This Week in the Mercury
Monday, June 29, 2009
News / Politics Wheeler: Won't Support $15million For Soccer
Posted by Matt Davis on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 1:13 PM
County Chair Ted Wheeler this morning told the Mercury that he doesn't feel $15million for Major League Soccer is an appropriate use of urban renewal money—setting the stage for a fight with Mayor Sam Adams unless the mayor can find an alternative source for the cash.
Adams is hoping to plug a financial hole in the planned renovation of PGE Park with money from a yet-to-be created urban renewal area (URA) in Portland's central city. But the URA is unlikely to have been created by September 1, the deadline for the city to finalize its deal with Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson. In the mean time, Adams and Wheeler have been meeting every two weeks with PDC experts and downtown big hitters like the Portland Business Alliance and Portland State University to try to hammer out what a new URA might look like.
Still, it's not clear how Adams plans to extract the extra $15million before the URA's creation process is complete. Adams can hardly raise the $15million as a footnote over the coming months, with MLS such a controversial issue for Portland.
Wheeler delivered a pointed presentation to the group this morning, arguing that since URAs are supposed to improve "blighted" areas, the city is going to have to agree on what "blight" means downtown. The definition of "blight" in state law is "wishy-washy," he said, before encouraging the group to decide whether "we're taking dollars from areas that are truly blighted, and not just with a wink and a nod around the table here."
Wheeler repeated his perennial point that the creation of a URA means at least a quarter on every tax dollar is taken away from vital county services like jails and drug treatment, and also the school district. "We're going to make some very real trade offs on some of the important community services we're investing in," he said.
After the meeting, the Mercury asked Wheeler whether he intends to oppose any effort by Adams to take $15million from the URA to fund the renovation of PGE Park for MLS.
"I hope I didn't come across as being confrontational," he said. "It's just that the trade offs with urban renewal are not theoretical. They are very real. I'm helping focus the question. I'm not telling people what to do. I just want people to be able to consider these questions."
"If people believe that renovating PGE Park again is more important than some of the critical services in our community then that is up to them," said Wheeler. "But from my perspective, the answer is no."
The $15million hole came up at city council last week, with City Commissioner Dan Saltzman reiterating his resistance to the use of URA money to renovate the stadium. He said he thought Paulson should be put on the hook to find a source for the money, prompting City Commissioner Randy Leonard and Mayor Sam Adams to effectively shush him. Leonard said the city needed to have some "integrity to [its] negotiations" with Paulson, while Adams said urban renewal money was still on the table as a "last resort," but that "the great thing about a democracy is that we can move forward with slightly different points of view on the detail."
The prospective problem for Adams is that Wheeler doesn't look prepared to allow the mayor to view the $15million as a matter of "the detail." There'll be no glossing-over of the decision, no "nods" or "winks" with Wheeler at the table. Wheeler's vocal up-front position on blight issues seems designed to push others around the table—Adams, the PBA, PDC, in particular—to take political responsibility for their decisions on a new URA. Perhaps Wheeler's presentation was not intended to be as "confrontational" as when he savaged Randy Leonard over the issue in council back in March, but there's more than one way to fight.
In semi-related news, the Mercury asked Wheeler for advice on the completion of a triathlon. Your reporter is training along with former Mercury news editor Scott Moore for the sprint triathlon in the Willamette this August. Wheeler said the best way to go is to focus on the bike and the run. "You're not going to win in the swim," he said. "It's the bike and the run where you can really make up some time." Wheeler has completed two Iron-Man triathlons in his time (these consist of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and lastly, running a full marathon...ouch). "It's all about tenacity," he said.
In this forum, the future of URA funding for the MLS deal may well depend on whether Adams has any tenacity left after going a full 12 rounds with the attorney general over the Breedlove scandal. Wheeler, on the other hand, seems just to be getting warmed up.
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'Leonard said the city needed to have some "integrity to [its] negotiations"'
What negotiations? He asks for tens of millions of dollars and you fall all over yourself trying to hand them over. How is that a negotiation?
"But what about us braindead slobs?"
"You'll be given cushy jobs!"
