Mount Hood photo courtesy Chris Markes.





Meter updates every 30 seconds. Click here for
an instant update.
Our complete Portland debt series linked here.



Clearance sale
The bojack bumper sticker -- only $1.50!

To order, click here.







Excellent tunes -- free! And on your browser right now. Just click on Radio Bojack!






E-mail us here.

About

This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on November 24, 2007 3:45 AM. The previous post in this blog was Worn-out Phrase of the Year. The next post in this blog is Burning question. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

Links

Law and Taxation
How Appealing
Bag and Baggage
TaxProf Blog
Mauled Again
A Taxing Matter
TaxVox
Tax.com
Josh Marquis
Native America, Discovered and Conquered
The Yin Blog
OrCon Law
Ernie the Attorney
Conglomerate
Above the Law
The Volokh Conspiracy
Going Concern
Wealth Strategies Journal
Jim Hamilton's World of Securities Regulation
myCorporateResource.com
World of Work
The Faculty Lounge
Lowering the Bar

Hap'nin' Guys
Tony Pierce
Parkway Rest Stop
Utterly Boring.com
Dwight Jaynes
Bob Borden
Dingleberry Gazette
The Red Electric
Iced Borscht
Positively Glorious
The Rural Bus Route
Another Blogger
OregonGuy
The World of Today
Izzle Pfaff
Jeremy Blachman
Dean's Rhetorical Flourish
Straight White Guy
Lost in the Details
Penultimate Life
HinesSight
Onfocus
AntSaint
Jalpuna
MTPolitics
Rise Above
Beerdrinker.org
As Time Goes By
Dave Wagner
Jeff Selis
Alas, a Blog
Whitman Boys
Misterblue
Two Pennies
Scott Hendison
Sansego
The View Through the Windshield
Mikeyman's Computer Treehouse
Appliance Blog
The Bleat
Rosenblog

Hap'nin' Gals
My Whim is Law
Lelo in Nopo
Attorney at Large
Linda Kruschke
The Non-Consumer Advocate
10 Steps to Finding Your Happy Place
A Pig of Success
Attorney at Large
Margaret and Helen
Kimberlee Jaynes
Cornelia Seigneur
Evidently
And Sew It Goes
Mile 73
Rainy Day Thoughts
That Black Girl
Posie Gets Cozy
{AE}
Cat Eyes
Kerianne
Melissa Lion
Rhi in Pink
Althouse
GirlHacker
Ragwaters, Bitters, and Blue Ruin
Heather Bea
Gina Rau
Chantel Williams
Frytopia
I Count to 4 (Nth of Pril)
Rose City Journal
Ready or Not
Lao Ocean Girl
Type Like the Wind

Portland and Oregon
Isaac Laquedem
StumptownBlogger
Rantings of a [Censored] Bus Driver
Jeff Mapes
Another Portland Blog
The Portlander
Gail Achterman
South Waterfront
Amanda Fritz
O City Hall Reporters
Guilty Carnivore
Old Town by Larry Norton
The Alaunt
Bend Blogs
Lost Oregon
Cafe Unknown
Tin Zeroes
David's Oregon Picayune
Mark Nelsen's Weather Blog
Travel Oregon Blog
Portland Housing Blog
Portland Daily Photo
Portland Building Ads
Portland Food and Drink.com
Dave Knows Portland
Idaho's Portugal
Alameda Old House History
MLK in Motion
LoveSalem

Retired from Blogging
Various Observations...
The Daily E-Mail
Saving James
Portland Freelancer
Furious Nads (b!X)
The Grich
Kevin Allman
AboutItAll - Oregon
Worldwide Pablo
Tales from the Stump
This Stony Planet
1221 SW 4th
Twisty
I am a Fish
Here Today
What If...?
Superinky Fixations
Pinktalk
Mellow-Drama

Wonderfully Wacky
Dave Barry
Borowitz Report
Blort
Stuff White People Like
Probably Bad News
The Dullest Blog in the World
Worst of the Web
The Ultimate Insult
Scrabo's Mad World
Lancow's E-mail

Valuable Time-Wasters
My Gallery of Jacks
Litterbox, On the Prowl
Litterbox, Bag of Bones
Litterbox, Scratch
Maukie
Ride That Donkey
Singin' Horses
Rally Monkey
Simon Swears
Strong Bad's E-mail

