$$$: Blogtown, PDX, Portland Mercury

Revealed at Last: The Vast Sums We Made Off of Fluoride

Dirk VanderHart — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:44:35 -0700

It's been a reliable refrain since the Mercury came out in favor of water fluoridation: anti-fluoride folks insist we must've been paid off.

"Maybe you are on HKHP's list of people and orgs who were bought? Disgusted with you and I will boycott you forever and a day," said commenter CleanWaterMan.

"It is also painfully obvious that the Mercury needs cash, so took a big old donation for this piece of yellow journalism," commenter "better wear a hat" helpfully chimed in.

"Your paper blows... totally blows!" remarked commenter Sean Denty, who didn't accuse us of taking bribes but is to be applauded for brevity.

Well guess what, everyone: We did get money from this whole fluoride debate! A whopping $1,450!

Problematically for those inclined toward conspiracy, nearly half that money came from anti-fluoride folks. According to Sales Director James Deeley, pro-fluoride political action committee Healthy Kids, Healthy Portland bought $850 worth of online ads between February 13 and March 31. But they didn't buy them directly from us; they used an ad agency.

Anti-fluoride group Clean Water Portland, meanwhile, directly purchased $600 in ads from April 22-28.

So there you have it. We are exposed.

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Where Your Money from Those Very Expensive Prince Tickets Went

Ned Lannamann — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:44:02 -0700

As NME reported last week and OPB reposted yesterday, Prince used part of the proceeds from those very expensive tickets to his two April 21 shows at the Roseland to help send Portland-area high school jazz students on a trip to a competition in New York City. The American Music Program's Pacific Jazz Orchestra is made up of musicians in grades 7 through 12 and, thanks to Prince, are going to the Essentially Ellington Competition and Festival at Lincoln Center this weekend, where they're one of only 15 finalists from across the country.

From NME:

Acclaimed jazz trumpeter and Artistic Director of the programme Thara Memory said: "The promoter [of Prince’s Portland gigs] is a longtime friend of mine and he told Prince about the programme. Prince was looking for something to give some money to anyway, and that’s how it came about."

Tickets for the two Portland shows were $175 for floor seats—substantially cheaper than tickets for Prince's shows in other markets like Seattle and San Francisco. Assigned balcony seating were $300. I believe there were several day-of-show tickets that went on sale for $100, and those may have been the tickets that, at least in part, went to fund the AMP's Pacific Jazz Orchestra's trip.

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Former Powell's Union Treasurer Faces Embezzlement Charges

Dirk VanderHart — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:14:45 -0700

A former treasurer for the Powell's employee union has been formally indicted on federal embezzlement charges, more than a year after members of International Longshore Warehouse Union Local 5 noticed accounting irregularities.

In late March, Britta Duncan was charged [PDF] in US District Court with embezzlement and theft, falsification of records and failure to file required reports—ten counts in all. According to the indictment, in less than two years as the union's treasurer, Duncan snuck off with nearly $45,000—money the government will seek to recover through her prosecution.

As reported by the Mercury, members of the ILWU first voiced concern in September 2011, when a newly-hired treasurer noticed errors in the union's finances. An internal investigation turned up missing cash, and the union asked the US Department of Labor to investigate.

The indictment says Duncan took the money in a variety of ways. Much of it—roughly $23,400—she transferred from union accounts to her own checking account, prosecutors say. She also allegedly claimed sick leave and vacation hours she didn't earn, and cashed ILWU checks for her personal use, among other crimes.

The embezzlement charges are no joke: Each is punishable by 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Should Duncan be convicted, prosecutors will seek to recoup $44,536.97. If she doesn't have it? Authorities will forfeit "any other property," the indictment says.

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That Was Fast: Facebook Campaign Ready to "Save the Mounted Patrol"

Denis C. Theriault — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:14:00 -0700

Based on hints he dropped during his State of the City speech last Friday, it was pretty clear Mayor Charlie Hales had the Portland Police Bureau's mounted patrol unit in his fiscal cross-hairs. And it was completely unsurprising this morning when Hales, in unveiling his proposed budget, said he wanted to cut the division and save $1.1 million that might be used for other priorities.

Cutting the patrol has been an oft-raised but never actually implemented idea. Money's always come from the private sector to restore reductions. That gap might be a bit too big this year. But clearly people will be trying. A Facebook page is already up, looking to lobby Hales to restore the unit.

But Hales seems pretty resolute that he thinks the money can be better spent.

"We're not going to be able to keep our horse patrol unit," the mayor said today, "as much as we all love it."

All 21 people who love it, so far.

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Mayor's Budget Unveiled: Here's Our Live Blog

Denis C. Theriault — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:14:50 -0700

Mayor Charlie Hales is unveiling his stab at a budget plan meant to close a $21.5 million deficit right now. It's filled with major job cuts—182.5 positions, including 55 police officers and almost 42 fire bureau positions.. And it would get rid of the police bureau's mounted patrol, Buckman Pool and funding for the county's Crisis Assessment and Treatment Center.

Significantly, it keeps open all fire stations. And it appears to mark a major victory for the safety net campaign working to protect social services and housing programs. City-operated SUN schools will stay open, and city funding for the CHIERS van and Hooper Detox center will remain in place.