Thank you, now where's Keyboard Cat when you need... it... for this crapass stadium waste-a-shite.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am against this stupid stadium. And I think it's a poor use of Urban Renewal money. However, doesn't Urban Renewal money come from Tax Increment Financing? As I understood it (although it's confusing stuff, so I could be wrong) the TIF money is basically a loan on expected future tax money that will come from these improved properties. So URA money doesn't exactly steal from current needs. However, since 30% is earmarked for affordable housing, it does seem likely that it will be stealing from that pool. The history of urban renewal in Portland is pretty controversial (please see the South Auditorium District, the Rose Quarter, MLK and the convention center). Making PGE Park a URA will only increase the controversy that has surrounded these areas. As it is, no municipality is allowed to have more than 15% of the city designated as a URA, and Portland has more than 14% already designated as URAs. We're already pushing the limit, and there are areas that could use this designation FAR more than PGE Park. This is a really poor choice for our city.
Build it and they will come ..........and bring their imaginary money.
nickeyroo - yes, TIF is confusing stuff. But TIF DOES take from existing county and other public needs. More specifically, whenever a URA is created, a portion of money from that district is skimmed from the County and Portland Public School district funding rolls and goes into the URA fund. That might not be an issue 30 years later when (in theory, but not always reality) the district makes more tax revenue. However for many URAs that means for the first 10, 15, 20 years the County is having money diverted away. It also might not be an issue if it was just one URA, with a small percentage, but as you pointed out, we are talking close to 15% of existing city land, and thus property tax dollars being diverted from the County and Schools.
The reason Ted Wheeler and so many of us are upset is that the County is already in a budget crises due to A) so many existing and under performing and/or young URAs and URA projects, B) A budget crises due to economy in City, County and State and C) increasing and critical social service needs like basic child health, safety, emergency housing, etc.
The big problem is that the PGE Park need for $15 million in URA funds will not address the City and County's short term crises, and in fact may make it worse. For many of us it is also a huge moral and financial responsibility issue. With so many basic service needs not being cut right now, and the need for very solid economic development investment, along with massive existing problems with road infrastructure (hello Sellwood bridge) why the hell is the city putting what precious resources we have towards PGE Park? Sports stadiums have been shown over and over again NOT to increase economic development in cities, or the immediate areas around them. This is especially true given the types of jobs created and the insignificant impact of short term construction jobs on the tax rolls. In addition, as PGE Park is publicly owned, it is not and will not in the future be paying property taxes to the City.
This project is a disaster and irresponsible on the part of Adams and Leonard. The City needs to focus on investing public money in projects that provide solid benefit for the City - in both the short and long term.
In my book, creating a whole URA for one non-essential project, for one private and already wealthy business owner, with no solid economic benefit to the city is taking from the poor to give to the rich during some very hard economic times.
That's what I call an immoral sin on the part of our elected officials.
I wish soylent green were a true story.l
Matt,
Please relay to Mr Wheeler that he is henceforth discouraged from the sporting activity you describe in your post.
He is badly needed in our rudderless local government and we would not want him to contract cancer from too much intimate contact with the Willamette River, or from heaving too much Willamette Valley smog into his lungs.
Thanks.
"He said he thought Paulson should be put on the hook to find a source for the money"
Ahem. How about Paulson's bank account?
Why did MLS offer an expansion team to a small minded minor league town in the fisrt place. I think they need to pull the plug on Portland. Obviously they don't know what they have here. St. Louis, Montreal, Miami and Ottawa badly want an expansion MLS team. They should stop wasting time with you provicials.
PS Love my Revs more than anything. Love living in an all sports all culture town!!!
Kraftownzrevs (and Patriots)
Why did MLS offer an expansion team to a small minded minor league town in the fisrt place. I think they need to pull the plug on Portland. Obviously they don't know what they have here. St. Louis, Montreal, Miami and Ottawa badly want an expansion MLS team. They should stop wasting time with you provicials.
PS Love my Revs more than anything. Love living in an all sports all culture town!!!
Kraftownzrevs (and Patriots LOL)
I agree, we are provincial. But Provence is a wonderful place; great weather in the summer, excellent cuisine and wine, fantastic food and farmers markets, terrific bicycling, world class music festivals, arts and other culture, access to nature, diverse cities, terrific transportation. Wow, sounds like Portland.
Except Provence has a stable tax base that provides solid basic health, housing and social services for its residents.
I'll take that over minor league MLS any old day.
If we are provincial here, then whatever it is, it is awesome and we need more of it.
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She is extremely cute & affectionate- please call 503-913-1937
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