In a recent Oregon Catalyst article by Stew Robertson, the fecklessness of Portland Parks and Rec is underscored by the story of the local pickleball organization's inability to work on unusable tennis courts and convert them to pickleball use -- a game which resembles tennis, but on a shorter court with less responsive paddles and balls, so as to be playable by the less-athletic. The article says:

Fed up with only half of Sellwood Park’s tennis courts being usable, the retirees of the PDX Pickleball Club raised $9,000 of their own money to repair the courts and, in alignment with Parks and Rec’s eventual plans for the property, convert them to pickleball courts.

Two weeks into their work, Parks and Rec ordered them to stop. They were told they would need to pay $1,000 to apply for a permit and then an additional $2,500 per week in rent while the repairs were being undertaken.

What the article doesn't say -- and might be regarded as so universally true as to be axiomatic -- is that you get the government that you vote for, and when you vote for Democrats year-in and year-out, this is the government you get is as responsive as this. There's only one party in Portland. It's the Democrats.

After reading the Catalyst article, you might be just a little bit outraged at the Government of the City of Portland and you might just as strongly feel sorry for Pickleball PDX, the group that may not be a bunch of leftist agitators or socialist warriors, but just a group that wants places to play pickleball.

The entire board of Pickleball PDX is registered as Democrats. Does that change the way you feel about them? Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is a Democrat. Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio -- in charge of Parks and Rec -- is a Democrat. Each and every board member of Pickleball PDX is a Democrat.

Nothing gets done.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-08-09 10:55:00

Last Update: 2021-08-09 22:28:18