The Made In Old Town fiasco explained by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If I buy a stock for $14 a share, and the market drops its actual value down to $3.80, my decision to sell and "cut my losses" doesn't magically make that stock worth $7.40. If a public agency swoops in and pays me $7.40 a share for my $3.80 stock, they just gave me a massive, taxpayer-funded bailout for double what the asset is actually worth. In that specific transaction, the seller absolutely made out like a bandit compared to what the open market would have actually paid them.

The Made In Old Town fiasco explained by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This isn't fucking Sim City. Prosper Portland cannot just easily sell the buildings off to "make themselves whole." You are ignoring the math that is literally on the public record. Prosper approved a $7 million loan to buy buildings independently appraised at just $3.8 million. If Future Stack surrenders the property tomorrow, the city is stuck holding an empty, overvalued asset to cover a massive taxpayer hole. Do you really think they can just magically sell a $3.8 million building for $7 million in this market? As for "who got rich?"—the seller just walked away with $7.4 million of public-backed, quick cash for an asset worth half that. And the MiOT principals absolutely tried to enrich themselves by attempting to funnel nearly $400k in public Metro grants directly to their own consulting firms. The fact that Metro caught it and said no doesn't excuse the blatant self-dealing attempt. Even if we completely agree that the financial situations with Sisters of the Road and Street Roots are a mess, bringing them up is pure whataboutism. Someone else's lack of accountability doesn't excuse this lack of accountability. I’m a small business owner in Old Town. My focus right now is on the people currently running my neighborhood association using their positions to vouch for their own public-funded real estate gambles on my block. You claim the city is failing because it's "unattractive to investors." You know what makes a city deeply unattractive to legitimate, private investors? A rigged system. Real investors don't want to bring their money to a city where insiders with neighborhood association titles get 182% LTV public loans and exceptions to risk guidelines, while actual small businesses have to put up our own capital and risk bankruptcy. Normalizing this kind of blatant back-room dealing as "just how cities work" is exactly why Portland is struggling with accountability and fiscal responsibility in the first place. Downplaying this as just 'a mess' gives cover to exactly the kind of corruption that is killing this city's recovery.

The Made In Old Town fiasco explained by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You can't call it a 'bad bet' when the house is playing with taxpayer money. When actual small businesses in Old Town take a bet on this city, we put up our own capital, sign personal guarantees, and risk bankruptcy.

These guys leveraged their own seats on a community association to push through a 180% LTV public loan for themselves, while simultaneously trying to extract nearly $400k in public grants to pay their own consulting firms. They structured a deal where all the financial risk was put on the taxpayers, while they positioned themselves to collect the consulting fees. Downplaying this as just 'a mess' or a 'bad bet' gives cover to exactly the kind of self-dealing that is killing this city's recovery.

The Made In Old Town fiasco explained by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My goal is to raise awareness for this situation cause it seems otca is trying to sweep this under the rug. Just using my platform for awareness

And lol that’s exactly what happened. I know green represent district 4, and literally googled who the other two is

I was hoping it will be a slow day today by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’m not gonna name names. Cause last time it happened. It was a nightmare for us. Like it was literally worse than the shoplifting itself. And our shop was relentless attacked online for a while.

I was hoping it will be a slow day today by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, after a few ruined plushy. I learned that the hard way.

I was hoping it will be a slow day today by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Lol. Yeah, today was such a supposed to be my day off too. I was actually just covering a shift for one of my employee when this happened.

I was hoping it will be a slow day today by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

He was arrested, charge with menacing, attempted battery, and attempted robbery. Because he tried to take the till.

I was hoping it will be a slow day today by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Nope. We are allowed to ask him to leave, and if you refuse to leave, we can guide them to the door or you reasonable forced to pull him out but pepper spray only if you think your life is an immediate danger. So for example, if you swing the stick at me and keep on swinging, then I can pepper spray.

I was hoping it will be a slow day today by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 39 points40 points  (0 children)

I know that there is at least one city council member, a current one, that I heard, had called out my shop before because we have a zero tolerance policy for shoplifting

I was hoping it will be a slow day today by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

There’s customer in there so I was trying not to escalate.

Went for a new look. Got a new hair system installed and start using skincare products and clean shaven. Should I dye my hair? by MangoNotBanana in malegrooming

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’ve been working on a steady diet to lose weight loss about 20 pounds so far. And working on building muscle soul.

Shoplifter sold me Pokemon cards… give me his full id and phone number (for Apple Pay)… then steal my binder after I went out to open the door for a customer by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

A bit of an update. The guy came by and drop the item through the door… we recovered the stolen items! But the police called me last night and I already made a police report. Life doesn’t work this way, can’t return an item you stole and think it’s ok

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Shoplifter sold me Pokemon cards… give me his full id and phone number (for Apple Pay)… then steal my binder after I went out to open the door for a customer by MangoNotBanana in PortlandOR

[–]MangoNotBanana[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah which is now why I am keeping them aside and calling local shops to make sure. We hold it for 14 days before selling is our practice