Comments

1
Only in Portland would there be ongoing negotiations with a landlord who is objecting to the City's craaaaaazy demand that whatever he does with his land has to comply with city law. Can I get the city to negotiate with me on my water bill? I happen to think it is too high. They happen to think it is just right. Let's meet in the middle!
2
"Kramer says Wright wanted the city to be completely "silent" on what Wright could or couldn't do with the land—with the understanding that if he tried to put more campers there, the city could come back with code inspectors and levy more fines on Wright and start the legal process all over again."

Yes, move one camp along at city expense and the basically permanent use of city land under the bridge, only to have another camp appear. Turn one problem into two problems! It would just be the status quo for Wright, the owner. He may well do that no matter what the agreement says. He's been breaking the law and racking up fines for a few years already, and it doesn't seem to faze him too much.

Unfortunately, our city government is dumb enough to actually fall for that. Hales is the only one that seems to have even a tenuous grasp of human nature or the law of unintended consequences.
3
What they should do is pass new regulations that ratchet up the amount of the fine every three months. There has to be some amount that catches Wright's attention. Or just hit him with bigger and bigger fines until he owes what the land is worth, and then take it.
4
Kind of absurd that they are apparently working harder to collect delinquent $20 arts tax payments than they are to collect the serious fines this property has racked up, especially given the fact that the property owner is acting in extremely bad faith. It's not like this is subjective, he is blatantly violating all manner of city code. It drives me absolutely out of my mind that clueless Amanda Fritz is giving him the legitimacy of negotiating with him.
5
This is all posturing from Kramer, which is fine.

It is beyond obvious to everyone negotiating this that there must be sufficient guarantees to the city that Wright isn't just going to do the same damn thing or something like it the moment R2D2 ends.
6
"It is beyond obvious to everyone"

Keep in mind, it's Amanda Fritz doing the negotiating on this one. Still feel so confident?
7
Thanks for the update. Interesting to note that PDC, a player in the negotiations, has contributed to the problem of houselessness by refusing to build enough affordable housing in this city. They have repeatedly dodged city mandates to include low income housing. They get urban renewal breaks and then use the money to build "workforce housing" for people who are not low income. The Headwaters Development is a prime example: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.s… Housing is a human right. There will continue to be a need for housing, emergency shelters and rest areas like R2DToo.

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.