Portlanders think city government's off track
If you ask them in a neutral way, they'll tell you: The childish agendas of the people populating Portland City Hall are not what the vast majority of the residents of the city want:
In a poll conducted for The Oregonian and KGW(8), 79 percent of the respondents said the city should spend more resources on maintaining streets, and 70 percent said the same for luring new businesses to the city.Only 17 percent listed bike lanes and other facilities as a spending priority, and 57 percent said the city should reduce its bicycle spending. About a quarter of the respondents said more time and money should go to light rail and streetcars, while 44 percent said less should.
And yet like sheep, they'll re-elect puppets and children, like Earl the Pearl and Legend Dan, election after election, without much, if any, opposition. Look at the Big 3 dominating the mayor's race -- full of more of the same. It's little wonder that the city's livability, and its financial future, are being wrecked. If Portlanders want sanity, they'll need to start voting for it.
The mayor's reaction was good for a laugh. "That survey's invalid. You didn't slant the questions my way!"
| Posted at 8:48 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (16)
This was the same polling company (possibly the same poll?) that produced that outlier result (Brady a distant third) RE the mayor's race. One should probably give it as much credence as any other reporting by the 0regonian.
Posted by Belmont | May 9, 2012 10:05 AM
Sam Adams, "It all depends on how you ask the question".
Dear Sam:
What part of fail don't you understand?
OR
Are you incompetent, deceitful, or both?
Posted by Tim | May 9, 2012 10:05 AM
Why would anyone believe this poll?
It was commissioned by the Koch Brothers, a sexual hypnotist, Leonid Brezhnev and some guy who lives in Vancouver and then moved to Portland.
Anyways, it'll be another throw-away for METRO/PDC/PDOT and any local politician to ignore.
Posted by Steve | May 9, 2012 10:18 AM
Tim, I think the mayor doesn't give a rat's a** about any survey results, and he'll do as he damn well pleases (or as the money changers pulling his strings dictate) until the end of his term.
Posted by umpire | May 9, 2012 10:18 AM
Belmont: "I don't like what this poll says, so why would I believe it?"
You sound like a Tea Partier discussing climate change.
Posted by Snards | May 9, 2012 10:22 AM
I'll also note that I walked from my car (yes, parked near the RQ where there are no meters just yet) to the Winterhawks game last night with two fellows of similar Baby boomer age who share the sentiments of the survey. Their comments were basically that the City's been sold to the highest bidder. I think the survey, no matter who commissioned it, far better reflects the opinions and concerns of residents than the "faux" surveys BPS and others in the City concoct.
Posted by umpire | May 9, 2012 10:23 AM
Unfortunately, a combined 54% majority think the same OR more money should be spent on obsolescent light rail and streetcars.
Posted by Nick theoldurbanist | May 9, 2012 10:35 AM
Snards: do you believe the results of the mayoral poll (the same polling company, polling the same people), that show Brady pulling 16%?
Posted by Belmont | May 9, 2012 10:38 AM
Question is who is paying for these polls and how are questions being asked?
Would be very interesting if the watchdogs around ran a poll?
Posted by clinamen | May 9, 2012 10:41 AM
I find it very easy to believe that a significant majority of Portlanders would say we spend too much money on bicycle amenities and should pave our roads. I have no trouble believing that at all.
If anything, a poll sample that undercounts Brady would OVERcount support for bikes and choo choos.
Posted by Snards | May 9, 2012 10:44 AM
I think what most Portlanders haven't yet realized is, their city didn't simply get accidently off-track, it's specifically off-track because they put the wrong people in the cockpit and now their plane's been hijacked.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | May 9, 2012 11:23 AM
off-track because they put the wrong people in the cockpit and now their plane's been hijacked.
Please. One transportation metaphor at a time.
Posted by Allan L. | May 9, 2012 12:02 PM
The problem is choices. I have not seen too many grownups run. I guess they have better things to do. Also, many of us have moved outside of the city to the burbs. So we do not get to vote. Diminishing returns....the more things go bad the more people get fed up and move and the more votes the sheep get.
Posted by George | May 9, 2012 12:18 PM
Argh, you're right! I thought I was being clever and then had to dash out.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | May 9, 2012 1:09 PM
I was one of those surveyed. The questions about roads, bikes, light rail were simple, unbiased a straightforward. Saying something like "It all depends on how you ask the question" or the absurd comment of the Bicycle Alliance person claiming "false choice" is ridiculous. The pollster simply asked me if each item is something the city should spend more, less, or about the same on. Couldn't be more objective than that.
Posted by Robert | May 9, 2012 1:32 PM
Are you incompetent, deceitful, or both?
Before the election, an insider I know used a string of unkind adjectives to describe the then candidate to me, deceitful being one of them.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | May 9, 2012 1:45 PM