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Monday, March 9, 2009
Politics / News Would Big Soccer Take $$$ From Poor?
Posted by Matt Davis on Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 8:20 AM
"Every dollar that goes into urban renewal includes 26 cents that would otherwise be going to Multnomah county's general fund in taxes," says Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen. "Multnomah County really protects public safety and helps poor people. We're looking at a $45m budget hole right now, and to take money away from those needs at this time really calls into question what our priorities are as a community."
"The average person in this community hears urban renewal and their eyes glaze over," Cogen continues. "And because nobody understands it, there's this opportunity to abuse the system."
Well, before your eyes glaze over, give this one some thought: Council is scheduled to vote this Wednesday, March 11, on a controversial proposal to use at least $15m in urban renewal money to bring Major League Soccer to Portland.
"My beef isn't with major league soccer," says state representative Nick Kahl. "I like soccer. What I have an issue with is the city of Portland continuing to use urban renewal as a cash cow to fund pet projects. This is quite literally taking money that funds social services in Multnomah County, and school days, and uses that money to build a soccer stadium for a multi-billionaire."
For example: Multnomah County provides mental health care for homeless people. Cogen and Kahl are saying that if you'd rather spend money on Major League Soccer than ensuring those people stay safe, then your priorities are out of line with theirs.
"Urban renewal also takes money from schools," Cogen continues. "I get that there have been some good things done with urban renewal, but there are tradeoffs involved, and it's because the city has the power to make these decisions without the permission of the county or schools, that it gets away with these things."
"Urban renewal is supposed to be a tool for turning blighted neighborhoods into viable ones," says Cogen. "But if you look at PGE Park, it's between the Mac club and the sparkling new Civic condos. Urban renewal becomes meaningless if you use it everywhere."
Indeed, the state law is very clear on what areas qualify for urban renewal:
"'Blighted areas' means areas that, by reason of deterioration, faulty planning, inadequate or improper facilities, deleterious land use or the existence of unsafe structures, or any combination of these factors, are detrimental to the safety, health or welfare of the community."
PGE Park, "blighted?" Not so much...especially when you remember that city council already renovated the stadium just after the Millenium. Cogen says the idea "makes a mockery" of the urban renewal process. But I asked Peter Englander from the Portland Development Commission about using urban renewal funds for a project like this, and he said "It's for council to make the decisions, it's for us to provide the right information to them so that they can make the decisions, and then implement the decisions." In other words, he's not going to object if Randy Leonard and Sam Adams decide they want to use urban renewal money to build a fancy new soccer park.
Never mind. Newly-elected state representative Kahl is ready to do enough objecting for all of us. He's proposing House Bill 2616, which would mean urban renewal money could be used to fund social services projects, as well as fancy new buildings.
"There's this thought that people who live in East Portland envy the programs that Portland has the opportunity to create," says Kahl, who represents Gresham, Fairview, Wood Village and Troutdale in Salem. "But it's not envy. We have resentment that Portland can use urban renewal dollars to create a utopian community that is only accessible to the richest."
"The great hypocrisy is that this stadium is being paid for by stealing money from the neediest," says Kahl. "My level of frustration with this is unbelievably high."
I say council is "scheduled" to vote on the deal on Wednesday, because it remains to be seen whether the various parties to the deal can stop squabbling in the press long enough to come to a mutually acceptable agreement. Still...the smart money is on the vote going ahead. At the moment, Mayor Sam Adams and City Commissioner Randy Leonard are expected to vote "yes." Amanda Fritz is expected to vote "no." But Dan Saltzman and Nick Fish, either of whom could swing the vote, are still undecided...Here's Commissioner Saltzman's inbox, Friday morning, thanks to an aggressive email campaign launched by progressive group Onward Oregon:
SALTZMAN'S INBOX: Full of protest emails...
So: While the deal's backers and the Timbers Army might have themselves convinced this will be the best boon for Portland since...since the mid 1970s...there are others who are convinced it's the fiscal equivalent of robbing the poor to feed the rich. A reverse Robin Hood, no less.
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Rep. Kahl's community problems stem more from gang violence than blight.
$25 million in URDs is less than .5% of the city's annual budget. It becomes even less if you throw Portland Public Schools budget on top of that. It's laughable to even assert that money could fix what Kahl, Fritz or whomever thinks it could fix.
Matt Davis' refusal to answer who will rent PGE Park and pay off it's bonds if the city runs Merritt Paulson out of town is still ringing in my ears.