Other highlights? The city's getting a larger contingency fund: $3 million.

"It's not a shoebox of money but it's a real emergency fund," Hales says. "That's why it's there."

And utility rate increases (for water and sewers) will be kept to a combined increase of less than 5 percent—down from 7.8 percent hikes proposed by each bureau. The mayor also delivered on a pledge to minimize layoffs of newly hired cops, finding onetime bridge funding to let the bureau reduce with vacancies.

He's also keeping school resources officers and keeping most of the property crimes unit in place.

"We're not going to be able to keep our horse patrol unit, as much as we all love it."

The mayor says his goal was to craft a "humane but responsible" budget. He's also hitting on his goal of getting his fellow commissioners to serve as a "board of directors"—highlighting their work in finding savings in overtime and in reductions to management-level staffers.

"We're directing the fire bureau to make more use of four person rescue units. They're staffed with two EMTs, not four," Hales says. "That will make a much better result for our neighborhoods and move the fire bureau into its core business, which is medical response."

He's also signaling the need for more work with the county.

"There are a number of programs that are shared between the city and the county," Hales says.

Update 11:25 PM: KGW asks why this is all "austerity." Hales says he's tapping, responsibly, some of the city's reserve fund. "We're coming out of a difficult recession," Hales says on revenue. "This doesn't feel to me the time for a general tax increase in the city of Portland."

Those are his closing remarks.

Update 11:23 PM: "I'd have liked them to be zero," Hales says when asked about water and sewer rate increases. Hales also says he doesn't fret for the safety of the city based on his proposed cuts.

"They're navigation documents," he says of budgets. "I've started taking it personally... I never thought that I'd do that. Every single line item is important. These are real people we'll be laying off. These are real services we won't be doing."

Update 11:20 PM: "You can't cut" other bureaus that much without cutting police and fire bureaus. "The principle of shared sacrifice applied to all bureaus," Hales says. This year's budget marks a shift from past budgets, when police and firefighters were spared pain historically spread around, at a deeper level, to other bureaus. Hales says these cuts won't hurt patrol staffing and won't damage progress, as he sees it, in the bureau's attempts to mend its relationship with the community.

Update 11:18 PM: The final number of layoffs, thanks to vacancies, could be under 100. Hales is highlighting housing budget wins: women's shelters and the Clark Center, foreclosure counseling and other programs are in. It's close to the $1.1 million in add backs the Housing Bureau wanted from the general fund.

Update 11:16 PM: Bureaus did a good job of separating "nice tos" and got tos," Hales says to a question from Aaron Mesh on "Washington Monuments"—programs bureaus historically suggest knowing they'll never be whacked.

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How Diverse Are the Cops on Portland's Layoff Chopping Block?

Denis C. Theriault — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:59:27 -0700

We reported last week about a tentative plan to keep the Portland Police Bureau—facing the prospect of losing more than two-dozen officers because of budget cuts—from having to lay off its most junior cops. That's no small feat, because those new hires, thanks to improved recruiting in recent years, happen to be some of the bureau's most diverse cops.

How diverse are we talking? The bureau has provided the Mercury a chart breaking down, by demographic marker, the 29 cops who could be affected by budget cuts. The percentage of women in the group matches up among some of the bureau's best recent hiring classes. And the percentage of white men is lower, by far, than the norm for the bureau and even citywide.

A bit of money to help keep those officers employed, according to a plan floated by Commissioners Steve Novick and Nick Fish, would come from the city's insurance reserves. The one-time funding would let the bureau trim its ranks through retirements and natural attrition.

Although the work over has been largely incremental, the bureau over the past few years, under Chief Mike Reese and former Mayor Sam Adams, has actually put some effort into getting away from merely importing large clumps of white men.

As I reported in 2011, out of some 67 cops hired in 2009 and 2010, only one was African American and none was Latino. And as of 2009, only 33 out of nearly 1,000 cops were black—about half the rate in Portland's overall population, according to census information. Those numbers came in a column pooh-poohing the bureau winning a diversity award based on its early diversity efforts.

But those new figures above? They are a small measure of proof that the police bureau has kept pushing in the right direction. Could the bureau move faster and harder? Undoubtedly. But consider that more than 76 percent of Portlanders are white. That number, among newly hired cops, falls to 72 percent.

Even Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch, who called the 2011 award a "joke," acknowledges there's something meaningful in that.

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"Did You Mean: Afghanistan’s Drug Industry?"

Marjorie Skinner — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:59:00 -0700

"Did you mean: Afghanistan’s drug industry"

That's what Google asked me when I plugged in the phrase "Afghanistan’s rug industry." Um, no Google, rugs not drugs. And hugs. Anyhow, it's some kind of dismal indicator that the industry that is second only to agriculture in providing income to people in cities like Kunduz has been overshadowed by those sleep-inducing poppies (which technically counts as agriculture, but still). It's an industry that perhaps makes for less grabby headlines, but the struggles faced by this traditional, and threatened trade (due in part to high tariffs imposed by countries like the US, as well as competing cheap, machine-made versions) are of concern—and hey, if the idea that a rug maker might be forced into a new career in the drug industry gets your attention, so be it. Although perhaps more compelling is that the rug industry is one of the only options for female employment in the country.

