Here's a funky agenda item from this afternoon's Portland Development Commission board meeting. They've been scrambling to comply with the government budget laws by sloshing hundreds of thousands of dollars around among various PDC pots of money to cover overdrafts somehow caused by agreements with other city bureaus. Today they're going to add a new pot to those available to be raided for these "interfund loans."
For a while they were running the overdrafts without action by the PDC board, but apparently their outside auditor blew the whistle and said that prior board authorization was required by law. You wonder how many other municipal finance laws are being broken in Portland. And take a look at the PDC board members. How many of the five of them do you think understand what is going on with the money?
Meanwhile, here's an interesting passage from the board's March 23 minutes:
Wow -- PDC is now an economic development agency, and its executive director's main goal is to find money for it to spend? How pathetic. From a taxpayer's standpoint, there's never been a better time to get rid of this turkey and set up a much smaller economic development shop somewhere in City Hall.
Comments (13)
"You wonder how many other municipal finance laws are being broken in Portland."
All of them?
At least PDC has been shrinking. That's a very very positive sign.
"Chair Andrews stated that Patrick Quinton's main goal is to find new sources of revenue for the agency."
PDC's goal has always been to fine more money.
Too bad the City Club's scathing study of several years ago is now old history now. Nothing has changed there, they like being the 1000 LB gorilla at City Hall. Creeps!
Government agencies always judge themselves by the size of their budgets. Did they build a bunch of failed projects? So what. Do they face a lot of critics? Ignore them. Is the budget declining? Panic!
Here's an idea: let's vote down the PPS bond measure, then shut down PDC and give what would have been their budget for the next 5 years to PPS for construction projects.
It's amazing how much rot you uncover (almost daily). They must be laughing down at CoP, nothing ever happens even when this crap becomes public.
There is a great (or horrific) article in the NW Examiner about the Centennial Mills property.
"The Portland Development Commission’s
new executive director, Patrick Quinton,
has added job-creation requirements
that appear incompatible with the concept
laid out by LAB Holding LLC, which
won a competitive bid to develop the site
a year ago.
PDC now expects that half of the project
be leased to “traded sector” companies,
i.e., firms that sell or distribute products
outside the region."
or even more terrifying (visions of Atlas Shrugged):
"There’s another reason Centennial Mills
isn’t receiving “most favored project” status:
Food is not one of five targeted “industry
clusters.”
Those five are clean technology and
sustainable industries, active wear, software
and advanced manufacturing, and research
and development.“
"PDC is throwing a pizza party for the folks it has just laid off due to budget problems. Would that party be called "the last supper?""
It's more like free lunch for the masses of overpaid underworked remaining staff under the guise of tribute to those layed off. Wasteful wasteful wasteful. Whatever happened to being a good servant with the publics money. I could find 100 homeless in Oldtown who deserve the Pizza and would appreciate it much more. This lunch leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many.
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
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: 21
At this date last year: 52
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 (13)
"You wonder how many other municipal finance laws are being broken in Portland."
All of them?
At least PDC has been shrinking. That's a very very positive sign.
"Chair Andrews stated that Patrick Quinton's main goal is to find new sources of revenue for the agency."
Uh oh.
Posted by Snards | May 11, 2011 1:34 PM
My, the scandals and insults just keep coming! It's getting hard to keep track of them all. I hope it's not a calculated decoy maneuver.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | May 11, 2011 1:44 PM
Chair Andrews stated that Patrick Quinton's main goal is to find new sources of revenue for the agency.
Looks like Sam the Scam is going to get his urban renewal area for the blight better known as Portland State University.
Posted by Garage Wine | May 11, 2011 3:11 PM
PDC's goal has always been to fine more money.
Too bad the City Club's scathing study of several years ago is now old history now. Nothing has changed there, they like being the 1000 LB gorilla at City Hall. Creeps!
Posted by Portland Native | May 11, 2011 4:00 PM
This city let the wolf in the door when they created the PDC back in the '60s. It made some sense then, but it's a modern day Moloch anymore.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | May 11, 2011 4:02 PM
Create a government agency, it will never go away.
Posted by dg | May 11, 2011 5:06 PM
I'd be curious to see what the TIF revenues are. He mentions a long term decrease and I don't remember any of the URDs not being renewed.
Really breaks my heart that a lot of this skim (which is diverted from schools) is still not enough for these pigs.
Posted by Steve | May 11, 2011 5:24 PM
Government agencies always judge themselves by the size of their budgets. Did they build a bunch of failed projects? So what. Do they face a lot of critics? Ignore them. Is the budget declining? Panic!
Posted by antiplanner | May 11, 2011 6:03 PM
PDC should declare themselves a "blighted" area and ask for Urban Renewal.
Posted by lw | May 11, 2011 6:18 PM
Here's an idea: let's vote down the PPS bond measure, then shut down PDC and give what would have been their budget for the next 5 years to PPS for construction projects.
Posted by John Fairplay | May 11, 2011 6:43 PM
It's amazing how much rot you uncover (almost daily). They must be laughing down at CoP, nothing ever happens even when this crap becomes public.
There is a great (or horrific) article in the NW Examiner about the Centennial Mills property.
"The Portland Development Commission’s
new executive director, Patrick Quinton,
has added job-creation requirements
that appear incompatible with the concept
laid out by LAB Holding LLC, which
won a competitive bid to develop the site
a year ago.
PDC now expects that half of the project
be leased to “traded sector” companies,
i.e., firms that sell or distribute products
outside the region."
or even more terrifying (visions of Atlas Shrugged):
"There’s another reason Centennial Mills
isn’t receiving “most favored project” status:
Food is not one of five targeted “industry
clusters.”
Those five are clean technology and
sustainable industries, active wear, software
and advanced manufacturing, and research
and development.“
No joke!
Posted by John | May 12, 2011 9:49 AM
PDC is throwing a pizza party for the folks it has just laid off due to budget problems. Would that party be called "the last supper?"
Posted by bigmoney | May 12, 2011 11:18 AM
"PDC is throwing a pizza party for the folks it has just laid off due to budget problems. Would that party be called "the last supper?""
It's more like free lunch for the masses of overpaid underworked remaining staff under the guise of tribute to those layed off. Wasteful wasteful wasteful. Whatever happened to being a good servant with the publics money. I could find 100 homeless in Oldtown who deserve the Pizza and would appreciate it much more. This lunch leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many.
Posted by Disgusted | May 12, 2011 2:22 PM