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Re: “Audit Says Portland Is Worth Less Than It Used to Be”
SokMunki,
Sorry if I didn’t explain that better.
To see the numbers and the trend I am referring to go to page 298 of the audit (http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bfs/60673). It should be the second or third page of the Stats section. Look in the last row under the section marked “Governmental activities.” This is where I got my numbers.
The numbers show in 2003, the net worth of the city’s governmental activities (or equipment and buildings etc. associated with services that are paid for by taxes but provided more or less for free, meaning services that aren’t utilities) was about $ 1.6 billion. In 2012, this same row shows governmental net assets have gone down to about $ 519 million. That’s the $1 billion loss I was referring to. The section marked “Business-type activities” shows growth in the city’s utility assets. As you will see, this section has been growing. Which is why that last line marking the city’s total net assets shows that dollar amount has only dropped from $2.7 billion to $2.4 billion in the last ten years. The point, if I didn’t make it clear in the post, is the loss is kinda hidden. But there is a loss and auditors are concerned about it.
Re: “Trashed Arts Tax: A Very Unscientific Look at How Many Portlanders Will Pay”
Commenty Colin,
It's a fair point. Noted.
Re: “Progressive Discipline”
Thanks, we are looking into it. We will be pulling records and will update when we know more.
Re: “Death Warmed Over”
Anon, upwelling is part of the equation. But upwelling isn’t the singular cause of low dissolved oxygen (DO) in our coastal waters. It’s probably more accurate to say upwelling is the local process by which low DO waters from around the world are delivered to our coast’s continental shelf. According to the most recent research coming out of Oregon State University, some of these low DO waters come from the northwest pacific and others from the south. The research suggests, because the ocean’s currents are slowing, the water from the north is losing its DO on its journey. Meanwhile, the water from the south is a different story. This water—which, yes, will eventually upwell off our coast—was originally surface water in the south. Because the ocean’s surface is where atmospheric oxygen is mixed into the ocean, and because this southern water is getting warmer, it’s now holding less DO. This low DO water is then pulled from the surface into the deep ocean and then dragged north via the California undercurrent. It then reaches our coast. Once there, local upwelling pushes it onto our continental shelf, and if the water’s DO is low enough you get hypoxic zones.
If you want the more complicated explanation, I would suggest you read the piece I wrote for OSU’s research extension program Oregon Sea Grant while I was a science communications fellow there. http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sites/defa…
Re: “Shaking Behind the Scenes”
Squarepeg,
Let's talk about those raised rates.
Call the office when you get a chance, (503) 294-0840.
Or send me an email: news@portlandmercury.com.
-Nathan Gilles
Re: “Cabbie Crackdown”
Red Diamond,
Thanks for the clarification.
We updated the piece.
The sentence now reads: "Since drivers are independent contractors, they can legally make less than minimum wage, but they cannot form legally protected unions..."
-Nathan
RSSGoing to Seattle?
Re: “Some Last Thoughts on the Big Quake Before We’re Lulled Back into a False Sense of Security”
Wow! Pretty much all of you completely missed the point.
I thought you would have been smart enough to go for two cookies, not one. It’s a shame.
But you did prove me right. I guess that’s something. It's cold comfort given that we’re all in this together, but I’ll take it.
And for the record, I'm not worried about earthquakes. In fact I’m well into the “acceptance” stage of the grieving process (hint, the process starts with denial).
I've also done practically nothing to prepare for the big quake. I'm not a survivalist. I hoard nothing. And the last thing I want to do is spend my weekends getting emergency training when I could just sit back and drink a beer. Actually, the last thing I want is to live in a world run by freaky survivalists, hence this plea for sanity.
My preparation, such as it is, is just to report the facts, scare the shit out our readers (because it’s fun!), and from time to time call you out for not thinking through the problem.