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Episodes coming — leading up to the special session. I’m connecting the dots while talking to lots of people, doing research and observing.
Let’s pay attention.
Let’s make noise.
They’re hoping we won’t notice.
I’m making sure we do.
Mark your calendar for August 29th for the first day of the special session, where your Governor and the public unions are he’ll bent on raising your taxes instead of cutting their bloat at ODOT. Tune in as we will be talking about what’s happening and what you can do about it.
Let’s start by acknowledging @topazfarm — they saw what was coming, knew it would hurt Oregon farmers and rural communities, and realized almost no one knew it was even on the table. So they sounded the alarm — loud and clear.
They filmed a video. They spoke out. They encouraged other farmers to do the same — and they asked the public for help. People like us. And you showed up.
This is proof: change can happen. When we link arms, speak up, and refuse to back down — it works.
This is how we win.
Awareness. Grassroots action.
Relentless pressure — applied again and again.
This is our home. Let’s fight like it. 🌱💪🇺🇸
Trump just signed an executive order pushing cities to clear encampments from public spaces and redirect federal funds toward detox, mental health care, and civil commitment.
It blocks funding for drug injection sites and shifts the focus from tolerance to treatment.
In Oregon, we took a very different path.
We codified Martin v. Boise into law with HB 3115 — sponsored by Tina Kotek — which makes it nearly impossible to enforce anti-camping rules unless shelter is available.
I’m wondering how this new order will interact with that, especially since our legislature still refuses to open up the Certificate of Need to expand mental health and treatment beds.
Does this feel like a step in the right direction for Oregon — or do you have concerns?
Let’s me know in the comments.
What’s actually happening in Oregon? The state is proposing new rules that restrict how farms operate —
• Limiting the number of events they can host
• Capping what they’re allowed to sell
• Letting counties add new red tape like parking and setback rules
And if you raise concerns? You’re called “misinformed.”
Push back? You’re labeled extreme.
This is how public input gets silenced — not with facts, but with shame.
🗣️ You still have time to weigh in.
📩 Send your comments to: [email protected]. For good measure contact your legislators too!
Even a short message helps. Support Oregon’s farms — before more are pushed out.
Please share!
The state is quietly moving forward with new rules that could limit U-pick farms, hay rides, farm stands, and on-farm dinners across Oregon.
They’re calling it a clarification — but farmers know what it really is: a direct threat to the income and traditions that keep small farms alive.
If you love local farms and the people behind them, now’s the time to speak up.
📩 Email the rulemaking team:
[email protected]
📩 Email your state legislators
(Find them using the link in our bio)
📩 Email the Governor’s office:
[email protected]
Deadline to submit comments to the DLCD is this Friday. This isn’t just about farming — it’s about protecting Oregon’s way of life.
ODOT planned to lay off frontline maintenance crews on July 31 — without a single executive cut on the table.
Now lawmakers have been called back for a special session on August 29 to try to pass the $11.6 billion transportation package.
Layoffs are postponed until September 15.
They don’t want reform.
They just want their tax increase.
When all else fails, play the victim — and call dissent “trolling.” Candace Avalos says people challenging her job performance are “right-wing trolls” whose comments should be drowned out.
And Sameer Kanal — another elected Cory councilor — doubles down, warning that traditional media is watching their replies and “developing narratives” based on public feedback.
This isn’t leadership. It’s a call to shut down criticism.
And it’s completely immature.
If this is how you handle dissent, you’re not qualified to hold office. @counciloravalos @councilorkanal.
You’ll find these comments over on Blue Sky, where I hear counselor’s prefer to interact in a more friendly echo chamber.
People ask me why I still live here. Why I haven’t left. But this is my home. I love it here.
And I believe in being part of the change — not just wishing for it.
Last year, my dahlias didn’t bloom. This year, they’re blooming prolifically — and early.
They survived the coldest winter we’ve had in years.
Historically, hard times are always followed by renewal. I see it in my garden. I feel it in my bones.
I’m here to fight for what’s worth saving — to help bring it back. The last few years have been hard, but they’ve also been deeply meaningful.
