Will Portland Ban Some Right Turns on Red? Plus, a Councilor Torched His Backyard and Portland’s Pettiest Gripes

Today, all CityCast Portland, we're going to be talking about a city councilor who nearly burned down the entire west side, possibly losing the ability to make a right on a red, and we're also sifting through Portland's biggest online gripes, and weighing in on whether or not the person with said gripe has a valid point or is simply an... With me, our Willamette Week City Hall reporter, Sophie Peel, and our very own senior producer, Julia Fiallione. My friends, how are you doing today? Hello, good morning, Claudia. Hi, Claudia, doing well. That's great. That's good info. That's good intel. So as our regulars know, I usually kick things off with an opening question, so any new listeners can get to know our guests a little better. And today's is based on a proposed new ordinance by city counselors, Loretta Smith and Tiffany Coyama Lane. The ordinance would prevent drivers from turning right at a red light in high crash areas, underline the high crash areas. So according to Coyne 6, the ordinance would add restriction signs and also like cameras monitored by P-Bot to intersect. inside the city's quote unquote high crash network, which encompasses roughly 8% of Portland's intersections. And this network also accounts for 62% of the city's traffic deaths, plus or minus, you know, a few percent's there. So the Peabot data indicates that banning the practice could save lives by reducing... all types of intersection crashes by 9% according to the proposal. I know that's a lot of percentages here, but as someone who has almost been hit by a car, making a right on a red more times than I can count, I think this is a pretty cool proposal. Enacting the policy is estimated to only cost between $140,000 to $160,000 for the 200 intersections, and that includes everything from like labor and materials. And let me... also specify that that would be for the like initial rollout. That seems like pretty. chill money-wise compared to all the other things that we've been hearing that they need money for. And I'm just like, that's actually might save lives. I don't know. Also, fun fact, making a right on red was something that no one was allowed to do before Jimmy Carter's presidency. It was during his like oil and gas shortages of the 70s that a right was permitted to save on fuel. Shout out to Kibu News Director, Althea, Billings for that fun fact. She told us, do you remember she told us that a few episodes ago? I do. We were like, what? Okay, anyhow, all of this leads me to my question, which is a twofold. What are your feelings on this ordinance? And what else would you like to see the city ban? Either traffic related or just like in life? I'm totally fine with the ban because at first I thought it was all rights on red, which I just thought that's crazy. That's like policing my freedom as a driver. That's policing my freedom. Okay, go on, Sophie.

But if it's just on high crash quarters, I don't know, it makes a lot of sense. I'm actually surprised the city hasn't, like, thought about doing that before. It's also, like, really crazy to me that it would only cost $140,000. I don't totally understand, like, what would go into banning them. Like, you just $140,000 for the marketing of, like, don't do this, or, like, is their infrastructure? Yeah, the signs. If you heard the words I said with my mouth, it was the signs and the... Sorry, I was busy texting. No, just kidding. I really wasn't. The camera. Anyways, what I would ban, I have a few things. One, dog breeding. I think anyone, I'm sorry if either of you have a designer dog, but I think anyone who buys a designer dog is bad. And I think you should just buy an animal from the Humane Society. Because there's lots of them out there who need good homes. Second thing, the bands of like 12-year-old boys on these motorized, like, bicycle motorcycles. I had not seen these until about six months ago. And now anytime I drive anywhere, there's like eight to ten little boys. on these things zooming around and like it just feels like a matter of time before one of them is going to die. And also I find them annoying. And I also just think like kids should ride normal bikes. It's good exercise. It's good for your coordination. And no one needs a motorized bike. And I'm sure they're way too expensive. I kind of love all this. Listener, just so you know, Sophie is not 50. I need you to know that she is a young woman. And she has. Thanks, Claudia. But I have the spirit of an 80 year old woman. And I approve. And I absolutely approve. Just a little asterisk about... dog breeding. I completely agree that people should, you know, adopt before they shop. But dog breeding does, just because I've looked this up, does improve canine health, though mutts are just perfect. But it preserves these breed traits that provides people with like predictable temperaments and like verified medical history. So there's like a, I'm not seen as a pro, but there is a reason for it. Yeah. Even despite that. I'm like, why do we need to have an optimal dog? That shouldn't be our goal is to have like a perfect dog that we can always predict. Working dogs. So fair. Working dogs, Sophie. Julia, shut up. Working dogs. Thank you, Julie. I'm like, don't agree with the guest. I agree with me. Your co-worker. Me, not a pet owner. Like, why are we optimizing dogs? Like, why are we optimizing dogs for our own like? This is such a good convo. Yeah. This is a good take. For dog from working breeds, y'all. Okay, but I totally. But I need you to know that I totally see the point in that you're making. Julia, what about you? I'm just going to say I love the limit on not turning right on reds. I think that's great. I'm going to save the rest of my time for this rant I'm about to go off on. I think we need to desperately ban the sale of nitrous oxide.

