Portland Mercury article about the City's efforts to promote employee wellness.
Portland Tribune article about efforts to help solve the financial crisis of the Oregon History Society.
April 2010
April 29, 2010
April 28, 2010
What Portland street used to be a row of floating homes?
Most homes on SW Mile Place started out as floating homes further up the Willamette River. In late May - early June of 1894, the Willamette River flooded and rose above 30 feet.
Floating homes up river were lifted off their supports and sent adrift. In order to save their homes, owners guided and anchored their homes to oak trees on the western shore downriver.
When the Willamette River receded, the floating home owners squatted on their new riverfront plot for years. The Ladd Estate Company, the property owners during that time eventually let the squatters buy their lots.
Today most of the original floating homes have been remodeled beyond recognition. However, you can still see the evidence where structures stand right next to oak trees.
Posted by: SO
April 27, 2010
Are you registered to vote?
Today, Tuesday, April 27, is the deadline to register to vote in Multnomah County for the Primary Election on May 18th. If you are new to Multnomah County, have never registered, have moved since the last election within the County, or have changed your name, you have through today to register to vote.
You can register online, or you can print and mail the paper form to Multnomah County with today's postmark. If you've changed your name, you must fill out the paper form so the Elections Office can record your new signature. If only your address has changed, you can fill out the online address change form. If you are going to be out of the county during the election, you can request an absentee ballot.
Still have questions? Check out Multnomah County Elections Division's FAQ.
Ballots will be mailed to registered households on April 30 and are due back by mail or drop-off by 8pm on May 18.
April 24, 2010
Randy in the news 04.24.10
Anna Griffin writes an article for The Oregonian titled:"Randy Leonard was right: Portland Police Bureau needs new leadership."
Janie Har of the Oregonian explores how Dan's Saltzman's role as Police Commissioner might affect his upcoming campaign for reelection.
The Oregonian covers the pending installation of the city's second Portland Loo.
April 23, 2010
Mothers-In-Law Rejoice!
On April 14, City Council approved the necessary code changes to implement fee waivers for the systems development charges on accessory dwelling units. The code changes, which are in effect immediately, were the last step in implementing a policy adopted by the City Council in early March to remove barriers to constructing ADU's, commonly known as Mother-In-Law units. Previously, the relatively high cost of SDC's proved prohibitive to the proliferation of ADUs. Construction of more ADUs will help the City with its affordable housing and density goals. The waiver of SDC fees on ADUs will be in effect until July 2013.
April 22, 2010
Randy In the News 4.22.10
Willamette Week article from yesterday's paper about Scott Westerman's resignationas PPA president.
Oregonian article about the Portland Police Bureau's budget deficit.
Earth Day: Flashback to the 5th Dimension
Earth Day and EPA Turns 40
The 5th Dimension won 2 Grammy Awards in 1970 for Record of the Year and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a group. The song was “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” a medley of two songs from the musical Hair. It was truly a dawning of the Age of Aquarius and time to let the sunshine in, a time for the nation to wake up and take action to protect our environment.
It is hard to believe that until the seventies there were no regulatory means to protect the environment. Factories were free to produce their toxic waste and release the pollutants into the air and streams. Environmental concerns were a non-political issue for our government. Senator Gaylord Nelson, from Wisconsin beginning in 1962 strived to change that by pushing the environment into the political arena. Senator Nelson spoke on environmental issues in appearances across the country. While touring he learned that the people were concerned about the environment but not their elected leaders.
It was 1969 and the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations called “teach-ins” had spread through the nation’s college campuses. The “teach-ins” inspired Senator Nelson to form a grassroots protest and put the environment onto the national agenda.
November 30, 1969, 5 months before the first Earth Day, The New York Times reported on the current environmental events:
"Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...."
On April 22, 1970, 20 million people participated in the inaugural Earth Day activities around the United States. Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment.
Senator Gaylord later commented on the success of Earth Day, “Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.”
In the months following Earth Day, President Richard Nixon and Congress established the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in response to the growing public demand for cleaner water, air and land. On December 2, 1970, the EPA opened its doors in downtown Washington, D.C. The EPA’s goal is to repair the damage already done to the environment and to establish guidelines for a cleaner and safer environment for all future generations.
Let the sunshine in!
23 minutes
As many will remember, the Portland Water Bureau issued a boil water notice over the 2009 Thanksgiving weekend that was the result of a positive hit on a routine test for E coli in the Washington Park reservoir. State law dictates that a second test follow the initial hit, and if that test is positive, a boil water notice is issued for affected customers. In that case, the follow up test came up positive, and the boil water notice was issued. Since that incident was the first boil water notice of its scale for the Water Bureau, much was learned in the process, and a number of changes to the Bureau's process were made.
One major change that occurred in the aftermath of that event was a new protocol which requires that the Water Bureau immediately shut down the affected reservior after any positive sample for E coli. Although this has impacts on the hydraulics of the system and challenges our water operations folks, it confines any potential issue within the affected reservoir and takes the potentially affected water out of service, thereby minimizing any potential risks.
On Tuesday, Water Bureau sampling of Reservoir 1 at Mt. Tabor came back positive for E coli, and 23 minutes later, Reservoir 1 was taken off line as a precaution while the State mandated follow-up samples were tested. Fortunately, the follow up samples came back negative, so no boil water notice was necessary. Reservoir 1 will be drained and cleaned, and brought back into service ASAP.
Although the positive sample for E coli was not routine, it has occurred 16 times in the open reservoirs since the bureau began testing for it in the 1990s, and our experience last November caused us to be much more aggressive in minimizing any potential risks. Most of the time, as in this case, positive hits are anomalies that are not confirmed by follow up tests.
This experience is an excellent illustration of the Water Bureau's vigilance in making sure Portland's water is clean and constant, and their performance in this circumstance was outstanding.
Posted by: TK
Census 2010 Update!
The national participation rate for the 2010 Census currently stands at 71%. This is only one percentage point below the 2000 Census returns, which is considered a success by the Census Bureau given the economy and the population growth since 2000. The population of the U.S. has grown to an estimated 309 million people, just about a 10% increase since 2000.
Northwest State Participation:
Idaho 72%
Montana 66%
Oregon 73%
Washington 72%
Local County Participation:
Clackamas 75%
Multnomah 72 %
Washington 75%
Click here to view the nation’s participation:
April 21, 2010
How does Portland’s population today compare with 1920?
Did you know in 1920 the population of Oregon was 783,389 people making the City of Portland the 24th largest city in the nation? Today, the City of Portland is the 29th largest city in the nation with 557,706 people. Currently, the estimated total population for Oregon is 3,825,657 people ranked 27th in the U.S.
Although April 1 was officially designated as Census Day, the Census Bureau will continue to accept 2010 Census questionnaires by mail through mid-April. Beginning May 1, census workers will begin going door to door to households that failed to mail back their questionnaires. This is a massive operation that will cost taxpayers an average of $57 per household.
Census workers will be in your neighborhood from May 1 through July 10 conducting interviews with addresses from which a census form was not received. Census workers may visit up to six times, each time leaving a door hanger with a phone number on it that you can call to schedule a visit to be counted.
