Local despot and mayoral candidate Jim Francesconi showed where his sympathy and positions lie on the current Starbucks development during todays city council hearing. After testifying before city council about the growing lack of affordable commercial and residential property in Inner Southeast Portland, currently being exasperated by the new Starbucks development on SE 20th and Division St, it was brought to my attention that Lord francesconi had been enjoying a cup of coffee from the predatory chain the whole time. Whether this was a blaitant "FUCK YOU" to concerned citizens or just blind consumerism is hard to tell. Most likely it was a mixture of the two.
This is a strange message to be sending to the public from someone involved in a high profile mayoral race. Granted, it is doubtful that Francesconi is relying much on the votes of those vocally opposed to the new Starbucks sight after continually showing himself to be in the pocket of the Portland Business Alliance. Nonetheless, sending such an obvious message of disregard should be unsettling to any Portland resident, whether they support his campaign or not.
Am I suprised by any of this? NO! This action is beside the point since the council put a deaf ear to my concerns anyway. Apparently they still hadn't taken the cotton out of their ears from those giving testimony previous to myself on the still unaddressed criminal behavior of the Portland police towards community activists demonstrating their rights to free speech and public dissent. All this is very typical of our public officials who have bought their way into political office at the expense of the general public, and plan to keep it that way.
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