[Every year we collect the best/worst of the voicemails our mayor receives and print them here for the edification of… maybe no one? Anyway, here they are, starting with January 2016.—eds.]
January 1, Amber: I’m a bartender at the Blue Room Bar. That’s the bar in the center of Cartlandia. I wanted to let you know, within the last three weeks, every time I [lock] up at night I have 10 to 15 homeless people hovering above me making me nervous. And now it is making my job terrifying.
January 3, unidentified male: Not only are our roads like crap, because you guys won’t seem to fix anything; now they’re covered with snow and ice and I don’t see even ONE sand truck out. What’s the problem? Is it SUNDAY and you guys are sitting on your asses, or what!!! You don’t work on Sundays? Nobody works on Sundays? Road crews don’t work on Sundays??!!
January 5, Joe: I’m calling about homelessness and homeless sweeps that are happening today at noon out at I-205; and I would really like the mayor to commit that there are not going to be any sweeps of homeless people by any means at all.
January 6, unidentified female: I’m dismayed to see millions and millions spent on bicycles. Let us not forget the cars on Clinton Street who live here too. I am completely disgusted with the city. There’s a large homeless camp down at SE 8th and Division…. Please scrape these people off the streets and do something! It’s disgusting!
January 7, unidentified male: The Portland Police just left my property after I had a verbal altercation with homeless people camped in the vacant lot next to me. My house has been broken into three times in the last 30 days. They steal my food. They use my shower. I am just tired of this.
January 8, Pete: I have to use a cane and there are way too many bicycles on the sidewalks right now. I understand Nike’s going to be moving ahead with this program to have bicyclists. Please make sure that on those kiosks there will be no sidewalks with bicycles on them. Please keep us safe.