Oregon tax law now being made in secret
The Nike special tax law saga gets more and more outrageous as the details are revealed. Turns out that Governor Retread's minions in state government starting making a deal with the shoe and apparel behemoth last summer. And the state signed a confidentiality agreement in which it promised not to tell anyone what was going on. State legislative "leaders" also signed it, although it isn't clear when. The City of Portland may have signed it, too -- they won't even say whether they did.
These are public officials -- some of them elected officials. In a back room with a corporation. Signing agreements not to tell their constituents what they were discussing. That ought to be illegal, if it isn't already. This state has become quite a dirty little place.
Meanwhile, despite the rumors, we're not buying the prospect of Nike's moving into the impassable, expensive traffic thicket known as the SoWhat District in Portland. We suspect that's a head fake. If we had to bet, we'd say they're either staying near their current digs in Washington County or moving somewhere like Wilsonville -- or maybe even Eugene.
| Posted at 9:43 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (6)
An elected offical or public employee signing an NDA that prohibits them from telling their constituents what they're doing is... fascinating. Appalling, but fascinating as well.
A whole new angle on representative government.
Posted by EB | December 19, 2012 10:12 AM
Looks like yet another one out of the park for the Willy Week. This is why there is a First Amendment.
Posted by Concordbridge | December 19, 2012 10:46 AM
Maybe it's another secret ingredient of the expanded PSU-CoP-SoWa URA "plan".
Secret real estate deals between government officials hiding behind their oath of office and private developers seems to be all the rage these days.
Why, you'd think the end of the world was nigh, or something.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | December 19, 2012 2:11 PM
Made in secret; then made in a mad rush; but most importantly: made.
Posted by sally | December 19, 2012 2:35 PM
And you keep electing these crooks!
For DUMB!
Posted by Sam T. | December 19, 2012 4:05 PM
That they're bending over bigtime for Nike and hatching sub rosa plans isn't surprising. What appalls me is that they are making it law. And setting a disturbing precedent. Now all anybody else with any sort of hiring clout can demand like treatment or they will blow this pop shop. Of course the small business owners and taxpayers are simply SOL. Did you notice in the article in today's Oregonian that there are apparently Nike projected hiring and current employee numbers and then there is reality.
Posted by NW Portlander | December 19, 2012 5:00 PM