Dike's next gig
We note with amusement that Dike Dame, the convicted bank fraud artist who served as partner with Homer Williams in pushing through Portland's spectacularly failed SoWhat District, is now one of a select few candidates for a new official committee whose amorphous mission has something to do with housing in the district. Here's a draft charter for this august panel. A recent e-mail from the Portland Development Commission to the SoWhat advisory committee notes: "So far the people who have indicated interest in being part of this committee are Maxine Fitzpatrick, Marilyn Considine, Mark Gregory, and Dike Dame. Also, feel free to forward information about this Committee to other people who might be interested in serving on it."
Man, if I had eaten through as much of other people's money as Dike Dame has, I'd be in a witness protection program somewhere. The investors, the banks, the taxpayers, the dupes who bought condos -- they must all have quite a few bones to pick with the fellow.
| Posted at 3:27 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (11)
The fox wants back into the hen house. I'm not sure what his motivation is, but it can't possibly be good.
Posted by Eric | April 12, 2010 3:59 PM
These types of people rarely pay the piper.
Posted by Itoldyouso | April 12, 2010 5:23 PM
Plus...I see from other articles here that Vic Rhodes is walking around a free man. What's with that? We allow grifters second and third sweeps through town?
Posted by godfry | April 12, 2010 5:39 PM
The city is run by nothing BUT grifters.
And, FYI, they keep their money in the Caymans, no taxes and no records...better than Switzerland!
Posted by portland native | April 12, 2010 5:41 PM
I'm sure having Dike Dames on the SoWhat Housing Committee will be good. He naturally will have to claim "conflict of interest" whenever PDC tries to throw subsidies or contracts to build anything, especially affordable housing in SoWhat, to Dames and Williams. Oh, I forgot that never prevented Homer Williams from voting on issues while serving on the SoWhat URAC. But, maybe this time Attorney General Kroger will enforce Oregon's "conflict of interest" laws, I'm sure.
Posted by lw | April 12, 2010 7:04 PM
LOL...Yeah, riiiiight.
Posted by godfry | April 12, 2010 7:12 PM
According to the city's lawyers, there can be no conflicts of interest on advisory committees because they don't make binding decisions. They only advise. There are never any conflicts disclosures on any city committees.
Posted by yawn | April 12, 2010 8:16 PM
Lessee, we have comm RE broker as chairman of PDC and now we have a failed developer in the district as a guidance counselor?
Term limits for all pols NOW! Elected or not!
Posted by Steve | April 12, 2010 8:46 PM
yawn, according to attorney's for PDC who advised URACs, conflicts have to be declared. This issue has been reviewed before URAC committee members. Maybe all the city lawyers (remember PDC isn't "really" a city agency, unless they want to be, they play it both ways) need to get together with Attorney General Kroger and flesh this out.
Posted by lw | April 12, 2010 10:22 PM
Well what do you expect in a city where Willaims and Dane get a shady check for $6.3 million during the Tram negotiaions?
$6.3 million, laundered through a PDC loan, without repayment required, to a Homer "nonprofit" then paid to Homer supposedly for 100 parking spaces in the Strand Building.
Or how about the the SoWa URAC chair who gets his SoWa engineering company a new headquarters for nearly free.
The PDC spent $2/7 million buying and improving the SE Holman Building. They gave it away to Group Mackenzie for 300k.
Group Mackenzie, an engineering firm and client of the city, made out and got their former location in SoWa approved for high rise and all the free infrastructure to make it enentually happen.
The PDC/city also used the Holman building to pay off environmental gorups who may have otherwise objected to 325ft high rises across from Eagle nests on Ross Island. They were given a permananent new headquarters in the Holman Bldg.
The rowing club was also given space.
It's all special.
Posted by Ben | April 13, 2010 7:45 AM
When people compared Portland graft to Dallas graft, they aren't kidding. I thought we were masters at crooks and scammers getting bilked investors to act like abused housewives: "I know he ripped me off for $100 million, but he said he loved me! He won't do it again!" (Case in point, Jovan Philyaw, the bum who burned investors for a quarter-billion on the CueCat a decade ago, is looking for his next ripoff. Keep both of your hands on your wallet when he comes to town, and staple it to your butt for good measure.)
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | April 13, 2010 3:45 PM