Open Thread - What's going on out there?
I've been reading Daily Kos for the past couple of weeks, and wow, that's some fascinating stuff.
I think part of what's fascinating is people writing in from all over the place. So, I invite those of you from Medford, Ashland, Pendleton, Astoria - write in to this thread with what you see as the pressing local issues of the day and lets inform each other with what's going on around the state.
I think Kos does well in providing so much good content that eventually the MSM (mainstream media) is kind of eclipsed. We could probably do the same here. Floodgates open, mark get set - type!
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June 20, 2007 |
Albert Kaufman
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Comments
Posted by: Jenni Simonis | Jun 21, 2007 12:21:02 AM
A few things from east county...
Wal-Mart gives up on 182nd/Powell
I can tell you today Wal-Mart issued a statement saying they've given up on the property at 182nd/Powell in Gresham. They've run into so much opposition, they don't see them being able to win at the location.
Their statement definitely seemed to say they'll be looking for another location within Gresham.
They threw a fit, saying that they'd been approved on all other accounts and were supported by city planning staff and local residents, the only problem being "one traffic issue that was not discussed during the hearings process."
Of course the hearings process almost completely focused around traffic issues. And that was without the 1,200 home Pleasant Valley Development just up the street (which combined with Wal-Mart definitely puts 182nd/Powell over capacity).
And there were thousands of letters, calls, e-mails, etc. into the city, almost all against the Wal-Mart.
No word yet on what they'll do with the property, which they paid $7 million+ for last year.
Tentative agreement on Pleasant Valley Development
As mentioned above, Pleasant Valley development looks like it will now happen, thanks to a tenatative agreement between the developers and the city. The council will vote on it next month.
Last summer, 541 acres of Pleasant Valley was annexed into the city of Gresham. I think there's plans to potentially annex more. In total it is a large piece (1500 acres) that was brought into the Urban Growth Boundary in 1998.
The new development will have the green streets, which the Portland City Council has been talking about.
Gresham approves rainy day fund to fill potential hole
The city of Gresham just approved their budget, which included a $1 million rainy day fund in case the county does indeed pull the city's share of the business income tax.
They also did their best to fund the gang task force, which is extremely important in east county. With state funds drying up, they had to do something. They were able to fund their 4 officers and 1 additional officer. Troutdale committed to funding theirs. That means 6 of the current 7 officer positions have received funding.
Portland's crime rate dropping... at expense of east county
I'm sure you've heard lately about Portland's crime rate dropping - they're at a 40 year low. However, Gresham has seen its crime rate increase 16% since 2002. Much of the problems are being pushed into east county, which does not have the law enforcement budget or support to tackle the problem.
Posted by: Da Scrump | Jun 21, 2007 6:26:19 AM
Good. Finally some interest in the the WHOLE NW territory.
You condemn us to lives of misery and hopelessness, then come in with this paternalistic crap! You know "childhood" was invented by guilty white (Victorian) men?
Oh, you said Astoria.
Posted by: paulie | Jun 21, 2007 10:13:49 AM
"Republican Representative Rep. Dennis Richardson issued amended report to include 6 paid-for conference trips. The state's ethics watch dog panel will decide whether to pursue charges against Richardson."
Medford Mail Tribune
Posted by: Chris Lowe | Jun 21, 2007 11:02:23 AM
Jenni, when we're talking about law enforcement in East County, how much of that is budget troubles in municipalities, and how much is it MultCo's problems restricting county ability to police unincorporated areas? How much of East County remains unincorporated?
This puts interesting new light on Ted Wheeler's apparently not to successful efforts to get the relatively flush Portland to reassume certain law enforcement costs relating to holding intoxicated persons until they sober up.
My impression is that in Portland while overall crime has been declining, the story is more complicated as between property crime and crimes of violence. Do you have a picture of the East County mix? (I recall that about 15 years ago Portland was listed in national "best places" guides as having high levels of personal violence, which on inspection appeared to reflect high levels of barroom fighting).
While not particularly doubting the existence of at least some geographical displacement -- something seen inside PDX too, do you know anything about age demographic and income factors? Much of the general decline in crime nationally has been associated with decline in late adolescent early adult male population, esp. single & un- or under- or insecurely- employed at poor wages. Also, it seems possible that decline in reasonably priced housing in Portland may be pushing people closer to the economic margins into the geographical margins as well, some of whom may be tempted to try to deal with money crimes by theft or robbery (bringing us back to the type of crime).
We've had a lot of talk on BlueOregon about urban vs. rural (much of it overblown in my view) -- I think we also need to think about various categories of suburbia (say Milwaukie vs. Lake O) and also areas like East County that are even more mixed & hard to categorize -- east coast based images of "suburbs" don't really capture it, yet quasi-rural, quasi-suburban areas that struggle with rural -like poverty & complicated issues about development and of what sort are often the flash-points of polarizing debates.
Thanks for the post.
Posted by: Jenni Simonis | Jun 21, 2007 8:18:56 PM
Chris:
Not a problem. I figured this posting was a good chance to give some updates on what was going on out this way.
I don't know how good/bad things are in the other cities in east county (Troutdale, Fairview, Wood Village, and Corbett), just Gresham. We've been seeing an increase in not only things like theft, but also violent crimes. While apparently in Portland, violent crimes like robbery, rape, and murder are at a 40-year low (this from a recent FBI report).
With such a low tax rate in Gresham (the lowest one in the state for a city with full services - $3.61), the city has to be very tight with its money. That means less police per capita than other cities. Portland has 1.8 full-time sworn officers per 1,000 residents. Gresham has 1.22 sworn officers per 1,000 residents (which are not necessarily full-time).
So part of the problem is that criminals see Portland as beefing up its police force, while Gresham is still funded and run as if it were a small, quiet suburban town. At almost 100,000 residents, that just isn't true anymore.
Another part is that with gentrification of many of the older neighborhoods in Portland, it is pushing a lot of low income people into the suburbs. Mostly in areas like east Portland (beyond 122nd), Gresham and Milwaukie, which have a lot of low rent homes and apartments.
Here you can look at the crimes being committed in Gresham and where they're at: http://archie.ci.gresham.or.us/crimeout/default.htm
Not surprising, it tends to center around Burnside St. and 182nd. Both streets have large amounts of low rent housing within walking distance. It was definitely one of the reasons why we'd moved from near Powell/182nd to where we live now.
Also, I noticed the area of town where 6 of our 7 city council members live also has very little crime. So it may also be that the council just doesn't get how bad it is yet.
The mayor has convened a task force to look at the issue of crime and what can be done about it, though.
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Posted by: Pete Forsyth | Jun 20, 2007 11:45:46 PM
I've been involved in a mediation here in Portland that resulted from the city moving to sell part of its Mount Tabor property (adjoined to the park) to a private college with insufficient public process.
I heard there's been a recent similar situation down in Ashland, can anybody fill us in?