-do list that includes foreign travel, that seems always to float to the top. And it's not just a public sector phenomenon.)
Posted by Allan L. | August 15, 2012 4:18 PM
It's hard to believe that we can't field anyone better...
We can. It is just a well greased mode of operation here that prevents others from being seriously invited to participate equally in important debates or even considered in the media other than a one-liner.
Somehow, I don't think that will change with our new Office of Equity. I think those in charge of our city like things just the way they are.
On the other hand, I have been to a few candidate debates, and it is pathetic how few people attend, is it apathy or do people know the scene here and just don't want to waste their time on it anymore?
Posted by clinamen | August 15, 2012 4:34 PM
"The travel I've done, quite frankly, has been pretty hard work"
Sam already used that excuse Tom. How about some book reports?
Posted by Steve | August 15, 2012 5:21 PM
If travel to Germany was so tough, I'd be willing to do it. Put in a few good words for Oregon. "You know, we bought your light rail cars, those Siemens cars in Portland. And everyone loves them and talks about them. Everyone wears Adidas, and soccer is king. Whaddya say, invest in us?"
And spend the rest of the time getting drunk off German beer and sleeping off the hangover on an ICE.
Posted by Erik H. | August 15, 2012 7:58 PM
And the quantified economic results from these trips are???
Posted by TR | August 16, 2012 12:20 AM