This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on June 29, 2005 1:58 PM.
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Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. David Knowles isn't the new executive director of the Portland Development Commission -- Bruce Warner (right) is.
I had Warner as a 3-1 shot, with Knowles at even money. Warner, currently the director of the state Transportation Department, was not quite the consummate inside candidate, but as I've noted here before, he's not new to Portland-area bureacracy (or to some of the PDC's pet developers), having run Metro as chief operating officer for a while.
Anyway, Hizzoner the Mayor says he's down with Warner, and so until further notice, so shall we be. Here's hoping that he and the new commissioners get this sick puppy out of trouble quickly, and keep it there. Otherwise, I still say it's not an entirely frivolous proposition to fold the whole thing down into a regular city bureau. Whatever arguments were once made that independence would lead to quality at the PDC have since been proven, quite conclusively in my view, to have no merit.
Pending Warner's August 1 arrival, Judy Tuttle, formerly Mayor Vera Katz's chief of staff (after Sam Adams left that post), will fill in as interim executive director. Don Mazziotti's last day is tomorrow.
Comments (9)
Wait, Sam Adams was Vera Katz's chief of staff? How puzzling; I certainly don't remember reading about that in any of his campaign literature...
Bruce has been an excellent director of ODOT. One of his great accomplishments was restoring the legislature's confidence in an agency that, fairly or not, was perceived as secretive, self-serving and interested primarily in empire-building.
That's good to hear, Jack. There's plenty of legitimate urban renewal that can be done in Portland. But it's going to take more than just management "style." We need to cut down on the many, many worthless scams that the Katz-Goldie crew have blown our capital on (with Sten and Adams knee deep in it, too).
With all due respect, that amounts to no more than a pat on the head.
I'm not the slightest bit impressed or optimistic. Warner promises to hold tight the direction the ship is heading.
What are you doing about it?
I would like to know exactly why people like you and countless others sit by and watch things like the Convention Center Headquarters Hotel advance?
The evidence condemning this concept as a certain failure is nearly unlimited.
South Waterfront is chuck full of fatal flaws and Cascade Station is cooking up more tax costly schemes.
The May company can afford to dress up their own M&F building. Prevailing wage or not.
The PDC skims away hundreds of millions in basic services dollars from thousands of Urban Renewal acres in Portland every year. Requiring cuts and new back filling taxes & fees to sustain those services.
As the Multnomah County income tax expires, local option school levy expires and other fiscally hobbling constraints mount the only way out is to stop much of the skimming.
Warner is not going to LEAD.
Who is Mr. Roberts?
"We need to cut down on the many, many worthless scams that the Katz-Goldie crew have blown our capital on (with Sten and Adams knee deep in it, too)."
Submitted for approval: Katz-Goldie screw cap. Use it; abuse it. It suggested itself. :)
The May company can afford to dress up their own M&F building. Prevailing wage or not.
Ok, so here's a basic question that I've never seen answered (perhaps because the answer is too obvious for me to grasp, but anyway). When a company like May asks for money to build something, it does so with the assurance that it WILL provide jobs and contribute to the local economy, right? Is the money they receive ever explicitly tied to them fulfilling those promises? Or do we just give them the money and then walk away without ensuring that what they claim they'll deliver actually gets delivered?
So where is The O's self-promoted I-team on the Katz-Goldie ripoffs that continue even now, courtesy of Messrs. Sten and Adams.
Oops, I forgot. They're running down to Australia to rip the lid of that Patel scandal, which affects...ummm...who does that affect again?
I would wager that if an actual reporter walked the three blocks to City Hall and turned over a few rocks, there wouldn't be enough Raid in the world to kill all the cockroaches crawling out.
Dave asked-----"Or do we just give them the money and then walk away without ensuring that what they claim they'll deliver actually gets delivered?"----
Yes that's it. Welfare. All the May Company need do is suggest they may not keep Meier and Frank in the building. The city bends, makes this bogus case of impending blight and poof $13 million for May company. This mental disease has gotten so bad that I have argued with Urban Renewal supporters who say "nothing can get developed without it" Nothing? They are kooks my friends and the money they are skimming is massive.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (9)
Wait, Sam Adams was Vera Katz's chief of staff? How puzzling; I certainly don't remember reading about that in any of his campaign literature...