in smoke shops, gas stations, and convenience stores. And this is because, I don't know if you'll know this, but especially amongst my age group, Whippets are having a comeback moment right now. And I personally actually know a lot of people who are stopping by smoke shops, spending $30 on a nitrous oxide tank and basically destroying their nervous system. So for those who don't know, Wippets are basically using like nitrous oxide, which is... like medically laughing gas also used for culinary things and for automotive vehicles. Like it's really not supposed to be ingested at all just to make that clear. And it gives you a temporary high. Can we just have a Julia corner? Can we just have a Julia corner where it just says Gen Z explains things to people that are older than her already know. I just got to put it out there because you know, not everybody knows. I don't want to shame that. Sorry, go on. So basically it reduces the oxygen to your brain and it gives you this temporary high, but it could give like insane consequences like memory loss and incontinence and psychosis and paralysis. You can die. It's really risky. And for a long time, there was no age limit on buying this. The last year, they actually put an age limit on it. You have to be 18 years old to buy it, which is insane. And the toughest thing is that they sell them, they market it to kids. They're colorful tanks. They're flavored gas. It's out. of control. Flavored gas? It drives me crazy. Why? But I will say Senator Ron Wyden is on the case. He just introduced a bill on this last month. I'm really rooting for him. Because I really, you know, I just hate seeing people do this. I hate that this is becoming a thing again. That's my ban. Okay. Gen Z. Will you just start drinking again and just stop doing whip it? Just calm down. Jesus. Well, thank you both for your answers. By the time you hear, this city council might have already made a decision. They were supposed to discuss it last Thursday afternoon. And we take this conversation Thursday morning. But it could also have just gotten pushed to a later meeting since I think they're also supposed to discuss the modus center term sheet again. And I'm predicting that might take up most of their meeting time. Okay, let's take a quick break here. And when we come back, Sophie has a pretty frustrating piece of reporting about one of our city counselors.

Okay, Sophie. How do you even hear about this stuff? Like, how do I know that Mitch Green? Oh, okay, okay, okay. I can't say how I know. I'm just always surprised. I'm like, how does... Okay, go on. Well, lay it on us. What's going on? So, on July 26th, a fire engine arrived at a Southwest home and on reports that there was a backyard brush fire. And a neighbor had called in and told the dispatcher, you know, I see like a flame one up in the neighbor's yard. And... The dispatcher's note said, quote, backyard on fire. And so firefighters showed up and they see a guy putting out a fire, a brush fire that he had started. And it turns out that person was City Councilor Mitch Green. And Counselor Green has since said that he was not aware that there were burn bands in place. Just a few things to note. There are many burn bans in place. There is a DEQ burn ban in place. There's a Multnomah County burn ban in place. There's a city of Portland burn ban in place. And also. You can never. There are annual year round bands against burning yard debris or brush. And so there's just like layers and layers. Well, that too. Yeah. Layers and layers and layers of bands. And I think most people in Portland know that. You know, some people might not know that like during, you know, the summer, especially summer where like wildfires are tearing up our state and like there's a layer of smoke painting, you know, everything orange. Some people might not know that you're not even supposed to have like a contained, you know, fire pit in your backyard. But I think most people know you're not supposed to burn yard debris in like a bonfire. And that's what Councilor Green was doing. So he has said he didn't know there was a burn ban in place. And initially he said, you know, I'd contained the fire just fine. The firefighters were there out of like an abundance of caution. About 24 hours later, I think he realized that people were actually pretty pissed off about this. And he released a longer statement that was more like, you know, I'm so grateful that the firefighters were out there to, you know, make sure it was put out and it was a mistake. And so his initial statement was kind of like nothing to see here. I didn't know. I learned a lesson, nothing to see here. It was fine. I had it under control. And then I think 24 hours later, it turned a little bit more into like. I aired. I made a mistake. You know, I own up to it. So the transition was kind of interesting. And that was that also came. Like his statement only came like 24 hours after I'd asked for comment. And I had really, I had texted his staff. I'd texted him. I'd emailed them multiple times. But it wasn't until after a story that came out that they actually responded to my comment request. And Mitch Green is part of Peacock, which is like the self-proclaimed, more progressive side of our.

