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I'm okay with some filming here and there around town, but I hope it doesn't get out of hand.  I lived in a place (NYC) for many years where there was a lot of filming around town, and it can get really annoying and be a big inconvenience.  Being told "no you can't cross the street right now" when you're just trying to get to work (or home from work) or get some groceries gets old pretty quickly.  Plus, there's the tendency of PA's to take out their job frustrations on the public -- they turn into little Cartmans (as in "You Will Respect My Authoritah!") on a dime.  There was just an incident last week in which an irate New Yorker headbutted a PA who was preventing him from getting to the store.  I'd hate to see that kind of thing happen here.

Keep film/TV production in perspective, understand that people live here and Portland isn't just some giant backlot for Hollywood types to fly into for a few days a week.

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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The thing I think sticks out about this is the quasi-official status of events like Last Thursday and how that impacts what happens at those events.  The health inspectors shouldn't have demanded the lemonade stand be shut down on the spot (in the absence of any evidence that something like this was a health risk), but they should have clear guidelines about what rules apply at these kinds of events.  It doesn't sound like anyone has a very clear idea about this.

Cogen is right that this is an opportunity for all of us to decide what kinds of community events we want and how much control over them we are willing to concede to government authorities.  Last Thursday has had significant growing pains, but is still valued by most attendees and participants.  Do we want it to be controlled more tightly, or do we want it to be more free-form?  Do we want more of these types of events around town, or do we want tighter rules that make sure these kinds of events won't create too much chaos?  Until we figure out these kinds of questions, it's going to be difficult to create and enforce clear and consistent guidelines for participants.

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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