One Mayoral Candidate Finally Wakes Up…
…to the grim reality of running for a powerless job. Evidence a year too late that Rene Gonzalez is getting nervous…
…which dropped, uninvited, into my in-box. Gonzalez, who usually confuses getting media ink with votes, puts the best face on it (for those of you squinting at the screen-cap on your phones)…
…it will be critical to have a majority of pragmatic, solutions-oriented people in this newly expanded council.
Translation: “I’ve just figured out that I won’t have a veto over anything the 12 new mopes will concoct. As they say, ‘The mayor proposes, the council disposes.’ So I’ll need allies who’ll run the plays I send in. I sure hope they’ll pick up the phone.”
Naturally, Gonzalez doesn’t give us any, like…reasons we should vote for his picks1 beyond the usual progressive eyewash. One’s got the race thingy tightened down…
”Growing up as a Black man with a white mother…”
…without telling us anything about how that will lead to actual “solutions.” Who knows, maybe he’ll settle for half of a reparations check.
The other served in Iraq. (Doing what? Don’t ask.) After which…
…he came back to Portland to see the damage that had been done2 and has since dedicated himself to fixing our problems, both at the city level and as Chief of Staff to County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards…
Maybe savior number two will follow his boss’s lead and keep both jobs if he’s elected. Can’t get too much of a good thing.
First Ever…or Never?
Far from us to weigh in on the surreal events of the past weekend, but one thing springs to mind here in progressive Oregon. Hire for affirmative action, DEI, “First Ever…” reasons and you might get stuck with someone who can’t be removed when it comes time to substitute substance for symbolism.
“In Force” = What?
The Oregonian’s would-be reporter, Chiara Profenna, gushed about one of the many, many, many marches in the never-ending Pride Month…
Despite the blazing mid-90s heat on Saturday, Portlanders showed up in force to support the transgender community, proudly marching down Northwest Naito Parkway with flags, banners and signs proclaiming their support.
Hundreds gathered in the shade at North Park Blocks to “Agitate and Celebrate!” at the annual Portland Trans Pride March and rally organized by Greater Portland Trans Unity.
“Celebrate for obvious reasons,” said Lyles McFarland, an organizer with Greater Portland Trans Unity. “We’re awesome. We love ourselves.”
…complete with an agitprop photo of…well, not much…
Nor did Profenna give us an actual crowd-count. Not surprising, given her blurb here on the O’s website…
She began her career at the University of Portland covering news before being elected as the first diversity, equity and inclusion editor of The Beacon. She previously worked as an intern for the life and culture team at The Oregonian and as a DEI rural storytelling fellow3 for Ruralite Magazine.
She’s now at a university j-school named after the New York owners of the Oregonian. Where, presumably, they will teach her to leave her personal views behind when covering stuff.4
Won’t they?
Weird Photo Juxtaposition ‘o’ the Week
WillyWeek somehow finds a reason to run a not-very-flattering photo of their fave candidate5 for mayor…
If a bureau says the taxpayers are getting “bang for their buck,” take it to the bank.
Another Oregonian Head That Promises Much, Delivers Little
This lengthy, lugubrious article…
…in which reporter Austin De Dios6 trotted out the usual gang of ass-covering pols and bureaucrats and flushed the story down the drain in the third graf…7
But city, county and state health officials say it laid the foundation for better days to come and set off new initiatives that research suggests will decrease addiction and death.
We should live so long.
Ol’ Earl Finally Got Something Right
From WillyWeek before the carnage…
Back-benchers don’t get much face-time with the Big Guy…but, golly, when d’you suppose he heard the first rumors?
Why Are We Not Surprised?
KOIN reported, for the umpteenth time…
No sane person “expects” anything from the city bureaucrats, so why start now? Meanwhile, if you yearn for an elk statue, Elk Cover Winery down in Gaston will fulfill your wish—with a glass of superb pinot noir on the side...
…with John Schumacher8 giving it a pat.
Over and Out…
I haven’t mentioned their names, since the election of the 25-percenters will be mostly a matter of name-recognition.
During Rene Gonzalez’s time on the council.
See remarks above.
She might have noted that New Hampshire just passed a suite of bills to ban gender surgery in minors and the use of “puberty-pause” drugs, joining 25 other states in regulating the pills and scalpels.
It’s Carmen Rubio; has anyone ever snapped a halfway-decent photo of her?
As the O’s website says, “Austin wants to bring a platform to Oregon's diverse communities to share their stories and bring attention to their struggles.” Oddly, he’s on their politics beat. Go figure.
While taking official county “dashboard numbers” at face value—and neglecting to tell us how many near-misses tied up how many responders. At what cost.
St. Johns reigning oenophile.
Anyone have a take on Eric Zimmerman?
https://ez4pdx.com/issue/public-safety/
Richard,
What's wrong with Gonzalez attempting to get some centrist/pragmatic people on the City Council? Seems like a smart move on his part to me. People like Gonzalez, Eli Arnold and Vadim Morzysky are some of the few bright spots in Portland politics.