The annual trashing of the grass at Tom McCall Waterfront Park has begun with this weekend's Cinco de Mayo Festival. This is the first in a series of events which every summer brings trampling feet and tents onto the lawns at the park.

At one time, all the festivals bugged me. They attract a not-so-nice element to the park, and they leave behind a muddy mess. Nowadays I look over the river at them with indifference. Fortunately, the parks department does an amazing job of reseeding the torn-up areas, and they usually recover within a couple of weeks. The festival areas get rotated somewhat, and this helps speed the recovery. If you can't grow grass in Portland, then you'll never grow grass.

In this era, the biggest threat to the park is the same threat that looms over the Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C., and all of downtown New York City: the politicians' fever to pave over the area, overcrowding it with attractions such as monuments and memorials. Several plans have been floated whereby the City of Portland would "improve" on Waterfront Park by chopping it up with more sidewalks, "activity areas," and "plazas."

What a mistake that would be.

The beauty of the park, named for Oregon's greatest modern political figure, lies in its long expanses of uninterrupted green grass. When the festival carneys pack up and leave, and Mother Nature gets a chance to reappear, these wide open spaces are stunning. They provide a spectacular buffer between the towers of downtown and the river. Frisbee, volleyball, napping, loving, or just plain running or walking on this grass is good for the soul.

There are already a popular fountain, a police and fire memorial, a Japanese internment memorial, a U.S.S. Oregon monument, two amphitheaters, a floating maritime museum, a restaurant, and other "attractions" in Waterfront Park. That's enough.

City Council: I thought we were broke. Hands off.