Nominations
Old Grandpa Bogdanski, whose namesake I am, was full of quirky catch phrases. He had nicknames for everything and everybody. For instance, shredded wheat cereal -- which used to come in a cylindrical box as a single, giant mass -- was "last week's Brillo pads." He never called them anything else. You get the picture.
One of Grandpa's sayings was "What do you want -- a hop in the a*s or a gold watch?" He'd often say that to us kids when we were acting up. I never did quite establish with him what it meant, but I think it was the equivalent of "Get out of here." You were either being fired or given a testimonail upon retirement, but either way, you were gone.
I thought of Grandpa's saying as I read late last week that the last two holdovers from the Katz era are leaving the board of the Portland Development Commission. The proverbial more-time-with-the-family.
That leaves Mayor Tom Potter with two appointments to the board, to complete his clean sweep of all five seats. No word yet on whether there's a nomination process, but how about a level-headed small businessman and a neighborhood activist with experience in the city bureaucracy?
| Posted at 11:17 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (11)
I fully support that idea.
Posted by Benkay | May 30, 2006 12:02 PM
Sigh. In (y)our dreams.
Posted by Allan L. | May 30, 2006 12:34 PM
Sorry for the double post! I don't know how that happened.
Posted by Allan L. | May 30, 2006 12:42 PM
Me neither. The second one disappeared as soon as it appeared. The server on which this blog resides has been having some issues the last few days...
Posted by Jack Bog | May 30, 2006 12:44 PM
Considering the inaccurate project estimates over the past 5 years, forget the neighborhood activist and small businessman. Get a couple of major players in the construction industry who can spot a budget full of holes before it's approved.
Posted by Charlie in Gresham | May 30, 2006 12:53 PM
major players in the construction industry
Might be hard finding two who aren't already in on the scam.
Posted by Jack Bog | May 30, 2006 1:39 PM
I would go for Dave or Amanda or several other neighborhood types who are level headed, fiscally responsible, and sane.
As for the "construction types", fuggetaboutit!
Seems to me we had some of those folks around when the "Home Despot" was supposed to be a 'done deal' on the Burnside Bridgehead a couple of years ago. That deal would have cost the tax payers an additional $51 million.
Posted by Anne | May 30, 2006 2:28 PM
Architect and current SoWa URAC member Jerry Ward
or Dave Lister
or Ron Ledbury
IMO.
Or for entertainment purposes the Mayor could appoint me.
Unfortunately, those positions are traditionally held by important special people who's primary role is to avoid alienating themselves from taking principled stances while rubber stamping everything the PDC management send their way.
Posted by Steve Schopp | May 30, 2006 3:51 PM
Several years ago, I too, felt that an experienced neighborhood activist should be nominated for the PDC and supported by the neighborhood coalitions.
Unfortunately, the coalitions wenen't interested enough to start the process.
I still believe it to be an excellent idea. However, the recent election may have diminished the influence of the neighborhood associations.
Posted by The Shadow | May 30, 2006 9:00 PM
Jack,
Cute story about Grampa Bogdanski...Just wanted to point out that you're *his* namesake, not the other way 'round...
Posted by AL | May 31, 2006 7:29 AM
So noted. Thank you.
Posted by Jack Bog | June 5, 2006 5:31 PM