What a circus

Thanks for the live blog- it was fun to read.

Excited that the enema provider is the region's biggest employer. I feel like toxins have built up in the PBOT budget and should be flushed.

Thanks for the live blogging. Very useful and interesting.
I'm surprised that Robert McCullough is receiving so much credibility. I've worked with him in the energy industry, and he has a reputation as someone with an inflated view of himself and for constantly seeking attention.
He has pretty much burned all his bridges in the industry and run out of clients, to the extent he now devotes all his time to producing a constant stream of commentary and criticism.
With the Street Fee, he senses what the crowd wants ("government bad") and is busy throwing them red meat in terms of half-baked "analysis".
Would someone please review McCullough's work, because he's making a lot of assumptions and commentary on spreadsheets which he says are incomplete.

@PdxHills
Spot on. McCullough may be a bigshot at SE Uplift, but that doesn't mean that the neighborhood associations or their members are with him.

His strategy won't get any traction, but as you say, it will play into the "gubment bad" message.

One thing that's become clear his week: For all their clamoring about putting the fee to a vote, they actually fear that more than anything else, because it'll show how little public support the half-dozen loudmouthed Portland Tea Partiers really have.

McCollough is putting forth a herculean effort to keep Novick honest.

In all seriousness, the PBOT data was the worst
work product I have ever seen from a professional. You wouldn't last ten seconds at Nike with a report like that.

I am grateful for McCullough, and I think he has meaningful support.

He is clearly a smart man with math skills. Not sure why
PBOT is tasked with finding the exact tax source- they should create a budget and the people who are expert in revenue matters can craft something that we can hold our nose and vote for. PBOT does quite a few things that are amatuerish. Perhaps they should concentrate on fog seal
and let the revenue department folks craft something practical.

SE Uplift is pretty representative of the SE community, IMHO. The NA appear to be backing him. Not saying that he is the alpha and omega of representing every single neighborhood city-wide, but he is considered a mainstay
here in SE. I think that he should get some credit, only fair. He is at least "pretty" representative.

Also- I challenge you to name someone more representative of SE.

As for the energy work- I don't know. If he was hired by Enron to make Enron's case- whateva. They were gonna get a consultant to say X. Just like when there's a lawsuit. Both sides make their best case and (on a good day) the truth comes out.

It's like when you work for PBOT and your job is to make all sorts of convoluted excuses for all sorts of breaches of the public trust. Hate the game, not the playa.

Besides- people change. People can be right about x and wrong about y. Except for me- god has ordained me.

Anyway- thanks for 2 opposing viewpoints. I ain't in attack mode. Have yrselves a nice weekend, PDXhills & Eupho. We gotta talk this thing out and I don't mean my comment as smack. If you will talk to me politely I'll be as nice as pie and maybe there will be actual communication. I don't think either one of your comments were db. Peace out.

PDXhills,

With all due respect, when you say "it'll show how little respect the half dozen loudmouthed Portland Tea Partiers really have", you exhibit that you have no idea who is against this TAX because you are clearly for it.

I could say that it's possible you work for the City, but that wouldn't make it so. I don't know any of the Tea Partiers you refer to that vocally have opposed this, and I've been in opposition since day 1. There are conservatives and liberals alike that are incensed at this money grab for special projects.

This effort to bilk money from us to replace what THEY(the City) stole for special projects while ignoring BASIC MAINTENANCE for decades would be akin to you handing your teenager a credit card to go buy a cellphone for $200, and the young person coming back home after maxing out your card for $5,000 for a studio recording session with no phone, apologizing, and asking you for $500 for a cellphone.

You can harbor resentment towards Mr. McCullough all you want, but at least explain if you think HIS math is wrong, as massive errors throughout the City documents were brought up by Mr. McCullough and multiple citizens last night, WHY Mr. Hales or Mr. Novick did not defend those business tax estimates. They didn't even attempt to.

My guess is perhaps they are embarrassed about being off on tax estimates and miscategorizing thousands of businesses. If I had messed up that badly on an assignment, I would be concerned about keeping my job. And they should be. It's an insult to our entire city's intelligence they even proposed it without having the slightest clue if their calculations actually made sense!

As a bleeding heart, tree hugging liberal with Socialist tendencies, I can tell you I have no problem with taxation WITH represention, and no problem with paying for something in an equitable way that actually does benefit society. These ridiculous plans the City keeps coming up with are nothing of the sort! If you read the documents of these City plans, you will see that.