Oregon News
KGW-TV
The Oregonian
Portland Tribune
KOIN
Willamette Week
KATU
The Sentinel
Southeast Examiner
Northwest Examiner
Sellwood Bee
Mid-County Memo
Vancouver Voice
Eugene Register-Guard
OPB
Topix.net - Portland
Salem Statesman-Journal
Oregon Capitol News
Portland Business Journal
Daily Journal of Commerce
Oregon Business
KPTV
Portland Info Net
McMinnville News Register
Lake Oswego Review
The Daily Astorian
Bend Bulletin
Corvallis Gazette-Times
Roseburg News-Review
Medford Mail-Tribune
Ashland Daily Tidings
Newport News-Times
Albany Democrat-Herald
The Eugene Weekly
Portland IndyMedia
The Columbian

Music-Related
The Beatles
Bruce Springsteen
Seal
Sting
Joni Mitchell
Ella Fitzgerald
Steve Earle
Joe Ely
Stevie Wonder
Lou Rawls

E-mail, Feeds, 'n' Stuff

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Time-release formula

When it's comes to telling the ugly truth about Portland's "urban renewal" development scams, you can count on the O to bury the story. Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend's a good time for that. We save the working days for stories about how much extra money there is lying around. Uh huh.

Maybe if we sell off part of Mount Tabor Park, we can pay for the SoWhat greenway... oops, tried that, got busted, didn't work. We'll just have borrow some more millions and wait for the property taxes coming in from those white-hot condo sales to pay everything off. It will be fine. Really.

Comments (17)

Is this a big surprise to anyone?

The obvious missing piece of this article is that the cost estimate rose 76 percent over just 3 years on a 16-year project. By the time this thing is done, it will certainly have cost over $100 million, not the original estimated $36 million.

Hey it all about inflation and my 2.3% increase in social security proves it.
Another Vera-Sam, the scam,project.
They must have both failed elementary arithmetic.

"money follows good ideas" is the best quote. So, if there is no money, is this a horrible idea? VeraSam, please get a photo op on this and solve the (our) problem.

I'd happily send Jon Corzine your way. He'll straighten things out.

Like the aerial tram and streetcar, the riverfront greenway is a key piece of the city's 2003 deal...

Wasn't OHSU supposed to supply thousands of biotech jobs down there? Or is the city the only one on the hook for the failure of the dream?

Skullduggery abounds on long holiday weekends as when the Cat is away the Rats do play.

A perfect time for developers to clear polluted sites be the concern an old building laden with asbestos or a forty year old liquid waste dump.

"Money follows good ideas. It will get figured out."

THank you Mr Dike Dame. I am sure Sam/him/Homer have another way figured to screw taxpayers on this one.

My guess is Homer pays for part of it and then CoP pays him 10x the value of one of his pieces of dirt. Or who knows maybe Homer's restaurant will be the mandatory CoP dining spot.

This is my favorite Oregonian tone where they pull out the old "Well, I'll be darn" dumb routine. It's a nice break from the pie in the sky PR stuff. Meanwhile ridiculous excuses like not including the cost of inflation because the city wasn't sure when construction would start, just float by like a turd on the river. My favorite phrase in this particular version of the Mayberry Gazette is the "riverbank salmon stopover." That's so precious. There's no way to tie this greed orgy to helping the children, but don't worry - we're subsidizing condos so the salmon have a place to crash for the night. That's beautiful.
Meanwhile, the only thing this group wishes they could do to the salmon is charge them a hospitality tax.

"Money follows good ideas. It will get figured out."
ahhhhhhhhhh.......politicians.

Just wait until the operating costs enter the discussion. Sure, it's only a parkway, right? How much could it cost on an annual basis to keep it looking nice? Those are union grass-cutters, baby.

We gotta think long term on this people...this is only a temporary setback. Twenty yrs from now, this will all look like a speed bump ;

Here's a radical concept: it's supposed to be a "greenway". It already is a greenway. So they don't need to "plan" or build anything on that little ribbon of land. Mother Nature's already built it, free of charge. So just what on God's Green Earth are these meddlists "planning" that requires spending $56 million of your tax dollars to "build a greenway" that already exists? But wait - there's more! How about not placing impermeables such as concrete and steel into an already existing greenway? If you just leave it alone, then you don't have to spend any money to "treat runoff" or other issues. But that would mean that the "planners" wouldn't be needed.

Anyone can get the "North Macadam Urban Renewal Plan-Final Draft 7/12/99"
from the PDC web site. http://www.pdc.us/pdf/dev_serv/pubs/dev_macadam_report.pdf
I am looking at a printed copy right now.
Near page 10 of that PDC plan, is the Table 6 PDC spread sheet of every PDC cost estimate and PDC revenue projection.
This is the PDC plan prepared by the PDC and used by the PDC to refer to the PDC plan as "feasible" and to recommend approval by the PDC commission and city council.

