Kaal posted:

So you're saying that Oregonians are racist because there was slavery in the South? How does that make any sense? I'm not really sure what you're trying to say.

I think that fundamentally you're conflating racial diversity with how many black people there are, and that is a real disservice to the 25% of Americans who are neither white nor black.

Kaal posted:

I'm not intimately familiar with Portland police, but Oregon police are pretty notorious for targeting progressive youths (being as the police forces are the last true bastion of conservative power in the state). In Eugene that means raiding co-op/metal shows and attacking protesters, in Corvallis that means constant vice patrols through student neighborhoods and targeting punk street kids, and in Portland that means intimidating hip hop/gay warehouse events with overwhelming force. And I'm sure Ashland would have its own problems if the police department there wasn't such a chaotic shitshow and mostly focused on either combating California drug traffickers or being bribed by them. I would say that age and politics probably has a lot more to do with it than race.

It sounds like the City Auditors Office will be stepping in to take a look at things, and recently they've shown a willingness to tangle with the Portland Police Bureau, so perhaps something will come of that.

http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-31327-portland_cops_treatment_of_hip_hop_shows_will_be_investigated_in_wake_of_blue_monk_incident.html
http://www.opb.org/radio/programs/thinkoutloud/segment/are-hip-hop-shows-targeted-by-portland-police/

Thanatosian posted:

1) There is really no reason Target, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, etc. can't begin paying a $15/hr minimum wage immediately. A phase-in is appropriate for small businesses, but the big boys can absorb the additional cost without a problem. And if they can't, well, then, gently caress 'em.

2) The problem with this is that $15/hr + tips is only "crazy-high" if you're working 40-hour weeks, which service employees pretty much never are. It's not extreme for restaurants, especially for the ones that get a phase-in.

3) Absolutely. The shenanigans they pull with "exempt" employees are loving bullshit.

4) A phase-in is more than fair for small businesses.

Chantilly Say posted:

Friend of mine moved from PDX to NOLA and had people ask her "but why would you ever want to leave Portland?!" and tell her they were moving there as soon as they could.

(there are actually jobs in Louisiana)

Ernie Muppari posted:

Although, I'm pretty sure that's going to change in the next ~10 years if the rapid gentrification of areas like SE and North continue. Portland's going to be a lot less attractive without a bunch of relatively cheap housing along major bus/train lines available for rent by groups of 20-somethings.

Ernie Muppari posted:

On the plus side, my place is doing its part to keep those down.

Fer serious though, I'm almost certain that my place is getting sold to a company that'll replace it with an expensive quadruplex the moment my 70-something year old landlords kick the bucket.

FRINGE posted:

I met some of those. They were from CA.

Not true! I stopped at some place in the middle of a too-long drive to rest and all the 100 year old zombies were looking at me like I was food.

I remember that.

(Some hamlet in southern OR.)

Hedera Helix posted:

Ardennes posted:

Living in Chicago (which is probably the worse place for an elevated system ironically enough), it is loud as hell, stations are exposed to the elements (not really an issue in Portland) and infrastructure is usually more especially if you go with wood ties....like Chicago does. Chicago has the system it does because a lot of those right of ways were built in late 19th/early 20th century. Otherwise, you would have to tear our buildings to build those lines.

Anyway, the transportation issue doesn't have much of a magic bullet. MAX expansion, Bus funding and maybe BRT would be an improvement but I don't think it will be enough.

SyHopeful posted:

Mass transit can't be the only solution, because I-5 is THE major West Coast commercial trade and cargo corridor. Decreasing the number of commuters on the road would certainly help, but our interchanges, onramps, and offramps are not very big-truck friendly. As anybody who's gotten stuck behind one on one of our many short, uphill onramps can attest.

Beowulfs_Ghost posted:

There is also a lot of research that shows that adding lanes only solves congestion to a point. Eventually people see that traffic isn't an issue and they drive more, filling the new lanes up with more cars until the congestion returns.

Ardennes posted:

Anyway, besides transportation there is the second big issue in Portland, homelessness. Recently the city has decided to start citing homeless structures for "illegal structures" with the possibility of them having to show up in court, their property is impounded and their pets are taken away to shelters. Needless to say, many of these people who can barely say their name much less work though the legal system, and there has been a massive back up (3 months+) in shelters. Basically, Portland is starting to simply jail people for being homeless (many of them people with mental problems that should be in care) with absolutely no plan even to provide shelter space because it is cheaper (well theoretically).

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/the-secret-weapon/Content?oid=11833364

Ardennes posted:

Basically his only opponent during the race imploded because the Oregonian and the local media ran a daily story for weeks about the fact he once punched a girl in college at a party. That said, your right though Hales was anti-homeless from the beginning and even the Mercury backed him.

Portland sure is wacky isn't it.

anthonypants posted:

That and his driver's license got revoked like seven times in ten years?

