Shot last night:

WHAT DO ANGRY NEIGHBORS LOOK LIKE? THEY LOOK LIKE THIS…

And here’s a statement just issued by the mayor:

First, I want to acknowledge all the hard work that community members, City staff, the citizens serving on the Lents Urban Renewal Advisory Committee, and our partner, Merritt Paulson, have invested into evaluating and discussing the proposal to locate AAA baseball in the Lents community. These discussions are always difficult, complicated and time-consuming. I appreciate the focus and patience people have exhibited in working through the issues.

As I’ve made clear throughout the AAA baseball conversations, this proposal could only move forward with the explicit support of the Lents community. It has become clear in conversations with neighborhood residents that community support for the proposal isn’t there.
To reinforce that fact, this morning, Merritt Paulson informed City Council and the leadership of the Lents URAC that he is withdrawing his proposal to locate a baseball stadium in Lents.

Merritt and the Beavers organization are looking at their options moving forward on siting baseball. In the meantime, the City’s mission is clear: focus our energies on guaranteeing that Portland is the new home of a Major League Soccer team.

In the coming weeks, I will lead the effort on working with Merritt to reach agreement on a financial package for renovations to PGE Park that meets the city’s financial and community needs while meeting the requirements of major league soccer.

We have a great opportunity ahead of us now. Major League Soccer is a family-friendly amenity for all Portlanders and soccer fans across the region. PGE Park is the right venue for the sport. And, renovation to PGE Park will create construction jobs at a time when unemployment in the building industry in our region is at an all-time high.

Moving forward, I will continue to adhere to the Citizen’s Task Force principles of protecting the city’s general fund from risk, leveraging maximum private investment, and not impacting in any way funding for City basic services. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues on City Council, at the County, and with other key stakeholders to bring professional Soccer to Portland.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hr0Yb9TDlDw%26hl%3Den%26fs%3D1%26

Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.

7 replies on “The Lents Uprising: Video”

  1. GAWD that opening song was gay. Just say you don’t want the stadium and why like that awesome woman in the black shirt that calmly handed Paulson his ASS!

  3. Hmm..unfashionable yes, but morons..?

    I don’t think they are primarily concerned with losing precious dog-walking space. I think they are concerned about all the studies showing that the community would be loaning money to a billionaire and would never get paid back.

  5. Seems like about a third of them were informed and had valid objections, and the others thought the whole park was being taken up or something like that.

    To my mind, a third of them is still enough to be worth killing the deal though.

  6. I’m totally against the deal, and yet I could only get 15 seconds into that annoying video.

    Once again Portland tries to do something charmingly creative and neither creates nor charms.

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