Here’s a wild one on KATU: A Portland man was on hold for more than 44 minutes over the weekend before 911 picked up. I’ve written a lot about the atrocious ambulance crisis in Portland, but when 911 doesn’t pick up, that’s even worse.
And of course, the latter problem is not new.
We’ve got dozens of people running around asking for Portlanders’ votes for mayor and City Council. When they show up, ask them what they know about the problem, and what specifically is going to solve it.
In particular, give Rene Gonzalez a hard time. The emergency communications bureau has been his baby for a year and change before Dud Wheeler recently took all the bureaus over en route to the new city government structure that will take effect in January.
For all the ugly local taxes Portland residents pay, you’d expect platinum government service. And yet we can’t even get the basics.