damn what is wrong with me, i am having the hardest time concentrating on work, i lament as i compulsively refresh live feeds of unspeakable horrors

Good news, bad news from tonight's CRC meeting. Good news: City staff showed up and answered some hard questions thoughtfully and candidly. Bad news: The transition to a new form of police oversight is probably going to take longer than even my worst prediction.

The director of Portland’s police oversight agency is resigning amid a department overhaul.

OIR Report is out, for those of you who pay attention to such things: www.portland.gov/ipr/news/202... There will be a public hearing on this on Wednesday, January 28.

This year I spent two full weeks of my life in volunteer meetings, mostly in my local and for the Citizen Review Committee, but also for Multnomah County and Metro. I love this city, but this has been the most grueling year of my life... well, except for next year.

Only got six emails at work over Christmas. Record low.

You: What time is it? Me: I DO NOT KNOW! NOBODY KNOWS!

Having a minor crash out bc I said, "This reminds me of my 30s" for the first time, today.

Slow news day, huh?

I am only going to make one observation: Robert Taylor is the City Attorney. Robert Butler is a guy who regularly signs up for public communication at City Council.

Slow news day, huh?

Celebrated two years in public service, today. It's been a wild ride, but I'm endlessly grateful to be able to do this work on behalf of Portlanders. The view isn't bad, either. 🖤

This made me cry at my desk

A lighter note from Council, tonight: lot of mentions of IPR (Independent Police Review) doing sweeps, as opposed to IRP.

Solidarity with the workers of the Independent Police Review / AFSCME 189 and appreciation to @councilorepg.bsky.social, @councilorzimmerman.bsky.social, @councilordunphy.bsky.social, and @councilordanryan.bsky.social for not crossing the picket line, today.

It's over: I've already depicted you as the seething broad gauge train, and myself as the smug narrow gauge!

Why does Sombr look like he wants to represent Washington's 3rd Congressional District?

Starting a thread for every time the sunset date for the CRC/IPR gets pushed out. Today's incident ensures that this current system will remain hearing cases until 2026 or 2027.

If I'm being honest, I simply DO dream of labor, a lot of the time.

Looking forward to arguing about whether this is an acceptable use of a farm stand permit, next season.

Having no plans on a holiday weekend is functionally equivalent to having the Sunday Scaries four nights in a row.

Hmm

The City is in a tough spot here because it's not clear to me that they can honor the request from IPR staff. However, they've also had a half decade to come up with a solution to a problem that they've known about for the jump, and they've seemingly made no progress.

I am gravely concerned that the union workers of AFSCME 189-5 have unanimously voted to strike after months of unfruitful negotiations with the City of Portland. www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/0...

It's notable that this system will remain in place until sometime in 2026, which means you'll continue to hear about these decisions well into 2027 or 2028. In my opinion, the absolute best case scenario for OCPA/CBPA *STARTING* case intake is July 1, 2026.

I must admit, albeit somewhat reluctantly, that Axon's evidence system is an upgrade from the previous system: "root around on OneDrive for a gas station security footage."

I'm not saying that this year has been stressful, but I have taken to drinking 1 or 2 cans of Celsius at night to "unwind."

Not to draw too fine a point on this, but the current interpretation of Public Meetings law, coupled with Council's reasonable (but logistically challenging) desire to have more direct oversight of appointments is already having a crippling effect on appointments to advisory bodies like the CPBA.

I feel like the existence of Portland Fire (the WBNA team) and Portland Fire (the public safety agency) is occasionally going to cause some confusion on this site.

FYI: Repair & Restore Grant is back, thanks to funding from City Council in this year's budget. prosperportland.us/repair-resto...

oh you haven’t heard of that proposal? it’s in the portland plan. it’s in central city in motion. it’s in the northeast 30th place arterial plan. it’s in the streetcar plan. it’s in the vacancy tax study. it’s in the housing production plan. charlie hales mentioned it to bikeportland nine years ago

Want to know more about the county budget and have a say in how your tax dollars are spent? You should consider joining a Community Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC)! Multnomah County is currently recruiting CBAC volunteers for almost every department at the county.

Had coffee this morning with the newest member of the CRC (yes, that's still a thing). Realized that we'd actually met before, a literal lifetime ago.

As Chair of the Citizen Review Committee, I want to congratulate the 21 members and 6 alternates who were appointed to the inaugural class of the Community Board for Police Accountability tonight, and I want to thank them for stepping forward to do this work.

"Having allergies during Budget Season is going fine, why do you ask?"

Sunday Scaries now include: editing talking points at a show.

I hope that there’s an interim solution, but what’s underlying all of this is that costs to the county for outsourced vet care are skyrocketing. MCAS bringing more vet capability in-house is the right thing to do. But the transition is complicated, especially in a tight budget year.

A nuance here that isn't addressed in the article: MCAS is part of MultCo Dept. of Community Services, which also covers Elections, Land Use, and Transportation. Since constraints are handled at the Department level, deciding on cuts to DCS means you have nothing but bad options.

It was an honor to show up yesterday for Prosper Portland, for the employees of AFSCME 3769, for the work + commitments this agency stands for. I am grateful to everyone who showed up for us this week: community, Oregon AFSCME & 189, and the Councilors who voted against the Amendment.

Portland faces many issues, from homelessness and public safety to a big budget deficit that the mayor and City Council are dealing with. https://www.koin.com/nwpolitics/prosper-portlands-mitch-daugherty-on-setting-the-stage-for-the-citys-comeback/?cid=bluesky_ 

The strategic investment fund is also often the only investment neighborhoods outside of the “downtown core” who has their own lobbying arm gets from the city. And thanks to those investments we’ve seen tourism grow tangibly in neighborhoods like Kenton / St Johns. 1/

Also the consistent, daily experience of working in local government.

My thanks to @pdxstepheng.bsky.social & @turoczy.bsky.social for calling out the dangers of slashing Prosper Portland's budget. @councilorgreen.bsky.social & @councilordunphy.bsky.social's proposed amendment will directly lead to the cutting of at least 30 union jobs that I represent.

New band name idea: "Legacy Hand"

I think maybe we've underestimated the amount of lead exposure in WA-3.

If you're one of the 30 people on YouTube waiting for City Council to start, try watching OpenSignal instead: reflect-opensignalpdx.cablecast.tv/cablecastapi...

Didn't think I'd get to post this twice in one night, but...

It's a tie!