Gas tax revenues are $1 million short for the city, leaving the Portland Department of Transportation strapped for cash.
politics
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A Better Bridge
City Council Pushes for Green I-5 Bridge
City council approves a Columbia River Crossing proposal—with strict conditions.
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Hall Monitor
Elected Representatives
Elected Representatives: Aren’t these guys supposed to represent us?
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Hall Monitor
Crossing That Bridge
The city council gets spun both ways on the Columbia River Crossing big bridge project.
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In Other News
Portland’s anti-war “Raging Grannies” had the case against them dismissed in court on Monday, June 9, after prosecutors were too unorganized to get cops to show up on the right day. Sara Graham and Bonnie Tinker were arrested at last year’s Rose Parade for sitting down in front of a tank. At first they were […]
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Then There Were Two
Amanda Fritz and Charles Lewis Enter the Ring
JUST OVER A WEEK AGO, there were 28 people vying for a job at city hall. But the May 20 primary election dashed a lot of dreams, and left three men—Sam Adams, Randy Leonard, and Nick Fish—with secure employment for the next few years. What’s undecided is who will be taking the seat Adams vacates, […]
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The Morning After
It takes an election, apparently, to help the city council pass a budget. Within days of Commissioner Sam Adams‘ victory over Mayor Tom Potter-endorsed Sho Dozono, tensions between Adams and the mayor seem to have melted. While they were on opposite ends of a budget standoff last week, by Friday afternoon, May 23, the two—plus […]
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The Policy that Wasn’t There
City’s Hazy Drug-Free Zone Replacement Program
AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS researching the city’s $1.3 million per year replacement program for the now defunct Drug-Free Zones (DFZs), the Mercury has been unable to find a clear and consistent written policy on the new program anywhere in Portland. The DFZs sunset last September, after independent statistical analysis showed African Americans were more likely to […]
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Doctor’s Orders
Kids’ Health Initiative Gets Closer to Ballot
When Dr. Gregg Coodley saw Measure 50 fail last year—and, with it, hopes for a statewide kids’ health care plan—he decided to do something to fill the gap locally. “There’s no hope nationally, and no hope statewide,” says Coodley, from his desk at Southwest Portland’s Fanno Creek Clinic. “What can we do that has a […]
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Bravo
by Amy J. Ruiz
Last Wednesday, city hall staffers were placing bets. Not on who would come out ahead on election day—but on whether two activists who hijacked the council meeting to talk about housing issues would be back the next week to do it again. During the Wednesday, May 14, meeting, as always, Mayor Tom Potter asked if […]
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Tears, Cheers, and Beers
A Recap of Tuesday Night’s Election Results by the Mercury‘s Election Squad
IT WAS A PRIMARY ELECTION season marked, from the Democratic presidential contest on down, by excruciatingly close races—at least according to the pre-election day polls and punditry. According to poll numbers, Sho Dozono was holding Sam Adams under the 50 percent mark in the race for Portland mayor, and Steve Novick was consistently neck and […]