city council and I've noticed what I, the reason I'm pointing this out is because I've noticed that even the more progressive advocates are like, yeah, that was kind of fucked up. Like that. Because usually, you know what I mean? Usually like there is a like, well, he didn't know, but everyone's like, well, you can't. Because here's where I'm coming from. Mitch Green is not dumb. He knew about the burn ban. And even if he didn't, as a supposed environmentalist, which was part of his platform, you think context clues would have helped him come up with like a better idea for how to get rid of yard waste. And what this shows me as a voter is that clearly he thinks he's above the law and or. prioritizes his own needs above the like the greater good. And that's, I don't think that's who should be holding power. No matter like how much I personally agree with this policymaking, which I actually do, I kind of lost a lot of trust and respect for him as a lawmaker. Because like this is up there with like hitting the car and not leaving a note, you know? Like we live. Who did that? In a society. We can't trust you to not burn down your neighborhood. Like, I don't think you're qualified to make rules for our city. Like, I know this is all like my opinion. This is editorial. But like, that's what I get. When I saw that, I was like, Mitch. Like, you know, what are you doing? Well, the thing that really stood out to me. And Sophie, this was in your reporting, too. I feel like this is a huge part of it. The critical energy infrastructure hub is. Right there. This is the six mile stretch of millions of gallons of fuel and other chemicals right on the Willamette River right below the Linton neighborhood. And this is an issue that Councillor Green has spoken about before, how much a fire in that area would make that situation disastrous. And knowing that that context is also a part of this. makes it especially frustrating. It also just highlights a character quality that really says a lot, right? Like, you can just wait a week and put some of that yard debris in the compost bin. You can just be patient and space that out. That's what I'm saying. There are so many solutions for this that just require you to slow down and take a beat and think about the consequences of lighting something on fire that a... It's not a good look. No. And I will also say, like, Councillor Green has talked about the fire risk in Forest Park. And he has mentioned accurately that the greatest risk to starting wildfires are human-made fires, whether they're warming fires or cooking fires or another type of fire. Like, it's not down power lines, right? Most of the ones that really turn horrible are these human-started ones. And, like, that's exactly what he did. He started a human... fire that like didn't have to be started. So I was very surprised when I received that report. I had gotten a tip about it. I'd request it from the fire bureau and I kind of was like, yeah, this probably isn't real. And then I got the report and I was like, whoa. Oh, no. Yeah. Wow. Okay. So I've been looking at comments or responses from people just curious like,

What is the vibe? Like are people are just like, oh, it's not a big deal. Like let him be or if people are really upset. And people seem very upset because unfortunately the news broke when we were surrounded by toxic smoke. Like his fire from your reporting, it was like late July, which still there were like more than 20 fires going. It was July 26 when things were not good. Everything was on fire, basically. But like we were sitting pretty for a little bit. And then the news broke about his, you know, backyard fire. when we were covered in smoke, and I think there was like extra anger. And normally, I got to tell you, I hate the Willam at Weeks comment section, but I found this one hilarious. Somebody wrote, did anyone check his fridge for flog raw? And I couldn't stop. Oh, no. Because if you didn't know, Counselor Mitch Green also led the ban of foie gras. And so people are just wondering, like, secretly, he's just in this backyard, in foie gras, burning piles of leaves. Yeah. It's just tough because, like, I expect from my neighbors, from my friends, to act like there is a burned man basically all summer, anywhere in Oregon. And I think at this point, it's tough when a city leader isn't able to act that way either. Oh, God. Sophie, just so you guys know, I don't know, Sophie, if I'm able to call you out on this. She wants me to sing. What I wanted to sing was Mitch Green is on fire. But she wanted. Thank you. Thank you, Julia. See, that's how you support a host. But yeah, Sophie, Mitch Green started the fire. That's what you wanted, right? Mm-hmm. You got it. You know what I love, though, Sophie, when you brought that song up and you're like, Claudia, well, you sing this. It wasn't like the Billy Joel version. It was the office reference. You're like, can you sing Ryan started the fire, but it's Mitch Green? Sure. Sure. It's the version I'm most familiar with. Yeah, I imagine so. Well, I'm curious how this is going to turn out for Councillor Green because he is up for re-election. I think one other thing to mention to Claudia, and I don't think I mentioned this in the article, but I should have. But the Oregonian a couple months ago wrote about how Councillor Green had failed to pay $7,000 in property taxes. And of course, as soon as the Oregonian called him, he was like, oh, my gosh, you know, it's my bad. I paid it immediately. But I think these two things together, I think for some people, it paints a picture. And it's not a favorable one. I don't think for Counselor Green. Yeah. All right. Well, let's take a quick break here. And when we come back, Julia has a case study on why Portlanders might actually just be a town full of Larry David's.

