Sam,

Didn't you learn the lesson that you don't borrow more than you can afford and more than you need, especially when the economy is down? Why do you insist that all of the other citizens in Portland join in your mistake? Unlike you, we don't have developer buddies and patrons to bail us out when times get tough.

It might be cheaper to buy a hotel in foreclosure than build a new one.

If they throw more caution to the wind and cram this down our throats, and then need to fire 1000 teachers, firefighters and cops, and raise property taxes 20%, all to pay for the misadventures, politics will change permanantly in this town.

James, I understand your anger about government entities mis-spending our money, but teacher salaries are paid by the Portland School District, which is a separate government entity from the CoP. I realize the CoP has given money to the PSD, but still... Anyway, CoP's poor budgeting is not related to PSD's.

Also, thanks to the property tax limitation measures passed by the voters, twice, property tax increases cannot increase 20% in a year, unless voters approve bond issues for new schools.

BTW, speaking of PSD, does anybody know what their total spending is? When they trumpet that they are 'short' $xxx million, they never say. Their website doesn't have it either, that I could find.

As I suggested about a year ago, the city and PDC should scrap the idea of a conventional headquarters hotel and instead level some space between the river and the convention center, plant some firs and fast growing foliage, and open a convention center campground and RV park. You could create a pretty fancy one, with a rec center, swimming pool, volleyball court, etc., for a lot less money than a big hotel. Most conventions are held in the summer and some convention organizers might like the idea of camping out. If not, a whole bunch of other tourists would use it.

Having been to nearly a hundred conventions and even managed a few, I know that hardly anyone sleeps during conventions. The hotel room is primarily used for consummating the romance that began at free booze schmoozer.

Or if a mere campground is too low rent, why not bring up these guys to do an urban verson? http://www.treehouses.com/treehouse/treesort/home.html

But...but Portland is different. Don't you know that if you've been losing at poker all night long, doubling down always works?

Jo, yes, but PSD is getting $34M from local sources this year, out of a $628M budget. That pool of money can dry up with no wrongdoing by PSD. Hoever, there is wrongdoing, and it was highlighted by the David Douglas issue. It is simply that Portland siphons urban property tax revenue from overlapping taxing jurisdictions through urban renewal areas. The $34M is part of the hush money to PSD to compensate it for its share of the lost revenue. If PSD had any backbone, and a long-term outlook, it would speak out against Portland's urban renewal abuses. It has a say, and it chooses to remain quiet, so when revenues decline, it will reap what it sows. Property taxes aren't as fixed as you say, because there are several variables that affect the bottom line and the 3% rate limit is only one of them.