Hester Communications

Any article that calls Bari Weiss conservative, as this one, does discredits itself. She's less liberal than the bulk of the journalists at CNN and CBS and she's conservative on one hot topic (Israel), but overall she's left-center, and more left than center.

I'm not qualified to have a legal opinion on this, and I like mail ballots overall. But I always thought counting ballots that arrive after Election Day was a bad idea. Late-arriving ballots add uncertainty and contribute to distrust. #elections oregonlive.com/politics/2026/…

Wonder what comms pros think of this type statement. My theory (especially for Kotek): They do more harm than good. She already has the anti-Trump vote. To swing voters, it shows she's not focused on their issues. Informed voters know it's all show because she has no power.

This is the hard truth that urban planners hate to acknowledge. They should study how to give residents choices and figure out how to integrate different lifestyles instead of scolding the majority who prefer suburban-style living. #housing

I might know more about Portland street renamings than just about anyone else. And this whole Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. renaming thing is going to be a mess. 1. A street must be renamed after a prominent person, so going back to 39th is out, unless ... 2. We rename it after Heinrich XXXIX Reuss of Köstritz (1891–1946) and shorten the street name to “39th”, but ... 3. "The name of the street proposed for renaming may not be changed if the existing name is of historic significance," and ... 4. Cesar Chavez is of more historic significance than he was two days ago, so ... 5. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. cannot be renamed under current city code. Half of the city council seats are up for grabs this year. This is gonna be fun.

Will be interesting to see how many of these fail, especially outside Multnomah County. Between a bad economy and signs of voter fatigue over tax increases, this is about as unfavorable a climate for funding measures as possible. #elections #taxes

I think there's very little chance that fans from NW Arkansas, Spokane, Salt Lake City, Honolulu, Madison and either Austin or Raleigh are going to come to Portland these days and say "I wish my city was more like that." #MarchMadness oregonlive.com/portland/2026/…

Not a fan of Joe Kent but I give him credit for standing on his principles and being willing to sacrifice his job. More people in the Trump universe need to do that. opb.org/article/2026/0…

The sweet spot for businesses today is center to center-left cities in red states. Nashville is one example. Austin and Miami are two others. #migration #business #economy

@JohnDeanToran @Jeff_Eager Good point on Memorial Coliseum. That was an oversight by me, though it's managed jointly (sort of) with Moda. Chiles is private. I was talking about public venues. Might not have made that clear enough.

@CustomHester @Jeff_Eager Memorial coliseum can hold more than 5k so can the Chiles center. Still reading though

My latest Oregon Roundup column looks at the choices that Portland must make about #ModaCenter & Keller Auditorium. The 2 facilities play a big role in the city's livability & the decisions should be made in tandem. #TrailBlazers #arts oregonroundup.substack.com/p/portland-fac…

Portland isn't on this chart but it's in the general ballpark of NYC, especially for high earners. It offers Scandinavian level taxes, but with substandard services instead of a Scandinavian quality of life.

This is actually a much more important indicator than reports of billionaires departing. WF thinks it can grab business by being in Florida

While headlines focus on billionaires' moving, the worst long-term effect of exorbitant #taxes on the wealthy is the people and businesses that never will locate in those states. Oregon is ahead of the curve in showing what happens when states fail to encourage #wealth formation.

This is a product of ideological #diversity, which as the article notes, isn't the same thing as partisanship. When it comes to morality, there are so many competing ideologies in the U.S. that there are strong disagreements on many moral issues. usnews.com/news/u-s-news-…

With the popularity of "tax the rich" wealth #taxes on the left, could Oregon Democrats admit that there are no circumstances under which $1 million-plus taxpayer-financed annual #pensions for public employees make sense. oregonlive.com/data/2026/03/o…

This is a good, nuanced column on Texas D Senate hopeful James Talarico. Being the graduate of a liberal seminary might make Talarico seem religious compared with D elites, but it doesn't mean he has much in common with conservative Christians. #elections washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/…

@thehill Anyone who supports eliminating the filibuster in either party is short-sighted. Either party would regret as soon as they lost control of Congress.

#BREAKING: Ken Paxton offers conditions for potential exit from Texas Senate race thehill.com/homenews/campa…

@Jeff_Eager @mhester9777 Which points out another flaw in the system: The ability of elected officials to resign so that the governor and/or party can appoint a replacement who'll have the power of incumbency. There always should be special elections instead.

@CustomHester @mhester9777 Most judges in Oregon were appointed by the then-sitting Gov. Incumbency is really powerful w/judges (lawyers don’t want to run against a judge they might appear before) so elections have very little practical effect.

Interesting article. My reaction: It's one of the stronger arguments I've seen for why #judges shouldn't be elected. Appointments can be abused too, but at least the people making the appointments have more info than the vast majority of voters do. oregonlive.com/crime/2026/03/…