News With Portland City Council poised to pass new parking requirements for apartments in transit corridors this week, Commissioner Steve Novick sees an opening to revive a longtime enthusiasm: parking permits on the east side. Novick mentioned at the end of an April 4 public hearing that he's spoken with officials at the Portland Bureau of Transportation about creating parking permits in the Richmond neighborhood, ...   More

News  Portland City Council moved forward last night with new new parking requirements for apartment buildings, adding an amendment by Commissioner Nick Fish that would trigger parking minimums for buildings with more than 30 units.But as WW reported yesterday, the council backed away from forcing Beaverton-based developer Dennis Sackhoff to add 20 parking spaces to his half-finished 81-unit apartment ...   More

News  Portland City Council on Wednesday directed the city revenue bureau to look for more potential changes to the arts tax. City Commissioner Steve Novick has one in mind: He wants to change the very structure of the tax.Novick described the arts tax as "beyond regressive" when it was a ballot measure in November, because it charges every person above federal poverty levels the same $35, regardless ...   More

News  Even as Portland City Council today accepted the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force's annual report in a 3-2 vote, several commissioners voiced reservations about the lack of specific information in the report about the cases the task force investigates."I had different expectations for the report than what was in it. I was expecting more information," said Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who voted ...   More

News Mayor Charlie Hales is responding to pressure over a controversial 81-unit apartment complex on Southeast Division Street, forcing the developer to apply for a new permit next month.The apartment complex has drawn fire from neighbors since last summer because of its size and lack of on-site parking.Two days ago, the city announced it was reviewing a revised permit for the half-completed building without ...   More

News It’s budget season at City Hall, the time of year when we’re told what a dystopian Portland would look like. Streets without cops. Homes burning out of control. Empty swimming pools, vagrants    More

News Clean Water Portland and Healthy Kids Healthy Portland—the "No" and "Yes" campaigns on fluoride—held their first community meetings over the last two weeks as both sides geared up for battle over Measure 26-151, a city council-approved proposal to fluoridate Portland's water supply, which faces a referendum vote in May. WW stopped by both events to eat both sides' food, drink both sides' booze ...   More

News City Commissioner Steve Novick wants Portland to change its phone-hold music. So he made the city bureaus a playlist. In this week's cover story on changes at City Hall, WW reported that Novick, who took office Jan. 2, has heard frustration from the Water Bureau's customer-service team. Some citizens have complained about the "Listen Local" program played by the city when customers are on hold.Novick ...   More

News The Portland City Council voted today in favor of authorizing Clackamas-based contractor Oregon Iron Works Inc. to build a $1.6 million boathouse for the Portland fire bureau, while voicing reservations about cost and deadline issues in the already controversial project.Several commissioners said they were concerned about the project's April deadline in light of the fact that Oregon Iron Works' subsidiary, ...   More