Emergency ordinances only get one reading and become effective immediately.  When an item is on the consent agenda it is grouped in with all the items and voted as a block.  I have learned that commissioners rarely look at the consent agenda… unless they want to slip something through.

Take for example this emergency ordinance that will cost the city $35,000Now I like bicycling in Portland… but the way that Adams is getting money to fund a hand-built bike show (which I volunteered at last year) by placing an item on the consent agenda is troublesome at best.

Last month I was gathering signatures for the recall in front of city hall while AFSCME local 189 was holding a rally because the city cut  but budget an laid-off workers.  This is in conjunction with the Adams canceling the leaf depots because he said that Transportation could not afford the $100,000 to keep the depots open.  He even suggested a city wide surcharge on trash services.

It makes no sense to me that if the city is strapped for cash how we can afford to subsidize a show for hand-built bikes that have a starting cost of about $3000.

I am all for the city wanting to increase cycling, however I think that keeping leaves off the streets and fixing pot holes will increase cycling with in the city than anything else.  The Oregonian had a prime example of what I mean with this photo:

Photo by Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian

On the way home I stopped by Free Geek to get some shielded cable and DB25 connectors for the CNC machine.  Free Geek is such a wonderful resource and maturation of Open Source.  It was nice to see all the Ubuntu CD’s gone and the thrift store full of people recycling.

I the rest of the night soldering a protective circuit for the limit switches and getting the pinouts right for the shielded cable.  I was listening to Countdown on MSNBC with Micheal Moore really resonated with me.  People keep their jobs because of health insurance.  I have known many people that loath their jobs and\or employers… yet keep their job only because of health insurance.  His premis was that this stifles people by locking them in a job that they do not like and away from occupations that they could excel in.