I only disagree with part of what Ron said. I think that his point about building PSU's program into a first class university is spot on as well as his points about the need to concentrate on k-12 and his bemoaning the lack of leadership in the state.
What he says that I disagree with and believe to be counterproductive and out dated thinking is the idea that Portland is in competition with the suburbs for the Knowledge based jobs. That paradigm gets less useful everyday. The Portland metropolitan area (including Vancouver) is in competition with Austin, Boston, Santa Clara and the research triangle. In fact we are increasingly in competition with Shanghai, Singapore, and Pranab/ In order to do that we have to apply all of the resources of the region. We need to take advantage of the green field locations in Washington County as well as the brown fields in NW Pdx. To continue to think of ourselves as in competition with each other is to waste time and energy in inter-regional policy disputes that sap our collective strength.
Working towards a regional stategy is the only hope for our future success. I know that that is the conclusion we have come to in Washington County and Hillsboro and I think generally in the region. I would be sad if Portland to develop a different direction.