Occupy Portland: Wait! This isn't cute anymore! A Statement from Mayor Sam Adams

"Thanks guys, it's been fun.  See ya' next time...  I, like, really support you and all that, but the rest of us are getting a little tired of this and y'all aren't getting bored and drifting off like ya' all were supposed to."

Blah.

This is exactly when these movements get interesting.  This is when they do start accomplishing things.  Camping out for a month, getting bored, drifting off...  That is what those in power always expect to happen.  It throws them for a loop when people actually turn out to be serious about their causes.

"Wait, you want change, not just to camp in a park for a month and to blow off some steam?  Ah, crap... Now we have an issue!  This isn't cute anymore!"

A Statement from Mayor Sam Adams regarding Occupy Portland:

The City will soon temporarily close Lownsdale and Chapman Squares to the public, to put an end to safety, health and crime problems, and to repair the park land. When the City re-opens the parks, the City will enforce all park and criminal laws in the Squares and the sidewalks, and the park land will be available for large, organized speech events by permit.

At 12:01 am on Sunday, November 13, all persons and property in Lownsdale and Chapman Squares will again be subject to enforcement of all laws including the laws against being in a park after midnight (PCC 20.12.210), and erecting structures in a park (PCC 20.12.080). On or after November 13, by authority of Portland City Code, the City will close Lownsdale and Chapman Squares for repair and to remediate any remaining safety, health and crime problems.

Portland Police are carefully preparing for this closure, and share my goal for an orderly and peaceful closure to the camps.

I want to make it clear that this action is not an action against the Occupy Portland movement.

In fact, the Occupy Portland movement has highlighted the challenges our community, like many across the country, are facing with homelessnesss. Too many in our community are without a safe place to call home. Despite fiscal challenges, the City has continued to invest in long term solutions to end homelessness. Commissioner Fish and I will be working closely with our dedicated network of service providers to make sure everyone at the camp is aware of the resources that are available. Experienced outreach workers will be reaching out to the homeless people at the camp to help them access existing resources in our community, like health care, emergency shelter, permanent housing placement assistance, and short term needs.

I have said from the beginning that I believe the Occupy movement would have to evolve in order to realize its full potential.

'via Blog this'

Portland Blogger Too Poor to Continue...

No, not me... Yet. Maybe check back next week just to make sure.

Local politics affect our day-to-day lives more than any other level of government, but for most people, issues affecting their hometowns are often the most overlooked and ignored. More people are likely to vote for President, Senator, or Governor than they are for City Council candidates or School Board members. Unfortunately, in most cases, the City Council and School Boards are the ones who are going to be making decisions that directly affect what you can or cannot do every day, or what your child can or cannot do every day.

In fact, local government is a major battleground of the Red v. Blue stand off. Look at what has happened to School Boards across the nation. We are living in the 21st Century and the Scopes trial could be a current event in many cities and towns. State Legislatures are falling across the country to the Republicans, even in the bluest of states, reflecting the fact that most geography in the Blue states is actually Red. These bodies have tremendous influence on the debate both up and down the food chain, influencing everything from your taxes to who gets to be President.

Quality local sources of news and information are very important, though, to my knowledge, fairly rare. Municipal and regional issues can often seem very dry, which means you won’t be seeing any in depth coverage on your local broadcast news, and in most parts of the country the quality of journalism on these broadcasts is atrocious. Daily newspapers vary greatly in their bias and competence and most cities these days only have one. It is never wise to rely on one source for information about news and politics. Many larger cities also have weekly alternative papers, but again, the quality varies greatly here too, and the anti-establishment biases may not always be conducive to fair reporting.

So, well researched and well written blogs focusing on local issues may be a niche that is waiting to be filled in most areas, and it may be one that needs to be filled again in Portland.

The Portland Communique, a blog that focuses on local issues in Portland, OR, is probably going the way of the mammoth in the next few weeks.

From what I have seen of this blog, it is a well-written, informative source of information about local issues in my hometown. While democracy is in distress all over the nation, and while it is doing much better in Oregon than it is in other parts of the country (I glance four miles to my left from where I sit now), it would still be a shame to see a resource like this disappear.

Death in the Blogosphere: Christopher Frankonis of the Portland Communique

Portland Communique