Julia, do you want to tell us what we're getting into here? Yes. So my segment today is continuing a series. We've loosely named it, we live in a society in all caps. And if you haven't heard it yet on the show, basically it's in the same spirit of the subreddit, am I the asshole? Or... People will comment a rant about something and ask the public to decide if they're the asshole. But for our version, we pulled the best recent posts from the Portland Suburite's weekly rant thread where folks will just post about their most pressing gripes of the week. And it's a wide range of rants on there. It's completely judgment-free. But we do things differently here. So we are going to read them and judge them like a jury and decide if they were valid for the rant or if they're just being an asshole. And honestly, I was thinking about the second. more and I realized that I think we're the assholes in doing this because we are just taking these judgment-free rants and judging them. But anyway, I can accept that. So the first one here, coming in hot with this one by underscore confetti cake. I'm going to wait, Julie, I will say that only an asshole can judge an asshole. And so I think in that, in that respect, we have full credentials for that. So go on. Your real recognizes real. This is some serious business we're doing. So. Got a first one here from underscore confetti cake. And it goes, again, all caps. Hey, fucker. I saw you use the southbound lane on northeast 32nd as a northbound left turn lane, i.e., you drove against traffic to make a left turn. I'm going to assume by the tenor of your bumper stickers that you were extremely high and not an entitled asshole. And look, I get it. I was the Michael Jim Jordan of Stone driving back in the day. But you are not. And that was dangerous and inconsiderate. I am embarrassed for you. Stay home. Don't get blazed just to go to Freddy's unless you can walk there. How are we feeling about this one? Not an asshole. That is legit. That is legit. Yeah. Do you think they're valid in their analysis? Can you judge a stone driver by their bumper stickers? I mean, I don't know about that. But I mean, no matter what, no one should be making a left against traffic illegally. Like already. I know that his whole rant is based on his analysis that this person might be stoned. But I think it's a based analysis because we live in Portland. And I don't think that he's like. Just pulling, you know, random accusations out of thin air, I think that is possibly an educated guess. Mm-hmm. I'm trying to picture the types of bumper stickers that would be on a car that you think someone was stone driving. I feel like it's like a...

Hey, I'm really stoned right now. Like some Grateful Dead stuff. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I also thought of, you know, like, the lady cowgirls are like the lady in a provocative position and then she has like a cowboy hat on. That's more country. That's more like, like country cowboy though. That's a sticker, Sophie. That's, do you have one, Claudia? No, I'm not. I'm not. You're like, are you defending your cowboy sticker and the sexy cowgirls sticker? No, I'm not. No, I'm not. I think they're cute. All right. What's another one? Okay. Next one here from Accomplished underscore Owl 1355, all caps. Why does my recycling pickup come at 6.30 in the morning? And it's not always at 6.30 in the morning, but it's often enough to drive me insane. I understand that they have a lot of cans to pick up and they want to start early, but Jesus fucking Christ, even 7 or 7.30 would be much more reasonable. The bottles dumping into the truck at 6.30 give me a goddamn heart attack. This one's a little bit split here. Is it fair to be upset about this? Sophie, I went first last time. Why don't you jump in? Not really. I mean, I get it. No one likes that. And a lot of things wake me up at like 6 a.m. I have a neighbor in, like, the apartment building across from me that, like, just starts cussing in the morning about going to work very loudly and the windows always open. It's really strange. I don't know if something's going on, but, like, it's kind of funny, though, because she's like, I don't want to fucking go to work. And she's definitely talking to herself. But there's, like, a lightness to it. Anyways, that's not your question. No, I don't think it's fair. I mean, they got to pick up all, they got to pick up everything. Like, there's a schedule. And, like, if you're the 6 a.m., like, it's a bum. but what are you going to do about it? So no, I don't think it's fair. Also, just use earplugs. Yeah. Okay, two things. One, I've been told to use earplugs before because I'm also a very light sleeper, but then I say, how am I supposed to know when I'm getting murdered? I need the earplugs off. Do you see what I think you may feel the stab wound. Well, before, before to prevent said stab wounds. I see why that would be important. Okay, but two, always on the side of, trash and recycling workers. Like, they're doing a job. None of us are doing. And I don't want to be there either. Yeah. I mean, I mean, we don't know. Somebody might have a trash. Maybe they do, but 630 sounds tough. Like, I really do. Because like, what a great job for you. Yeah. But like, I'm just saying like it's, but I get it. Like it's like, this is a wash. This is a total wash. I'm not pulling the asshole ever. This is a wash. This is a wash. Okay, yeah. I honestly, I felt I felt split on this one too because I used to live in an apartment that was right behind a liquor store. Oh yeah. And it was a multiple time. multiple times a week there was recycling pickup because we were right behind that business. Whenever we taped, basically, that's when they would come pick it up. Most days of the week there were clanging bottles outside at an ungodly hour. It was pretty constant. And I didn't realize how much it was taking a toll on me until I moved away. So I feel for you accomplished owl. But city's got to do its work. Next one here is from one toe in.

