Here come the nitwits

The stories are starting to break about who'll be running for the dozen seats on the new Portland City Council. Under "rank-choice" voting, they may win with as little as 25 percent of the vote. And the news, as expected, is not good.

Here's the latest pair of would-be bobbleheads I've seen: one of the obnoxious ideologue 20-somethings from the charter commission – who used to be the "chief of staff" (how pretentious) to the hideous "right to rest" legislator from southeast Portland; and a former staffer to Jo Ann With the Bullhorn who's now making a buck at a nonprofit. As far as I can tell, neither one of them has ever had a real job in their life. Sophie of the Weed loves them both, of course.

So far I haven't seen a single City Council candidate who's going to make the dire situation in Portland better, rather than worse. It confirms what I've been saying since "charter reform" passed: It's going to set the city back by about a decade, at a time when it's already in the tank.

City manager? Good. District representation? Good. But only four districts? Bad. Threee members per district? Bad. "Rank-choice" voting? Really, really bad. And already, look who it's bringing out of the woodwork. Even old Jesse Cornett thinks he'll finally get his city paycheck.

Throw in the free campaign millions on the taxpayers' dime that Portland fritters away, and wow, you have the recipe for a real disaster.

I can't say it any better than one of the commenters on the Weed story, who goes by "OregonJive":

I'm so done with 20 something activist smart phone warriors and the middle aged "I have signs in my yard" people that listen to them.

Yes, but you'll soon be answering to them, more so than ever. Keep your realtor near.