Please, you know this will get shoved thru with some kind of special resolution. Randy Leonard let some little study get in the way of his ego?

I'm more curious if USL failing screws up his cash flow or if he has to go back to dad to get an advance on his allowance.

The city made the owner of "It's a Beautiful Pizza" on Belmont pay $30,000 for a parking study when he proposed to move his business literally across the street.

I was just in "It's a Beautiful Pizza" a few days ago talking with Carl. If you want to support a terrific individual drop by sometime. He's been a great friend to Portland musicians both here and at the old place.
It will be interesting to contrast how he was treated with the treatment Paulson gets. So far I'd sum it up this way: While
our city council has been working for months to set Paulson up in business, the council almost put the pizza parlor out of business.
That was a case where the Oregonian came to the rescue by putting the whole sordid thing on the front page.
Meanwhile Paulson's exploits are allowed to fester on without the same scrutiny. Much as the way his Daddy was allowed to take the TARP money and then immediately do something different with it, than what he had told Congress.
Oh well, there goes the old blood pressure again.
The rich get the breaks and the rest of us get the screws, but this time their greed could destroy America.

The Traffic and Parking issue is an interesting aspect for PGE Park. In almost all cases of any entities expansions, change of use, remodeling those two issues have to be reviewed by Portland Planners with subsequent public review processes. This hasn't happened.

To be fair to all of us that have to abide by these regulations, reviews, and keeping with Leonard's Fairness Doctrine of equal enforcement, I hope to see "proper" CoP review with the months (sometimes years) other have to contend with.

Regardless of the legality of the COP helping Lil' Lord P set up shop sans pesky rules, from a practical standpoint, it makes everyone else think the rules are unfair. That bell can't be unrung. Look for a rise in scofflaws. Who can blame them?

Peter is well meaning but he needs to realize that Scam and Rand (and Big Pipe as well) will just make up the rules as they go and any rules/laws that get in the way they will just change.

I'm just waiting for the council to pull all their shenanigans, and then the MLS players union to endure a nice long labor lockout, so the whole thing generates zero revenue. Things need to go terribly wrong before we can get on the path to setting them right, it seems...

More info on the pending labor dispute: http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/news?slug=ap-mlslockout&prov=ap&type=lgns

Does anyone know if the stadium renovation is going to be LEED Gold? Just read this tidbit in a report:

On April 27, 2005, the City of Portland passed a resolution requiring all new public projects to achieve LEED Gold certification, all city-owned, existing buildings to achieve LEED for Existing Buildings at the Silver level...

Thanks to our local stations for the completely lame coverage, bordering on fluff, regarding this whole thing today. They all just glossed over the irony and asked none of the hard (and obvious) questions about this obvious scam. It's time we start a local version of '60 Minutes' and start doing the ambush interviews, in-depth analysis, and hard investigating to present the real story to all of Portland. Jack, Bill Mcdonald, Godfry, ecohuman, all you guys - let's do this!

...I know RANZ. He's very camera-friendly, and assertive. He would bust down some doors. God help city hall if he ever got his own show!

RANZ, that is a very good idea. It sort of answers those lately on this blog complaining about complaining, but no answers (which I don't subscribe to). I've participated in cable shows and remarkably with very little audience, it does make a difference because someone from PDOT, Planning, Council offices and PDC usually views in, and they never hear the other side, but they aren't embarrassed because they don't have to answer and respond to the points made. But it is a way of re-educating the entrenched insiders.

Jack did it on co-hosting sometimes on Sunday's Kramer/Abrams show. A tv show is even more effectual because visuals tells a story so much better and faster. I'd call in, maybe even participate. I have some visuals and stories.

RANZ - Excellent idea - I'm not in the least telegenic, but 5 friends & I had an alleged comedy show on Ann Arbor cable access 30 years ago & I have some tech experience that time & technology have probably rendered useless. With these sterling credentials, I'd be happy to volunteer to be trained for tech work if any others are interested in really getting an investigative cable show off the ground - just make sure your taxes are current & you have NO permit issues outstanding. I understand the Cable access outfit has training available. This is just what Public Access is supposed to be about, not that revolting Dead White Guy prancing around reinforcing stereotypes. The Stumptown Sewer Report is on the air!

If you are a "preferred" developer in the City of Portland, you're going to get what you want. Period. Full stop. If you're on the wrong side of RandyLand, then the HIT squad may come after you.

Progressive Fascism: who you know matters. Who you give bags of cash to matters even more.

RANZ et al - I just checked the Portland Community Media website to see how one gets on cable access. You have to attend an hour-and-a-half orientation (next one listed is 25 Feb 7-8:30pm, after that 18 March) & then complete either a 'Project-Based Studio workshop' or, better for this purpose, a 'Project-Based Field workshop' - each consists of six sessions, and the Field workshop seems to result in a piece ready for broadcast. There may be other 'apprenticeship' requirements. If enough of us feel like getting off out butts & doing something, we may have an impact far beyond that of the "kept' neighborhood organizations - even if not, the experience might be cathartic. And we could leave a time capsule for the poor bastards who will be paying off these idiotic giveaways, to let them know that at least some tried to stop it. (If anyone out there has access to cameras & editing facilities [and expertise], PCM also has a program for broadcasting shows made off-site, but I have not looked into that yet.)

The timeline to get some broadcast boom is quicker by working with and going on KBOO FM radio, 90.7FM, and kboo.fm worldwide on the web.

Yeah, it's only radio but it starts a ruckus now. With credentials the reporters enter Public Offices and interview Public Officials. Or be berated for refusal.

Which story (refusing to speak to the public through its credentialed news reporters -- which LIARS Larson is NOT, btw, so he gets stuffed), then becomes the news story Will.Week can report -- 'Public Officials in Hiding' -- and becomes leverage for demeaning the corporate TV-syndicate 'evening news' non-reporting. Give a listen to KBOO's 5:pm evening news -- at 41 years of broadcasting, it's the oldest community-funded volunteer-staffed independent 'alternative' radio station in the country.

That KPOJ 'progressive' station (Air America, et al.), is a fop, a placebo. Those voices cannot speak truth and bite the hand that sponsors them, such as Paulson. Same as LIARS on Miller's KXL is a rightwing Paulson-mouthpiece stooge.

Fireman Randy in fact got his broadcast on today, and media'ed up in the LIARS zone. Problem is (for him), as not credible as Randy is not, still he has such gravitas or self-composure that LIARS sounds worse by comparison in conversation. Randy seemed to be there, on-air, in an attempt to get from LIARS a boost in promotion buzz. But the result instead turned out that he flattened LIARS, like stepping onto a paper ladder and ending 'up' at dirt level.
(For that matter, give a listen to LIARS some afternoon and hear how bad the advanced mental deterioration has gotten; today's line by LIARS: "to get a building permit I have to go out in the parking lot and stand on my head and drink wine" [verbatim]. Hate rots rational thought.)

Tensk, your tangent to make ideologue/political bents on local issues in regard in doing an investigative, fact finding, explanatory show (radio or tv)is not the best thing to do. I wouldn't want to participate if it became politicized, at least overtly. Good information and facts shouldn't be bent.

By the way KBOO isn't independent. A few times I've been on their radio and facts have been censured because it didn't follow their ideologue about an issue.

Does anyone know if the stadium renovation is going to be LEED Gold?

I believe Commissioner Saltzman asked about this during the July hearing. My very vague recollection is that there was conversation about various levels of LEED certification, and it was promised that the renovation would aim for one of them, probably the Silver based on the citation above about existing buildings.