Posted 10:29 AM by Dave Allen
I woke up and felt that I had to write to the Mayor of Portland today....

Dear Mayor Katz,
I live in an area that would appear to be on the frontline of your Streams Initiative. I am puzzled as to why, as a homeowner, I am going to be subjected to certain use restrictions on my property.
As the parents of three young children we stress environmental issues to them on a daily basis. As you must know the pollution of the Willamette and run off into the river must surely come from industry and farming sources. As a family we do nothing to harm the land around our property and certainly would never cause any toxic or other harmful substances to enter any nearby streams. Therefore we are puzzled as to why perhaps, when my children outgrow our living space, we would not be able to add an extra room to our house or perhaps build a guest house without City impediments that are already currently very stringent?
We already put up with the extra cost created by the wear and tear on our vehicles brakes, suspension and tires that is a result of speed bumps being stuck in our neighbourhood roads and now you want to restrict what we do with our property. If you could flesh out in a reply to me just what is achieved by penalizing property owners further I would be very interested to hear it.
Yours very sincerely,
Dave Allen