God, they're beautiful. I bring this up because next Thursday (April 25), Kush is hosting a talk given by Zubair Ahmadi, a member of a legendary rug making family who relocated to Los Angeles and capitalized on the cultural exposure to expand on traditional designs, landing his company spots in publications like Elle Decor. He'll be lecturing on the history and culture of Afghan rugs, including the current struggles. It's totally free to attend, and will be followed by hors d'oeuvres and refreshments. RSVP here for the 5:30-8:30 affair.

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Watch Bitcoin Collapse in Real Time

Paul Constant — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:56:00 -0700

The Atlantic has slapped together a Bitcoin Collapse Calculator that shows you, in real time, how much value Bitcoin has lost since it hit its high on April 10th. Hilariously, they even show how much the Winklevoss twins (who just yesterday were referred to in the New York Times as "Bitcoin moguls") have lost. At the time of this writing, they're down $21,017,340.59 of what I assume is their dad's money. This is a tremendously satisfying way to spend a few minutes.

UPDATE: Oh, good. Gold is rapidly losing value, too.

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The City Club STILL Likes Fluoride

Dirk VanderHart — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:07:51 -0700

The City Club of Portland has been trying to get fluoride into the city's drinking water for almost 60 years. So the central conclusion of a report the club sent to media outlets Wednesday—with strict instructions it wasn't to be reported on until this morning—comes as no surprise: the City Club still wants our water to have fluoride.

At least, one of its committees does.

"The general scientific consensus and 65 years of experience in other communities demonstrate that fluoride is safe at the recommended level that will be implemented in Portland's water supply," reads a majority recommendation from the committee that authored the document, "and that it is an effective way to reduce dental cavities and to promote dental health in an equitable manner."

As with anything surrounding this bitterly contentious debate, though, the matter is not so clear cut. The report also contains a minority opinion.

"The minority feels that fluoridating the public water supply will be done without the informed consent of some portion of the Portland population," the report reads. "Further the minority believes that fluoride, used to reduce cavities, is best administered in a doctor's or dentist's office."

The club will take a formal stance on the issue later this month.

Meanwhile, Measure 26-151—which would authorize fluoridation of the water supply—will be decided by voters on May 21. Council first approved fluoridation in September, but opponents gathered enough signatures to put the matter on a ballot.

If approved, fluoridation would cost roughly $5 million to implement—paid with water rates—with significant yearly expenses after.

Proponents say it's an effective way of raising the city's overall dental health, and is particularly vital for low-income adults and children.

Opponents fear the mineral could have adverse health effects, and contend Portland's water is fine the way it is.

The City Club took pains to insist Mayor Sam Adams, now the group's executive director, had nothing to do with the report.

"Due to Sam’s work on fluoridation as Mayor, Sam has had no involvement with the committee, their research, or the report," Policy Director Greg Wallinger said in an e-mail. "He physically recused himself from the Board of Governors discussion and vote on the report."

It's not like they'd need Adams' encouragement. The report details five previous efforts by the club to get fluoride into the city's water supply. They date back to 1956, when a host of American cities were following the example of early fluoridator Grand Rapids, Mich.

Here, a helpful chart from the report about the effects of oral disease:

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Press Release of the Day: Fake Study Says PDX is #17 City For Sugar Daddies

Alex Falcone — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:44:00 -0700

Alison was too disgusted to write about this so she passed it off to me (hint: "Who's your daddy?" is not a good subject if you want Alison to open an e-mail). A dating website that specializes in rich men kinda buying sex from young women studied its own membership and found Portland to be in the top 20 cities for sugar daddying. I'm not going to link to them or their bullshit "study" because while I'm not against prostitution exactly, I am against fake science and the euphemism "mutually beneficial relationships."

In addition to pointing out that Atlanta is now #1 and Portland is only #17, the press release fills in the mysterious details about Sugar Daddies that we've all been dying to not care about.
According to the study the average Sugar Daddy in America is 39 years old and earns
approximately $275,301 annually. He spends approximately $5100 monthly on his sugar habit, which is 22 percent of his annual income. Since 2007, the number of married Sugar Daddies has dropped from 46 percent to 33 percent, a sign that the sugar lifestyle is becoming more widely accepted amongst single men.
Many experts recommend spending 25% of your income on housing and while they don't have a recommendation for how much to spend on prostitution, 22% seems pretty high. Perhaps the percentage of SDs that are married is falling because in these tough economic times, spending a quarter of your paycheck on sex would be hard to justify to your wife.

The blog post they encourage for further reading (which I also won't link here) includes a handy infographic so you can see the top cities illustrated like nuclear damage clouds over a map of the country. They also located Portland somewhere on the Olympic peninsula because it's a beautiful area this time of year.

If you're a 40-year-old with 22% more money and a very supportive wife, I'm sure you'll find the website on your own. Go out and enjoy paying $5,100 every month to get mutually beneficial prostitution.

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Glimmer of Good Budget News? City Deficit May Shrink to $21.5 Million

Denis C. Theriault — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:59:16 -0700

In an early disclosure practically unheard of during past administrations, Mayor Charlie Hales this morning has tipped his budget cards a bit—revealing that Portland's presumed $25 million budget deficit may actually drop to $21.5 million.