Thanatosian posted:

You guys should just rebuild that bridge on your own, then toll the poo poo out of it.

loving hate Vancouverites.

anthonypants posted:

That one was hilarious. The only thing we asked Clackamas to pay was five dollars a year from vehicle registration, and they took it to referendum where it was voted down 63-37.

Thanatosian posted:

If you were wondering why Clackamas rejected it: this is why.

Like, if you would actually force them to pay for their poo poo, they would have to either accept the tax increase, or move the gently caress to Portland.

Oh, that's why you don't do it; you're scared they'll do the latter. Maybe it's a worthwhile price to pay.

Kaal posted:

I'd prefer just shutting down the bridge when the safety concerns become too great and waiting them out. Washington tax-tourists will be coming down to Oregon to buy our crap as long as there is a single bridge operating across the Columbia - it's really just the Vancouver commuter sprawl that would be affected. Oregon is willing to be a good neighbor and play its part, but frankly the bridge isn't in our good interest.

Hedera Helix posted:

I'm sorry, but you are a fool if you're using your real name on the internet, and telling people about it on an unrelated forum.

anthonypants posted:

She's crazy. Not as crazy as Art Robinson, but still crazy.

glowing-fish posted:

I don't know if this is referring to local or national politics? The Bridge and the Website could mean the CRC and the ACA website in Oregon, or Christie's GWB problems and the national ACA websites...

Rudy Crew is...Rudolf Guliani? And Eliot is Eliot Spitzer?

And then Bhutan? I can't think of Bhutan being an issue in either Oregon or National politics.

Maybe this is just high level trolling?

ElBrak posted:

Last time it snowed hard and stuck around I got stuck on a bus on I-5, took me 8 hours to get from Seattle to Renton.

Hedera Helix posted:

If Oregon had a sales tax, how would it affect traffic on I-5 and I-205? There have to be a lot of people who live in Clark County, but come over to Portland whenever they need to make large purchases.

gohuskies posted:

One of the revenue proposals that the legislature should pass is changing that. Right now you just flash an out of state ID and they take the tax off at the register, instead you would be charged the tax and you'd have to go to the Department of Revenue website and fill out a refund request form. Figuring that few people would go through the hassle, it'd raise more sales tax money. It's been brought up several times before but never passed.

Bucket Joneses posted:

Why would this even need to be said?

CaptainSarcastic posted:

Nope - gently caress the idea of a sales tax. What we need to do is have corporations go back to paying a fair share of the tax burden, like they did in pre-1960s America.

CaptainSarcastic posted:

There are hotel taxes and such in Oregon, and some other "luxury taxes," including some restaurant taxes, but they aren't really "sales taxes" per se.

CaptainSarcastic posted:

The narrowness of the focus and ability to avoid it make it more in the nature of a luxury tax, although it is, in barest terms, a sales tax. Basically, if you camp and don't eat at restaurants or go to bars then it doesn't exist. Local gas taxes are more of a classic sales tax, but you're right, the aforementioned restaurant tax is technically a sales tax.

CaptainSarcastic posted:

I might be biased from the time I have lived in states WITH a sales tax, and thinking of it as an ubiquitous annoyance. And I already agreed that, by definition, the restaurant tax is a sales tax. The distinction I'm making is more of a subjective "spirit of the law" rather than a "letter of the law" statement.

CaptainSarcastic posted:

Nope - gently caress the idea of a sales tax.

Gerund posted:

And to be real specific, its a tax on the consumer value of the sales rather than an arbitrary value measurement such as a gallon tax on gasoline.

CaptainSarcastic posted:

My proposition is also based on quality of life issues posed by these monstrous vehicles. They block sight lines, obstruct traffic, don't fit in parking lots, and generally just don't make for good company on the roads. Environmental concerns are certainly valid, but my objection goes well beyond that aspect of outsized vehicles.

computer parts posted:

You've got a case of the (older, out of college) Libertarians all right.

CaptainSarcastic posted:

I voted for it as well, but I don't recall seeing any mailings or hearing radio ads specifically regarding it (I don't watch TV), so kind of guess that a lot of people read it as "giving free stuff to illegal immigrants" thing rather than a "document people on the roads and allow for accountability" thing.

Mrit posted:

Washington needs a state income tax, and to remove the state sales tax. Keep the city based sales taxes.
Oregon needs a sales tax, to let cities raise income(also, this would make Vancouver angry, which is a good thing).

There, now we can argue about taxes instead. I'm sorry I even mentioned that lovely graph.

Ditocoaf posted:

Washington voters are allergic to income taxes, and Oregon voters are allergic to sales taxes. Together, they make Vancouver a reality. Vancouver is the result of two states playing Chicken with incompatible tax philosophies, and both losing.

anthonypants posted:

I don't know a lot about the B&O tax but I don't really see a problem with targetting gross income, especially when it looks like it's mostly below 1%.