An attentive participant
A hipster Mom from Brooklyn, a Latin-X Councilor, and a retired hard-of-hearing school teacher walk into a bar…
Key Points of Contention Between Councilor Morillo and Local Participants
Budget Priorities & Public Engagement
Morillo’s Stance: Encouraged residents to participate in budget meetings and identify what they are willing to cut, not just what they want funded.
Resident Concerns: Skepticism about whether their input would actually influence decisions, frustration over past budget mismanagement, and concerns about potential cuts to essential services like parks and emergency response.
Housing & Urban Development
Morillo’s Stance: Advocated for increasing affordable housing, including multi-family units, to address Portland’s housing shortage. Argued that homeownership is increasingly unattainable for most families under current economic conditions.
Resident Concerns: Some opposed widespread multi-family housing, emphasizing the stability and benefits of single-family homes, particularly for families with school-age children. There were also concerns about how rapid changes in zoning policies could affect neighborhood character and long-term stability.
Homelessness & Spending Efficiency
Morillo’s Stance: Acknowledged that despite increased spending, homelessness has worsened. Stressed the need for both shelter expansion and long-term housing solutions.
Resident Concerns: Frustration that increased homelessness funding has not led to visible improvement. Some questioned whether funds were being mismanaged and whether the city was effectively tracking program outcomes.
Taxes & City Services
Morillo’s Stance: Recognized that taxes are high but argued that structural funding issues limit the city’s ability to deliver services efficiently. Pointed to state and federal policies as contributing factors.
Resident Concerns: Strong dissatisfaction with the perceived lack of return on high taxes, including inadequate city services (e.g., street maintenance, tree care, trash collection). Some business owners considered relocating due to these issues.
Portland’s Business & Investment Climate
Morillo’s Stance: Acknowledged that Portland’s reputation had suffered, in part due to negative political messaging. Supported revitalization efforts through arts, public spaces, and positive messaging.
Resident Concerns: Business owners and investors reported reluctance to invest in Portland due to regulatory hurdles, high taxes, and concerns about safety. Some believed the city was not doing enough to attract and retain investment.
Use of the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF)
Morillo’s Stance: Defended the fund’s focus on benefiting marginalized communities and climate-related projects. Expressed concern that repurposing it for general city needs would go against voter intent.
Resident Concerns: Some felt the fund was too narrowly allocated and should be used more broadly to address pressing city issues like deferred infrastructure maintenance. Others disagreed with its focus on specific communities, arguing for a more inclusive distribution of funds.
Accountability & Government Transparency
Morillo’s Stance: Stressed the need for structured data and metrics to measure the success of city programs, particularly on homelessness and housing.
Resident Concerns: Frustration with the lack of visible results from city initiatives. Some residents expressed distrust in how funds were managed and wanted clearer accountability measures.
Author - Alan Comnes - Laurelhurst
This is just more of the same ideas that got us where we are today. We have lots of partly empty apartment buildings, but the city requires them to have no parking. The jobs are in the suburbs and you need a car to get there, so people need to park several blocks from there home. That is why there are so many empty apartments in Portland. Why would anyone wan to live in Portland when the jobs are in Washington, Clackamas and Clark Counties?
The belief that giving more money to the arts will bring back jobs goes back to the 2002 book The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida. Vera Katz and Sam Adams were all in on this and gave money to arts organizations while ignoring infrastructure issues. Sam Adams got the arts tax passed while ignoring street maintenance. Businesses such as Standard Insurance and Wells Fargo moved to the suburbs during this period and no one in the city government asked why. I worked a temp job for Standard in 2001 and several years later I ran into a former co-worker who told me the whole department had moved Hillsborough. He told me it moved because it is cheaper to do business there.
Morillo is a very stupid person who thinks businesses are leaving because of “messaging” issues and our not funding the arts at a high enough level. We have been hearing this since 2002 and funding the arts has not stopped Portland’s doom loop.
The issue with the PCEF is the regulation around states it need to benefit “marginalized communities” which makes it next to impossible to spend the money on real projects. Those “marginalized communities” on the outer east side are the ones that suffer the most from lack of job opportunities, broken streets and high crime.
It is clear that Morillo is just interested in showing off her luxury belief systems than dealing with the safety and maintenance issues that are the real reason Portland is in a doom loop.
Well-written and presented. More of the same from our lackluster elected leaders. So many of them are out of touch with reality and absolutely don’t care to listen to residents at all or what their concerns are…