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Mayor-elect Keith Wilson is a cheerful guy. Like, Fred Rogers cheerful: We wouldn’t be surprised if he started his first State of the City address by taking off his dress shoes and putting on a cardigan. But the viewers of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood were children. The commenters on our stories are…older. They responded to our interview with the newly elected Wilson (“Hotseat: Keith Wilson,” WW, Nov. 13) with the usual felicitations. Here’s what they, and other readers, had to say:
Jack Bogdanski, via wweek.com: “The bureaucrats and the City Council are going to eat this guy alive.”
mallarme, via Reddit: “Keith seems to think his office will have more power than I understand it to have. And that could be an issue as the office is yet to be fully defined.”
Jesse Yun, via Twitter: “We’ve definitely got voting down pat here in PDX. Wish I could say the same for the rest of the country. Optimistic here locally.”
Jayhct, via wweek.com: “Sounds like his proposed policies are going to piss off the rest of the city and county leadership. And I’m here for it.”
ThicDadVaping4Christ, via Reddit: “I like his enthusiasm, but I think he’s naïve. Just creating 2,000 shelter beds won’t solve the problem. What about people who refuse services? Are these shelter beds going to allow hard drug use? Pets? Children? It’s a lot of talk, but I’ll wait till we see results.”
baileythenerd, via Reddit: “We have shelters; it’s the fact that they can’t bring their drugs with them into shelters.”
Alice, via wweek.com: “I’m heartbroken over the way Sophie, the WWeek, and Portland in general gave Commissioner Mingus Mapps the cold shoulder, handing a win to Keith Wilson, who is clearly just a more pleasant version of Rene Gonzalez when it comes to homelessness.
“Hopefully, he will be much better mayor than Ted Wheeler. But both of them talk about collaboration when really they just assume they will have the resources to move forward with their own priorities without having to address thorny issues that can’t easily be fixed.
“Wheeler assigned big problems like the water filtration plant, potholes, fire bureau overtime, messed-up police accountability systems, and crumbling Parks facilities to someone else to try to manage. Will Wilson just foist those core city functions onto someone else too?”
Pixeledpdx, via wweek.com: “Keith Wilson won me over in the end, and I proudly voted for him. Seeing him in the streets of Portland cleaning up trash is what really sealed the deal for me. He’s a doer.”
GOOD IDEAS CAN RECHARGE PORTLAND
Kudos to Willamette Week for assembling a 50th anniversary cover story that was an uplifting reminder of what our beleaguered region can be at its best. I like that you brought back talented writers from your newspaper’s past to share stories about Portlanders who dreamed big and got things done. Places like Pioneer Square, Powell’s Books and the Pearl District would not exist without them. As we struggle with new challenges as a region, these stories remind us of what we can accomplish when we all get behind a good idea.
Mike Pullen
Northeast Portland
Letters to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: P.O. Box 10770, Portland, OR 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com