Next Up at City Council, April 4-5, 2007

In addition to the Current Agenda for the next Wednesday/Thursday sessions of the Portland City Council, the City’s web site has a page for Upcoming Agenda Items. Check this page, found on the Council Clerk’s section of the City Auditor’s site on PortlandOnLine, to watch for items coming down the pike. It can also give hints about controversial or difficult issues, when topics previously listed for a certain date are shown as “Rescheduled”. The “Citywide Evacuation Plan” was supposed to be reviewed by the Council on Thursday, but has now been postponed with no new date set as yet. I wonder why.

Note: following my testimony before City Council on Wednesday, Commissioner Leonard promised to have his staff provide links to information on the upcoming agenda, and to post it on his web site. In a later update, he informed me the Auditor’s Office and Council Clerk have been working to add this capacity for some time, and hope to provide it very soon. So for now, Next Up at City Council here will have to suffice. Kudos are in order for b!X, Frank Dufay, and others who have been requesting hyperlinks on the Council agenda for years, as well as to the dedicated staff who are working to provide the service. Seems like it may happen – hopefully before the summer, when I won’t want to be spending so much time preparing this item each week.

There are two Measure 37 claims on the agenda for Wednesday, April 4 at 2 p.m. When I checked “Upcoming Items” earlier this week, they were listed for that date and time; yesterday, they were listed as “Rescheduled”. Today, they’re back on the agenda. I’ll review them for you later today.

There are 13 grants, contracts, and permit issues on the Consent Agenda, and 8 more on the Regular Agenda for Wednesday morning. I don’t believe they would still be on a Council Agenda, if Measure 26-91 passes, giving the Mayor sole power to authorize all grants, contracts, and permits. I trust Erik Sten on an item like *332 Amend contract with Housing Authority of Portland for $113,602 for the Fresh Start Landlord Guarantee Fund program, Relocation Program and provide for payment (Ordinance; amend Contract No. 36903). And should that contract go sour or prove the best thing since sliced bread, I now know who was responsible for it. Under the proposed Charter… not so much.

On the Regular Agenda, 334 Appoint Michelle Rudd to the Portland Planning Commission for term to expire on January 13, 2011 . More on this tomorrow. I think it’s good that appointments to Commissions and Boards are on the Regular Agenda. It allows the Council to acknowledge huge amounts of volunteer time donated when serving on them. Almost all commissions and boards understand that their role is advisory to the City Council. The Adjustment Committee has final decision-making authority, for some land use reviews appealable only to the Land Use Board of Appeals. If Measure 26-89 passes, the Charter Review Commission would make final decisions, appealable only to the voters – in expensive advertising campaigns with very few opportunities for the public to hear both sides of all issues, if the current process is a prototype.

Here’s yet another contract with Cayenta technology services: 338 Authorize five consecutive years of on-call services for updates in reports and other customizations as required to the Cayenta Utilities Software (Ordinance). There have been several agenda items for this company over the past several months. Is there a reason the complete technology services contract wasn’t approved all at once?

Sam Adams has a couple of streetcar items late on the Wednesday morning agenda: *339 Authorize an agreement with Portland Streetcar, Inc. for design and civil engineering services related to the Portland Streetcar Loop Project (Ordinance); and *340 Authorize an agreement with Portland Streetcar, Inc. for development and transportation management planning services related to the Portland Streetcar Loop Project (Ordinance). Sure would be nice to see dollar amounts in ordinances.

There’s an unusually busy agenda on Thursday afternoon, April 5. Tax abatements to help people buy homes at 3 p.m. (note: not 2 p.m.), then a continued land use appeal in the Mount Tabor neighborhood at 3:30 p.m. Following that, Commissioner Saltzman’s Resolution saying the Legislature shouldn’t fix a known problem for Portland’s disabled fire fighers and police officers, rather they should wait until the City can refer a fix to Portland voters in November. Reviewed yesterday.