Hales' office sent out a statement describing the mayor as "cautiously pleased" about the update, which also suggests the city might even squeeze out a modest amount of one-time money—$800,000—the city can use for projects like helping the police bureau avoid laying off newly hired—and actually diverse—cops.

Bureaus had been told to whack 10 percent from their budgets, a $38 million cut, more than the city's deficit, and then duke it out with the public and the city council over the remaining $13 million in scraps. An extra $3.5 million to work with, plus the one-time money, could help blunt proposed cuts like closed fire stations, closed women's shelters, and closed community centers.

“While the budget preview is good news, the city still faces a shortfall and we still cannot use deficit funding,” Hales said in prepared remarks. “The new projection, if accurate, softens the impacts of the decisions we face.”

Deficit updates used to be something of a state secret in city hall. That began to change last year when Commissioner Dan Saltzman pushed a rules change that requires the city to publicly release new numbers every year by December 31 and April 30. Former Mayor Sam Adams had a reputation for holding onto the spring number—the one the city officially builds its budget around, and a potential game-changer in budget negotiations—until the last possible moment. The council typically approves a budget in May.

In the city's statement, economist Josh Harwood and city budget director Andrew Scott both say things might still shift before the end of the month. A few things changed, according to Harwood's staff:

• The consumer price index for the area—AKA inflation—came in lower than forecasted

• Health care premium costs came in lower than expected.

• Property values, for tax purposes, are up.

• "Compression"—the tax-limiting system voters approved in the 1990s, which forces governments to squabble over the division of a finite pie of property taxes—may not cause as much pain next year as previously expected. Early forecasts had the city facing a $10 million hit because of Multnomah County's voter-approved library district. Harwood tells the Mercury the budget office is now writing in $9 million, with the caveat that the increase in property tax values still leaves a lot of uncertainty.

“This is just a step in the process,” Scott said, also in prepared remarks. “The full forecast, including that of the volatile business licenses tax, will be released at the end of the month.”

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There Goes Summer: Fleet Week Partially Canceled

Dirk VanderHart — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:37:00 -0700

The federal sequester—much balleyhooed prior to its deadline but as-yet relatively benign—has just become all-too real.

Portland news outlets that apparently subscribe to a naval mailing list we missed are reporting Portland's Fleet Week, that annual bastion of maritime pomp, will be partly crippled this summer. The reason: the sequester-strapped US Navy doesn't have the funds to pay Portland or Seattle a visit.

According to the Portland Rose Festival website, the fleet was expected to cruise into town—afflicting commuters with lengthy bridge lifts and bestirring the corpse-strewn muck of the Willamette— on June 4 and depart June 10.

That might still be true of US Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy vessels, which festival organizers reportedly still expect. Come on, though. Canadian sailors?

From KGW:

"We appreciate the community's understanding during these uncertain budgetary times," Navy Region Northwes Commander Rear Adm. Mark Rich said. "We will continue to find ways to engage locally, in keeping with Department of Defense guidance. We are thankful for what Seattle, Portland, and our community partners do to support our service men and women every day and look forward to continuing to work with those partners now, and in the future."

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Portland's Public Defenders Get Meager Pay. This Bill Would Help.

Dirk VanderHart — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:51:00 -0700

Multnomah County public defenders play an important role, ensuring the poorest among us receive a competent defense. It's an often-thankless job, with demanding hours and, frequently, difficult clients.

And relative to their counterparts in the prosecutor's office, the city's public defenders are paid peanuts. The divide has widened in recent decades to a point where the most-lucrative public defense positions pay roughly what a starting prosecutor makes.

The disparity — highlighted in the graph below—is now the target of a bill in Salem that will get a hearing this afternoon. House Bill 3463 requires the state to pay public defenders at a similar rate to the prosecutors they square off against in the state's court rooms.

"They literally have not gotten much of a raise since 1985," says State Rep. Jennifer Williamson, the Portland Democrat who spurred the bill. "As a first-year attorney, even at a small private firm, you're making twice that."

Which poses a problem for Oregon's public defense system—unique in that it contracts with nonprofit organizations for defense work, rather than hiring its own attorneys. Faced with more-lucrative options elsewhere and mountainous law school debt, it's not uncommon for public defenders to move on after a few years of trial experience. That, in turn, limits the quality of representation indigent defendants can expect.

"There's a lot of conversation about ways to save money in the criminal justice system right now," said Ryan Lufkin, a deputy district attorney in Multnomah County and treasurer for the Multnomah County Prosecuting Attorney's Association, which supports the legislation. "I think the cheapest way to assuage some of that is to get excellent public defenders. If you get people who can do an excellent job on the defense side of things, you really do ensure the right people are going to prison."

Williamson's bill states public defenders should be paid "at a rate equivalent to an assistant or deputy district attorney of comparable experience practicing within the same county..."

The House Judiciary Committee will take the matter up this afternoon. That pleases Williamson, who acknowledges the matter could be a tough sell this year.

"I'm just really excited we're having a hearing, frankly," she said. "It's a difficult budget time."

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Neighborhood Group that Fought Division Street Development Asking for Help with Legal Bills

Dirk VanderHart — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:59:00 -0700

The neighborhood group that's been fighting a large parking-free apartment building on southeast Division was left with a bad taste in its mouth last week, when council made clear the project won't be subject to new parking minimums.

