PDX Updates

News of Portland in brief

The Portland Tribune, Mar 14, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

PDC loses legal control

The City Council continued to tighten its control over the Portland Development Commission on Wednesday.

By a 3-2 vote, the council directed the city attorney to assume the duties of the PDC’s existing head lawyer by July 1. Last May, Portland voters approved a City Charter amendment submitted by the City Council giving the council control over the PDC’s budget.

Portland voters originally created the PDC in 1958 as the city’s quasi-independent urban renewal agency. To maintain an arms-length relationship from the council, the PDC historically has controlled its budget and hired its own legal staff.

But commissioners Randy Leonard and Erik Sten repeatedly have clashed with the PDC in recent years. Now, joined by Commissioner Sam Adams, they succeeded in curtailing the agency’s independent legal representation.

At the same meeting, the council unanimously approved Sten’s proposal to transfer $19 million in urban renewal funds from the River District urban renewal area that includes the Pearl District to a so-called satellite district in the David Douglas School District in outer east Portland.

The council unanimously approved the plan despite opposition from the downtown-oriented Portland Business Alliance and questions about its legality raised by the city attorney’s office.

The decision was supported by parents and administrators in the David Douglas district and the nearby Parkrose School District, however.

Complaint report online

According to the most recent annual report issued by the Portland ombudsman’s office, the three biggest city complaint generators last year were the Bureau of Development Services, the Portland Office of Transportation and the listing of property owners’ identities on the city-run Web site, www.Portlandmaps.com .

The little-known ombudsman office tries to mediate conflicts between citizens and city agencies, while advocating for members of the public. According to the report released Tuesday, Ombudsman Michael Mills and his staff handled nearly 300 complaints from the public last year.

The property listings became an issue last year after Mayor Tom Potter’s office authorized the posting of identities, which are a matter of public record, in response to a recommendation from the ombudsman’s office.

That, however, sparked complaints. In response to some of them, the names of property owners in Washington and Clackamas counties were not displayed on the Web site.

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