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W. Hayden Farris (he/him)

@whaydenfarris.bsky.social
172 followers 403 following 107 posts

Political Professional working toward evidence-based policy for effective and equitable outcomes. #Portland based, #Policy oriented.

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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Parked cars swinging doors into bikes and cars sideswiping bikes can cause accidents without fatalities. And pedestrian x cyclist accidents are likely more common (per biker) where there are not designated bike lanes. Stating this because he cites fatalities as his metric for bike accidents.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I think there is different point to consider about bike lanes: They reduce risk and perceived risk, even if actual harm reduced is smaller. Bike lanes create induced demand, getting more bikers on the road. Also, bike accidents with injuries but not fatality may occur in unprotected bike lanes. ⬇️
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
How did you get the panniers and the basket on the back? Did you have to put the panniers on first and they just stay on? (Looking to do a similar set up with my Velotric Gomad!)
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
A vacancy tax would have likely prevented this. Vacancy taxes activate empty or abandoned plots and make our cities safer. District 4 councilors (where this happened), please consider a vacancy tax. @councilorgreen.bsky.social @councilorzimmerman.bsky.social @councilorclark.bsky.social
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Current federal government (Trump et al) is increasing the distance between policy and evidence, and voters choose who is in gov. Science needs to be communicated in a digestible manner to policymakers and the public. Gov policy also needs to be communicated in a digestible manner to the public.
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Reposted by W. Hayden Farris (he/him)
Meghan Moyer @multcomoyer.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Join me at BOLD Coffee and Books to chat about how Preschool for All is expanding to universality by 2030, my proposed County Deflection Center reforms, and other issues facing Multnomah County. I represent BOLD Coffee and Books and surrounding neighbors in Goose Hollow. See you there!
A poster with a picture of Commissioner Moyer, the BOLD Coffee and Books logo, and a graphic of 3 people sitting around a table drinking coffee.

