Listening to Portland’s State of the City address, I was struck how much the excesses of last year’s Charter Commission have already damaged Portland. So many civil service positions are unfillable because we can’t even say who holds firing power next year.

I already knew the Democratic Socialists of America’s poorly vetted ballot ultimatums were hurting Portland (see: zero applications to build affordable housing since 2020 referendums, or their equally well-planned cruise ship proposal).

The Charter Commission’s refusal to stick to decisions they could back with evidence makes their proposals just as dangerous. Example: In the history of human governance, nobody can point to one successful system where a legislative branch acts only via supermajority while influencing the chief executive only by outright removal.

We must reject the arrogant assumption anyone can just make up new rules from whole cloth and guess right. Structurally, that means voting “no” on every single Portland ballot question.

Jim Hall
Portland