Getting involved has enriched my life in ways I never imagined.
Show up for your community — it will change you, too.
Fred Meyer just closed in East Portland — and the city councilor’s response? - Just go to WinCo.
This wasn’t just any store. It was one of the only full-service grocery options left in the area — and a major anchor for jobs, safety, and foot traffic in Gateway.
Since I posted about it, replies have been flooding in:
🚫 Moms saying they don’t feel safe at WinCo.
🚫 Residents avoiding shopping altogether.
🚫 And business owners fed up with a city that keeps pushing commerce out.
The anti-business attitude from city leadership is unacceptable.
Losing a major retailer in a struggling area should be a wake-up call — not a moment to double down on dismissal.
@counciloravalos? @councilorjamiedunphy? @councilorlorettasmith?
in a note to @fredmeyerstores - many will miss you in Gateway. We are sorry this happened and we would welcome your voice about the issues with shoplifting and crime encouraged by poor policies in the city and county.
Portland just admitted it’s in trouble — and it’s not because of budget cuts this time. The city is at risk of losing $387 million in federal funding because its race-based programs may violate federal civil rights law — specifically Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Mayor Keith Wilson says $31 million is already frozen. And instead of adjusting, the city appears to be considering legal action to defend race-preference programs like Albina Vision Trust.
Would you risk hundreds of millions in federal funding to protect race-based policy? Thoughts?
The mayor’s email is attached. You can ask to be added to the list by emailing: [email protected]
Intel is laying off nearly 2,400 Oregonians — high-wage workers who won’t stick around to wait for the next blow. Average compensation: $180K. These are the people who leave when a state loses its footing.
This news lands just as Oregon’s business ranking drops to 39th in the nation — down from 17th just a few years ago.
In Portland, 79% of local businesses say things got worse in the last year.
Why?
Crime. Vandalism. Homelessness. High taxes.
And leadership that shrugs while the economy sinks.
We’re not just watching a decline.
We’re watching the consequences of neglect.
I believe powerful things happen when people come together with intention. Yesterday I hosted a women’s gathering in my garden — a space for ladies who are showing up in real ways for their communities and for what’s right.
We shared food, truth, laughter, and presence.
Many of us didn’t start out political — life made us brave.
I’ll be hosting more of these gatherings — not just for women, but for anyone who’s paying attention, showing up, and ready to build something better.
To break bread.
To connect.
To fortify ourselves with truth and community.
If that’s you, make sure I know you.
There’s strength in showing up — and even more in doing it together.
Multnomah County has a $3.5 billion budget — and still can’t keep the sidewalks clean, the jails open, or the most vulnerable people safe.
Now they’re suing the federal government because the faucet’s getting turned off — terrified their political agenda won’t get funded anymore.
This argument has already been tried — and rejected — by the U.S. Supreme Court. So be it.
The free-for-all is coming to an end.
And the public is finally paying attention.
I design homes and gardens — places that make space for people to thrive. And I’ve always had a voice. One that’s been recognized, trusted, and heard. From a young age, I’ve been a communicator — it’s just part of who I am.
But I’m only one thread.
This city is full of people with different gifts — builders, organizers, artists, healers, protectors, and other communicators. When we show up together, when we plant what’s needed — that’s how our community thrives.
PDX Real exists to name what’s broken — and help something better take root. Like any beautiful garden, healthy community and governance require tending.
We’ve let things go for too long. The neglect shows — and it’s time to restore what matters.
This is what I thought about today when I looked at my flag and front garden.
We need more willing citizens with gifts to get this city back on track.
What will you plant, tend, build or protect in your hometown?
🇺🇸❤️Musings from Portland, Oregon
(Make sure to swipe to the second page.)
🎉Thank you to everyone who showed up — who wrote, testified, called, or paid attention. You helped stop the biggest tax increase in Oregon history.
Every time I saw someone say “It won’t matter,” I tried to respond. Because honestly? Apathy is the biggest thing working against us. It’s why Portland has been treated like a testing site for bad ideas.
