We need a list of the Top 10 Other E-Mail Messages Erik Sent Out During City Council Hearings. Help me out.

10. "I'd rather be on my Wii."

9. "He said Wang LOL."

I would be more interested to know what websites they were surfing during the public hearings.

I would be more interested to see the instant messages they send each other while they are taking tesimony.

"This guy is such a jerk, cut him off, his time is up"

"Can you believe this lady actully thinks we're listening to her"

"I can't take three minutes from this clown"

"these pitiful fools, they keep coming here as if we haven't already decided"

"we're the deciders"

Anybody else wish Ryan and his friends at the O would use the Oregon public records law to actually do some investigative reporting? This is cute and all, but I guess I care a lot more about actual Council decisions rather than who Erik, Randy, and Sam were emailing.

The great hoax of the computer age: "multi-tasking".

Thank god I'm not on the Council.

"The Oregonian has discovered that City Councilman Dave J. was searching YouTube for clips of Napolean Dynamite during the city charter reform hearings yesterday..."

Council members multi-tasking during Council hearings has been going on for literally years. I think the examples cited can be considered helpful, such as that Erik was mispronouncing Mr. Wang's name. And don't we want commissioners to be responsive to citizens via e-mail, and to communicate with staff who may know the issues in more depth?

An official who is attentive during the PowerPoint is an official who hasn't done his homework. The PowerPoint is for education of the general public. Councilors should have seen all the information before the hearing.

I agree Amanda, but it's still funny. It also reminds me of that piece that the W.W. did a few years back when they went through the Mayor's and Police Chief's garbage cans.

In large part, I disagree with you, Amanda. How many times in all the hearings before Council, did the Council have any of the information given my endless neighborhood activists and even their specialists? concerning SoWhat? Many times we couldn't even get a meeting or even an inquiry from any council member on positions neighborhoods had on any of issues that perculated over the 15 years of hearings. The three-minute testimony of citizens many times is informative even to a council member. Did Adams, Sten and Leonard listen to the testimony that the tram cost would exceed the $15.5M when they voted, or were they leaving the chambers to visit their offices, take a phone call, visit the restroom, e-mail a friend, etc.? I am surprised your wrote what you did.

Jerry, I said multitasking during the PowerPoint is Ok, I didn't say web surfing during testimony is. Although in retrospect, since they had already decided on SoWa before the hearings, it didn't make any difference what anyone said.

You make a good point, about what the Councilmen do when they leave the chamber. Everyone assumes they're taking a restroom break; I was told that on at least one occasion, a commissioner left to take a phone call on the matter under review. E-mails are just the latest iteration of methods some people get to use with decision-makers while others do not.

" E-mails are just the latest iteration of methods some people get to use with decision-makers while others do not."

So much for "public meetings."

HA, HA, HA!

I take unpaid time from job to testify before Portland City Council and some Council member cannot show me some respect for my time and effort. I find that very funny.

It is disrespectful to me, as a citizen to be treated that way.

Power Point be damned.

Potter: Give your citizens their due. Ban this behavior.

Randy, you know better than that.

Sam, shame on you

Erik, were you emailing anyone during your inquisition of PGE?

Yeah, a real good old fashioned HawHawHa here.

I agree. It's totally disrespectful. If you're not interested enough to give the meetings your undivided attention, you shouldn't be up there.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”
--Albert Einstein