This Week in the Mercury
Friday, April 17, 2009
News / Politics City/County Urban Renewal Compromise May Pave Way For Soccer Deal
Posted by Matt Davis on Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Mayor Sam Adams and County Commissioner Jeff Cogen have announced a partnership on a state bill to give more money back to the county from urban renewal projects—potentially paving the way for a new urban renewal district around PGE Park associated with the Major League Soccer Deal.
Cogen's boss County Chair Ted Wheeler gave City Commissioner Randy Leonard a hard time over urban renewal at the Major League Soccer hearing back in March. Wheeler was upset that Leonard wanted to use $15million in urban renewal dollars to fund the MLS renovations. For every dollar that goes to urban renewal, roughly 25 cents is withheld from the county to fund social services and schools, and the county is facing a $45million budget hole this year. There's more background on this argument in my hall monitor column, if you're interested.
Now, Cogen and Adams have stepped in to broker a compromise. They've both agreed to support a state bill that would give a bigger cut of urban renewal projects back to the county and school district.
The bill, number 3056, would effectively undo some of the negative effects of Measure 50, which passed in 1997. Measure 50 meant less money would go to the county and school district from urban renewal each year. The new bill will be discussed next Tuesday in the house sustainability committee and even has the support of urban renewal skeptics like representative Nick Kahl from Gresham, says Adams.
There's no guarantee that the city/county support for the bill means it will pass into law, but Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt has assured Cogen that he will do his best to get it through as quickly as possible, Cogen says. The bill would then have to pass a vote in the senate before moving to the Governor's desk for signature into law.
Both Cogen and Adams deny that the sudden compromise is related to the MLS deal, although it could potentially sway City Commissioner Dan Saltzman towards using urban renewal dollars to fund it—something he has ruled out until now. Saltzman's chief of staff is yet to return a call for comment.
"I understand that a big controversial project is in the air but my concerns over this issue predate it," Adams told the Mercury via phone from Salem this afternoon. "This has been under discussion for a long time."
"This is driven by my support for human services and school funding. I think that the county has over-reached at times in its rhetoric to describe urban renewal," Adams continues, "but there's been some accuracy in their statements, too."
"We have made it really clear that for us, this is not about [Major League Soccer]," says Cogen. "But it's about working more closely together. The city made some major concessions here."
The new measure will be discussed in more detail at a Portland Development Commission board meeting next Thursday.
"This is a way to help our local government partners establish some checks and balances," says PDC boss Bruce Warner. "They will make everyone more comfortable. This is a major step forward."
The financial impact of the bill on PDC or the city and county is yet to emerge, but Warner acknowledged that it may well affect the amount of money PDC is able to use to finance its urban renewal projects in the future.
"As we move forward in the future we will look at all the urban renewal districts in a different way," he says. "If you're looking at a new urban renewal area, you might be a little more conservative on some of the financial plans and what we're seeking to accomplish in the districts."
1
You still have yet to answer why you wholeheartedly supported the deal to use $200 million dollars in taxpayer backed bonds to build the new University of Oregon Basketball stadium yet for some reason have led a campaign against using about $57 million in taxpayer backed bonds to build two stadiums right here in Portland.
I'm really curious why?
3
http://mattdavisopenshismouth.com/2008/11/…
In other words when Davis' wife works on publically funded stadiums he's all for it and won't say a word. Maybe there is a different angle to all of this. Is Davis pissed because Merritt didn't hire his wife Sue to get permits approved etc...
5
Wasn't aware of the whole wife angle. Wow....
So Matt - you REALLY need to answer now.
Otherwise you need to stop "reporting", opinionating or referencing this whole issue. Your credibility is shot to hell until you explain yourself.
7
9
Now there's a deal for 2 stadiums in Portland for $85 million and the loans are personally backed by the guy who wants to move forward with the project, the city of Portland will never get a better deal than this and all Davis does is spend months doing everything in his power to misinform people about the project by putting everything he felt supports his position, doesn't look into anything that might not support his opinion, and uses Jack fucking Bogdanski as a source.
And you think we're nuts...
12
I'll push for a higher upfront from Paulson and explore what support there is for putting a baseball or soccer stadium near or on a river. What do you think regulars?
13
I still can't believe the dimensions to this story. I have yet to read a credible narrative that spells it all out, i.e. the intentions behind all the players involved..
In the meantime, I hope Continuity of Services still stays in the picture.
14
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I'm not so sure about that hotel either. I think the theory is that we have lost out on a lot of big events in the past because we haven't had a hotel like this that is big enough to house all the media, people involved with the event, etc... That's exactly why the Rose Garden was never used for a NBA All-Star game after it was built. Despite it being the best arena in the NBA at the time there isn't a hotel in town big enough to hold everyone involved.
16
continue to operate for up to three years and that some capital improvements are
needed immediately in order to continue operations."
To date nothing has been done. There is nothing new or rushed about this project...other than the reporting of what's going on here.
http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/i…
Just so you know, the more you insult anyone who's trying to closely look into this project, the more I distrust you. It really makes you sound suspicious. Maybe you should be looked into.
18
@Common Sense
So you're saying I insulted Davis for completely ignoring anything that has been done in the past as far as the MC is concerned and totally supporting a $200 million publically funded stadium when his wife worked on it but not supporting an $85 million deal where the millionaire is promising to cover the end results when his wife didn't cover it.
FYI I actually really like the reporting Davis does. I think he has done some amazing work on some horrible problems with Portland's Police Department. He's just devoted his efforts from things that matter (like the death of James Chasse) to trashing the best stadium deal any country in America is going to see.
So who exactly am I insulting? You for being completely uninformed on anything other than blowing BS on a comment board? I guess I'm guilty joker.
But the obvious point is that if the stadium is such a good deal, then it should hold up to all this questioning and you shouldn't have to resort to attacking some reporter's wife. That is so lame.
Why don't you tell us who you work for. (well, or at least tell those who don't already know, as if it weren't so f-ing obvious...)
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