Opie Sten is at it again
His new Bend enterprise is working every bit as well as his many bright ideas when he was on the Portland City Council:
Elsewhere, the program has paid $750,000 to a private company headed by former Portland City Commissioner Erik Sten to craft a refinancing program for homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. While the program shows promise, after more than a year of work, Sten's company has refinanced 11 mortgages.
Wait 'til Jeffer-Sten Smith is mayor. You ain't seen nothin' yet.
| Posted at 2:43 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (14)
Give up - Sten-Smith and Novick are waaaaaaaaaay too smart to spend time working on things like potholes. They're goign to go down into every little rathole project that they think is interesting.
Posted by Steve | May 14, 2012 3:58 PM
It's nice to see Erik putting his government "skills" to use outside of government.
Posted by Frank | May 14, 2012 4:00 PM
The program "shows promise" ... in paying Sten's mortgage.
Posted by reader | May 14, 2012 4:05 PM
Is the close-mindedness of Oregonian voters some sort of inbreeding effect?
The majority screech for the government to "fix" things (proven, repeated failures) - then squeal even louder when the failed fixes fail again.
Posted by Leaving very soon | May 14, 2012 4:25 PM
Did the $750k include distributions to the 11 refinance transactions?
If that's all overhead, then stick a fork in his "non-profit", he's done.
Posted by Mister Tee | May 14, 2012 4:36 PM
$750K to Sten's enterprise for fees.
Too bad when contracts like these are let, there couldn't be some sort of "pay for performance" clause, instead of "pay for activity".
Posted by Mike (one of the many) | May 14, 2012 5:34 PM
Okay, after reading the article on the State of Oregon's mortgage assistance program, I have the solution. Simple. Elegant. Efficient. Benefits the most people at the least expense.
Get cash, also known as specie, or actual dollar bills, for the billions of (electronic) dollars that U.S. Treasury is pushing the state to get out the door. Fly over the state. Drop the bills out of the plane or helicopter. Voila! Problem solved!
Posted by JoWriter | May 14, 2012 6:11 PM
"As God is my witness, I thought dollars could fly."
Posted by Max | May 14, 2012 6:19 PM
I'll modify 11 contracts for $500K. I can't go any lower than that, I do have expenses you know.
Posted by Andy | May 14, 2012 6:33 PM
Highly technical field with lots of recently-retired boomer executives available. Tells the whole story that they gave the contract to a political operation rather than directly hiring people who actually know the field. Politicians only want people who will say, "Yes!" regardless of consequences.
Posted by dyspeptic | May 14, 2012 6:42 PM
They must be paying Sten by the word.
Except he didn't have the contract long enough for 750,000 words...Maybe he was paid by the letter.
Government stimulus should do more than pad crony-contractor bank accounts. Especially if the stated objective is to keep people in their homes.
Sten's house shouldn't be the only one saved.
Posted by Mister Tee | May 14, 2012 7:24 PM
One would expect nothing else from him. the only take away that matters is "Merkley has been relentless"
Posted by Daveg | May 14, 2012 7:44 PM
Isn't Stens Agreement public record? Will the Oregonian follow up? Every lending institution must be wondering how they can get $72,000 for each loan they grant.
How can citizens accept this robbery?
Posted by lw | May 14, 2012 8:52 PM
It would be cheaper and more effective to prosecute 10 to 20 of the top appraisers in Oregon under 18 USC 1014, for knowingly overvaluing collateral.
Posted by pdxnag | May 15, 2012 6:27 AM