Mayor Dumb And Commissioner Dumber (Or Vice Versa?)
So, wonder of wonders, City Council today actually had the balls to delay enforcement of the sit/lie law until and unless various homeless services actually are put into place first. But in the process, some of the stupidest things ever were uttered from behind the Council dais.
While voting against the proposal, Commissioner Dan Saltzman actually said that City Council should respect the SAFE committee and leave things as they were because the committee accomplished the task Council charged it with even if Council didn’t understand what it charged the committee to do.
Meanwhile, also while voting against the proposal, Major Tom Potter argued that with rights come responsibilities, but was speaking only of the responsibility of the homeless to behave. Nowhere did he speak of the responsibility of those interests who want to push out the homeless to first give them someplace to go.
These may truly be the two stupidest people in the City of Portland.
To make it worse, Major Tom then tried to illegally bar the media from a committee covered under Oregon’s public meetings law — which, even if in “executive session”, a body must permit the media to attend except in very narrow and specifically-defined circumstances, none of which apply in this case.
Idiots.