But Portland's nutty mayor and his band of "senior economic development and sustainability policy yada yada" people had a nice week burning through other people's money. Just as they did in Spain two months ago. "They didn't make any commitments, but they smiled a lot. They obviously like us." Yes, and right after you left, they probably laughed.
What fools Sam and Co are. Sure the German companies would say "we love you", "we consider you important".
It like a guy crashing at a sister-in-laws house on the sofa, then would you expect him to say "I don't love you", "I don't really need you" ? I'm waiting for the day when some newspaper reports how some businesses tell public officials, "God you're disgusting-shove it!"
Even when PDC borrows money to re lend ad subsidized rtaes to developer weasels, it always is your property tax dollars that pay the interest, the principal, and the staff salaries.
Look at your property tax statement each year.
Those taxes collected from you pay for PDC's operations. And your t property taxes go up to backfill the tax revenue that outfits like PPS, Mult Co., CoP, and other entities lose to TIF financing while aan URD is in existence.
Nonny, to help clarify PDC's all tax funded operations, you're right that property taxes pay for "PDC's operations", but only part of them.
Out of each urban renewal area (11), PDC charges additionally for staff time/materials, consultants, the whole smear. Look at the line-items just under PDC's South Waterfront. Their so-called administrative costs are averaging 12% of a project's cost in the URA. PDC is a big drain on our city's tax resources.
It is telling that not a single Oregon business, outside of the public utility and some slathering developers attended this trip. I have participated in a number of Governor's trade missions and always found them to be a useless waste of taxpayer funds. The same folly at the city level is even more difficult to justify. We must not, however, forget the entertainment potential. Such as when then Governor Goldshmidt while staying at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo went out jogging and became lost. He did not have enough sense to take any ID, money or even a matchbook with a return address. Another time when Barbara Roberts attended Octoberfest in Munich one of her EcoDevo managers became inebriated, lost overnight, and came home fleeced of $5K in state funds. Ha! Ha!
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
Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
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: 29
At this date last year: 66
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 (12)
Did they show up in the right city this time?
Posted by RJBob | April 5, 2011 5:04 AM
That was just a joke -- but it wouldn't be surprising.
Posted by Jack Bog | April 5, 2011 5:25 AM
Trade junket to Germany accomplishes nothing. In other breaking news, fire is still hot.
Posted by MachineShedFred | April 5, 2011 6:28 AM
Would YOU make any commitments to these folks?
Posted by Michelle | April 5, 2011 6:58 AM
Incredible. I'm sure they spent the plane ride back discussing their next dream vacation.
I would love to find out how much this whole thing cost. Jack do you know who at the city would have that information?
Posted by Snards | April 5, 2011 7:29 AM
Snards the article lists the cost as 12K+ with the PDC paying for 10K.
Wonder how much salary they accrued as well.
Posted by teresa | April 5, 2011 7:50 AM
It's too funny. These locales probably think they benefit from these missions giving them good exposure.
No doubt their politicians hype the crap.
Posted by Ben | April 5, 2011 8:18 AM
What fools Sam and Co are. Sure the German companies would say "we love you", "we consider you important".
It like a guy crashing at a sister-in-laws house on the sofa, then would you expect him to say "I don't love you", "I don't really need you" ? I'm waiting for the day when some newspaper reports how some businesses tell public officials, "God you're disgusting-shove it!"
Posted by lw | April 5, 2011 9:00 AM
Thanks Teresa. Hard to give a careful reading through my taxpayer rage.
Posted by Snards | April 5, 2011 9:32 AM
Teresa -
Always remember where PDC gets its money.
Its all repeat all your property tax dollars.
Even when PDC borrows money to re lend ad subsidized rtaes to developer weasels, it always is your property tax dollars that pay the interest, the principal, and the staff salaries.
Look at your property tax statement each year.
Those taxes collected from you pay for PDC's operations. And your t property taxes go up to backfill the tax revenue that outfits like PPS, Mult Co., CoP, and other entities lose to TIF financing while aan URD is in existence.
Posted by Nonny Mouse | April 5, 2011 12:04 PM
Nonny, to help clarify PDC's all tax funded operations, you're right that property taxes pay for "PDC's operations", but only part of them.
Out of each urban renewal area (11), PDC charges additionally for staff time/materials, consultants, the whole smear. Look at the line-items just under PDC's South Waterfront. Their so-called administrative costs are averaging 12% of a project's cost in the URA. PDC is a big drain on our city's tax resources.
Posted by Lee | April 5, 2011 4:00 PM
It is telling that not a single Oregon business, outside of the public utility and some slathering developers attended this trip. I have participated in a number of Governor's trade missions and always found them to be a useless waste of taxpayer funds. The same folly at the city level is even more difficult to justify. We must not, however, forget the entertainment potential. Such as when then Governor Goldshmidt while staying at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo went out jogging and became lost. He did not have enough sense to take any ID, money or even a matchbook with a return address. Another time when Barbara Roberts attended Octoberfest in Munich one of her EcoDevo managers became inebriated, lost overnight, and came home fleeced of $5K in state funds. Ha! Ha!
Posted by dean | April 6, 2011 3:00 PM