Next Up at City Council, 6/18/08

Commissioners Randy Leonard and Sam Adams are on vacation this week, so you’d think the Portland City Council Agenda would be light. Not so. Try several hundred million dollars in new indebtedness, extending the timeframe and borrowing capacity of four Urban Renewal Areas.

812 TIME CERTAIN: 9:30 AM – Approve the First Amendment to the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Plan to expand boundaries by 140.05 acres, increase maximum indebtedness by $170 million and extend expiration date to June 30, 2020 (Ordinance introduced by Mayor Potter)

813 TIME CERTAIN: 10:00 AM – Approve the Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal Plan to remove 47.03 acres from the Plan area and standardize Plan amendment process (Ordinance introduced by Mayor Potter)

814 Approve the Tenth Amendment to the South Park Blocks Urban Renewal Plan to remove 3.20 acres from the Plan area and standardize Plan amendment process (Ordinance introduced by Mayor Potter)

815 Approve the Amended and Restated River District Urban Renewal Plan to expand boundaries by a net 41.98 acres, increase maximum indebtedness by approximately $325 million and extend expiration date to June 30, 2021 (Ordinance introduced by Mayor Potter)

816 Approve the First Amendment to the Amended and Restated River District Urban Renewal Plan to expand boundaries by 8.53 acres and increase maximum indebtedness by $19 million (Ordinance introduced by Mayor Potter)

See last week’s Portland Tribune for an excellent article by Steve Law on Urban Renewal Areas in Portland. The fact that these items are on the Agenda when two Commissioners are away suggests the deals are done.

Earlier, under Citizen Communications, diligent citizens keep plugging away, trying to inform their elected officials of their concerns – two on the Sellwood Sewer pump building siting, three on homelessness issues:

807 Request of Mary Frances Hunter to address Council regarding Sellwood Combined Sewer Overflow project (Communication)

808 Request of Pedro Ferbel-Azcarate to address Council regarding siting a sewer pump station in Sellwood (Communication)

809 Request of Lauren Murray to address Council regarding youth transition from shelters to the streets (Communication)

810 Request of Jeremy Todd to address Council regarding repeal of the sit-lie ordinance (Communication)

811 Request of Olivia Johnson to address Council regarding people without homes (Communication)

Here’s one we saw coming a mile off, we just didn’t know the name selected by the donor of the new downtown park:

828 Approve The Simon and Helen Director Park as the name for South Park Block Five (Ordinance)

At least the name went through the process approved by Council in a separate track last year.

The penultimate item on the Agenda, of particular interest to me, 64,420 of my friends, and other candidates and their supporters:

830 Certify abstract of votes cast and proclaim candidates elected and nominated at Municipal Non-Partisan Primary Election held in the City of Portland, May 20, 2008 (Report)

They give candidates moving on to the General Election a nice Certificate of Nomination, with a gold seal sticker and ribbons and everything. Two years ago, all I received was an email inviting me to visit with the Citizens Campaign Commission. No offence, worthy citizens volunteering on that noble group, but the Certificate of Nomination is cooler.