Why is this approved PDC plan not the starting point in news reports and why is the PDC allowed to further distort and mislead? Why is city staff continuing to withhold information about flawed early cost projections.

In that approved 1999 PDC plan,

Tram $3.27 Million Actual cost $57 Million


Greenway Trail $2.5 Million
Bank Treatment $4.2 Million
River Parkway $3.8 Million

Total $10.5 Million New estimate $56 Million

Ped. Crossing over I-5 $1.64 Million New Estimated Cost $15 Million

The rest of the PDC 1999 plan is more of the same.

All of the Street improvements for all of South Waterfront were listed as costing only $20 Million.

While this goes on and on, there is no list or accounting of all monies spent to date. As well as no updated overall budget for the entire plan. Despite the Citizen Advisory Committee for South Waterfront repeatedly requesting them.

And through all of this obscured fiscal quagmire, emerging information (not in the Oregonian) shows $10s of millions in borrowed Urban Renewal cash being channeled to OHSU and South Waterfront Developers. $51 million and climbing headed to OHSU alone. Many other millions to developers.

It is long past time for an investigation.

While this fiscal mess has been grwoing the PDC has been lying.

Good intentions?

Not hardly.
http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1141332912248470.xml&coll=7
URBAN RENEWAL
Under way, on track in South Waterfront
Friday, March 03, 2006
Bruce Warner [head of the PDC]

"the city's plan is moving precisely the way urban renewal is supposed to."
NO BRUCE IT IS NOT

"A new neighborhood is emerging, just as planned."
NO BRUCE IT IS NOT

"The first park will open in July."
NO IT DIDN'T AND IT'S STILL NOT

"Urban Renewal Tax increment financing is a mechanism that uses tax revenues from new development to finance long-term revitalization."

NO BRUCE IT IS NOT. THE 130 acre SoWa TIF COMES FROM 409 ACRES OF THE SURROUNDING AREA PROPERTY TAXES.

"As projects come on line, they generate funds to build the next set of improvements, which in turn finance the next improvements in a rolling process."

NO BRUCE, AS PROJECTS COME ON LINE ALL OF THE NEW REVENUE MUST GO TO PAY OFF THE DEBT CREATED, NOT TO THE NEXT IMPROVEMENTS.

"Never is all the money available up front. The district has to generate funds over time, exactly what has started in the South Waterfront."

NO BRUCE, NEVER IS ANY OF THE MONEY AVAILABLE. IT ALL MUST GO TO RETIRE DEBT OVER DECADES.

"Yes, cost increases on the tram are a problem. No one is happy about that. But this problem is solvable."

SOLVABLE BRUCE? YEAH, JUST SPEND MORE BORROWED MONEY.

"Next month, the City Council and the public can expect to see a proposed funding solution."

NO BRUCE THAT "SOLUTION NEVER CAME.

"Meanwhile, let's not allow the tram cost increases to overshadow the early success of the South Waterfront plan."

BRUCE THE PLAN IS IN SHAMBLES AND THE TRAM WAS THE TIP OF THE TITANIC.

"That's the plan. It's on track."

BRUCE WARNER AND THE PDC ARE LYING TO THE PUBLIC.
THE CENTRAL DISTRICT, ONLY A PART OF SOUTHT WATERFRONT, WILL DEVOUR ALL OF THE PROJECTED AND AVAIALABLE REVENUE FOR THE ENTIRE URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT.
EVERY STAKEHOLDER HAS NOW THIS FOR AT LEAST A YEAR AND A HALF.

Money follows good ideas.

Wow...the new city slogan. Slap it on the city vehicles now!

SoWhat is the defining moment for Portland to understand what VeraSam means by CoP and PDC using their favorite word-"PARTNERSHIPS".

I think "PARTNERSHIP" has become to mean "CORRUPTION" for Portland. Money laundering use to to be illegal; and I hope soon to be convened federal investigations prove so.

Sponsors





We accept advertising through Blogads. If you're interested, click the "Advertise here" link above, or go here to place your ad through Blogads. For assistance, e-mail me here; I'd be glad to help. Reach lots of viewers -- we're up to about 3,800 unique visits a day, and more than 61,000 page views a week (as of November 4). Our rates are dirt cheap for the exposure you'll get!

As a lawyer/blogger, I get
to be a member of:


In Vino Veritas

Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs

The Occasional Book

Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 26
At this date last year: 15
Total run in 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Clicky Web Analytics