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We are living in the smoky overlap between wildfire season and election season. And this is where we find Portland City Councilor Mitch Green, who on July 26 violated city and county burn bans with a backyard brush pile fire that summoned four Portland firefighters to his westside house. After WW obtained the Portland Fire & Rescue incident report (“Firestarter,” Aug. 5), Green pleaded ignorance of the rules and said he’d learned a lesson. It was not ideal timing: Green is up for reelection this November, and his democratic socialist supporters are already knocking on doors in District 4. Here’s what our readers had to say:
City Councilor Mitch Green, via Bluesky: “Just want to acknowledge here that while I wasn’t aware of the burn ban, it was still a dumb thing to do and you gotta check these things. Especially me. I didn’t, I own that, and I am really grateful for the responders on Engine 18 who showed up to make sure the situation was under control.”
IntrepidGirlSleuth, via Bluesky: “Dude. It’s fucking August. The state is on fire. How in the world could you imagine it was cool to burn?”
Lisa Loving, via wweek.com: “Mind boggling. I have spent so many years complaining about city councilors—the hubris of Charlie Hales, the sexism of Bud Clark, whatever the hell that was about fluoride in the water, on and on. BUT THEY DID THEIR HOMEWORK. None of these people were as carelessly ignorant as the current majority on this council. Texting each other during the council meeting? Everyone else learned not to do that 20 years ago when WW FOIA’d the entire MultCo Commission’s cellphone coms during a meeting. I VOTED FOR THESE PEOPLE, BUT I WON’T NEXT TIME. It’s great to bring fresh voices to the political table but JFC, DO YOUR HOMEWORK.”
GoPointers, via Reddit: “Four to five years ago, my old neighbor, a Portland firefighter, burned a brush pile. I knew there was a ban and didn’t report him because it looked like he was mostly watching it and keeping it controlled with a garden hose. However, it’s important to note that a lot of people think laws do not apply to them.
“If you need to get rid of a pile of yard debris but it’s too big for your compost bin, you can always contact your garbage hauler and order a drop box. It’s not super cheap, but not crazy expensive either. A few years ago, I had to remove a giant hedge that was dying, and when a (different) neighbor’s tree fell on a portion of it, crushing the hedge and destroying part of a fence, I bit the bullet. I believe I paid less than $700 for a 40-yard drop box. I completely filled it, packed tight. After they dumped it and got the weight, I ended up with enough credit I applied it to my garbage bill and didn’t have to pay anything for over six months. So, there are options that won’t break the bank.”
Alu Toloa, via wweek.com: “Gov. John Haydon, whose sole qualification was his service on the Seattle Port Commission, and incidentally being a major Washington state Nixon supporter, decreed upon ascending to almost absolute power in 1969 (for which he was satirized in Doonesbury and later indicted by the American Samoa AG) that: “One Law for Everyone” was going to be the overriding theme of his dictatorship. As with Portland’s most honorable public servant, Lord Acton’s dictum remains apropos.”
bus enjoyer, via Bluesky: “I pay close attention to local burn bans as a fire nerd, but frankly the city and county could do a lot more to ensure all residents know about current burn bans. It shouldn’t be buried on a web page or require a text sign-up. My neighbors often miss the memo.”
DJ, via wweek.com: “For the love of God, give it a rest. The guy made a mistake. I am much more concerned about his actions concerning the post he was elected to.”
Monkeychasedweasel, via Reddit: “Look in his fridge and I bet you’ll find foie gras.”
ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES
Your coverage of this issue has been extensive, thank you [“OHSU Board Approves Plan to Deemphasize—but Not Eliminate—Medical Center’s Monkey Research,” wweek.com, July 26].
Animal liberation was once only a dream of people like Leonardo da Vinci. Thanks to Dr. Jane Goodall, who was a driving force in stopping all experiments on chimpanzees and retiring them to sanctuaries, that dream started to come true. Dr. Goodall publicly declared her support for closing the OHSU monkey labs. That day will come, sooner rather than later, notwithstanding attempts by monkey experimenters to retain the status quo despite a litany of monkey deaths, thousands of them planned at the end of some horror or other, and many due to “accidents.” Science moved on years ago with the arrival of such effective, relevant research methods as organs-on-chips, yet OHSU has kept on electro-ejaculating monkeys, removing babies from their mothers, and implanting wires into monkeys’ heads. There will be no retribution trials, but there should be.
Ingrid Newkirk
Founder, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Washington, D.C.
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
