Welcome to the Comment of the Week, where we highlight good comments in order to inspire more of them. You can help us choose our next one by replying with “comment of the week” to any comment you think deserves recognition. Please note: These selections are not endorsements.
Remember way back last Monday? Our post, about changes PBOT made to the design of a project on NE Skidmore next to Wilshire Park generated much good discussion, including the usual strongly-worded opinions criticizing neighborhood associations.
We moderate our comments here at BikePortland, but that does not mean they have to be anodyne. It’s fine to fight hard, and that’s what commenters “pierre delecto” and “Watts” do in this thread. They do it with flair, they are interesting to read, and they make good points. Most importantly, they don’t get insulting.
The exchange is a good example of how to disagree strongly, even colorfully, without sounding like a couple of kids fighting in the backseat.
Here’s Watts’s final salvo:
What decisions are you talking about? If you had any experience at all with NAs you’d know they have very little power. They can write letters. But then so can you. You can also join them and get a taste of real power.
The idea that NAs run some shadow government is the stuff of pure conspiracy theory.
Here’s why you don’t like NAs: they are a vehicle for regular people to engage with their community, people you would rather be excluded from the civic discourse because you are afraid they will not be your political allies. Attacking NAs is like restricting polling hours in places that tend to vote against your party. It is exclusionary politics.
Thank you Watts. You can find Watts’s comment and the rest of the disagreement under the original post.