Next Up at City Council, 8/13/08

Only three of the five members of the Council will be present for this coming week’s Agenda on Wednesday, so no items will be heard as emergencies or on Consent. No meeting on Thursday afternoon.

Scott Andrews is being appointed to one of two vacancies on the Portland Development Commission. According to this Daily Journal of Commerce article from 2006, “Andrews has been President of Melvin Mark Properties in Portland since 1978. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the Wharton Graduate School of Business, Andrews currently serves on the board of directors for the Portland Business Alliance, Oregon Sports Authority and Mail Management Group.”

Commissioners Fish and Saltzman are proposing a deal on the Peterson’s convenience store lease that has attracted multiple testifiers under Citizen Communications over the last month:

1121 Direct the Office of Management and Finance to develop a last chance month-to-month rental agreement with Douglas G. Peterson Investments, Inc. for the City-owned property at 922 SW Morrison St that would entail specific public safety requirements at all downtown Peterson’s locations within 15 days (Resolution introduced by Commissioners Fish and Saltzman)

One of the most intriguing and unpronouncable Resolution titles I’ve seen(good luck with this one, Council Clerk Karla Moore-Love):

1122 Authorize the City Attorney to file an amicus brief in Man Aktiengesellschaft and Man Nutzfahrzeuge Aktiengesellschaft v. Daimlerchrysler Ag and Freightliner of Canada Lt. Appellate Court No. A135989 (Resolution introduced by Mayor Potter and Commissioner Adams)

The Resolution says it’s a case at the Oregon Supreme Court concerning Freightliner, and that the outcome is important to the City. It doesn’t give details.

In the next item, it’s more than a little sad that the Council has to vote on a Resolution announcing the elected officials’ intent to follow the law:

1124 Affirm Council’s intent to follow existing procedures to evaluate street renaming requests as prescribed by Portland City Code Chapter 17.93 (Resolution)

Currently in progress, two requests: One to identify a street to rename for César Chávez, the other to rename 42nd Avenue for Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy. For those who haven’t read the book, this definition notes, “In Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is the number from which all meaning (“the meaning of life, the universe, and everything”) could be derived.” The book is one of my favorites. A line that continually amuses me:

“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”

Regardless, in all seriousness I can’t see the residents and businesses on 42nd Avenue being enthusiastic about changing their street name, especially in such challenging times with the economy.

On the Wednesday afternoon Agenda:

1137 TIME CERTAIN: 2:00 PM – Accept the River Public Safety Coordination Task Force Final Report (Resolution introduced by Commissioner Adams)

The Resolution includes a handy dandy link to the consultant’s page posting the River Public Safety Task Force 2007 Final Report, but sadly the link from there gives only a pdf option. Not knowing how large the file is, I was hesitant to click in it. I wish governments and others would realize that attachments and files to open may be easier for the sender/poster, but not for the reader. Just post the information on a web page, please. Anyway, I clicked, I waited, I read the opening paragraph:

The River Public Safety Coordination Task Force was organized to implement a specific set of assignments designed to improve the quality of service coordination among river response agencies, enhance efficiencies where possible, and offer better data reporting regarding on-river activities by public safety providers. The following document describes the results of that work.”

Translation: Both the City and Multnomah County provide emergency services and patrols on Portland’s rivers. This group has looked at ways to cut overlaps and gaps. I hope the jurisdictions evaluate the recommendations, then implement those that solve problems and save money.