Oregon Media Insiders

That works great if you live in Portland. What about the people who come to see their kids in the parade from Washington, California, Idaho? Maybe I could spray paint my spot now, then next year I'll be able to be closer to the parade. I'm also setting out tape in front of Ticketmaster for when the Blazer single game tickets go on sale, so no one cut in front of me. I'll be there 10 minutes before the window opens. Thanks.

I can the see the arguments on both sides of this issue (the tape annoys me too), but going out the night before the parade because you've decided that the tape shouldn't be there is bush league. What happened to constructive dialog to work out a compromise? The fact is, the streets don't belong to the Mercury just as much they don't belong to the people putting the tape up. It's a stunt. No one 'deputized' Sheriff Mercury to go out and do this.
I agree with Potter about the poor timing of Leonard, et al bringing this up. I hope they actually make some decision about it over the summer.
It was nothing but a publicity stunt, and another example of some fringe folks in this town doing something arbitrarily to make themselves feel important (oh, and to potentially boost readership/ratings).

I think the person above has a great point. As a native Oregonian and (former) long-time Portlander, its something that everybody does and really is not a big deal. If the concern is that you see the parade from the best seats, I believe that they still seats in the grandstands outside of Memorial Coliseum. Lighten up! It's just a parade.

This issue came up when Vera Katz was our Mayor. She famously "wussed out" and didn't do anything about it then, so the problem has just gotten worse.

If you want a good seat, get your butt out of bed at 3 am and go stake out a place, but taping an area off is bogus! Good for Randy Leonard for taking this on!

What about these folks who took it one step further? It's graffiti.

Don't get me started on how many tractors they have in that thing!

Why? Were you there and saw drunken people staggering around? Because apparently no one else did.

There weren't any, at least not in any perceptible way. Cablenut (15 years sober) was there, and he didn't report any drunkenness to me--and he would have. The cops weren't called once and there were no complaints as to the behavior of the crowd. The general response to the group was nothing but positive. There were several families participating with young children. Several members of the Metblogs crew were there, including Betsy and her 9-year-old, and they all reported a positive experience. If it had been a drunken rabble I doubt the families would have stayed.

Journalism has a long tradition of crusading. This is nothing new, just something fallen into disuse.

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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother

Lynn, with mucho respect to you and Mr Cablenut, I disagree with you on this whole tape deal.
IMO, the tape is nasty, but despite all I hear about the good intentions of the Mercury, I am hard pressed to believe this was nothing more than a publicity stunt fueled by Randy "Poor Timing" Leonard. I wish the tape wasn't there either, I think it's an eyesore and especially disappointing when people fail to pick it up afterwards.
I wonder if the kids who took part realized they could be hurting the feelings of other children who now lost their view of the parade? Yeah, I've heard the "camp out the night before" argument and agree..but undoubtedly some people showed up Saturday morning with hurt feelings and tears.

Bottom line for me is that headline-grabbing guerrilla tactics seem to be displacing dialog and discussion in dealing with issues like this. Last time I checked, decisions about the city of Portland weren't made by the Mercury.

Personally, I hope they vote to outlaw this in future parades, but since it isn't illegal now I think tolerance should prevail until a decision is made. After all, isn't tolerance what Portland is all about?

That's what made it brilliant.

Re: hurt feelings and tears--that happens NOW, both when people ignore others' taped-off spots (which happens all the time) and when people arrive at the parade only to find they can't see anything because people have taped off all the good spots. First-come-and-stay, first-serve is the best and most fair policy.

And as for decisions around here, seems to me that most decisions are made without much regard for civic input, regardless how much "visioning" goes on. Occasionally someone just has to take the bull by the horns. And when it comes to bull, the first name that comes to my mind is the Mercury!

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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother

Sorry, getting here a little late to the party...but I didn't see anything untoward. I did hear someone, near the very end, suggest that they go out for a beer, but I wasn't sure if they were part of the 100+ person Merc crew or just someone walking by Pioneer Courthouse Square.

I know *I* kept feeding Matt Davis POUNDS of ketamine with whiskey backers just to keep him from ripping the tapers limb from limb. He was slurring in that lovely way only the British can manage. No one could understand a thing he said. Frankly, he looked miserable trying to lick the tape while it was still in the road. I kept trying to tell him that tongue-removal of tape was a bad idea, but his gibberish would only get more gutteral. Sounded German, actually. Fortunately, the sound of the police sirens rushing to the scene of the drug-fueled melee startled him, and made him get out of the street before his head was squished like an over-ripe mellon.

It was the kids. 9 and 10 year old kids, all juiced up on crank, beating the c**p out of the elderly, wheelchair-bound tapers that disturbed me the most. Nothing worse than that tweaker scent wafting off a 9 year old carrying an 18" ball of tape in one hand, and a baseball bat, bloodied, in the other. In flip-flops.

When their parents attacked the cop car, crushing it like a can of Dinty Moore, I knew that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The police had taken refuge inside the Nordstroms building after having been pummeled, pro-wrestling style, with the white chairs in front of the building. They, with the employees, were cowering inside, afraid for their lives and awaiting backup.

Earlier, the drug-fueled Merc crew had battled the denizens and employees of the Greek Cucina. That was an interesting sight! Plates flew in all directions, and in volleys down from the second floor. Sailors and Shore Patrol running back to the safety of their heavily armed ships. Ouzo being mixed with blood in the streets.

No, nothing to report there. Move along, now.

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DISCLAIMER: my opinions are my own, not those of OMI or any employer.

I don't know where you're getting your news (I shudder to think, but have to assume, that it's either from a TV newscast or the Lars show), but the city is in NO way contemplating "official" Rose Fest tape. That asinine idea was floated by Steve Buckstein of the staunch libertarian "think tank" Cascade Policy Institute, and it elicited disbelief from the city council audience, and bemused indifference from council itself.

Except from Dan Saltzman, who thought it was a great idea. If you count up the number of times Saltzman has been on the winning side of a council debate, you'll get sense of how well received this idea was.

That was a nice reactionary response from you, but try, just try, to pay a little more attention to what's actually going on next time.

---Scott Moore, Portland Mercury

I don't think it's out of line to say the city is "contemplating" an idea -- if at least one council member supports that idea. Just because YOU don't think "official duct tape" has a chance at city hall.. doesn't make it inaccurate or stupid to say someone else is considering it.

I once whispered in council chambers that that the city should give me a billion dollars, and nobody objected. I guess that means they're "contemplating" making me a rich man.

--Scott

What if the tape proceeds went to charity instead of the city coffers. Bet the response would be more positive.

Glad to know that the Portland Mercury is objective when talking about people that you are covering.

I'd rather know the reporter's bias, myself. What passes for objectivity these days is "Some experts say the world is round, but others disagree."

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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother

The uninformed lunacy of the comment before yours was that even if council DID decide to approve the sale of "official" parade tape, the idea was that it would be the Rose Fest selling it and keeping the proceeds, or else giving it to a charity. Not a single person recommended that it go to the city. Still, the problem of privatizing public space remains.

To answer your second comment: Who in the world still believes that any human being is capable of objectivity? It's a myth that's never been true, and has only been used recently to excuse intellectual laziness and journalistic mediocrity. There are any number of hurtful terms you could throw at me; "subjective" ain't one of them.

Also, Lynn, thanks to your comment, you're my new internet girlfriend. Don't tell cablenut.

That'll put paid to the girlfriend talk right quick. ;)

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Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother