Skip to main contentVancouver Mayor Royce Pollard walked up to the podium at City Club's Friday Forum this afternoon, fiddling with something in his hands, the crowd silent, waiting for him to speak.
"The Cold War is over, let the duct-tape wars begin," Pollard quipped, unfurling a length of tape and fastening it to the carpet of the Governor Hotel's ballroom.
'War' might be the right word for Pollard's unique spin on cross-river relations. In 2005, the former U.S. Army commander and three-time mayor smashed Portland-themed coffee cups in a Vancouver Starbucks.
Today, Pollard championed his hometown as a full partner in the region's development, hoping to cooperate with Portland on issues of trade, transit and the environment.
But even as he offered his support for a new push for partnership, Pollard couldn't resist taking a few potshots at his city's sometime rival.
"I don't mean to offend anyone... but the Oregon Trail actually ended in Vancouver," said Pollard, peppering his speech with other little-known facts, such as Vancouver's new status as the fourth-largest city in the state of Washington.
Beginning his speech with his duct tape demonstration (drawing applause from the crowd of PSU students and city club members, proving yet again that Portland can laugh about itself), Pollard ended with a cringe-worthy patriotic demonstration.
"We must love America," he began. "If you don't feel the way I do, then maybe you ought to leave."
For your complete guide to all things "Couv," go here.
WWeek 2015