Based on how hard Americans are working, that’s what we should have: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) made a case for increasing the minimum wage last week during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing, in which she cited a study that suggested the federal minimum wage would have stood at nearly $22 […]
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Posted inNews
No One Wants to Pay for Street Sweeping
Dean Marriott, the director of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), has a message for the city’s transportation workers: Don’t clean up on account of us. Marriott, struggling like all bureau heads to lop money from next year’s budget, is making the case BES shouldn’t have to help pay for street sweeping services. The bureau […]
Posted inTV
Good Afternoon, Kickstarter News!
More KICKSTARTER! news—because really, what other news is there? Gonna be kick startin’ something, so let’s get KICKSTARTING! The Veronica Mars KICKSTARTER! movie is especially good for women—who are tired of being KICKED around, do you get it, I hope so, let’s move on to the next item. After the success of the Veronica Mars […]
Posted inBikes
One More Thing on Bike Share
In case you’re curious how the City of Portland arrived at the $4.7 million figure to get the city’s slightly tardy bike share system off the ground, the city’s contract with Alta Bicycle Share provides some helpful information. Here, for instance, is what the system’s components are projected by Alta to cost. So at least […]
Posted inTransportation
Charlie Hales Keeps Hearing About Sidewalk Cuts
Mayor Charlie Hales is receiving scads of reasons to reconsider the proposed scrapping of a Southeast Portland sidewalk from this year’s transportation budget—a move that would free up cash for road paving.Not that he needed them. The matter has been a flashpoint since 5-year-old Morgan Cook was struck and killed while crossing SE 136th Avenue […]
Posted inNews
Another Dispiriting Portland Budget Chart
There are some very obvious reasons why Portland is facing what’s been put at (for now) a $25 million budget deficit. One of them is the new county library district, which the city estimates will cost $10 million because of property tax compression. Another is the yet-to-be finalized federal settlement with the Portland Police Bureau […]
Posted inGirls Only!
The Jobs Where the Pay Gap Between Men and Women Is the Widest
Check out this chart at Washington Post. As Dylan Matthews writes: “Interestingly, many blue collar professions—such as cafeteria work, security guard work, and warehouse stock clerking—are the most egalitarian in their compensation, while female white collar professionals like doctors, stock brokers, and insurance saleswomen face among the worst pay gaps around.” The one that surprises […]
Posted in$$$
Will You Be Better Off Than Your Parents?
In the end, the answer is probably no: WASHINGTON — For the first time since the New Deal, a majority of Americans are headed toward a retirement in which they will be financially worse off than their parents, jeopardizing a long era of improved living standards for the nation’s elderly, according to a growing consensus […]
Posted inCity Hall
Budget Director on Doomsday Cuts: “Council Needs to Look at the Other Options”
In Hall Monitor this week, I promised I’d share the full (actually slightly edited) transcript of my interview with the city’s newly freed budget director, Andrew Scott. It’s wonky, sure. But you should read it. Scott is unsung but very important referee in the Portland City Council’s annual budget dance marathon. His team is in […]
Posted in$$$
President Obama Hates the Penny, Too
In a video chat yesterday, President Obama shared some hard truths about the penny when someone asked him why cents were still in circulation: “I gotta tell you … I don’t know,” Obama replied. “It’s one of those things where I think people get attached emotionally to the way things have been … We remember […]
Posted in$$$
Worst-Case Scenario for Housing Budget: Closing Clark Center, Cutting Services for Hundreds of Poor People
It’s been plain all along that this was going to be an especially ugly city budget season, what with Mayor Charlie Hales’ call for universal 10 percent cuts and a fight over what scraps might be left after city council closes a $25 million deficit. But somehow that realization doesn’t even begin to describe what […]
Posted in$$$
Canada Still Hasn’t Fallen Into Riots and Bloodshed
The Canadian penny has been dead for two days, and Canada is still there. Should the United States follow suit?