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AndrewJohn's comments:

on Foot Traffic

Amen to that, I joke that some Oregonians are so polite it's dangerous.

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on Foot Traffic

I bike, walk, and drive downtown every day.  I have nearly been hit while on a bike two times so far, and both times it has involved a Trimet bus.  The most enraging time was a bus with it's right turn signal on that turned left infront of me accross the bike lane on the Transit mall.  Bus drivers who are found to be making even small errors in driving should be put on probation or observation before then being fired!

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on How We Vote

I've just moved to Oregon from Ohio a few month ago, and I could not be happier about the vote by mail system. I love having the time to thoroughly research every issue and candidate as I go down my ballot. In Ohio we did not have a sample ballot and had to rely upon the punditry or special interests to inform us of what would be on the ballot. I would never have adequate time standing in the voting booth to research unfamiliar names in the races for county commissioner, state treasurer, etc. and I am a more informed voter thanks to the vote by mail system (as well as great programing from OPB and TOL).

I was required to vote provisionally in the past presidential elections in Ohio, and I still have doubt that my vote was ever counted. I love the confidence that Oregon's vote by mail system engenders.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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on Measures 63 and 64

Isn't there an argument to be made for green living innovation in regard to this measure. Removing the financial and bureaucratic impediments to individuals renovating their own homes has the possibility to promote "green" innovation on a grassroots level. It seems to me that restrictive and sometimes proscriptive codes and permit requirements keep builders (DIY'ers or otherwise) from doing innovative and possibly beneficial forward thinking things such as strawbale and cob structures and lead us instead to continue to reproduce stifling, conventional, and unsustainable homes. We shouldn't let the personal arguments about Bill Sizemore from objectively considering the validity of measure 63.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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