I heard it through the grapevine....
Carla Axtman
For those of us who live in political junkie land, this time of the political cycle is a real snoozer. The elections are over and the post mortems have long been hashed. The legislative/executive stuff is in the appointments process and besides the war on Christmas (aka Bill O'Reilly off his meds), real political discussion is in a holding pattern.
This period of political nap time seems to activate the grapevine of gossip....
Word has it that Portland City Councilor-Elect Amanda Fritz wants to be the commissioner of parks (Dan Saltzman currently has the job). Fritz is said to be readying herself to lobbying for the position in January. However, Mayor-elect Adams allegedly wants to have a parks levy in the near future, which will mean significant fundraising. I've heard that Fritz is not a fan of fundraising (and famously won using the so-called "voter owned election" system). On her blog, Fritz has spoken proudly of her acceptance of public financing, noting that she is beholden to no special interests because of it. Scuttlebut is that the wheels are already in motion to make Nick Fish (who replaced Erik Sten) Parks commissioner because he not only will raise money, he will raise a shitload....
Republican Secretary of State candidate Rick Dancer has a shiny new blog to replace the one where he apparently found it a problem to say what he really thinks. So what Rick really thinks is that Oregon should be spending more tax dollars to assist the disabled. I agree. But will he bother to use his newly found GOP fame to lobby his party for that spending?
And speaking of the GOP, Lynn Snodgrass' name is the latest to be bandied about for the party chair slot. Becky seems to think she's a good fit. Snodgrass' tenure was before I took the time to get wonky on Oregon politics, so I'm out of my league on this one. Is Snodgrass interested in the job? Is she another GOP ideologue or does she have what it takes to bring the party back from the abyss?
If you've been watching Tualatin Valley Community Access TV (I have not--don't have cable) and you saw last Tuesday's Hillsboro City Council meeting, you may have done a double take. Hillsboro City Councilor Ed Dennis is said to have made some rather interesting remarks. In response to some concern that a local middle school is set for demolishing and not left as a community center, Dennis apparently suggested that the city make it more difficult for the Hillsboro School District to negotiate the permitting process. I'm hearing that many citizens of Hillsboro are not amused at Dennis' suggestion.
And finally, this very ugly rumor crossed my desk this week. I can't substantiate it. The PSU Vanguard doesn't seem to have their arrest log online and Mult Co Sheriff's office doesn't seem to have booking information online that goes back longer than 7 days. Can anyone step up to substantiate or tamp this one out?
(Update: 6:19PM--it would appear based on this log that there were arrests on the PSU campus for public indecency on December 3..)
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8:02 p.m.
Dec 15, '08
What. the. hell?
Some enterprising blogger should investigate!
Dec 15, '08
For those of us who live in political junkie land, this time of the political cycle is a real snoozer.
How about taking some time for reflection? And, maybe, making some effort to push Obama to live up to his promises of change. Before the election and immediately after many comments were made on progressive web sites that we would need to develop pressure from the grassroots to make sure Obama lived up to his promises - actual and implied. Given his un-progressive choices for key positions, these earlier comments certainly appear to have been prescient. Given how much the corporate world donated to his campaign progressives have their work cut out for them.
Dec 15, '08
"And speaking of the GOP, Lynn Snodgrass' name is the latest to be bandied about for the party chair slot. Becky seems to think she's a good fit. Snodgrass' tenure was before I took the time to get wonky on Oregon politics, so I'm out of my league on this one. Is Snodgrass interested in the job? Is she another GOP ideologue or does she have what it takes to bring the party back from the abyss?"
For those of us in Central Oregon, Snodgrass would be a welcome leader - for those of us in the Democratic Party. Memory is long. Snodgrass last came to Central Oregon to engineer the defeat of Lynn Lundquist. Lynn was a curse upon the Republican Party - a moderate that believed in compromise. He was set to be Speaker of the House, so Snodgrass and other heavy hitters in the far right section of the Republican Party came over here and ran a smear campaign to get Lundquist out. It worked.
News flash: Lundquist got himself elected to a County Commission office two years ago, and he's on a political comeback trail.
And we remember in C.O. that Snodgrass's name is mud.
So, I welcome Snodgrass as Republican Party head. It will make electing Democrats in C.O. that much easier.
Dec 16, '08
I didn't think public indecency was a crime in Portland? just part of Keep Portland Weird...
Dec 16, '08
Nick Fish gets parks. The Oregonian says.
Dec 16, '08
I'm a graduate student at PSU and have NEVER heard of this kind of nonsense going down. I'd be surprised if the university wasn't sued over this. This is a gross violation of basic rights on campus.
Dec 16, '08
If I remeber correctly, wasn't Snodgrass so contentious about being elected speaker that some moderate Republicans even threatened to bolt and vote with the Democrats for Speaker?
The further right the GOP shifts, the better for progressives.
Dec 16, '08
Calling all cars!
Be on the lookout for a naked cyclist operating several laptops in the south park blocks.
Brrrrr!
Dec 17, '08
Might have been two people making out to get hot!
<h2>Fish can bash the homeless some more from Parks. When is some enterprising attorney going to file a class action on behalf of Latino males, who are the only non-rowdy park goers that regularly receive citations for open container violations? Not saying they're uniformly well-behaved, I'm saying that well-behaved people don't get hassled for it in Portland, unless they are Latino males.</h2>