If you haven't already placed your ballot in a mailbox, stamped and ready to be counted by the kind people at Multnomah County, maybe you shouldn't bother. It very likely won't make it to the elections office in time. But don't lose hope! County officials sprinkled several official "ballot drop" sites among us, all open 24 hours a day. (Except on Tuesday, when they close promptly at 8 pm.)
Yes, yes, yes... I know. Before you drop the damned thing off, you'll have to fill it out. And that's really been the problem, hasn't it? Stop fretting. Read our endorsement of Measure 26-159, which asks Portland voters to replace an expiring parks bond measure with a nearly identical measure that won't raise anyone's taxes whatsoever. Then click through to see the rest of our recommendations. And vote!
Update! Or listen to another radio interview about our picks, this time on Xray.fm's Five Quadrants of Portland. (Yes, including our recommendation against GMO labeling—which we clearly arrived at only because big companies paid off our mortgages and our student loans and pre-funded our retirement pensions and promised us bunks in the space arcs that will save humanity when the apocalypse finally arrives, on January 28, 2016, give or take. Shit... I think I've said too much.)
TRY SAYING THIS out loud, before this really begins, so you can get yourself in the proper mood: No one's taxes are going to go up if this passes. And again: No one's taxes are going to go up if this passes.
We're starting here in our discussion of Measure 26-159—which asks us to replace Portland's expiring 20-year parks bond—because that seems to be the most important thing voters keep needing to hear when considering this indisputably important measure.
Saying no would starve Portland Parks and Recreation of $68 million it otherwise wouldn't have—money that'll help make a dent in a $365 million maintenance backlog, from fixing playgrounds in every quadrant of the city to keeping workers safe by rebuilding the vulnerable Mount Tabor Maintenance Yards to waterproofing Pioneer Courthouse Square's leaky brickwork.
But when voters were asked about the bond measure in a poll this spring, the fear of park closures and a dimmed urban star didn't move the needle nearly as much as something else: the upfront assurance that renewing the thing wouldn't cost any more money ($13 a year for the average homeowner) than Portlanders have already been paying.
So if that's what you need to hear to keep from doing something stupid, because you're mad about all the other reasons city hall's asking for money, then fine. Let's say it one more time: No one's taxes are going to go up if this passes.
And then go do the right thing.
READ THE REST OF OUR ENDORSEMENTS HERE>>>
