Politically, Portland is in a place of trying to keep up with appearances. It has been that way for the longest time and because of it mistakes are being made. Going more in depth no one needs to state that politically the past few election cycles have been painful. While there may not be a complete list of answers in my crystal ball there are enough that, I think, will explain how keeping up with the Joneses has made Portland fall from where it once was, as a city with so much to offer, to a warning.

For those who do not know, or may be seeing this in another country ‘ keeping up with the joneses ‘ is an saying that often describes an entity, in this case a city, keeping up with neighbors like it for the sake of not losing status. Portland may have been feeling it, because for those who do not know Oregon is on the west cast and the major cities of California, Oregon, and Washington have been the guiding force for the state as a whole, which as angered a fair number of people as the Greater Idaho project will show.

Portlandia, the fake corporate image of quirkiness for story line sake had been something that should not have been so strictly adhered to. Poetic, though that in trying to be we completely stole a line from Austin, Texas. Keep Portland weird, should have been ‘Keep Portland Honest’. Nothing is wrong with a little bit of nuance provided it is honest and it is not becoming a toxic trait. Make beer, smoke weed, be safe about it, and no problems will be heard from me. Unfortunate that many of the moments since then to try and keep the ‘quirky vibe’ had been something that has hurt us overall. The biggest backing issue of that is the Homeless situation, We did not want to appear like we were mean, because the idea of Portlandia had been ingrained where people are nice, and that is not nice.

Continuing with this keeping up, I would like to make a note that San Francisco and Seattle are both very liberal, and have been that way for quite a while All three of them are aligned politically and all three of them have issues, but unlike Seattle we don’t have the sports trades and the rare streak of sense to save us. San Francisco has the Money, but that does not save them, meanwhile Portland has neither. When it makes mistakes that money can help cushion the blow, it cannot do it so much as the other two, and when all three cities started allowing homeless sent to them. When the George Floyd riots were prolonged by all three because politically the riots and they aligned, and that can be verified by all three cutting money to police, rescuing rioters who had committed damage against the cities, and often times even go protest with them. Back in the Portland resistance Ted Wheeler thought it would be a good idea to join the protests with Antifa and BLM. One of those has been a group filled with pedo’s and now a group who has had one hundred million dollars over the past few years to go in reverse.

“Wheeler was protesting against the feds, then, it does not count.”

Yes, yugioh memes. However those who voice said opinion just did. The buildings in question were being damaged by the riots and were targeted and the city did not do anything to help, standing in unity against those with beliefs different from them who currently held the white house. So, because Portland looked to the other two of the three stooge cities and saw what they did, and wanted to do it too they did some stupid whose purity has to be higher then what we have seen before. Jesse and Heisenberg would need to rewrite the laws of science for meth this pure and Portland is creating condensed idiocy because the cool kids are.

It has been that way for a while, and now we need to fix it and stop the stupid lab. This is not something that can be done in months, this will have to be fixed in years and it will need to be done quick. So in no major order some ways to fix it.

First, arrest the county commissioner on all the charges he has allowed to happen because he actively let those with his political beliefs have a free walk or a slap on the wrist for charges others would get years for. Charge him as associate in all those crimes, I doubt he would get charged on one, but that means he would not be able to handle his office fairly and would need to be removed. He may even get charges, some would cheer for that.

Second, you actually clear homeless encampments and if there are drug issues you arrest them and tell them if found again it is going to be years. We have been so soft now that we have to push everything back quickly, and it will seem mean. Deal with it. Keep 110 ( the measure to have small amounts of every drug legal), but if you are found with quantities of hard drugs for dealing its minimum 5 years no deals to go lower, no more bargains.

Third, figure out whether you back the police or not, but do not waffle because either way there will be those hurt. No police, means people handle business themselves and when enough people figure that out, that means if you try to steal a candy bar and get a chest of birdshot, that’s on you. If you let people sleep on your property and the light it on fire, blame rests on your shoulders.

Fourth, remove the homeless camps and rework the mini home parks for veterans needing them and students in the city and the surrounding areas studying to better themselves. They are the ones that can live in those should free up more resources down the line for homeless families trying to get things back together, and if people want to live in their car then they need to do it in a respectful manner at least, which shouldn’t be much of a problem. A lot of people working ot survive, and living out of their car are the people you usually want to help.

Fifth, have homeless who just had a bad turn of luck be easily found and make sure the resources to help them specifically are known and used. Make sure the money is going to the right places and make sure you cheer for the success stories, because that gets other people looking at them, if they had just gotten a degree, or was able to juggle a certificate with their own family caretaker duties and I see that? I may just want them on my team when I have an opening, and can use their services.

Sixth, Cut all the political keeping up with the joneses and remove everyone who has not shown to be responsible in their job positions, and those who are not need to be fined for dereliction to their duty to the state, the city, and its people. If there are any political position where someone has been underhanded or taken money or items for reasons they should not have. It should be an instant, loss of job, loss of benefits and investigation for charges, and if evidence is found then enforce the laws and commit to possible punishment.

Seventh, figure out what this city wants to be, and what the businesses and the people want to be and realize there will always be hardship, but we can strive past it. Not shy away and cry when things don’t go our way.

Stay Strong In Any Case