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Rob Galanakis

@robgalanakis.bsky.social
1.2K followers 705 following 4K posts

Proud parent of two children, a failed school board campaign, cargo bike, bike bus, small business, two rats, three chickens, and dozens of mortal enemies. ❤️ PDX bikebuspdx.org and robgforpps.com

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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 3h
There was just a total lack of interest from left groups about the school board race. At the point candidates have declared, it's too late maybe, we need more than endorsements; have to think about drafting people with a vision.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 3h
Billions of dollars that could have been transformative, that went to a single program. Was it worth it? I don't know! But we certainly didn't discuss "how can 5 billion dollars in capital expenses transform public education"!
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 3h
I have been thinking about this a lot but you mention "transformative efforts" and it kicked something off. I saw something recently about the left's lack of vision for public education and it seems to really resonate in Portland, which in so many parts of city gov are coming up with
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 3h
Resign? He hardly works!
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 3h
If you're not sure if you should rank @tomforpdx.bsky.social above Torres or at all, I have a pretty simple test: do you think he will be better than Dan Ryan? Torres seems about as close to Ryan as you can get, and since Dan is by far the worst councillor, the answer is an easy "yes" IMO.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 7h
Great thread, I think I mostly have my voting order at this point.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Casady said you did great! Thanks for MCing!
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Ah and also on bluesky! @kf7ior.bsky.social
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
✋ ok Cupid couple here too
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Perennial campaign finance hawk, among other things. Basically like an unpaid auditor.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Seth Woolley is a goddamn state treasure.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It might be possible. I'm very skeptical it would deliver the raw number changes we need and would likely have unexpected impacts, but unfortunately PPS doesn't seem to have explored it.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
That is to say, the tsp process isn't about "complexity," it's about laundering bureaucratic dysfunction through a community body.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The tsp is not the place to reclassify streets, you have to get it into an area plan, which come along once every... no one knows since there has only ever been one in a given area and even then only for less than half a city. Anyway I'm very salty about the tsp and I'm not done.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
You should try to get the i5 removal into the tsp because I'm truly curious what sort of kafka-esque hell they would send you down, without ever telling you how you could get it into some sort of plan.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Lol I can't even get them to reclassify an unscheduled, unbudgeted Greenway, to move it from 62nd to 61st, after 6 months of advocacy and a letter with a dozen orgs in support, just so it's in the plan with a better orientation just in case.
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Reposted by Rob Galanakis
ben fryback @bfryback.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
the ideal condition for NIMBYS is >wants property values to go up >property taxes to go down >housing to be more affordable >sell their home for maximum profit >no new housing
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
She should have to ride a school bus
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I haven't looked too closely but at first glance the proposal seemed pretty decent. bsky.app/profile/robg...
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It is actually quite different. The issue is not just the river, it's that the river is very offset from population and activity centers (Cincinnati is very central). It's those two things acting together that are unique to Portland.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Very cool that you picked up on it though! It was actually the Pittsburgh comparison/differences that made me believe this Portland theory holds up.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Yeah the main difference with Pittsburgh was the midpoint between population pairs goes largely through downtown. It was otherwise the only other city with downtown so isolated by a river.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Basically nothing! Or a lot of things that have done nothing. Depends on who you ask. They haven't done the things that would work. Or they've done everything that won't work.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Like, more residents and density and tax base is good, we'll take it wherever we can get it, the spillover effects are positive, it just won't help directly in the geographic sense, imo.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I could very well see them as hurting. They would be East side destinations and their residents would not help the midpoint issue. That said I think the development would be a tailwind in very real ways so would still help downtown. I don't want to overstate the claims/effects of this theory.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I really want him to keep screaming about this because it will make opposition increasingly toxic.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Oh you know what now I see it. Clear as day.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Uh okay aside from any argument of the proposal's merits, this person is obviously very dumb and cannot make a coherent argument? I don't think I've read anything he's written other than his text messages, this does not help him beat the accusations.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
For sure, almost certainly this is another heap of evidence that I-5 on the east bank needs to go away.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Exactly the type of stuff we may need to do. We really need to lean on the fact that most of 'downtown' is incredibly transit-rich and the destination of all lines; push people to park & ride as a model by giving them something worth riding to.
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Reposted by Rob Galanakis
Matthew Lewis -- living in the era of cults and consequences @mateosfo.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
You can't have functional cities dominated by cars, car culture, and driver violence. Conservatives and Republicans know this. They defend violent car culture as a primary, root source of political conservativism/fascism. The fact that there are still folks on left who defend it is ... weird.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
We actually have a district 3 candidate who has this as part of his platform, not sure if he realizes that's what the curb cut is.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Los of small businesses in Portlands downtown
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Join the strong towns pdx zulip! The main danger in this argument is you find facts that fit the situation so you can reason whatever your theory is. But I did try to disprove it and believe this holds up. Obviously it isn't on its own the cause but it is meant to inform the remedy.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Sure but it's still the tax base and there are many people who will suffer without fixes. We do need to stop what do amount to cash transfers though, like the grants that can only be used for tenant improvements
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It means downtown will basically not come back on its own- it will require a massive activation, and a much larger population will really only backstop the struggles. The idea of continually activating downtown is one we need to take seriously though, to make it a place to go for unique reasons.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I did some research (suggested by @strongtownspdx.bsky.social) and there is evidence that Portland's downtown is hurt by a unique geography: far offset from population centers AND separated by a river. I haven't been able to find similar geography. It is possibly a significant structural issue.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I have read a decent amount of civil war era history but I feel like I don't have a real understanding of grant the person. So this will be a good augmentation.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Just borrowed from the library, thanks for the rec!
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Wait did pbot suggest this? Can you tell me who?
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
What if that's what I've done and all of this is post facto justification to persuade others
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
At this rate I'm going to run into campaign finance limits
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Thanks for putting it so clearly. I am predicting more novick/morillo ballots than novick/tkl so that's why I am ranking tkl first. Now that I think about it some more I can totally see novick losing to Torres.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This is grassroots sewer socialism and ime helps activate people who want to get their hands dirty, and creates incredible goodwill with the types of people (older, whiter, wealthier) DSA might struggle with.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I suspect you can do this for stuff like a stop bar too, but pbot may not be happy with that so you'd want to be clear with them this is renegade members (neighbors also love stop bars).
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Ok related to this, here's an idea I had. When I have been painting yellow curbs, neighbors always ask if we can paint their driveway throats and curb lines. They're so thankful! You could do this and have a little "Portland DSA" stencil as some leftover branding.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I am not sure but the one we had at the Greek festival was average at best. I bet one of our local publications has some lists. @portlandmercury.com have you ever done gyro week?
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I don't think anyone knows. My anecdotal experience with middle age and older people is morillo is a very good speaker and they respect her fire and expertise. Tkl comes off less so and they are not impressed. I suspect morillos haters are louder is all. Look at the recent Green "scandals"
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Actually I only went to see if they had paximade (twice baked barley rusks, mostly a cretan thing) they used to have, but no longer. Also the roast lamb might be worth it, hard to find that sort of thing otherwise.
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Rob Galanakis @robgalanakis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
That gyros are not worth it at all. In fact if you live close to Greek fest the food is not worth going to Greek fest, cheaper and better elsewhere. There are a few good things hard to find elsewhere, like the chocolate bars and the olive oil is a good price, some pastries, but most isnt worth it.
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