We’ve been too uninvolved for too long. But that’s changing. I don’t know about you, but I am savoring this WIN tonight.
Sarah Phillips is a legislative aide at the Capitol for @linthicum4sos, and she filled us in tonight about what is happening in Salem.
House bill 2025 may be dead this afternoon, BUT some of the tax increased provisions are being moved in a “gut & stuff” maneuver over to house bill 3402. The amendments include doubling title and registration fees, an increase of .09 statewide on gas tax. The money for ODOT has no provision for splitting with city and county, and there’s no provisions for how it’s spent. You can testify here, but do it quickly. This is a last minute maneuver! https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Testimony/HRULES/HB/3402/0000-00-00-00-00?area=Measures
Who walks through a neighborhood in NW Portland at 23rd and Lovejoy, sees public property, and thinks “I’ll just spray paint my angry propaganda here” — like the rest of us have to live with their tantrum? What gives them that right?
Let’s be honest — most of the people pushing this “Death to AmeriKKKa” message wouldn’t last a day under an actual communist or fascist regime. They’re only able to shout this nonsense because of the freedoms they claim to despise.
That’s the irony. They attack the very system that protects their right to speak — while vandalizing the property of the people who live here.
This isn’t protest. It’s cowardice dressed up as activism destroying public property. And it’s time we stop pretending otherwise.
🚨 HB 2025 Update 🚨
The $11 BILLION transportation tax bill was amended — but the core issues remain.
I submitted testimony for the newest Anne amendment today, and you can too. Testimony is open for 48 hours after today’s 3:30pm hearing.
📝 Want to speak up?
✅ Read highlights from my letter in this post
✅ Check out others in my Stories
✅ Submit your letter at:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Testimony/JTR?meetingDate=2025-06-26-15-30
help by sharing this with Oregon friends who will also submit testimony.
Let’s not commit to 10 years of new taxes with no performance review, no clear priorities, and no end in sight.
#HB2025 #OregonPolitics #PDXReal #CivicEngagement #Testify #NoBlankChecks
🚨 House Bill 2025 was amended — but the core issues remain. It’s now an $11 BILLION transportation package, locking in 10 years of taxes and fees that will hurt families and Oregon business.
Meanwhile, ODOT still hasn’t earned back public trust — and Oregon’s economy is in no position for another blank check.
I submitted my written testimony this morning.
You can too — and it only takes a few minutes.
Let’s remind them this isn’t a wishlist. It’s our money.
📬 Submit your testimony here:
🔗 https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Testimony/JTR?meetingDate=2025-06-26-15-30
📄 If you want to read my full letter, it’s in Stories today.
Senate Bill 106 would raise the bar for future tax increases — requiring a 60% majority based on the last gubernatorial election.
Preschool for All, Multnomah County’s income tax on “high earners” anyone who makes 125k single or 200k as a couple, passed in 2020 with 64% support in that election. Under SB 106, it would not have passed. It would’ve been short by 13,266 votes.
But here’s what’s happening behind the scenes:
Governor Kotek quietly supports SB 106. Jessica Vega Pederson? She’s scrambling. The Democratic Socialists of America are organizing — flooding inboxes and phone lines to protect the tax, claiming it has nothing to do with the mass exodus of high earners from the county.
This is the real fight over our tax future.
Who are you rooting for @govtinakotek or @jessicavegapederson?
In just two weeks, Oregon Democrats pushed a $15.5 billion tax package — and removed the dissenters standing in the way.
❌ Committee chair voted out.
❌ Majority leader put himself in charge.
❌ Legislators who opposed the tax? Replaced.
✅ Loyal votes installed to carry it through.
❗️10 Republicans boycotted session today
HB 2025 would double Oregon’s state gas tax and raise fees on all goods brought into the state — hitting every household and small business.
This is how they do it: silence the opposition, rewrite the lineup, and ram it through while we’re focused on survival.
More coverage in my latest video.
👇 Find your legislator and let them know what you think.
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/FindYourLegislator/districts-initial.html
