N.Y. Times on Portland: "a symbol of much that is wrong"
Sit back and savor this one, people. Every politician around Portland -- guys like Opie Sten and Fireman Pele -- lives for that magic moment when he or she gets that positive mention in The New York Times. When the Times sends out a travel reporter who writes back to the Big Apple with a buzz and a puff piece, it makes the local politicians so elated that they want to, well, kiss the nearest intern.
Portland's in the Times again today, but it's not good. Suddenly it's a microcosm of the disintegration of the American economy.
You won't see the relentless City Hall e-mail alert machine pumping out links to that kind of story. But there it is:
Of course, the Times misses a large part of the Portland tragedy: the part about the City Council wrecking the municipal government's financial future with one expensive, harebrained stunt after another for the benefit of the local developers and construction companies.
For example, Mike "Small Fry" Powell of Powell's Books makes an appearance in the Times today. "People are nervous," he tells us. Indeed, Mr. Powell.
But that doesn't stop him from shilling for wasteful "urban renewal" projects like the insane Burnside-Couch traffic "couplet" and streetcar, which Mayor Creepy will gladly foist upon the taxpayers of the city unless the unlikely occurs and he's drummed out of office this summer or fall. Powell is the "citizen" front man on that one, along with well-meaning, lovable dupes like Chris "Streetcar" Smith.
Indeed, as "hesitant" as he is with his own money these days, Mike Powell's not nervous at all when he's spending yours. Maybe somebody in our local media (I believe there are three or four reporters left) could ask him why he isn't cancelling his advocacy of the couplet while he's so wisely cancelling his store expansion.
| Posted at 10:50 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (10)
You're right, its too bad since Portland is a nice place even when I grew up here. Just the powers that are have lost total sight of what makes a good city - basic services have fallen by the wayside.
Posted by Steve | March 27, 2009 7:35 AM
All completely correct, though I do think your characterization of Adams' recall as unlikely a bit too pessimistic. It may be a thin margin, but that guy is definitely out.
Posted by ep | March 27, 2009 8:44 AM
Mr. Powell SHOULD be nervous. A friend from work stopped by to show off her new Kindle, an electronic "book" from Amazon that can download and display the text of thousands of titles.
It's the beginning of the end of the bookselling industry, kind of like the MP3 has destroyed CDs.
Posted by none | March 27, 2009 8:49 AM
I don't think the Kindle is any great threat to Powell's. Even back in the long-ago pre-Internet days when I worked there, half or more of the sales were in used books, and as more and more people have bought new titles online in recent years that percentage has probably only gone up.
Posted by darrelplant | March 27, 2009 10:36 AM
I think Mr. Powell has been harboring dreams of becoming a real estate tycoon for a while now -- hence the streetcar and couplet committee chairmanship. He ought to be thankful if the recession/depression stops him from risking and losing what he worked so hard to build. Alas, it's too late for the city government.
Posted by Jack Bog | March 27, 2009 11:06 AM
Green marketeers man your battlestations !Throw another $500,000 to the city branding firms. Get some magazines on the phones to generate more "Green City USA" hype. Higher a pollster to manufacture some data that indicates Portlands happy index is on the rise. Sam Adams has the Clintonian aura which is causing reporters to rethink the value of propping up the Portland brand with sustainable junk journalism.
Posted by conspiracyzach | March 27, 2009 1:14 PM
Hey! It's #1 on the "most emailed" list. WELL GOOD, creatives keep going, no jobs here!!!!
Posted by PG | March 27, 2009 6:14 PM
Who are you to critisize Chris Smith?
So what he likes streetcars?
On the list of government evils this is on the bottom!
Posted by c smith | March 28, 2009 2:15 PM
Any more spending on streetcars and we are likely to have a decaying failed Oregon bridge at the bottom.........of the river. Portland streetcars are worse than Disneyland or Mr Rogers. Go to a foreign country someday-they have real trains.
Posted by conspiracyzach | March 29, 2009 2:30 PM
Well, hey ho. Portland in 2009 is just like Dallas in 1986. Portland's going to survive, but the recovery is going to be slow and painful: our recovery after the oil bust in the Eighties took four years, and Dallas owed a lot less in general debt than what Portland's choking on. At least our streetcars were already paid for long before they went in.
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | March 29, 2009 5:02 PM