It's also left holding the bag on a rather large legal bill. So Richmond Neighbors for Responsible Growth is asking supporters for monetary assistance.

"Because of the many roadblocks thrown down by a wealthy developer to add complex wrinkles to this process, we are left with a hefty legal bill to pay," reads an e-mail sent yesterday by Judah Gold-Merkel, a member of the group. "Any contribution you can make toward our legal fund is greatly appreciated."

According to the group's website, it expects to owe about $5,500, mainly for "legal and communications support."

The bills stem from RNRG's partly successful bid to change the project, an 81-unit apartment building stalled at SE Division Street and 37th. In February, the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals partly upheld a complaint from the group, resulting in a stop-work order on the project from the city.

But while the Richmond residents helped spur what look to be sure changes to the city's zoning code—adding fervor to the emotional debate—the object of their ire will likely continue unchanged. In last week's council hearing, commissioners declined to put proposed changes into effect immediately. That means developer Dennis Sackhoff will be able to secure a new permit before the minimums kick in.

"Council was forced to make a decision because they were coerced by a developer who threatened to sue them," Gold-Merkel tells the Mercury. "They didn't feel like they could risk the lawsuit."

The amendments, which in part assign varying parking minimums to projects depending on their size, are expected to be voted into law at Wednesday's council meeting. Whether or not commissioners will elect to enact them immediately at that point remains to be seen. Measures not voted in as emergency ordinances take effect 30 days after a vote.

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Hales Gives Old Town District the Go, for Now

Dirk VanderHart — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:39:55 -0700

The weekly street closures that have drawn compliments and worry in Old Town's new "entertainment district" will continue on, despite the formal ending of the pilot project last weekend, the Mercury has learned.

Mayor Charlie Hales—who on Saturday spent several hours surveying the weekend cacophony that clusters around Old Town's bars and nightclubs—has instructed police and transportation officials to continue the project for up to 60 days.

"What he saw when he was walking downtown was that it seems to be working," said Spokesman Dana Haynes.

That's not unqualified approval, though. Whether or not the project becomes permanent, and who will pay for it if it does, remains to be seen. Hales plans to speak with police, business owners and others before making a final decision.

As we reported this week, the weekly street closures— which seal off NW 3rd Avenue between Everett and Burnside, along with adjacent streets—have the support of cops, who say crime is down in the district. But the initiative has proven expensive, running almost $30,000 over three months, and bar owners fear the closures have made the area seem unwelcoming. Over the three-month pilot, 315 vehicles were towed from the zone.

"Yes there's a cost," said Haynes. "Should that be something that the city bears, or should it be something that the tavern and bar owners bear? That's something we have to discuss."

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Here's a Look Inside the Bike Share Sales Pitch

Dirk VanderHart — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:14:00 -0700

Were I an eccentric millionaire itching to throw money at bizarre flights of fancy, I'd seriously consider dropping $3.75 million or so on Portland's currently cash-poor bike share project.

Not only would a logo of my choosing (probably a miniature pastoral scene with me, smoking and obscured, Waldo-like, by a distant haystack) be spangled throughout the city but, at least according to the folks selling the opportunity, I'd be getting an amazing deal.

The city, citing a study [PDF] released earlier this year and given to the Mercury yesterday, anticipates a "title sponsorship" in Portland's bike share system will be worth almost $3 million a year, what with the bikes acting as rolling billboards and the branded docking stations and the breathless media coverage planners anticipate.

"Portland is known for biking, it is what people look for what Portland is," reads my favorite incomprehensible sentence in the report.

But is Portland asking for $3 million? It is not. A title sponsorship will run $1.25 million a year (for a minimum three-year contract). If I'm rich and ennui-addled, I'm Portland bike share's "title sponsor" yesterday. Problematically, I'm neither, and those types are seemingly in short supply around here.

Alta Bicycle Share, tapped last year to run the program, is still looking about for money to get the project up and running next spring. The city's hoping for 750 bikes at 75 docking stations in and around downtown, though that will obviously depend on how much sponsorship cash emerges by then.

All you millionaires reading this: Just think about it. And think, too, about the priceless added exposure the project carries with it, which was tallied helpfully in the report:

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Saturday Mail Delivery Is Not Dead Yet

Paul Constant — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:28:16 -0700

Those of you who want the Postal Service to die a quick death might be disappointed after all. Seems the government does not approve of their plan to kill Saturday service:

The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, said in a legal opinion that the post office did not have the authority to make the change without Congressional approval, based on a spending measure passed by Congress last year.

The opinion was issued on the same day the House sent the president a spending measure that also required the post office to maintain Saturday delivery. That measure keeps the government operating through Sept. 30.

Of course, if Congress really wants the Postal Service to keep up with their delivery, they could just retract the unreasonable Congressional mandate that insists the USPS pre-fund health benefits for retirees.

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Bankers Attack Credit Unions Over New Program

Nathan Gilles — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:29:00 -0700

For years, banks have had it in for credit unions. And this year’s round of legislative fisticuffs is no exception.

Oregon bankers, big and small, local and not, are behind three Oregon House bills targeting the state’s credit unions. Of these, HB 2486 is the most extreme.

