Area man making $333k a year says taking away preschool is the best thing for the future of all children in Multnomah County

I think Portland, Oregon is the best city in the country

Now that Trump has passed a bill that provides massive tax cuts for the upper end of income distribution, while cutting critical services that help the poor, I hope everyone understands that local efforts directed at the same is basically a statement that the Trump don’t go far enough.

I also think the framing of DSA vs the Democrats, while welcome, is not quite right here. It should really be DSA vs Metro Chamber, who are quoted like 10 times and have had a stranglehold on Portland city hall forever, so much so that they effectively control the city’s economic development agency

The Willamette Week interview was interesting because I think the undercurrent of the whole thing is a fundamental misunderstanding or willfully narrow view of DSA as a left wing policy/lobbying organization, not a member driven socialist organization

The adopted PSR Resolution:

💚 Establishes PSR as a Co-Equal Branch
⌚ Commits to Expanding PSR 24/7
🔍 Establishes Community Committee
💙 Re-establishes Access to Supplies
📞 Expands Exploration of Call Types
❌ Ensures PSR is Not Used in Enforcement Activities
📈 Re-establishes Independent Evaluation

Cc: @tinakotek.bsky.social

Preschool for All supporters are holding a press conference outside a Portland preschool to “send a clear message to the Oregon legislature and Governor…hands off Preschool for All.”

NO ON SB106 Late at night on June 24, the Senate Finance Committee requested a last-minute amendment to S.B. 106, specifically written to kill Preschool for All. You can read reporting about this wildly undemocra...

URGENT for Oregonians! Please take two seconds to do this quick email campaign to the Senate Finance Committee and the State Leg and tell them not to kill Preschool for All!!!!!! actionnetwork.org/letters/no-o...

58,422 people voted for senator Taylor.

286,068 people voted for Preschool For All

Dept. of Early Learning and Care Standards: part-time/part-year, tiny programs, poverty wages & long waiting lists. By Fall 2025 in Mult Co, Preschool for All will serve more kids, pay nearly $5/hr more, have more variety of programs and $$ coming in to expand to all kids by Fall 2030.

Seems to me that the worst possible time to shy away from building a strong social safety net based upon local progressive taxation is when the federal government is doing fascism.

My office has produced a brief report that addresses the tax burden myths that are driving the current push to halt the Preschool for All revenue collection. Credit goes to my Senior Policy Advisor and Chief Economist Dr. Erik Dean. Bottom line: taxes are not driving people out of the county 🧵

Boosting for the morning crowd since we finished this at midnight. Share and contact your reps telling them to oppose SB 106

These people aren’t afraid Mamdani would be a bad mayor. We have a ridiculous, corrupt, incompetent mayor right now and the city is hanging in OK. They’re declaring all-out war because they’re afraid Mamdani (or Lander) might be a good mayor.

I'll have more to say tomorrow, but I'll note that we observe an increasing share of higher income earners in the county - a class who is often referred to as our tax base, and who is apparently fleeing due to this tax.

Chart by economist Mary King.

City of Portland Invests $26M to Acquire, Convert Three Apartment Buildings to Affordable Housing The three buildings total 226 units; Metro Housing Bond funds were used for one acquisition, TIF dollars for two.

🎉 Great news! Portland Housing Bureau is investing $26M to acquire 3 apartment buildings, creating 226 affordable homes. Smart use of market conditions to bring housing online faster than new construction serving families who need it most! #AffordableHousing

www.portland.gov/phb/news/202...

I guess I made the hat on purpose. The accident is that it is gnome hat shaped

accidentally made a gnome hat

bsky.app/profile/coun...

Note Kanal 10 was about whether PPB should prioritize community needs, incl. human trafficking, stolen vehicle operations, etc., or continue to prioritize OT hours on community presence & large responses to peaceful demonstrations.

I'm grateful it passed, & surprised it wasn't 12-0 (read it!).

1/2

Sycophant shit honestly. All the chatter from the conservative side of Portland has been nominally about those core services. Apparently that was all a lie and their priority is not actually “crime” and “public safety” broadly. Their priority is preventing protests. What a waste

Notable that the centrist/conservative side of city council voted against the budget note to have PPB prioritize standard police services (retail theft, gun violence, other stuff) instead of what they originally decided to prioritize (protest policing)

Today I used my public communication slot to speak on Portland DSA’s transit rider survey which I helped lead. Please check it out!

portlanddsa.org/ecosocialist...

It’s cool. It’s cool seeing a baby learn every little thin about what it like to be human and alive. What’s up with you, how you been

@svevan.bsky.social hey Evan what’s up

the answer I’ve received to this is that assessed values dont necessarily correlate to actual household income because of prop 5 and prop 50. So higher income areas with older, bigger housing (like inner southeast) is waaaaay under-assessed, but that’s who should be paying into a progressive system

😤😤😤 let’s get this bread (and redistribute it)

With Newfound Sway at City Hall, Portland’s Democratic Socialists Hope to Redefine the City’s Priorities How do you solve a problem like an unprecedented city budget deficit? Over the last few months of budget planning, Portland leaders suggested a host of ways to close the roughly $93 million gap, from ...

Members of Portland’s DSA have been fixtures at city meetings about next year’s budget. Their message to “tax the rich” goes against ingrained local fears about raising taxes, but with allies in City Hall, the group has a unique opportunity to get the word out.