I’ve enjoyed reading every single comment into Jonathan’s Let’s Talk About Politics post. BikePortland is truly blessed with an informed readership which likes to follow local issues. That’s a rarity. Most people don’t pay attention to city government or politics.
Many folks are anxious about tomorrow’s election, but one commenter took the time to reflect on how our new system of voting changed this election season for her. Paige even took a paragraph to tuck in a little appreciation of Jonathan.
Here’s what she had to say:
It was probably the novelty of ranked choice voting, but I have to admit I enjoyed learning about all the candidates. Normally I avoid talking about politics with people I don’t know well, but I enjoyed hearing about everyone’s preferred mayoral candidates and city council candidates. There was a mostly good selection in each district, I think. I focused on ranking candidates that regularly ride bikes in the city. Fingers crossed!
So I’m feeling optimistic on the city level. I hope hope hope that the new county commissioners can either override JVP or force her to take action. If there’s one thing that irritates me most, it’s a politician who talks a big game and then hesitates over and over, not really accomplishing, or even trying, anything. She got preschool for all passed, but it’s not being adopted by the biggest childcare providers. She’s left millions in tax revenue unspent on homelessness because she didn’t want a recurring expense for a while… It would just be nice if the County could be a more decisive actor with the City this next go ’round. Please, spend the money!! Try literally anything other than just letting people rot on the street!
Lastly, thanks for your reporting this election cycle, Jonathan. I was initially skeptical of Keith Wilson, but ranked him #1 on my ballot, mostly thanks to your early coverage of his campaign. And I want to sow a little chaos by saying I appreciate your labeling of candidates’ politics. I found it helpful to categorize them so I knew who to put more energy into researching. It’s fine if people want to reject labels/categories, but I still find them useful.
Thank you, Paige! The Politics post’s comment count is still heading north, dip in if you want a snapshot of what your neighbors are thinking.