One would think he would keep his head down at this point; but then, that's what got him into trouble in the first place.

Stories like that make me think of one of my all time favorite movie lines:

[Norris' head grows legs and tries to walk away]

Palmer: You gotta be f***ing kidding.

-- "The Thing", 1982

Riiiiggghhhtt.
We'll see how well that theory works when a cyclist or motorcyclist hits a rain filled one dead on in the dark and breaks their neck.

Hey, let's eliminate all police services. It'll save money and people will behave safer! A Portland "win-win"!

This story has really shown the worst of Adams and The O. Stupid antibike headline and focus in the O and Adams reaching for his saftey mantra. Whereas the real focus should be on the massive capitol projects that are unwanted and useless: eastside streetcar, light rail, Columbia river crossing. The common theme from Adams has been an unwillingness to actually fund his pet projects. Why not toll the sellwood bridge and refund us all the car registration fee for multnomah county? For instance those of us that want saftey improvements on north Williams were surprised to learn all the system development fees from the glut of new buildings has been claimed elsewhere already and we can't get a much needed traffic light at cook.

Sam thinks he's a spin master.

He says his priority is safety and that's why he wants to fix bridges like Sellwood.
Well, Sam has been at city hall for over 18 years. Not once did he ever advocate at JPACT (17 member committee of all local agencies involved in transportation) to fix Sellwood. Sellwood has been on the worse bridge list for over 30 years. Then to top it off, he stole $20 Million from the Sellwood budget and gave it to the failing Milwaukie Lightrail because it's short of funds.

Then he laments that the O didn't mention his "safety" concern. Maybe the O has caught on like the rest of us. Where's the "safety" if you are swerving into other lanes to miss a pot hole?

In some ways, we're going to miss the clown show when it's over in 307 days.

Jack, if by "clown show", do you mean we're going to get any improvement in city government with any of the candidates for mayor or city council replacing what we've got?

It seems to me that those that are running are even more in the pockets of the cabal running the city.

Let's face it. We're boned.

Amusing that Sam thinks the Oregonian mistreated his "vision." The story was good journalism, albeit with a slightly sensationalist graphic-design/headline approach.

Still, the O treated Sam with relative kid gloves. The mayor is bringing serious problems to good people in this city, and he deserves to be lambasted for it by a publication with authority and resources. I applaud Beth Slovic for her efforts, but I implore her and her editors to really inject their fangs next time.

Sam needs to get beyond the article and digest the almost 200 comments following it. These are the people he is supposed to be serving. That's the unscripted reality, Sam...

As The O and others have started to raise concerns about Sam and Randy's priorities and management of their bureaus, they've been pushing back with particular vehemence. Randy railed in an op-ed about "special interests" who dared question his decisions around use of Water Bureau funds, and now Sam rails about The O failing to comprehend his vision for road safety. Wonder why. Maybe they feel a need to burnish their legacies, or in Sam's case maybe he needs to leave office on a high note so he can land a sinecure elsewhere. I don't quite get Randy's defensiveness; he's about to retire and start enjoying his multiple pensions.

One's capacity for to self-examination is inversely proportional to one's arrogance.

A "POTHOLE" is merely an upside down "Traffic Calming Device" which the uneducated call a, "Speed Bump". Except THESE do not cost PDOT $ 100,000 apiece to install.

I assume the the "POTHOLE" comment is meant to be funny, and I agree that they can serve as traffic calming devices, but the natural reaction when driving is to AVOID the pothole, and when they occur around blind corners - like they do in many southwest Portland neighborhoods - the only way to avoid them is to move toward the wrong side of the road. That's where the oncoming vehicle or biker or pedestrian may be.

"Smoothness"

As in, "Yes, your Smoothness" perhaps?

The word he was grasping for was likely "Smoothiness" which rhymes with "Truthiness."

Someday he might understand that the killer lies are the lies we tell ourselves.

http://youtu.be/hhxMUonnlSA

New asphalt for the S.W. Broadway bike lane - video taken about 30 minutes ago, Broadway and Harrison at Portland State University.

Hey, it works about as well as when Vera Katz decided to deal with the Portland crime problem by mailing reports to victims in lieu of actually sending officers. I seem to remember her bragging about how petty crime, such as car break-ins and bike thefts, dropped 91 percent in the first year...mostly because everyone threw away the reports.

Hey Sam,
If you really cared about saving lives you would not be building light rail!

Light rail kills people at over 2 times the rate of cars!
See: http://www.portlandfacts.com/transit/maxsafetychart.html

Liar.

PS: Light rail is extremely expensive, slow and deadly.

Thanks
JK

While Sammy may think he is saving money he hasn't started to receive the bills for tires and wheels damaged by his "cost saving" measures....

I've wondered if a class action lawsuit for everyone who's had to rebuild the suspension on their cars, replace a tire, etc. from hitting potholes would be viable.

"from hitting potholes would be viable"

Or from hitting speed bumps and unmarked bubble curbs.

Thanks
JK

Speaking of speed bumps, which I thought were "speed humps" designed to keep speeds at or below the posted limit, is it just me or are they being raised around town in the past couple of years? New ones where old ones were are harsher to cross, requiring a speed reduction way under what's posted, even on the same streets and in the same little Toyota.

Because of Sam's potholes I'm having to take my car in tomorrow for a new steering tie rod and a wheel bearing. My cost $785. Thanks Sam for your safety concerns.

Adams: Those potholes are saving lives

Saving lives or lining up business for his next adventure:
"Sammy's Fix it Garage" specializing in repairs of wheel bearing and steering tie rods.