THERE AREN’T a great many instances where a $746 million price tag looks like a bargain. But last week, when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) slapped that number on a long-awaited proposal for cleaning up Portland’s toxic, fish-contaminating harbor, it had all the trappings of a door-buster special. Consider: The City of Portland had […]
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Posted inNews
Among the City’s First Gas Tax Buys: 13 New Employees
When Portlanders approved an historic 10-cent local gas tax May 17, the Portland Bureau of Transportation snatched victory in a long-fought battle for stepped up funding to fix and improve city roads. One of the first items on the bureau’s wish list? Thirteen new employees. Tucked into a roster of last-minute budget tweaks [PDF] City […]
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Bullseye Glass is Raising Prices To Pay for Air Filters
Bullseye Glass’s ticket out from under the thumb of state and federal regulators is going to be paid partly by its art world customers. A day after the Southeast Portland glass factory and state Department of Environmental Quality officials announced a new agreement to bring Bullseye into compliance with federal emissions laws, the company had […]
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The End of Taking Young People’s Ambitious Energy and Giving Them Zero Overtime Pay in Return?
Young, ambitious, and working a lot of extra hours for no pay? President Obama’s overtime proposal is likely to change that. Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock The Obama administration is moving to bring overtime pay to a lot more salaried worked in this country. Right now, you’re only eligible for overtime pay if your annual salary is under $23,660—which […]
Posted inHousing
Forget $15 Per Hour—Oregonians Now Need More Than That to Afford an Apartment
According to this story from The Atlantic‘s Citylab, a new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition has found that the hourly wage needed to afford even a modest apartment in America has risen considerably in the last year—and in Oregon? If you were looking to rent a two bedroom apartment, you’d probably need […]
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Facing A November Runoff, Steve Novick Hasn’t Decided Whether to Finally Take a Raise
Last year, for the third time, Commissioner Steve Novick turned down a pay increase. City council was bumping employee pay to match the city’s cost of living, as it does each year, and Novick wrote to reporters highlighting the fact he wouldn’t be taking the 2.1 percent bump. “I have decided not to take the […]
Posted inHousing
Dan Saltzman Is Proposing A New Construction Tax to Fund Affordable Housing
Nicole Cmar Right now, Portland developers building new projects pay into a fund that helps parks meet demand of new residents or employees. And they pay similar “system development charges” (SDCs) for street improvements to account for new people, and for upgrades or additions to the stormwater and sewer system. Now Commissioner Dan Saltzman says […]
Posted inCops
Portland’s Budget Bickering Might Scuttle Quiet Talks Over the 48-Hour Rule
Dylan Goldberger In a rare move, the city of Portland and Portland Police Association have formally reopened their existing collective bargaining contract—and, at least as things stood last week, there was plenty to discuss. When the contract was taken up for potential changes on Monday, May 9, Mayor Charlie Hales was pushing higher officer pay, […]
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Police Body Cameras, a Protected Bike Lane, and More Might Be Axed From Charlie Hales’ Budget
Alex DeSpain The budget season—Portland’s fattest in some time, maybe ever—took on an improbable air of open warfare last night, as Commissioner Nick Fish and Mayor Charlie Hales traded jabs about what programs would have to be cut. As we’ve reported at length, Hales doesn’t appear to have support for an $8.7 million business tax […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Money Monster Is a Satire about Television That Feels Like It Was Made by the Kind of People Who Claim They Don’t Watch TV
As a director, Jodie Foster has specialized in bringing unconventional scripts to clear-eyed life, with films such as Home for the Holidays and The Beaver achieving a fascinatingly honest messiness. This is not one of those times. Money Monster, Foster’s first movie in five years, is a pedantic, largely juiceless misfire of the sort that […]
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“I Think It’s Disgraceful.” Budget Tensions Spilled Out into a City Council Hearing Thursday. Big Time.
Weeks—and maybe years, actually—of frustrations between Mayor Charlie Hales and Commissioner Nick Fish spilled into an otherwise mundane budget hearing tonight, as Fish accused the mayor of misleading the public about potential cuts to homeless services in town. “These are vulnerable people in the community that you’re playing politics with, and I think it’s disgraceful,” […]
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Charlie Hales Says Cops and Homeless Services Will Be Imperiled Without More Tax Money
Mayor Charlie Hales says this camp for women is on the chopping block, without more tax money. Dirk VanderHart Mayor Charlie Hales says his colleagues are about to leave the city’s homeless camps and cops high and dry. A day after it became clear a majority of Portland City Council opposes Hales’ proposed 13 percent […]