THE "LETTERS TO THE EDITOR" ARE BELOW THE EDITORIAL

From The Editor

A way for the city to help make up its big deficit?

We learn that the projected budget deficit in Portland this year has turned out to be a surprising $93 million dollars. Apparently a gift from our former form of city government, since the new form has not been in power long enough to run up such a tab?

Draconian budget cuts seem to be the order of the day. But what if simply enforcing a few rules by somebody in a parking enforcement scooter could help the city raise a really significant amount of money?

Our overtaxed and understaffed city police have not had the time to devote to such minor crimes, but there are penalties associated with them, and simply citing the offenders from a parking patrol scooter could really raise some money, so widespread are the offenses.

What are we talking about? Well, for one thing – and we’ve mentioned this before – nearly every block seems to have one or more vehicles parked facing the wrong way on a two-way street. Yes, this is commonly illegal across the country, because in order to park on the wrong side of the street – facing oncoming traffic – means you drove across oncoming traffic to park there, and will do so again when you leave. This is particularly unnerving to oncoming drivers at night, when headlights appear in the lane you are in.

You can get a ticket in Portland by doing that, although at present here that only is likely to happen if you call the police and request enforcement on your block of a chronic problem.

So consider the modest expenditure of a parking patrol officer spending the day citing those violating this law – a few tooling around the city’s neighborhoods could raise quite a bit of money, along with awareness of the law in this matter.

Also against the law, and enforceable by a parking patrol, is parking blocking a driveway. Some folks park across their own driveway, but ANY parking across a driveway is illegal and can be ticketed.

And then there’s parking all the way up to a corner, blocking pedestrian access to cross the street. We see this mainly in neighborhoods where there are a lot of apartment houses with no provided parking. It is tempting to try to park in this extra space, but it is illegal, and the city needs the money!

And here’s another big moneymaker that a parking enforcement officer can write a ticket for: Lacking current registration on a vehicle. You would think that there might not be enough violators of this law in Portland to make it worthwhile, but start looking at the license plates. An astonishing number of vehicles in Portland lack current stickers. It seems that many drivers think the rule relaxation on this during the recent pandemic is still in effect, but it is not!

Furthermore, when the city cites a vehicle on the streets for lacking current registration, it could copy the state on the citation, and the state can also raise some revenue by pursuing the violation, since it is the state that provides the registration.

All of this adds up. It won’t solve the deficit, but enforcing these rules with parking enforcement scooters could make a significant dent in it! And it would make the streets a bit safer for us all.

So there are a few of our own thoughts about addressing this amazingly huge deficit. How about yours? There is a listening session set for Inner Southeast Portland by the City Council on Saturday, May 10, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Lane Middle School, 7200 S.E. 60th Avenue.

Quoting from the press announcement, “Come join an in-person or virtual community conversation about the tough choices our leaders will have to make in developing next year's budget, and share with them the things that mean the most to you. All ages welcome; ASL interpretation provided; Pizza provided, while supplies last; doors open a half hour before in-person events start. Space is limited. Your RSVP is appreciated.”

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Letters to the Editor

Seven stories on the edge of the bluff

Editor,

I just came across your article in THE BEE about the plan for a large apartment building off Milwaukie. First I want to say – thank you for your work at THE BEE, I often read it with interest and appreciate having a local newspaper.

But I was quite disappointed with the tone of the article – while you described a landslide concern, the article gave the impression that the real problem was just that the apartment building was too large for our neighborhood.

This is a wonderful neighborhood, and part of what makes it that way is that it has a mix of people from different backgrounds and ages. But it can't stay that way if we don’t build more housing – it will price out everyone but the old or the rich. A large apartment building adding hundreds of units is excellent news! More riders for the 19 and the 70. More customers for the shops on Milwaukie. More people coming into the neighborhood means we can keep our schools full, and spread the tax burden of public infrastructure. We shouldn't oppose housing just because it’s new and big.

I’ve copied the housing solutions chair at SMILE because your article mentions SMILE as an opponent of the earlier project. I should pause to also thank SMILE for all the work it does in this neighborhood! I hope SMILE comes around to being a supporter of more housing here.

Chris Loer
via email

EDITOR’S NOTE: Actually, I and the SMILE Land Use Committee have no objection to the size of the project, and SMILE has been involved in the design hearings. Both SMILE and I worry that something of that mass perhaps should not be built on the very edge of a cliff in a recognized landslide zone! However, the owners say they will have it very well-anchored, even if part of the cliff were to erode under the western edge of the structure. The other problem nearby residents are confronted with, although not mentioned in that article, is that there is only enough on-site parking for a fraction of the many residents that the project will accommodate; there are already four multi-story, but smaller, apartment houses within a block of this property that have no on-site parking at all, and street parking spaces are getting scarce in that vicinity. The planned MAX station at the foot of Harold/Reedway was never built, and that station was the city’s rationale for the widespread high-density rezoning in north Westmoreland, which SMILE voted unanimously to support in the 1990s specifically because of that promise of a nearby light-rail station. SMILE and the neighbors still want to see that station built, as do the Reed and Eastmoreland neighborhoods, which are on record favoring it – as long as there is access to it from S.E. 28th westward along the Reedway right-of-way with a pedestrian/bicycle bridge, of which two have been built on both sides of Powell Boulevard well to the north. There is NO pedestrian or bike crossing over the railyard between Holgate and Bybee – quite a hike for pedestrians, in particular.

