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June 19, 2009

I've Kind Of Lost Track Of Who's Yanking Who Around Here

So, let me see if I have this straight. I've gotten things wrong before.

After attempting to romance the process, Merritt Paulson's apparently no longer going to try to put the Beavos in Lents Park (maybe he's read some handwriting on some wall somewhere). Mayor Sam has decided to de-link MLS at The Piggy from baseball anywhere in town, but Happy Fun Commissioner Randy has just insisted that Paulson continue to want to put the stadium in Lents or Randy's going to check out of the whole thing.

I get this feeling that everyone's telling each other that they're going to quit the game, take their ball and go home. Trouble is, the game is pelote, and the ball is a rugby ball.

Also, if you aren't a player in the power game, or if you don't agree with the way things are going, you're asked to please step aside, sit down and STFU and let the big boys play this one out. Reading Commissioner Randy's blog entry on the development kind of makes me feel a little odd, if only because of the way Randy apologized for Paulson's apparent manhandling at the hands of the unenlightened hoi-polloi, whom Randy characterizes as being a "mob, on the verge of being out of control".

I doubt things got that bad, but when you want something real real bad and not everyone agrees with you, sometimes it looks that way, yes. The trouble with being a hammer, though, is that every obstacle you encounter looks like a nail.

What kinda stays under my skin about all this is the way Randy and Sam seem hellbent on giving the Beavers and Timbers owner what they think he wants and as quickly as possible. If this process were a vehicle, it'd be a runaway train on which the engineer is saying, no, everything's running fine, thanks, and those passengers who are complaining about the speed are just a big bunch of crybabies.

It should be obvious that I don't agree with that. But, as skeptical as I am, I will give Paulson credit for this, as he said in his letter to Council:

Now, with the September 1 deadline to secure a funding plan to ready PGE Park for Major League Soccer fast approaching, it is critical that we reach an agreement to fund PGE Park improvements or risk losing the unique opportunity to bring MLS to Portland altogether. For this reason, and a lack of community support for a new Triple-A stadium in Lents, I am withdrawing our proposal for a Lents baseball stadium. I am grateful for the time and serious consideration the neighborhood leaders, city staff, elected officials and Lents residents have given this proposal the past few months, but it is now clear that the community-at-large has not embraced this idea.

Which is entirely gracious and reasonable and tells it like it is and makes me wonder what Sam and Randy are panicking about. I will admit that maybe I've been a little unfair to Merritt Paulson, but I'll bet he's a big enough guy that he can handle it.

The people really aren't that thrilled with the idea. Sounds like he's willing to try something else.

But, as I said, I could be wrong.

I am, after all, a member of the hoi-polloi. As far as our City Council is concerned, I tend to get a lot wrong.

As Randy has pointed out, the natives can be quite revolting.

Posted by The Chinuk at June 19, 2009 06:39 PM