And they have to say, once again, I stopped at the river park on the southwest side of the Selwood Bridge and found not only had people left their garbage strewn on the beach, but also left their campfire still smoldering. A pox on all their houses. Also, a double pox on Tom Dundon, who is the new owner of the Trailblazers, if you don't know. And then there was a comment from Iowa Lightning that said, you get my upvote simply for the Dundon Stray. Yeah. Thoughts on this one. Oh my God, 100%. I want to, if I can somehow go fund me, strengthen that pox, I will. Like, what are you doing? I hate when people, for one, I just hate littering all around. Like, whenever I'm on my dog walk, I'm always picking up trash. And like, not because I want to feel morally superior, just a little bit, but because I genuinely am like, what is going on? We have like. 500 trash cans now. Like, I don't know if you, in your neighborhood, but the city really went all out on these trash cans. They're like, pretty. You know, I know Sophie is a hater of art trash cans, but like, they're really nice. You people should use them. And so I'm always surprised when I see trash on the floor, because I'm like, literally, it's just right there. Just walk three more steps, buddy. And then the fire, like, come on. I know, more fire. We have a theme today. Uh-huh. Trash and fire? Oh, you're right. Trash and fire. Trash and fire, yeah. I'm not going to lie. The double pox on Tom Dundon really hit me. Because I've been given an inside look into just the business dealings at the Modus Center for all the folks that are still working there. And I've heard from someone I know that used to work there that he's been making some crazy calls, not only laying off people who have been working there for decades, Hall of Famers, but also just taking away the little treats. He's been cutting the lunch bars and the snack cabinet and all these things that make you excited to you. you know, go to work, which is rare. All of that. This guy, this guy really, it's grinding my gears. Outside of the Blazers stuff, it really is like, he's getting personal with it. And, yeah, that's why that went home for me. All right. Before we head out, we just wanted to give out a special thank you to some new CityCast Portland Neighbors. That's our program where you get perks, like ad-free listening, the ability to shout out a local business or organization that you love. You get invites to member-only events. You right now, you're also going to get some pretty cool swag. We have pennants, and I think we might have a few tote bags, which are pretty cool. High-quality canvas, let me tell you. So shout out to Noel L. Iona R. Carrie C. Issa R. Katie K.

Gabby W. Jasper Kay and Kyle P. Thank you so much for becoming CityCast Portland neighbors this week. Again, when you join, we'd also be happy to read out any shoutouts of places that you love in Portland alongside all the perks that I just mentioned. So join at membership.citycast.fm slash Portland. That's membership.cacast.fm.fm. slash Portland. I believe it's just like 10 bucks a month or if you like deals 120 a year. Go for it. Membership.citycast.com. FM slash Portland. Yeah, that's it. You guys. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. Sophie, Julia. Thank you for all the work that you do, especially Sophie. Yeah. I'm not doing any work. Thanks, Claudia. Thank me, Sophie. Oh, sorry. Thank you for all the work you do. No, that's not what I wasn't fishing for you to thank me. For work, I was just like, let people know that you're like not texting right now. I'm not. Oh my God, you're texting. No, I'm actually not. Would you like to know what I was doing? Yeah, I would love to know what you were doing. It's somehow worse. Okay, forget it then. Don't tell us. I don't want to know. I was playing the spelling bee on your video. Oh, my God. No, but I really was listening. Oh, my God. Sorry, I don't usually do that. Whatever. It's been a long day.

Thank you. That's all for today here on CityCast Portland. Thank you so much for listening. Our production team this week was John Atariani, Julia Fioyoni, Rachel Monaghan, Jesse Wiza, Francisco Kilgore, Alyssa Castles and myself. Original music by Jenny Conley and Stephen Drizos. And additional music by all the kimonos. Our ad music is by Sven Linville and Sarah the instrumentalist from Epidemic Sounds via Getty Images. We'll be back Monday morning with more from around the city. Until then, see you at Slims.