The winnah (Jack Bog's Blog)

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...

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

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Wednesday, June 29, 2005

The winnah

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