A day after the Oregonian inveighed against Mayor Sam Adams' proposal to use leftover utility cash to partially fund one of his longtime policy goals—a scholarship and mentoring program for community college students—the mayor is planning to find another funding source, the Mercury has learned.

Adams will instead dip into the city's general fund, tapping a pot of contingency cash that's been used to fund, in recent months, an expanded sex-trafficking crackdown sought by Commissioner Dan Saltzman.

Adams reportedly finished briefing his colleagues on the change today. The council is scheduled to vote tomorrow on whether to hand $360,000 over to the Portland Community College Foundation to launch the mayor's Future Connect Scholarship program. The money will pay for scholarships for 200 students, but also pay for staff positions at PCC to run the program.

Initially, before outcry over a city audit on dubious uses of sewer and water rate revenue, $193,000 of Adams' program was slated to come from those sources. He justified the spending by tying the program to internships at the bureaus, where a third of all workers are expected to retire over the next yearfive years. The internships will remain on the table, but be funded by general fund dollars instead.

Adams is apparently waiting to allocate an additional $140,000 for the scholarship program while his office is in talks with Mount Hood Community College. The council approved $500,000 for the program last May, the city's budget office says.

"It's clear the community supports it," says Adams' spokeswoman, Amy Ruiz, confirming the change in funding. "We don't want this program to get lost in a debate over funding sources."

Reese Lord, Adams' education policy adviser, says PCC students who use services like those provided by the scholarship program, including counseling and coaching, are nearly twice as likely to stay enrolled and work toward a four-year degree.