In Portland, "stakeholders" are disposable (Jack Bog's Blog)

Unlike the O, which never connects any dots, the Trib's got a classic analysis today:

Two weeks after changing the process for redeveloping the Memorial Coliseum, Mayor Sam Adams is changing the process for working out the remaining issues of the River Plan for the North Reach of the Portland Harbor.
In a June 14 letter to the Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee, Adams postponed the competition to choose a development team for the coliseum. Then on June 25, he unilaterally canceled a meeting of the River Plan/ North Reach Stakeholder Committee set for the following Tuesday.

In a letter to the City Council, Adams said changes to the plan would be developed in-house and presented to the public at a September open house.

Adams apparently can take such unilateral actions because he is chairing the two stakeholder committees. Although the City Council has previously discussed the committees, no votes were ever taken on their work schedules.

Dictatorships are so much prettier when adorned with fake public involvement.

Comments (8)

Transparency, rules, rational basis, the kiddie council doesn't have time for all of that... there's work (to help weasels stay green) to be done here and we need to move on it now..

Posted by LucsAdvo | July 1, 2010 2:27 PM

I noticed this a couple of days ago. He simply blew off citizen comment even thought he solicited opinions about three options and gave the impression that the most popular design would be given serious consideration.

Reload, replay.

1) Hold bogus citizens advisory hearings or solicit comments
2) When results are received, see if they back your personal position
3) If they do not, hire a consultant or a dubious and clueless focus group who will produce the results you want
4) Wave results and claim that they represent a mandate or quietly go about doing what you wanted to do in the first place with no apologies

Posted by NW Portlander | July 1, 2010 3:52 PM

He's got classic decision-making anxiety.

It's like trying to track a humming bird with ADD.

Posted by Snards | July 1, 2010 4:15 PM

This has been the SOP of Portland City Hall for a number of years. Been through it all before.

Posted by Bluecollar Libertarian | July 1, 2010 8:22 PM

Lest you think Portland is sooo bad, for your review I present:

http://assets.bizjournals.com/story_image/946721-0-0-1.jpg

Enjoy.

Posted by Steve | July 1, 2010 10:04 PM

Caption: "There -- right there -- that's Welches."

Posted by Jack Bog | July 1, 2010 10:07 PM