"[BOLD Coffee and Books] Presents Coffee Talk with Commissioner Moyer

Fri., Dec. 12, 1:00-3:00 p.m."
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
@kagi.com. Best google alternative. Switched over a year ago and have not regretted it once.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Excited to add some of your insights (with credit given of course) to the Benefits section of my housing policy proposal inspired by Montgomery County 👀
A screenshot of a word document with the sentence, "This P-MHC framework is inspired by the Housing Production Fund program managed by the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County."
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
"[laws to make campaign finance publicly transparent] may have vulnerabilities [that we cannot make publicly transparent]." Am I missing something here?
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Enlightening.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Want lower prices? Ensure real competition in the private market.
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Reposted by W. Hayden Farris (he/him)
lukelukeluke @lukelukeluke.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Congratulations to @flashes.blue for their official launch on the App Store 🎉🎉🎉 It’s an instagram alternative built on the AT protocol 🙌 all the visual scrolling with none of the Meta algorithm
A cropped screenshot of the Flashes app in the App Store
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
*Elon doesn't clarify his stance* "Elon's gesture looked like a Nazi salute and he was given the opportunity to clarify his intentions and apologize. Elon's lack of commitment to being anti-Nazi is deeply concerning. We condemn his conduct and that he is still in government." ^^ bare minimum
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
"We are not sure if it was a Nazi salute, but it looked a lot like one. Elon Musk should immediately clarify his intensions. Americans are anti-Nazi, we fought a war for this. No person should ever choose not to clarify their stance as anti-Nazi." *2 days later* 👇
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Because ~3 million federal employees each sending an email to one inbox is productive and efficient.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
California should build high speed rail, but it also needs to take greater accountability and responsibility in this project.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
So CA, don't just grovel about Trump's investigation. Someone should investigate your failure to build high speed rail. Step up to your job of governing, take responsibility, and stop relying on contractors. Solve your own problems and in house your high speed rail construction.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Ironically, we outsource this sort of work b/ we are afraid government is inept or corrupt. But outsourcing actually increases these issues with no real way to address these issues, especially in projects at this scale.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
In-housing such construction would have higher upfront costs, but those would be nothing compared to the wasted spending with no functional rail system yet. The BART system has proven efficacy of in-house construction, and the model is successful in many other out-of-state locations as well.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
CA high speed rail construction is contracted out. This substantially diminishes control over spending, a clear line of responsibility, and provides very little transparency.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Trump investigating the CA High-Speed Rail project is likely not in good faith. BUT CA should not be spending this much for so little. It's insofar functionally a waste of taxpayer dollars and points to massive failure in CA governance. One solution CA should take: In-house construction 🧵
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
If the latter, than the costs would still exist, they just would not be centralized in big cities and dispersed in other areas.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Followed you so we can DM instead of continuing tweets. I see what you're saying. But I would like to see studies on correlation v. causation. Does density increase crime rates and other costs? Or do people who contribute to these increase costs flock to locations of opportunity
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
So, where's your opinion coming from? Genuinely, I'm interested in this. My studies have pointed me to understanding cities as more economically efficient and good for humans. But you think otherwise, and I want to know how you came to your conclusion.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Your examples of the cons of density outstripping the pros of density, from the data I've looked at, don't prove such. Poverty and crime related stats are not caused by cities, but cities are where people contributing to those stats end up. Transportation costs in cities v. suburbs are about equal
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
@criticalurbanism.bsky.social just curious on your thoughts on this
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
For ex: 2022 MTA total budget is $20B (includes fares) 2022 Only Subway annual paid riders is 1B - and this is low ridership b/ pandemic recovery = $20 per ride A $30k paid off in $20/ride = 5 years to pay off car, fully ignoring insurance, gas, maintenance, and parking costs.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
So, when it comes out to a total (public + personal funds) dollar amount per trip, cities are pretty on par with suburbs it seems. But cities provide proximity and fuel efficiency for transportation
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
^^ "Triumph of the City" goes into detail on this. Infrastructure costs seem higher in cities, especially transportation. But this is largely b/ transportation costs for suburbs (personal cars) are shouldered at higher % on individuals, where as public transit is funded more through the city itself
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Anything relating to poverty, including education, and arguably crime and criminal justice, is largely in part because cities are where poor people can live – where there is housing, jobs, and opportunity. So cities don't "cause" these so much as attract and centralize people in these statistics.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Cities: traffic is awful. We need more people to transit Some people: take transit but don’t pay Other people: I would take transit if it were nicer and more accessible! Cities: let’s focus on punishing the people not paying a *checks notes* $3 fee. After that we can get back to serving people
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Reposted by W. Hayden Farris (he/him)
The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 16/02/2025
The Institute of Education Sciences, which identifies what works in education, may be on #DOGE’s chopping block. Its $1B budget is less than 1% of the Dept. of Education's, but it’s vital for efforts to pursue research-based improvements, educational researchers explain. buff.ly/42Yvcae
buff.ly
Helping teachers learn what works in the classroom − and what doesn’t − will get a lot harder without the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences
The nonpartisan arm of the Education Department supports research and shares data on student progress. It identifies what works and what doesn’t.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
This is a 40-year-old study, and I've found more recent studies that contradict this, so I'm hesitant to trust this. What do you think of these studies? www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/5/... onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
mdpi.com
Relationships between Density and per Capita Municipal Spending in the United States
The objective of this research is to determine the relationship between land use, particularly density, and per capita spending levels in cities across the United States. A model was developed using d...
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Can you provide some sources on this?
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Reposted by W. Hayden Farris (he/him)
The People Lab @thepeoplelab.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
The federal workforce isn't "bloated" - as @elizabethlinos.bsky.social explains, the real crisis is critical staffing shortages. Read more here: www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-f...
cbsnews.com
Trump says the federal workforce is too big. Here's what to know about its size.
The federal government is the nation's largest employer, yet the size of its workforce hasn't kept up with U.S. population growth, experts say.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
This sucks. Do better @adamsmith.house.gov Call your representatives! Elections exist to kick out ineffective elected officials. Tell them you want more or you'll vote for someone else. Light a fire under them. Change shouldn't need to start with us, but apparently it does.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Source: fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-fin...
fiscaldata.treasury.gov
Fiscal Data Explains Federal Spending
Check out @FiscalService Fiscal Data’s new federal spending page! #FederalSpending
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Federal spending accounts for 23% of our GDP. Cut spending and you cut jobs. Cutting jobs will sometimes be necessary for increased efficiency. But most jobs lost by current actions actually improve the public good. Musk and Trump's actions will hurt the public and lead to unemployment increases.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
💯
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
When people genuinely or in bad faith ask: How else are we supposed to clean up gov. efficiency if the courts block DOGE? The answer is easy and lies in the Constitution: get congressional approval – go through the legal process.
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Reposted by W. Hayden Farris (he/him)
Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 05/02/2025
If you want a long, but very thorough, read on just how crazy dangerous the situation is with Elon, @brockm.bsky.social has laid it all out in a single article. Please read it. www.techdirt.com/2025/02/05/t...
techdirt.com
The 24-Hour Reality Check: Musk’s Impossible Power Grab And America’s Crisis
There are twenty-four hours in a day. This isn’t a matter of political opinion or technological disruption—it’s as immutable as the fact that two plus two equals four. No amount of geni…
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Even if admin. gutting didn't impact this, the continual push for smaller gov. did contribute to the crash, which was partially caused by a controller shortage. The Reagan Airport is federally managed and was short-staffed and short-funded. Full staffing and funding could have prevented this.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
One more reason to not use Twitter. Check out these bots. All accounts created before 2020 with minimal posts aside from this:
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Things I can do in a city: - Walk 2 blocks to pickup ice cream from a friend - on the way back help someone move a dresser into their apartment - hang out with my cats on my porch and say hi to passing neighbors All within 20 minutes. Bliss.
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Source: I (briefly) worked in university administration. Lots of expenses and teams could have been better managed by experts of what was being managed: students themselves. Also, these won't cut to 25%, but will make good progress toward that number
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Reducing operating costs: Administrative streamlining and hiring upper-level students to manage standard student affairs (instead of career professionals) Reducing cost to students: *obligatory* public funding. Also, IMO standardized model across US where tuition rates are based off income
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Agreed. Was it a Nazi salute? Maybe. But the lack of ownership and apology for a potential Nazi symbol is the giveaway. bsky.app/profile/whay...
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
IMO best way to respond to these people: We want our public figures to be against Nazis. His thing looked like a Nazi salute. I'm concerned b/ he didn't apologize. Anyone against Nazis would apologize for making a Nazi-like gesture. Why didn't he? Why not clarify he is anti-Nazi?
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
This points to one big housing issue: gov. doesn't take enough responsibility. Private housing is especially tricky to regulate if there is a housing shortage. I think the bodies responsible for housing (IMO gov.) aren't doing their jobs. But we have good sources on the cause of the housing crises
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W. Hayden Farris (he/him) @whaydenfarris.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
@finetalpies.bsky.social (tag didn't go through last time)
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