Lars Larson believes ‘the drama queens at Portland City Hall need to settle down and patch some potholes’
Lars Larson
The Northwest Nonsense
When the people’s representatives in Salem failed to pass the biggest tax increase in history Sunday, it was hard to find more hysterical cries than those emanating from Portland City Hall.
Oh, the humanity!
And folks in the media amplified the “sky is falling” reaction.
The Daily Dead Fishwrapper headlined it “Portland says basic street maintenance is at risk”.
KGW offered that PBOT “faces significant financial challenges”.
Can anybody do math anymore?
I looked up the numbers myself.
PBOT, the folks who DON’T fix all those potholes enjoys an annual budget of 509 million.
The money they expected from the failed transportation bill: 11 million.
In other words, a loss of 2 percent from the city’s street funding.
A 2 percent short fall cripples the city’s maintenance budget?
No wonder the roads don’t get fixed.
Sounds like more than a few of the apparatchiks in government need a lesson in belt tightening.
Most of the families in America saw their paychecks fall behind inflation by double digits the last four years. They’d have gladly traded that for a 2 percent shortfall.
Tell the drama queens down at City Hall to settle down and patch some potholes.
Also read:
- Letter: ‘HSD needs to give a detailed line-item accounting of where the last levy went, and of how they plan to use this one’
Randall Schultz-Rathbun urges Hockinson School District to provide detailed, transparent accounting of past and proposed levy spending before asking voters for additional funds. - Letter: Interstate Bridge Replacement’s Park & Ride insanity
Bob Ortblad criticizes the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program’s proposed Park & Ride garages, arguing the costs are excessive and unlikely to receive federal funding. - Opinion: Vancouver councilors responsible for stoking irrational fears in the community
Clark County Today Editor Ken Vance sharply criticizes a Vancouver City Council declaration on immigration enforcement, arguing it fuels fear, undermines law enforcement, and lacks supporting evidence. - Opinion: Washington should stop shielding domestic abusers and sexual offenders from deportation
Vancouver attorney Angus Lee argues Washington law improperly shields convicted domestic abusers, sexual offenders, and drunk drivers from deportation and urges lawmakers to change it. - Opinion: Who is leaving Washington and why the politicians need to care
Mark Harmsworth argues Washington is losing higher-income taxpayers and business owners, warning that rising taxes and regulation threaten long-term economic stability.