The idea behind the bill backed by the Oregon Bankers Association (OBA) is to saddle large not-for-profit credit unions with the same kind of corporate taxes that for-profit banks currently have to pay. That’s because, say Oregon bankers, tax-exempt credit unions aren’t paying their fair share of taxes.

But this isn’t the whole story. HB 2486 also specifically targets a new state program that’s expected to be a boon for credit unions and could take money away from banks. And that's why Oregon banks are acting now.

On April 1, Oregon’s Public Funds Collateralization Program for Credit Unions is set to take effect. This program comes out of a bill passed in 2010 ~~law~~ that allows public officials to keep public funds in credit unions past the $250,000 currently allowed by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA is to credit unions what the FDIC is to banks). This potential competition seems to have attracted the banking lobby's ire.

“If they are going to be receiving public funds, then they should be treated like banks,” OBA legislative director Kevin Christiansen told the Mercury. “They have been acting like banks and whether they are or not, they should be taxed like banks.”

Christiansen says instigating the new program without also taxing the credit union would give them an unfair advantage over small community banks (and though he didn't say it large national banks) and the state had no right “to pick winners and losers.”

Oregon banks currently have a program almost exactly like the new one for credit unions, and all but ~~four~~ six of the 37 banks listed as being involved in the program are OBA members. These include big national banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America as well as a lot of Oregon-based banks.

HB 2486 specifically goes after the $250,000-public-funds-and-then-some issue and asks that credit unions participating in program (and pretty much any other credit union holding a commercial loan equal to or greater than 10 percent of its assets) be taxed.

In order to target Oregon’s credit unions, according to its newsletter, Banking Matters, OBA has launched a “credit union taskforce.” This taskforce includes a “multi-pronged approach involving both legislative and communications strategies.”

Beyond its bills, OBA also is trying to win the hearts and minds of Oregon lawmakers by distributing a report they funded that states the credit union market is now dominated by some very large credit unions, which does appear to be the case.

The study also notes that Oregon’s 73 credit unions—big and small—hold about $15 billion in assets. But if that sounds impressive, consider the credit unions’ market share. It’s about 20 percent of Oregon’s consumer banking market, according to the Northwest Credit Union Association (NWCUA). And that respectable figure, compared to other states, might have the banks concerned.

“It's less about a public policy question than it is about competition,” Troy Stang, president of the NWCUA, told the Mercury, “and banks would love to have no competition in the market…I really think that these three bills are in the Oregon legislature because we have seen growth and consumers voting with their wallets and feet.”

The growth Stang is referencing was motivated in part by Occupy Wall Street’s “N17!” campaign, which was designed to get regular people to switch from big banks to small community banks and credit unions. And it seems to have worked. Credit union membership is up, says NWCUA spokeswoman Lynne Heider. The banks have noticed.

In the winter 2012 edition of Banking Matters, OBA member and President of Capital Pacific Bank Mark Stevenson complained that credit unions were unfairly taking advantage of Occupy Wall Street’s anti-bank rhetoric in order to solicit new customers. In his editorial—titled “Despite Our Differences, We Are Stronger Together,” a reference to how small community banks should take the high road and not talk shit about the big national banks—he writes:

In the short run, it may seem profitable, safe or advantageous to take the intellectual short cut and play to certain audiences. But in the long run, we risk hurting our own institutions, our industry, our communities and our country.

Stevenson goes on to ask his readers to not disparage the large commercial banks for crashing the economy and creating the Great Recession. Saying, “it takes two to tango,” he also blames consumers for taking on those bad home loans the banks dished out.

None of this is particularly new news. And neither is the OBA’s campaign on credit unions. Similar campaigns have been tried by the Massachusetts Bankers Association and the Texas Bankers Association to name a few. The American Bankers Association—the big national group the OBA is an affiliate of—has also gone after pro-credit union bills at the federal level. And in its March 2004 newsletter, the TBA notes that the American Bankers Association was encouraging all banks affiliated with it to form credit union taskforces. TBA newsletter(PDF) called on its members to go after the “Tax Free Taj Mahals” i.e. credit unions and their unfair tax-exempt status.

So the idea’s been kicked around. But NWCUA’s Stang says this concern about fairness is a ruse, because credit unions aren't banks.

"There's a bit of a misunderstanding about our structure,” Stang told the Mercury. “A credit union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative.... It’s a much different model from a bank model [that’s] typically owned by a small group of shareholders or stockholders if it's a community bank. If it's a nationally traded bank, then the mission is to return profits to the stockholders. In a cooperative [credit union], the profits are divvied up among the members.”

Stang says those returned profits—which are given back to members as better rates and fewer fees—account for about $170 a year, per household, and add up to $121 million for Oregon credit union members.

As for the anti-credit-union bills' likelihood of passing, that’s not entirely clear. But it seems unlikely the Democratic-controlled Oregon Legislature will look too kindly on the bills. All three bills have been referred to committees. We’ll keep our eyes on them.

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The Streetcar Has Funding Issues. Big Ones.

Dirk VanderHart — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:59:00 -0700

Turns out the Portland Streetcar — plagued by lower-than-expected revenues — is looking at something like a $1 million annual funding hole in coming years.

That news cropped up today in a city council work session, as commissioners questioned PBOT officials about the department's budget.

