I've been enjoying the comedic value of these mailings along with my scotch and soda when I get home from work.

The office of management and finance was absolutely as involved as the water bureau during the billing meltdown... and they're the ones most likely to be the management arm under the strong mayor system.

Computer systems consolidation is already well under way under OMF.... I double checked the numbers for Adams, Leonard and Sten on the equipment acquisition to let them know they were getting a fair deal.

If "strong Tom" is so worried about vacant offices why doesn't he bloody well do something about it? For Hector's sake... if he has a problem with Sten or Leonard on the way they manage things he has the power... HAS ALWAYS HAD THE POWER... to TAKE THEIR BUREAUS.

I could go on, but I will now yield to the honorable Amanda....

They're still using that graphic, huh? Am I going to have to do another remix?

The office of management and finance was absolutely as involved as the water bureau during the billing meltdown... and they're the ones most likely to be the management arm under the strong mayor system.

actually I read that Tim Grewe (former CAO for the OMF folks) told the City Club that BIT (bureau of info tech - now BTS bureau of tech services) wasn't even consulted during the water bureau billing thing.

"The city's current Chief Administrative Officer Tim Grewe told your Committee
that the City's existing Bureau of Information Technology (BIT) was not included in the planning process for the new computer system."

City club report on 26-30 5/3/02 page 24

and I think the big bag of money is kind of cute....

till I think about the fact that fees and taxes I pay help fill that bag.

LMNOP:
Thanks, I stand corrected. I know that Grewe was all over the selection and implementation of the replacement system; I talked with both he and Dick Hofland about it.

Thanks Dave!

I can only aspire to the "b!x" level of wonkitude...

From Ryan Frank's 4/7/07 article about the vacant office space:

"The council in 2004 approved a resolution requiring city bureaus to locate in city-owned offices. Only after those were full could bureaus go outside. Citywide, seven agencies rent private offices at an annual cost of $2.7 million.

But McCaig said the resolution is powerless. Council members, she said, end up putting their bureaus where they want.

Potter allowed his visionPDX staff to move into free space in the Lloyd District to be closer to the community. Commissioner Dan Saltzman allows his Office of Sustainable Development to rent private space in the Pearl District. He wants them to be in a super-green building to set an example.

Both bureaus could have fit into the city's empty space."

At least the mailer used the correct number for the value of the vacant office space this time. But it fails to state Tom Potter and Dan Saltzman, two of the three voting to send 26-91 to the ballot, chose not to use the vacant space for staff under their control.

The level of dishonesty in this campaign is utterly amazing.

300 computer systems? I asked someone who should know...where'd that number come from? He just shook his head.

The bureaus that are in leased office space have largely been there since before 2004's Resolution. Bureau's now need a buy off from the Mayor's Office of Finance & Administration before signing any new leases.

The City's been in de facto "City Manager" mode for quite some time, with centralized Computer, Human Resource, Facilities, Fleet, and other functions. Which has been a smart, efficient and cost-effective direction to go. (I strongly support that.)

But these straw man arguments the campaign is making..is really just the campaign's grasping at straws. And really disingenuous. I'd love to see a list of the City's so pointedly maligned "300 computer systems."

Anyone who expected Tom Potter to use facts and truth in his clever grab at power for his handlers, was sorely mistaken. Remember, he has lied to and mislead trusting souls his entire career. Opponents to his measures better start connecting with seniors who no doubt Potter is depending on for victory. Senior vote and vote early. The YES campaign literature is focused on the elderly.

I like the new one about how the commission form could kill you.

Some days the current occupants make us nearly die laughing.