Politics

The Future of Portland Is On the Ballot. How Will We Ever Decide?

It’s officially election season in Oregon, and it’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that the future of our city is on the ballot this year.  With four of the five Portland City Council seats up for grabs, voters have a chance to either give Mayor Wheeler and his colleagues a vote of […]

/ May 11, 2020

Trump Is Sowing Fear Ahead of the Census. Jordan Hernandez Is Pushing Back.

If the 2020 Census is accurate, Oregon will get more representation in Congress, more federal funding, and more new businesses. But getting an accurate Census count means making sure all communities feel safe to participate — and the Trump administration has been making that hard to even imagine. That’s why we’re supporting “We Count: Latinx […]

/ February 5, 2020

Mailbag: ‘Why Are You Shilling for Residential Infill?’

(📸: Mark McClure) “Your constant spewing of YIMBY talking points is too much. The Residential Infill Project was designed by those who will profit off it. The fact that you are shilling it, as though it will actually help with affordable housing, is shameful.” —S.A.  And so the debate begins!  ICYMI, we wrote in Monday’s […]

/ December 17, 2019

Your View: How to Fix Oregon’s Broken Tax System

By Bennett Minton The inequities in Oregon’s property tax are only one feature of a tax system that makes no sense. I was a tax wonk in D.C. for three decades, and I’ve spent a lot of my free time thinking about taxes, the purpose of which is to fund whatever ‘we the people’ want. […]

/ November 7, 2019

The Making of a Foster Family — What Local Foster Parents Told Us About Their Decision

One couple started fostering to give their friend a break. Another did it after they couldn’t get pregnant. Another saw it as their responsibility as Christians.  To help answer reader Vanessa Holmgren’s question about the incentives for becoming a foster parent in Oregon, we’ve been asking local foster families: What convinced you to take the […]

/ August 8, 2019

The 6 Things I’ve Learned About Foster Care in Oregon

Our readers sent in some great questions this month about Oregon’s foster care system, and I’ll be digging into them throughout the summer.  For now, here’s an update on what I’ve learned: 1. First things first: what even is foster care? That’s not a stupid question. Sometimes foster care is a short-term arrangement for a kid […]

/ July 24, 2019

Portland Can’t Fix Its Homelessness Crisis Without Learning from San Francisco

(📸: Erik Cooper on Flickr) “How does the Bay Area handle the homelessness issue?” When we invited questions about what Portland can learn from the Bay Area about managing growth, several readers asked us about homelessness — and it’s no surprise. Portland’s homelessness crisis ranks among the worst in the country, and on any given […]

/ June 18, 2019

Portlanders Are Riding Public Transit Less Often. Is More Housing the Fix?

(📸: Hector Chacon) “How can we get more people to ride public transit?” Reader Judy Welles submitted that question for our series on what Portland can learn from the Bay Area about managing growth — and it’s interesting timing. TriMet just announced that ridership has dipped nearly two percent since last year, continuing a downward […]

/ June 4, 2019

‘Can Optimism In Democracy Be Exploited?’ And Other Qs for Danielle Allen

(📸: Oregon Humanities / YouTube) Oregon Humanities wrapped up its 2018-19 Think & Drink series last month by interviewing Danielle Allen, a political theorist at Harvard University and author of the memoir “Cuz.” You can watch the full conversation on YouTube. And as always, we took questions from the audience for a bonus Q&A after […]

/ June 1, 2019

Your Questions about PERS, Answered

(📸: Hector Chacon) We shared an update last week about the PERS debate down in Salem and asked you for your burning questions — and boy, did you have questions. To help get answers, we turned to North Star Civic Foundation executive director Caitlin Baggott Davis, who co-authored a recent report about the PERS crisis […]

/ May 24, 2019