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So you have some East County politicians who are upset about the idea of URDs in Portland. This stadium issue is just a convenient dodge to bring it up. A URD for the PGE Park already exists. The money dedicated to that URD already exists. Even if this stadium deal goes down, there will still be URD dollars available to another project in that neighborhood. They didn't seem to mind when tens of millions of dollars were used for Cascade Station or the Riverside Parkway Corporate Center. Which "blighted" areas were those projects saving, exactly?
Lazy reporting as always.
I'm glad that you're so impressed by form letter spam though.
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Add to this the fact that Onward Oregon apologized for the content of their mass email:
" A new volunteer completely rewrote the text and then didn't submit it for the groups approval. Hopefully that will never happen in the future." - Leeny Dee, Onward Oregon
...suddenly a spike in response based on a misleading & incendiary email from the team at Onward Oregon doesn't hold so much water.
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You're showing what 40 emails from a city of half a million, all sent within a minute of eachother!
We are not stupid asshole, so don't try these kind of tricks - you are trying to tell a story with that picture which is a literal 'snapshot' of the seconds after an EMAIL CAMPAIGN was launched. Yes you acknowledge that in your text, but you hope the picture tells a much different story to those who don't read - like many of the poor you claim to protect.
Ironically YOU ARE STEPPING ON THE POOR, bending their unfortunate fate to support an argument you are trying to peddle using MALICIOUSLY MISLEADING IMAGES.
Your use of the poor is heartless and your lies are disgusting!
FUCK YOUR YELLOW JOURNALISM!!!
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And for once, the Big O editorial board is talking good sense today. Unlike the mindless shit-stirring here.
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have to agree with you as the tone and substance of the message isn't at all what we aspire to. A new volunteer completely rewrote the text and then didn't submit it for the groups approval. Hopefully that will never happen in the future.
Todays Oregonian does indicate their is some question on what Merritt Paulson is willing to guarantee.
Kind Regards
Lenny Dee
Onward Oregon
Building an Online Community to Champion the Public Interest"
Ooops -Organization Fail
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...really?
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Hey Matt, if we get RJR Reynolds to sponsor the Timbers, could we expect a 180 from you?
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You're right that not everyone in Lents considers this a worthwhile project...but they do think it's a worthwhile project by a 2 to 1 margin.
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Saying that the sky is falling because Portland won't have a team in a sport that virtually nobody cares about for more than a thousand miles in every direction is absurd.
If we want to experiment with the most boring, jingositic, imperialist sport in the world, then we should do it when we have extra cash to throw in to a black hole.
Hockey is the only professional sport wherein star players will regularly take pay cuts to stay on teams they're loyal to. That's virtually unheard of in other professional sports.
Plus, hockey is simply a far more exciting sport to watch than soccer.
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"A URD for the PGE Park already exists."
No it does not. Tell us, Daaaaave, which URA is PGE Park within? What's it called? River District? Nope. Downtown Waterfront? Nope. South Park Blocks? Nope. One of the eastside URAs?
You are lying and you know it.
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You should attend a Portland Timbers match this season - find your way into the crowd of supporters and I promise you will not find them hateful. They are the most welcoming and friendly group of people amassed in one place that I've ever encountered!
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Three other points:
*If one accepts the principle that URD money should be used for the URD area itself, then this deal takes money away from...Lincoln High, Chapman and Ainsworth Elementaries. Not exactly the vision of working class, over there.
*the way tax increment funding works is to use the marginal revenue above the base income, as I understand it. So without either a URD or additional development that spurs more tax revenue from that area, the schools wouldn't otherwise get any new money from it anyway. And if tax revenue increases as a result of the development beyond the current amount + $15mil over time, then the schools would see a net benefit, not a net loss.
*$15mil over 30 years doesn't sound like a whole lot. And to stimulate 600 well-paying construction jobs over the next two years sounds like an excellent use of the money. Would PPS generate 600 jobs during the recession with their cut? Doubtful.
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Psymonetta Isnoful
THANK GOD! Finally - SOMEone to part the fog of TIF and explain to us all EXACTLY what it means and justify its use for this project which, until all of my fears were explained away, I thought was one of the worst ideas I'd ever heard. Psymonetta, please, I beg you, explain this to us. All of my hope depends on it. Nobody has been smart enough to do it yet, and I'm sure you'll be the first.
I wait with bated breath.
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How did a screen shot of Saltman's inbox end up in Matt Davis' blog?
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