Cha-ching! Guess who makes out when City Hall borrows big bucks. (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on June 7, 2010 10:40 AM. The previous post in this blog was While we enjoy our iPhones.... The next post in this blog is A matter most fowl. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« While we enjoy our iPhones... | Main | A matter most fowl »

Monday, June 7, 2010

Cha-ching! Guess who makes out when City Hall borrows big bucks.

You'll never guess in a million years.

Posted at 10:40 AM | Permalink

Comments (7)

So have we now come full-circle with the soccer stadium deal and Paulson being enriched in all directions?

Posted by mk | June 7, 2010 10:57 AM

I'd love to cut the legs off Wall Street as much as anyone, but is there actually a credible alternative? Could these bonds be placed in London or Hong Kong or Chicago, or by electronic exchange? It would be great to steer our local bond offerings away from Wall Street -- maybe even nurture some Portland- or at least West Coast-based financial firms in the process -- but maybe there's no realistic alternative to the devil we know, at least for the time being.

Posted by Eric | June 7, 2010 11:46 AM

Good find Jack. This provides guidance as to why Leonard and Paulson are so cozy. Run a lot of rate-payer financed bonds through the Water Bureau making a windfall profit for his buddies, and it can buy a lot of "goodwill". That's the "Leonard way".

Posted by Derick E. | June 7, 2010 12:15 PM

One of the all time greatest quotes around here.

Randy Leonard,
"I'm not going to alienate myself by taking a principled stance."

Posted by Ben | June 7, 2010 12:47 PM

That is also why some banks support light rail.

Four of them contributed $10,000 or more to support light rail the last time it was on the ballot.
see: portlandfacts.com/transit/whowantsrail.htm

That is a nice list of people getting rich off of building useless light rail.

Thanks
JK

Posted by jim karlock | June 7, 2010 1:46 PM

http://wweek.com/editorial/3503/11892/
November 26th, 2008]
Until Merritt Paulson came along, City Commissioner Randy Leonard had never been to Manhattan.

Good lengthy article with much information and the following appears later in the article:

On Oct. 27, Leonard accompanied Paulson to MLS headquarters in New York City to clarify expansion requirements. Although Leonard has traveled to Europe and Asia, it was his first trip to Manhattan.

He and Paulson met in a Starbucks near MLS headquarters an hour before meeting Commissioner Garber.

As Leonard entered Starbucks, Oregonian columnist Steve Duin called.

“We talked about the [Police Chief] Rosie Sizer situation for 40 of the 60 minutes I had set aside for Merritt,” Leonard recalls. “My phone quit working and I had to borrow Merritt’s phone to finish the conversation.”

Upstairs, Leonard says, the trip grew more productive. Garber got right to the point about what MLS required.

“He told Merritt, ‘Either you or the city has to guarantee that the modifications to the stadium will be done,’” Leonard recalls.

Garber said that MLS will trim its list of six applicants down to four cities in December. The finalists must then come up with firm stadium proposals by March 31.

The big question, of course, is money. Paulson says he will pay for an MLS soccer franchise but only if the city will pay to renovate PGE Park and build him a new stadium for his baseball team—estimated at $85 million.

That is, indisputably, a plucky request.

Posted by clinamen | June 7, 2010 4:54 PM

Well, I guess the PWB is going to create more debt on this Wednesday's agenda.
Jack you should be interested in this as the ordinance is to authorize an exemption to the competitive bidding process:

Office of Management and Finance – Internal Business Services
856 Authorize an exemption to the competitive bidding process to Procurement Services pursuant to ORS 279C and PCC 5.34 and provide payment for construction of the Kelly Butte Reservoir Project (Ordinance) 10 minutes requested
http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=50265&a=303683

Posted by clinamen | June 7, 2010 11:53 PM

In Vino Veritas

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
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs

The Occasional Book

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: 54
At this date last year: 50
Total run 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