"It looks like it's a problem on the horizon," Commissioner Nick Fish said in the session. "We have a year to think that through and see how we can avoid that."

The program is stable in the short term. PBOT's identified its share of the streetcar's $8.9 million operating costs this year, as well as for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. It's the following years that pose a problem, according to Spokesman Dan Anderson.

As the streetcar ramps up planned service and closes the southern end of the eastside loop, costs are set to increase. PBOT's looking at an average of $1 million yearly deficit beginning in July 2014 and stretching at least to June 2018 — as far as the department has forecast.

That's not how the city hoped it would work. The shortfalls take into consideration revenue from PBOT's Central Eastside Parking Management Plan — which last year began charging for what had been free eastside parking.

Officials had planned to use money from the district — projected at $436,000 a year — to fund the city's share of streetcar expenses, according to a recent audit.

"Until those parking revenues exceed the costs of parking district implementation and operation, streetcar operations will be subsidized with other discretionary transportation revenues," the audit said.

According to PBOT's forecasts, revenues will fall short for at least the next five years.

This all comes on the heels of another revelation.

Portland’s City Budget Office disclosed—in an analysis released March 11—the streetcar has taken in a little more than half of the money it expected since installing fare boxes in September.

That’s bad news, given PBOT’s already-tough financial straits. But it’s also a problem that's more complicated than freeloaders or low ridership.

According to Chris Smith—who sits on the board of directors of the nonprofit that runs the service—part of the problem is how citizens are getting tickets to ride the streetcar.

“We're seeing more of our ridership be pass-holders than expected,” Smith said at today's meeting.

So, for instance, if a student from Portland State University rides the streetcar, she won't be using a $1 fare box. Her student ID counts as a valid fare. And anyone holding a TriMet pass — be it for a daily trip or longer access — doesn't need to worry about paying a fare for the street car.

"If TriMet handles the sales, they keep the money," said Smith. " "It's not necessarily a fare collection problem or a ridership problem."

In fact, Interim PBOT Director Toby Widmer estimated the streetcar has a 93 percent collection rate, even without cracking down.

"There has not been a ticket issued, as far as enforcement goes," Widmer told council today. "I am concerned that future projections are probably going to be difficult to meet."

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A $22 an Hour Minimum Wage

Eli Sanders — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:44:52 -0700

Based on how hard Americans are working, that's what we should have:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) made a case for increasing the minimum wage last week during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing, in which she cited a study that suggested the federal minimum wage would have stood at nearly $22 an hour today if it had kept up with increased rates in worker productivity.

And something else: If we were to raise America's minimum wage to keep pace with increases in wages for the top 1 percent over the last 50 years, then our lowest earners would now be getting "closer to $33 an hour."

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No One Wants to Pay for Street Sweeping

Dirk VanderHart — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:29:00 -0700

Dean Marriott, the director of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), has a message for the city’s transportation workers: Don’t clean up on account of us.

Marriott, struggling like all bureau heads to lop money from next year’s budget, is making the case BES shouldn’t have to help pay for street sweeping services. The bureau currently kicks in a little more than $1 million to help the Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) scrub Portland throughways. It's a $4 million program altogether.

The thinking is PBOT’s helping to improve the city’s water quality by scrubbing the roads of detritus that might otherwise find the sewer system. Marriott says that’s not the case. BES has pointed to a 1989 study that suggested street sweeping improves stormwater quality by only 7 percent.

“If we’re the customer, we’re no longer interested in having them do it,” Marriott tells the Mercury. “Why should we pay 28 percent the cost of street sweeping in Portland?”

The BES director is advocating slicing that money from the his budget altogether, which would result in a rate decrease for utility customers.

PBOT, as you can well guess, has another take, spelled out in a recent City Budget Office (CBO) report: “PBOT, on the other hand, maintains that street sweeping is primarily a stormwater / water quality issue and has suggested that BES’ current $1.1 million contribution was not adequate and that they should assume 90% to 100% of the costs.”

The budget office recommended council form two task forces and commission a study on street cleaning, to be complete by next year's budget season.

Asked about PBOT’s position, Spokeswoman Cheryl Kuck largely deferred to the CBO report, saying in a statement:

"We would gladly participate in a conversation with the various bureaus that benefit from these services to help determine how the services should be managed and funded. At a time when money is tight, it’s healthy to discuss how best to use the money we do have."

The bureau may have something less canned to say on the matter tomorrow morning at 10, when PBOT officials are scheduled to go before council to talk about the CBO's analysis of its budget.

For his part, Marriott expressed exasperation with the call for further study.

“This is supposed to be a year where we’re making significant choices,” he said. “When you’re in a difficult financial time, somebody needs to make some decisions.”

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Good Afternoon, Kickstarter News!

Wm.™ Steven Humphrey — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:29:00 -0700

More KICKSTARTER! news—because really, what other news is there? Gonna be kick startin' something, so let's get KICKSTARTING!

The Veronica Mars KICKSTARTER! movie is especially good for women—who are tired of being KICKED around, do you get it, I hope so, let's move on to the next item.

After the success of the Veronica Mars KICKSTARTER!, Bryan Fuller wonders if he can do the same with Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls—to which the rest of the world responded, "Who? And what?"

