Free Republic

**SNIP** 1. City officials have long claimed that Portland’s form of government makes it impossible for them to do their jobs well. 2. When the Portland Charter Commission was formed, members settled on their own set of goals. 3. The commission emerged with three proposed reforms. No city in America has tried to achieve all three at the same time. 4. Perhaps the most popular aspect of the proposed reforms is that Portland would be run by a city administrator. 5. The reform measure calls for ranked-choice voting, an unfamiliar and controversial method, to elect city commissioners. 7. Portland voters...

Officials are now having to lay off some of the bosses who manage those firefighting crews because the bosses are not bilingual. Many of the newer hires in Oregon only speak Spanish. The state said all bosses must speak the same language of their crew on the fire lines for safety reasons. They want to make sure that the leader of the crews can quickly communicate during an emergencey if the fire turns or if there is another problem on the fire lines.