The Easy Win For Portland
Spoiler Alert: “Portland Polite” isn't working.
The locals who love Portland and are rooting for it to bounce back need a win – WE desperately need a win.
The encouraging piece, if we may present one, is that picking up trash is not as an insurmountable feat. When compared to our challenges associated with the unhoused, mental health crisis, drugs and lack of affordable housing, it is really quite manageable. It’s just become so out of hand that we have forgotten how straightforward it really is.
Getting and keeping our freeways and major streets clean is the easy win we’re looking for, and it should take days or weeks, not months or years, to accomplish. This is the one thing we can do NOW that will have a significantly positive effect on our livability as a community. Additionally, it will provide the momentum we need for tackling the other more complex issues facing us today.
While empathy and compassion are core to our values as a city, many of us have turned a corner and believe that being "Portland Polite" is no longer working. Our most basic expectations are being flat out ignored, and our approach needs to change. More serious pressure is necessary.
The people of Portland don't care about the Inter-Governmental Agreement between ODOT and PBOT, political turf wars, or the insufferable bureaucracy of various city, county, and state jurisdictions.
Our expectation for consistently clean, litter-free streets is NOT UNREASONABLE. Other medium and large cities like Denver, Austin and Salt Lake City can and do provide this to their residents. You know why? BECAUSE IT ISN’T THAT HARD!
We deserve real change and immediate action.
For example… Why can't ODOT/PBOT have 3 dedicated small crews of 2 people daily servicing I5, I84, 205, and I405 in Portland? This is a simple cleaning route just like those provided by Downtown Clean and Safe and any other route driver in the world. With collective budgets in the billions, this is a rounding error expense that would have an oversized positive impact well beyond any small cost. It would reignite pride and passion of place and show we can get good things done.
This is very simple: it’s about picking up trash. We don't need to launch a study, form a committee, come up with a 5-year plan, or negotiate complex 30 page multi-jurisdictional contracts. We need paid boots on the ground tomorrow, the day after and the day after that, cleaning up. Consistency in this regard is both a reasonable expectation and exactly what it will take to be successful.
If the municipalities can't sort it out immediately, they should remove any unnecessary red tape and provide a path for both profit and non-profit efforts to make our city what it can and should be. No more talk, promises, plans, or meetings. We have had those for years. ACTION is all that matters now.
We want 10,000 signatures to put pressure on the State and Local Leaders to act with urgency.
We ask you to do two things to make our voices heard:
Sign the petition below.
Share this link with your friends and colleagues and encourage them to support this as well.
Together, we will make a difference and restore Portland to the clean city it can and should be.
THANK YOU!