Pat Hubbell has a plea for residents

Editor,

In the February BEE my photo was on the top of page one, in a story about legislators rallying to call for solutions to the vice grip of “Pharmacy Benefit Managers”, whose practices have been squeezing small pharmacies out of business.

Brooklyn Pharmacy has served Southeast Portland since 1897 – surviving three ownership changes, two relocations, and accumulating 125+ years of neighborhood trust. Today, we are fighting for survival, along with independent pharmacies across Oregon.

Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), powerful and largely unregulated middlemen, are driving up drug costs, forcing unfair contracts on pharmacies, and steering patients to corporate mail-order operations. Their practices have created a crisis: Pharmacies are closing, services are being cut, and communities are losing access to care. Just in the week of April 14, four more Oregon pharmacies closed for good or announced their intention to do so. We urgently need the Legislature to act – this session – before it’s too late for other pharmacies.

At Brooklyn Pharmacy, we offer immunizations, compounding, direct RPh access via phone/in person, and even a comfort K-9 (Hal) to provide superior pharmacy care that mail order cannot provide. We’re being pushed to the brink, often losing money on prescriptions because PBM reimbursements don’t cover our costs. This is unsustainable.

I’ve worked with Senator Wyden and local legislators for reform, but Congress hasn’t acted. Now, we need Salem to step up. Representative Rob Nosse – my State Representative, and Chair of the House Health Care Committee in Salem – has seen this crisis firsthand, and is sponsoring HB 3212 – a bill that would finally rein in PBM abuses, and help level the playing field.

No surprise: PBMs and their insurance allies are working hard to kill this bill, while more pharmacies close, and their own profits soar. If HB 3212 fails, more communities will lose their pharmacies, and patients will lose access to care – it’s that simple.

Will you help? You can find out how to contact your legislators here – https://tinyurl.com/5n7tftjs

Or, email Representative Rob Nosse directly – Rep.RobNosse@oregonlegislature.gov – and urge him to stand up to all the corporate pressure and pass HB 3212. Thank you so much.

Pat Hubbell, RPh/Owner
Brooklyn Pharmacy
3131 S.E. Milwaukie Avenue

Cycles

Editor,

Your March 2025 issue headline “Speeding cyclist dies on SE Mcloughlin Blvd” was confusing, as cyclists refer to bicyclists. I believe you meant Motorcyclist.

Cary Fisher
S.E. Marion Street

EDITOR’S NOTE: Yes, of course we did, as we said in the first paragraph of the story, and also in the caption of the accompanying photo. Headlines sometimes require abbreviations to fit, and this was such a case. We previously received another similar response to that headline, and we asked that reader what they would then call somebody riding a bicycle driven by a motor, something we’re increasingly seeing these days? We did not receive a reply.

Young Girl Scouts plant a tree in Woodstock

Editor,

Girl Scout Daisy Troop 20029 earned their Good Neighbor badges on April 17th by partnering with local business Dick’s Primal Burger to plant a street tree in front of the restaurant, which provides the room for the girls’ bi-monthly meeting. The girls earned the money to purchase the tree and supplies by selling cookies this year. A free permit was secured from the City of Portland Urban Forestry, and the tree species chosen – a Saratoga Ginkgo – is a powerline-friendly selection from the City Street Tree list. This activity also supports a key Girl Scout program goal: To “make the world a better place”. This planting was their final Daisy service project, as they will bridge to Brownies in June.

Ruth Williams
S.E. Schiller Street

The time of year for Neighborhood Assn. elections

Editor,

As anyone who has been a board member knows, institutional knowledge can be a challenge.  At a 115 years of age, the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association has a lot to remember.  Unfortunately, over time, memories fade and deeply held values can be lost.

Last summer, everyday maintenance activities became controversial. The crisis was averted, but I realized that providing the institutional memory of how we got where we are and why we should continue is very important. Karen and I returned to Eastmoreland after graduate school in 1979. We have worked tirelessly on many community projects ranging from noise and emissions at the Brooklyn Railyard, to maintaining Reed College Place, the continuing effort to maintain affordable housing, and the preservation of our urban canopy.

I’ve decided to run again for the ENA Board to do my part to maintain our institutional memory, and protect a greener tomorrow . . .

Robert McCulloch
Eastmoreland

EDITOR’S NOTE: A reminder that all Neighborhood Associations in Inner Southeast are having their annual Board Elections in May, and every one of them seeks volunteers from their community to run for a seat! We suggest finding out what your own Neighborhood Association is, if you don’t know – and attend their May General Meeting to consider running for a seat on their Board, and getting involved in your own community!



Letters to the Editor may be submitted via e-mail by clicking HERE.

All letters to the editor are subject to editing for clarity and available space, and all letters become property of THE BEE.


 


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For our Thanksgiving 2023 editorial in appreciation of dogs, and in memory of the dog shown in the photo -- Sable, a long-haired German Shepherd who lived in Southeast Portland -- CLICK HERE