Renegade Portland City Council starting to get message
We've said for a while that the current lawsuit against the City of Portland for flagrantly illegal misspending of water and sewer revenues is the best thing that's happened to local government in many years. This story affirms our opinion.
Litigation is the only type of citizen input that the City Council ever really listens to. Portland needs a good government league, to instigate this type of court action whenever City Hall breaks the law -- which over the past decade has been often. It would probably take about $1.3 million in the bank to do it right.
| Posted at 8:16 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (9)
Maybe their lawyers have warned that the plaintiffs might actually have a chance with this one.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | April 4, 2012 8:32 PM
The city has already effectively admitted to its bondholders that at least some of the plaintiffs' claims are valid:
https://bojack.org/2011/12/water_sewer_lawsuit_hits_city.html
Posted by Jack Bog | April 4, 2012 8:40 PM
The power of money being what it is, maybe it's the bondholders that are dropping the hints. After all, they control the tap.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | April 4, 2012 8:43 PM
Current bondholders are the folks who have already fallen for the blandishments of the snake oil salesmen on the PDX City Council.
The folks with influence are not current bondholders. They have already been fleeced.
The ones with potential influence are the brokerage houses, commercial banks and investment banks who may be the underwriters on future issues of bonds by CoP. Those folks, the underwriters, may be hinting to CoP that there might be a 50 basis points premium on the next issues unless things get cleaned up.
Posted by Nonny Mouse | April 4, 2012 9:38 PM
The Good Government League needs to step up to the plate when Council considers the PDC's PSU Education URA and the 6 other proposed URAs.
They are before the Council in May, and probably with some Council delays to make it appear they are listening (not) to citizens, they will be passed in June/July when we are in our summer slumber. After passage there is a 30 day opportunity to file Initiative(s) to stop these misuses of urban renewal. As even Multnomah Chair Jeff Cogan says, they are "radical uses" of urban renewal, but he was bought off so he can claim office space in a new PSU building, while losing over $46 Million for the County because of UR.
PPS Carol Smith was also bought off by including "blighted" Lincoln High in the Education URA, so she can build a new school elsewhere. But she forgets that PPS loses $169 Million per year in dollars taken by UR.
Besides developers being part of the con, Sam has included all the local institutions, plus down to the storefront businesses by promising them a sign and a bench in the outlying proposed URAs.
Time for a Good Government League.
Posted by Lee | April 4, 2012 11:02 PM
Isnt that one of the tasks of The Fourth Estate?
Posted by ConcordBridge | April 4, 2012 11:27 PM
Not in this town. In Puddletown the task of the Fourth Estate is to cover up the editors crimes or get the publisher's wife elected AG.
Posted by Nonny Mouse | April 5, 2012 9:11 AM
Maybe it's time for a 'government is going to screw it up every time so let's not give them the ammo' mindset instead of some powerless 'league.'
Posted by Leaving sooner | April 5, 2012 10:03 AM
Re: "Portland needs a good government league,..."
and
"The Good Government League needs to step up to the plate when Council considers the PDC's PSU Education URA and the 6 other proposed URAs."
The LWV is on the case:
"One watchdog group says the city is moving too fast toward a vote.
'I can't believe that they already have hearings scheduled but the plan isn't available to the public,' said Debbie Aiona of the League of Women Voters of Oregon. 'If they don't have the plan available yet, they definitely should postpone it.'"
http://blog.oregonlive.com/portlandcityhall/2012/04/portland_has_169_million_downt.html
Send money and lawyers.
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | April 5, 2012 1:58 PM