Posted by Dave J. | June 29, 2005 2:30 PM
He remembered the day after the election. Until then, he was going to "shake up City Hall." Heh.
Posted by Jack Bog | June 29, 2005 2:37 PM
Bruce has been an excellent director of ODOT. One of his great accomplishments was restoring the legislature's confidence in an agency that, fairly or not, was perceived as secretive, self-serving and interested primarily in empire-building.
Sounds like the right guy to me.
Posted by Jack Roberts | June 29, 2005 9:48 PM
That's good to hear, Jack. There's plenty of legitimate urban renewal that can be done in Portland. But it's going to take more than just management "style." We need to cut down on the many, many worthless scams that the Katz-Goldie crew have blown our capital on (with Sten and Adams knee deep in it, too).
Posted by Jack Bog | June 29, 2005 10:37 PM
Mr. Roberts,
With all due respect, that amounts to no more than a pat on the head.
I'm not the slightest bit impressed or optimistic. Warner promises to hold tight the direction the ship is heading.
What are you doing about it?
I would like to know exactly why people like you and countless others sit by and watch things like the Convention Center Headquarters Hotel advance?
The evidence condemning this concept as a certain failure is nearly unlimited.
South Waterfront is chuck full of fatal flaws and Cascade Station is cooking up more tax costly schemes.
The May company can afford to dress up their own M&F building. Prevailing wage or not.
The PDC skims away hundreds of millions in basic services dollars from thousands of Urban Renewal acres in Portland every year. Requiring cuts and new back filling taxes & fees to sustain those services.
As the Multnomah County income tax expires, local option school levy expires and other fiscally hobbling constraints mount the only way out is to stop much of the skimming.
Warner is not going to LEAD.
Who is Mr. Roberts?
Posted by Steve Schopp | June 30, 2005 8:41 AM
"We need to cut down on the many, many worthless scams that the Katz-Goldie crew have blown our capital on (with Sten and Adams knee deep in it, too)."
Submitted for approval: Katz-Goldie screw cap. Use it; abuse it. It suggested itself. :)
Posted by Sally | June 30, 2005 9:11 AM
The May company can afford to dress up their own M&F building. Prevailing wage or not.
Ok, so here's a basic question that I've never seen answered (perhaps because the answer is too obvious for me to grasp, but anyway). When a company like May asks for money to build something, it does so with the assurance that it WILL provide jobs and contribute to the local economy, right? Is the money they receive ever explicitly tied to them fulfilling those promises? Or do we just give them the money and then walk away without ensuring that what they claim they'll deliver actually gets delivered?
Posted by Dave J. | June 30, 2005 11:18 AM
So where is The O's self-promoted I-team on the Katz-Goldie ripoffs that continue even now, courtesy of Messrs. Sten and Adams.
Oops, I forgot. They're running down to Australia to rip the lid of that Patel scandal, which affects...ummm...who does that affect again?
I would wager that if an actual reporter walked the three blocks to City Hall and turned over a few rocks, there wouldn't be enough Raid in the world to kill all the cockroaches crawling out.
OK, I feel better now.
Posted by Rube in the Stix | June 30, 2005 11:21 AM
Dave asked-----"Or do we just give them the money and then walk away without ensuring that what they claim they'll deliver actually gets delivered?"----
Yes that's it. Welfare. All the May Company need do is suggest they may not keep Meier and Frank in the building. The city bends, makes this bogus case of impending blight and poof $13 million for May company. This mental disease has gotten so bad that I have argued with Urban Renewal supporters who say "nothing can get developed without it" Nothing? They are kooks my friends and the money they are skimming is massive.
Posted by Steve Schopp | June 30, 2005 7:48 PM