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During last month’s winter monsoon, we were scanning the headlines when we read that flooding in Seattle had caused rats to come crawling out of residents’ toilets. We were heartened by that news: Portland might be circling the drain, but here was proof that things could always be worse. Then a WW staffer with a long memory pointed out that, historically, Portland has also had incidents of toilet rats. This put something of a damper on our celebrations, but we still think the Rose City could salvage a modest marketing campaign. Portland: Fewer toilet rats than Seattle. It has a nicer ring to it than “doom loop,” the term Portland Metro Chamber president Andrew Hoan has been using in his latest Cassandra campaign regarding downtown/Old Town/ghost town. We scrutinized that term to finish off 2025, and we noticed that the City Council was talking about it, too—it had come up, for example, while City Councilor Mitch Green was debuting his plans to ban foie gras. Everybody had something to say about that juxtaposition. Don’t believe us? Read on:
City Councilor Mitch Green, via email: “The fact is that I care deeply about the economic health of our city and worry about the risk of falling into a doom loop every day, which is why I fought for and secured resources in the FY25-26 budget for important downtown economic catalysts like Portland Center Stage and the James Beard Public Market. It’s why I supported very vocally the waiver of system development charges for housing production, efforts to reduce red tape in the design review process, and have continued to push the administration to move faster on the upzoning work for the inner eastside.
“Are we in a doom loop? No, but if we can’t address the affordability crisis facing our city and get our fiscal house in order, we run the risk of entering one. I agree with Mr. Hoan that we have a challenging decade ahead of us, but we can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
BeBetterPDX via wweek.com: “I love Portland. Lived here over 30 years and don’t want to give it up to feckless politicians and the nonprofit industrial complex. It’s a community full of well-intentioned people who also have difficulty connecting economic dots. That’s why we fall for slick campaigns that promise a better future and pull our hair out when the costs balloon beyond what was sold (PCEF, P4A, Homeless Services tax, school bonds, etc.) and are outraged when the poor stewardship of these dollars are revealed through reporting in WW and The O (The Mercury remains the go-to message board for the DSA crowd).
“Things will get better. And I hope soon. But I definitely miss early aughts Portland that was cool and optimistic.”
John Meyers, via Bluesky: “I would love to read an account about what the hell happened to WW in the 2010s to turn them from an alt-weekly to whatever this is.”
Lauren Armony, via Bluesky: “Who or what, pray tell, are the sacred cows Hoan is speaking of? Because they certainly are not the ones I’m thinking of.
“Wealthy Portlanders need to pay for the amenities they want to see, plain and simple. Having local leaders advocate against artificial inflation would also be a solid step.”
TheRightToDream, via Reddit: “This is what happens when the ideology is decoupled from reality. Most self-proclaimed socialists or leftists under 40 have no understanding of economics and have built their ideology on social justice.
“Despite the fact the social justice requires a foundation of economic justice, and that can’t happen if the system can’t support itself.”
Nick, via Bluesky: “The corporate lobbyist guy who makes like $400,000 per year (subsidized by the public) to do the bidding of corporations and downtown property owners has an opinion so it’s the duty of Willamette Week to print it.
“Spoiler: Leftists are destroying the city by not giving his clients what they want.
“Guess who they highlight as the problem?
“Every conservative in town viscerally hates Mitch, so you know he’s doing it right.
“Mitch is getting the Mamdani treatment from conservative media.”
averybusymind, via Reddit: “Man, if the PNW doesn’t turn this homeless and drug abuse mess around quick, fast and in a hurry, the entire region will become like the rust belt. Taxing rich people without cleaning up the streets first is adding insult to injury. The very basic level of the social contract is clean streets and safe places to raise a family. Reneging on that promise only to dog whistle to the social justice warrior base is going to destroy this area. You don’t get to tax like California when you don’t have California weather and Silicon Valley.”
malena, via Bluesky: “Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see WW report on the 20,000 square feet of asphalt that turned into greenspace at Morning Star Baptist Church last year, or how neighboring Rigler Elementary depaved their playground or how PCEF just funded the church between them to replace their parking lot with a garden.”
tiredhunter, via Reddit: “Is this [‘doom loop’] a new name for [Interstate] 5/405 around the city? It works, but I still prefer ‘Red ring of death.’”
TIME TO SCALE BACK THE PRESCHOOL TAX
I just read that there most likely will be 3,000 less seats/children than previously forecasted in the Preschool for All funding. Thus, the fund balance (unspent) may grow to some very healthy levels [“New Modeling of Preschool for All Shows Fund Balance Could Hit $2 Billion if Status Quo Remains,” wweek.com, Dec. 29]. Not surprising. This is a time to recalibrate this very onerous tax which should or may include: Recalibrate the tax to higher income levels; $125,000/$200,000 is too low given the cost of living in Portland. Obviously, throw out the projected 0.8% tax increase. Also look to recalibrate eligibility to fund seats for the more needy students where families make 125% [of median] income with diminishing levels of funding above the agreed-upon income level. Just like in the latest Portland Public Schools bond measure, completing high school builds at exorbitant costs for 1,800-student capacity where “real” projections for students is and will continue to diminish as families flee the city and demographics point to less students. Projections by those electeds are, it seems, purposely inflated to justify more taxes and their projects when in reality the population they intend to serve is far less.
Todd DeNeffe
Co-Chair, Land Use Committee
Central Eastside Industrial Council
Letters to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to:
P.O. Box 10770
Portland, OR 97296
Email: amesh@wweek.com
