Comments

1
The art vendors already make pretty much no money from Last Thursday at the moment. Take the fees from the bars and restaurants, they're the ones making a profit from it.

(and if part of the fee goes on better enforcement to stop people bringing their own booze, that helps the bars, and everyone's a winner...)
2
What art vendors?
3
Solution isn't cops for traffic control. People of Alberta already know how to divert cars from Last Thursday on their own.
4
I've lived very near Alberta for years. I think FoLT did a pretty good job when it was running things. There were honey buckets, streets were blocked off without any trouble, and the next morning the streets were always spotless.

There are always going to be a few idiots who make a bunch of noise, who get drunk and pee in yards, or break a bottle on their way from a house party to the street, or park like assholes. It's like 6 or 7 days a year, total. We can deal with it. Sweep up some glass, call a tow truck, life goes on.

Further, most of these extra costs seem like they only exist because the city has decided they should exist.

Here's a question - how much revenue does the city/PPB make from LT by issuing parking tickets and other citations? How much from DUI's? Wouldn't just a handful of DUIs cover $10,000?
5
@CC: the problem is that the amount of drunken loutery was way up last year compared with previous years, at least around our bit (I live a block off Alberta). The bars are the ones raking in the money and shirking their responsibilities. And the problems happen after the street closure has ended, so I doubt if the return of FoLT would make a lot of difference.

More DUI checks would be great, because the person and the bar owner can both get fined. But the cops aren't allowed to do random breath tests on every tenth car (unlike many other places in the world), so their hands are tied.
6
Stu, there are house parties all over the neighborhood, and danged rowdy teens caused the high-profile stuff last year, so it's tough to say the bars are mostly responsible for general loutery.* Also/again, we're talking about a handful of days a year, and basically zero lasting damage.

* Working on a slow-building solution to the problem that I'm calling "Shirley Jackson's 'The Loutery.'"
7
If you think Alberta is bad for asshole drunks peeing in yards and being loud, you've never lived by whatever that soccer stadium is called now. FAR worse than Thursdays on Alberta.
8
So glad I moved away from all that. I'm starting to doubt it will ever really change.

CC, I don't see how the city can avoid having significant police presence getting paid overtime. It's just the reality at this thing.
9
@Blabby: the way to avoid the city having to pay cops overtime is to change the cops' schedule so that it is covered by their normal time. Of course, the chances of the police union accepting that when they can keep the status quo and rake in more money is negligible, but still...
10
Stu, under what "normal schedule" would ten cops be concentrated between the 15th and 33rd blocks of Alberta Street? And if they are, what's happening the rest of N and NE Portland? It is by definition a special circumstance.
11
It's a special circumstance, yes. But the police's job includes covering things like that, there's no reason why they should be paid double for those hours. It's not like it's an unpredictable event. 'Normal schedule' shouldn't mean 'same hours and place every week'.

OK, tangent over, back to the main point: drunks are dicks.
12
Maybe if the police started covering the event in the same way that they cover hip-hop shows in Portland... Oh no!!!
13
Shut it down. Just shut it down now.
14
The City has been trying to “neuter” Last Thursday for the last 6-7 years, just the way they did with First Thursday about 15 years ago. Anyone remember when First Thursday was cool? Fighting off neighborhood management and charging the vendors will be the final nail in the coffin. Many of the artists gave up on LT as it's starting to look more like any other street fair and less vibrant then it did 10-12 years ago. Maybe we'll start “Last Saturday on Alberta” to bring back some of the old vibe if the City insists on following their current course.

Please wait...

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