"Save Peterson's" throwdown in the morning
You gotta fight! For your right! To Slim Jims!
From the crew trying to save Peterson's convenience store in the SmartPark near the Galleria:
Facing eviction after 23 years in the same location, Doug Peterson, founder of Peterson's Newstands, will take his case before the Portland City Council at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 9.Good luck, dude.A rally to support Peterson's quest to remain in a location that he developed into a successful business will be held at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at Terry Shrunk Plaza, Southwest 3rd Ave. and Madison St.
At the City Council meeting, Peterson will present petitions signed by over 1,800 citizens. He will testify about the contribution his store makes to the community in the form of taxes, employee benefits and lottery contributions. He also will make the point that Peterson's store provides shelter, assistance and a safe haven for the public, and particularly for riders of the MAX line that runs by the store.
"The employees at the Morrison store are the eyes and ears of the Galleria Max transit station," Peterson said in describing the value of his store to the city. "Sometimes they do more policing of the platform than the paid security firms that are paid to do so."
Peterson said has begun hiring his own security guards and has installed a video camera system that allows self-monitoring. "We will work with the City of Portland staff, Portland Development Commission, Tri-Met and neighborhood businesses to fix problems as they occur on site," he said.
| Posted at 5:52 PM | Permalink |
|
Comments (6)
He stands a snowball's chance of winning.
But I wish him luck.
I'll bet $10 dollars the Max meth heads/dealers are even more prevalent once the private security guards and cameras are gone.
If they simply eliminated the fareless square and assigned a few deputy DAs to street dealer prosecutions, they could fill Wapato to capacity and clean up the MAX at the same time. I'm willing to bet another $10 that property crimes and car insurance rates would drop like a rock.
Maybe the CRC crossing could even include a new Wapato Line for MAX.
Posted by Mister Tee | July 8, 2008 8:09 PM
Oh I don't know,,, that may be a good place for one of the upcoming Pot Marts.
It would mellow out the hangers.
Posted by Hal | July 8, 2008 8:30 PM
Mmmmmmm, good point, Hal.
Maybe if Wal-Mart offered to sell medical marijuana, they could win the hearts and minds of P-town politicians.
And sell more munchies too!
Win/Win.
Posted by Mister Tee | July 8, 2008 9:18 PM
If the City Councils intentions aren't blatantly clear at this point, they will take Peterson's indefinitely in order to show us.
Sam The Tram and Co. wants to develop downtown for the Brooks Brother shopping folks from NYC,SF,LA. The tax base must not be increasing like they imagined - time for them to get nasty.
Security guards, cameras, frequent calls to police. What more can the guy do?
Posted by Mizzzzz | July 9, 2008 12:41 AM
It's sad that he's put so much extra money into security, and will still get screwed by the Council.
Posted by Deeds | July 9, 2008 10:31 AM
save peterson!
Posted by rick | July 31, 2008 5:50 PM