Weekend Update

The Dan Ackroyd-Jane Curtin classic version of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update was one of my favorite parts of the show nearly three decades ago. The immortal line, “Jane, you ignorant slut!” sometimes floats through my mind when I’m sitting in meetings listening to people argue politely – especially when I wish they’d end the debate, smile into the camera and say, “Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow”. But this feature, which I intend to repeat periodically, will go back to issues I’ve covered over the past few weeks, and tell you what’s happened with them.

The Justice for Janitors campaign has produced a YouTube video. In a little over five minutes, the original content describes how Portland’s changing dynamics and development affect the lives of low-wage workers in our community. It names the building owners, tells of their fortunes and large campaign donations to George W. Bush and Rick Santorum, while at the same time a janitor in their building made $6,000 for a year’s work. It notes the money the Mark family gave to the Portland Art Museum would have paid for health care for their workers for many years. Worth viewing, to see how the benefits of Portland’s growth are sometimes not shared by hard-working people.

The review of the proposal for the mega-store in South Madison has been put on hold by the applicant. Traffic issues are thought to be the critical factor. Meanwhile, the neighbors banding together in Save Madison South have an impressive action plan and are fundraising to implement it. About 125 people turned out for their “Think Outside the Big Box” rally a few weeks ago.

Update on Commercials in Parks: Coming Soon. The revised proposal to be reviewed by the Parks Board will be posted this week.

Everyone’s doubtless already heard that the City Council denied the design for a parking garage in the historic district in NW Portland. I don’t have much to add here, I just like typing “denied the parking garage in the historic district”. Great work, neighbors. The key issue was pedestrian safety – as it should be.

What’s next for Linnton? is still the question. The Oregonian‘s InPortland section this past Thursday described an Action Agenda Team committee charged with reaching consensus within six months on ways to improve the neighborhood.

In the Measure 37 hearing on March 1, the Council spent an inordinate amount of time discussing whether to allow a tree to be cut down on the claimant’s property – despite the fact that an environmental review had required it to be saved, and the issue was not relevant to the Measure 37 claim since no reduced value of the land resulted from keeping or cutting the tree.

Going back a month, the Adjustment to building standards in the Buckman neighborhood was approved, over the strenuous and well-documented objections of the valiant volunteers opposing it. Apparently not providing a truck loading space is equal or better than providing one. Given this outcome, the Bureau of Planning should prepare a code amendment to send through the process for review by the Planning Commission and City Council. Either the code requirement for a truck loading space is no longer needed, or the questions considered in the adjustment criteria and process should be changed. Logic demands that a Code that both requires something and allows it to be dispensed with at will needs to be changed.

Not exactly an update, but an important new thought in the comments of Customer Service Centers. Commenter Madam Hatter added some good links and important insights onto my initial outline. A good example of how many of my posts are intended to state, “This is what I think now, what am I missing?”