Similarly, creator Zachary Levi thinks a Chuck KICKSTARTER! is a good idea. To which the rest of the world responded, "IT IS NOT."

The old '60s German prisoner of war sitcom (!) Hogan's Heroes is slated to become a movie—without a KICKSTARTER! (Oh, god. Thank you.)

And finally lest we forget, according to The Onion, KICKSTARTER! is a terrible, money-stealing cyber-criminal organization that robs innocent people for useless projects such as "a hand-knit scarf store, or an all-gay and lesbian improv festival."

Internet Scam Alert: Most "Kickstarter" Projects Just Useless Crap

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One More Thing on Bike Share

Dirk VanderHart — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:29:00 -0700

In case you're curious how the City of Portland arrived at the $4.7 million figure to get the city's slightly tardy bike share system off the ground, the city's contract with Alta Bicycle Share provides some helpful information.

Here, for instance, is what the system's components are projected by Alta to cost.

So at least $3.6 million, with the balance of that $4.7 figure going toward setting the system up, hiring and training workers, etc.

Bike share bikes are built like tanks. They sacrifice swiftness and nimble handling to withstand the rigors of public use, so a little over $1,100 per bike is perhaps not surprising. They'll all be equipped with at least three speeds, racks, lights, and locks. The city will consider upgrades like GPS and seven speeds if the money's there, Project Manager Steve Hoyt-McBeth tells the Mercury.

Remember, none of this is coming from city coffers. Portland's using $2 million in federal money to get off the ground and casting about for something like $6 million in corporate sponsorship cash to purchase and construct the system, and run it for five years.

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Charlie Hales Keeps Hearing About Sidewalk Cuts

Dirk VanderHart — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:59:00 -0700

Mayor Charlie Hales is receiving scads of reasons to reconsider the proposed scrapping of a Southeast Portland sidewalk from this year's transportation budget—a move that would free up cash for road paving.

Not that he needed them.

The matter has been a flashpoint since 5-year-old Morgan Cook was struck and killed while crossing SE 136th Avenue on February 28. That's eight days after Toby Widmer, the Bureau of Transportation's interim director, suggested the city should waylay plans for a sidewalk a few blocks away from where the girl died. In the tragedy's immediate aftermath, Hales issued a statement saying safety has to be the city's "North Star" in transportation planning, but stopped short of saying he'll push for the walkway.

Now 18 local organizations have sent the mayor a letter urging him to fund the project, along with curb ramp projects Widmer suggested axing. And a coalition of state lawmakers representing East Portland have chimed in, too.

Their March 1 letter reads, in part:

The Portland Bureau of Transportation recently revealed its plan to remove $1.2 million slated for sidewalk construction on SE 136th Avenue in order to fund street paving projects in other parts of the city. East Portland's lack of basic infrastructure was brought into stark and horrifying reality last night. We trust that you agree: this is unacceptable.

Capping off the pressure is an online petition by Portland advocacy group Oregon Walks asking Hales and the rest of city council to:

• Improve transportation safety for everyone by reducing conflicts between people driving and walking, until we reach zero deaths ("Vision Zero").

• Commit to funding sidewalks, crosswalks, and curb ramps for people with disabilities.

• Build an equitable, accessible Portland in which children can walk safely and people can move and age with dignity.

As of this morning, the petition had gathered 635 "signatures," many referencing the young girl's death.

For all that, Hales isn't taking a hard stance on the project. The reason we're even talking about cutting the sidewalk, after all, is that the mayor assigned Widmer to come up with the funds to pave 100 miles of bruised and battered city streets. The back-to-basics approach was a big part of Hales' campaign rhetoric and has continued to loom large as the mayor grapples with up to $25 million in needed budget solutions.

"He was not 100 percent for (the sidewalk project) before the terrible tragedy, nor is he now," Hales spokesman Dana Haynes told the Mercury on Monday. "Paving is a safety issue and that’s why it’s got to be on top of the list."

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Another Dispiriting Portland Budget Chart

Denis C. Theriault — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:01:00 -0800

There are some very obvious reasons why Portland is facing what's been put at (for now) a $25 million budget deficit. One of them is the new county library district, which the city estimates will cost $10 million because of property tax compression. Another is the yet-to-be finalized federal settlement with the Portland Police Bureau over its use of force, expected to cost close to $5 million.

Others, meanwhile, are entirely subtle—but very revealing about the difficult predicament the city finds itself in after years of cuts. A chart from the City Budget Office, requested by the Mercury, points out one of those factors: something called (get ready for some wonkiness) "city bureau underspending."

To tread water while losing millions every year, city bureaus have spending more of their allotted piles of cash year, eating into cushions of money meant to keep them out of the red in the case of unexpected catastrophes or sudden bursts of overtime (like what the police bureau got itself into during Occupy Portland). City economists used to count on rolling over a certain amount of that leftover cash. They're now counting on it less and less.

The current year could be even worse, thanks, in part, to a budget solution crafted by former Mayor Sam Adams. To scare up $2 million\, Adams and the city council told bureaus that they had to immediately hand back money they saved whenever a job went vacant during the course of the year. Those savings normally would help fill a bureau's end-of-year cash cushion and help make next year's budget not so bad. No longer. Adams' plan, essentially, borrowed against it. Which could make that sharp downward slope in the chart all the worse.

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