Corruption:

URAC citizen members have found that around 1/3 of the 100s of millions in borrowed Urban Renewal money spent in SoWa will NOT go to infrastructure/public improvements. It will be paid to developers and OHSU without any requirements that it return any public benefit.
The PDC is distributing borrowed cash to all the big players without any oversight or accountability.
And to make it worth their while the current 5 year budget has $18 million going to the PDC itself for "staff and management costs".
Urban Renewal, especially SoWa is the biggest racket Portland has ever seen.

Try this one example, of many.

In April '05 when the Tram cost was soaring and developer partners were being pressed to pay a greater share to keep the public share down. As the developers and OHSU agreed publicly to pay more the city achieved the appearance of holding down the public share.
During these negotiations millions were being channeled to OHSU and developers through shady deals and line items disbursements with various economic development or jobs labels.
Blatant real estate schemes rose to new heights with millions paid to Homer Williams.
Under the cover of an innocent purchase of 100 parking spaces for public use the PDC crafted, with Homer the sleaziest deal yet.
Homer sets up a non-profit group in the River place district of SoWa.
The PDC makes a $6.6 million "loan" to the nonprofit who then buys the 100 parking spaces from Homer. $66K each.
The going rate at the time was $20-25K.

The resolution passed by the PDC and City Council stated that the citizen advisory group was "supportive" of the "project" as it was called. No such approval was ever obtained.
The loan was to be made within two weeks of the resolution rubber stamp approval. It was.
The loan called for the nonprofit, without any other guarantees, to pay interests only payments but only as "parking income allows".
Best case scenario for income won't even cover the interest.
The loan required full payment of the principal within "20 to 30 years" as parking revenue allows.
In other words there will be no repayment and the debt will rise.
The agreement calls for Walsh Construction to get a 4% general contractor fee and Homer to get a 4% "re-developer" fee.
Everyone gets paid. That's the motto in SoWa.
In this "deal" Homer gets paid off millions laundered through a parking spaces purchase. The PDC shelters itself by facilitating a loan so they can't be accused of making the overpaying purchase.
Homer agrees to the new Tram deal and city hall Sam says it's all a good deal.
In the end, 20 or 30 years down the road, the parking loan will not be paid and the city will either foreclose or forgive the loan resulting in the city having essentially bought the spaces decades earlier.
This is just one of many shady deals in SoWa with millions upon millions in city borrowed money and real estate being handed out.

This isn't an isolated deal. This is what the PDC does on a regular basis. And it's getting worse.
But what difference does it make when there's no oversight, no audit, no accountability and no consequences?

There's not even anyone to take it to.

Jack, are you sure this isn't bonding some of what you have already calculated as the City's debt for police and fire pension and disability? Moving it from the unfunded to the funded column isn't really a change in overall obligation.

Another question:

Are you factoring in the 200 -400 million in additional bonds for the renewal of the river district urban renewal area (and its extension to Old Town) being promised by Commissioner Sten right now (before the extension's approval, naturally)?

are you sure this isn't bonding some of what you have already calculated as the City's debt for police and fire pension and disability?

It's not police and fire. There are many other city employee pensions out there, and I'm pretty sure that's what's being refinanced.

Certainly, you can't "refund" police and fire pension debt because it's completely unfunded.

That $150 million should already be in the $2.6 billion long-term bonds number, however.

Are you factoring in the 200 -400 million in additional bonds for the renewal of the river district urban renewal area (and its extension to Old Town) being promised by Commissioner Sten right now (before the extension's approval, naturally)?

No, this post is about other bonds, and our debt clock on the left sidebar reflects only obligations that are already outstanding.

Hey!

It it's good enough for the federal government to borrow billions and billions,its good enough for Portland!

Ilya Somin, an Assistant Professor at George Mason University School of Law who focuses on constitutional and property law has an interesting post entitled "Once Blighted, Always Blighted" at http://volokh.com/posts/1203755907.shtml