One of my first acts after stepping off the boat from Seattle was to send a “Nice to meet you, but WTF?” email to John Doussard, spokesperson for Mayor Tom Potter.

My beef? I had noticed that Mayor Tom Potter would be giving his 2006 State of the City Speech at City Club. Why was the mayor delivering such an important public speech, one in which he would presumably lay out his priorities for Portland over the coming year, to a private club (one that charges admission to the event, no less)? Shouldn’t the state of the city be held in a very public venue, like city hall? (While we’re at it, Governor Kulongoski should be delivering his State of the State in Salem—but he also hits City Club.)

Even at $5, it seems ridiculous that the public has to pay to check out the Mayor’s state of the city address. Could you address the thinking that went into this decision? Why not hold it, public meeting style, in council chambers?

Doussard’s reply was great. City Club traditionally hosted, he explained, but it was something the mayor would revisit in the future—he even suggested that a community center might be a better venue than at city hall:

We are following in a tradition of giving this speech in front of the City Club, which has a long civic history in Portland. When the City Club issued its invitation, we quickly accepted.

However, I think you raise an interesting point, especially given this Mayor’s commitment to public involvement. While it’s too late to do anything about this year, I will talk with Tom about other venues in the future. And rather than City Hall, I think we might better serve everyone by holding the State of the City in a community center out in one of our neighborhoods.

As for this year, I know the address will be carried on tape on OPB the same evening.

Thanks for your ideas.

But this morning, I checked out City Club’s calendar:

Friday, Jan 19, 2007

State of the City with Mayor Tom Potter

So much for public involvement. What gives? I’ve asked Doussard, in what’s becoming an annual tradition.