Mark Fulop

When PDX district city councilors are focused on troops in Portland, milling around an ICE facility, they’re not talking about 3-4 business owners in a neighborhood having their HVAC systems gutted for scrap metal by known homeless drug users. Leaving the businesses with huge unplanned expenses.

Now that @schumer.senate.gov & @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social successfully made a day of mourning seem bipartisan, rumor has it they are now drafting formal apologies to Randy Weaver, David Koresh, & Timothy McVeigh, sayin, “what the heck, let’s get ahead of this for once. “

My point. How about learning from the experts at PSU’s School of Urban Studies & Planning. The cost of the vacation was reported by Avalos as approximately $130K for the 20 people who went. That money could have been spent of supporting small business districts, parks, arts, etc.

I think this summary falls somewhere between bougie & propaganda in the urban dictionary

I agree with lot of what pdx city councilors do but when the “socialists”of decide to take a vacation to Vienna on taxpayers’ dime & ignore the local academics, researchers & resident experts in housing, urban planning & social sciences, it’s straight up bougie, regardless of the propaganda reels.

I was talking with someone recently who did not know who Jim Jones was, never heard of Ruby Ridge & only had a vague idea of the significance of David Koresh. This week I was reminded to pull Waco Rising off the shelf & revisit the highlights.

Part of me knows that I should be quoting Matt 5 but part of me wants to be quoting Psalms 137. So I best be quiet.

In a Decade, Baltimore Cut Vacancy by More Than 20 Percent. This Didn’t Happen by Accident Over the past 70 years, Baltimore has experienced population decline and disinvestment that has resulted in a high number of vacant properties. Through a whole-block redevelopment strategy, $3 billion...

This is important reading for @portlandcouncil.bsky.social Development is a done well neighborhood by neighborhood.

“The state and city have made large cross-sector investments to finance neighborhood-based redevelopment.”

Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire SEATTLE — Two people fighting the Bear Gulch fire on the Olympic Peninsula were arrested by federal law enforcement Wednesday, in a confrontation described by firefighters and depicted in photos and v

They were literally fighting wildfires. Where is the outrage? @cantwell.senate.gov & @murray.senate.gov

Portland city councilors will travel to Austria for housing junket Councilors will spend six days learning about social housing, which Vienna implemented starting in the early 20th century to subsidize and regulate units.

Playing the socialist & equity card until they realize they can use taxpayer dollars to take a Vienna vacation.

@councilordunphy.bsky.social @counciloravalos.bsky.social @councilorgreen.bsky.social

www.oregonlive.com/business/202...

It’s not just that the oligarchs don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes.

Many of them literally do not believe in the concept of government.

They are rich and powerful and have the “divine right” to do anything they want.

VOTE NO @councilormorillo.bsky.social @counciloravalos.bsky.social
@councilorkanal.bsky.social
@councilorclark.bsky.social
@councilorzimmerman.bsky.social
@councilorepg.bsky.social
@councilordanryan.bsky.social
@councilortiffany.bsky.social
Novick & Smith
cc: @mayorkwilson.bsky.social

As the husband & partner of a small business owner, I can attest to the shortsightedness of the proposed cuts to neighborhood livability, small business strength & community equity that the amendment to defund Prosper Portland has at its core. Vote no…

So in essence, the truth of this amendment is to suck, $15 million dollars of $ capital from micro & small businesses in the neighborhoods Green & Dunphy were elected to represent. So stop gaslighting us. Micro & small business need more help not less.

Gaslighting is not just for the right. According to the press release of Green & Dunphy the amendment eliminated $11 million General Fund Prosper Portland & instead “fund its operations through a $50 million Strategic Investment Fund—a revolving loan program used to finance local businesses.”

…so that neighborhood economies can thrive through vibrant, public spaces, incentivized, micro/small businesses & a thoughtful and deep public engagement. Walkable business districts create thriving neighborhood economies & network across the city. Together.

#portland

The boom loop that Portland, Oregon really needs, is to capitalize on the four district model that has been adopted as the new charter. In this model, we make distributed investments across all four districts…

Morning coffee ☕️ “If a modest fraction of a community shift a modest fraction of their expenditures toward local business, the economic boost can be extraordinary. One study found that a shift of just 10% of purchases could create 31,000 new jobs paying $940 million in new wages.”

The budget released yesterday is most discouraging in the lack of meaningful support for place making & fostering district neighborhood economies. Small businesses need way more investments, less of the endless fees & more PBOT & PPR investments to make neighborhoods more small business friendly.

Portland mayor, Oregon governor propose suspending development fees to boost housing construction • Oregon Capital Chronicle Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and Gov. Tina Kotek announced a plan Thursday to incentivize developers to build more new housing in Portland.

Undoubtedly the stupidest idea floated this week. If the city councilors don’t see how this would undermine all four districts & damage neighborhood businesses. Then we are screwed as a city. This ideas plus MBL support = increased disparity & inequity.

Easter. The cross is not a symbol of blood atonement sacrifice. It was a the ultimate act of revolution.

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offering & again
He has told you what the Lord requires. Do justice, to love mercy & walk humbly with your God?

YouTube video by Ace Records Gil Scott-Heron - Whitey On the Moon (Official Audio)

Just a friendly reminder of where we are today. Oh. The same place we were in 1970 when Nixon was president. #BezosOrionRocket

youtu.be/goh2x_G0ct4

News flash. Senator Lisa Murkowski along with half a dozen other senators could stop this chaos today.

Imagine you’re a local small pharmacy & your small biz is destroyed by a billionaire who cuts you out as a “middleman.”

Dude’s net worth $5 B from disrupting & destroying local economies. Here’s a radical idea liquidate 1/2 your wealth & give each state $50 million small biz support centers.

When #church leaders are suggesting that empathy can be (or is) a sin? The faith that you profess is in free fall and crashes into the Empire as the “Deutsche Christens”

Note to my #Christian pastor friends? Time to double down as the vocal & faithful opposition of the “Bekennende Kirche.”

John Brunner, Harlan Ellison, Philip K Dick, William Gibson, Philip Jose Farmer, Bruce Sterling. More recently Octavia Butler

A rich L.A. neighborhood donated surveillance technology to the LAPD — then drama ensued Some police officials are pushing back after a wealthy community gifted the department scores of controversial, high-tech cameras that scan license plates.

How many dystopian science fiction books I read in the 70s forecasted the oligarchy in the United States? A lot.

Yesterday’s #protests demonstrated the power of organizing & that we are not isolated & alone. Bur it likely won’t make a meaningful impact on public policy. It was important but let’s not confuse yesterday with what happened in 2019 when Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 showed us how to ouster a corrupt leader.

CCC – In Roosevelt History

On this day in 1933, FDR established the Civilian Conservation Corps, offering jobs, hope, and environmental stewardship.

The CCC uplifted a generation of workers and improved public lands—a reminder of leadership that invests in and supports workers. fdrlibrary.wordpress.com/tag/...

10 Organizing Principles for Defeating Trumpism 2.0 We need principles that build power now and for the long term.

From @yesmedia.bsky.social comes this handy top 10.