Sources Say • In hindsight, Adams’ move seems brilliant

The Portland Tribune, Nov 13, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (7 Reader comments)

Potter

Did Mayor-elect Sam Adams make a mistake when he decided against placing his proposed street maintenance fee on the November ballot? Maybe not.

Adams decided not to refer the fee to voters in August when gas prices skyrocketed to around $4 a gallon. Gas prices have fallen to less than $2.40 a gallon since then, however.

And Portland voters on Nov. 4 approved hundreds of millions of dollars in raised property taxes for the Oregon Zoo, Portland Community College and the city’s Children’s Investment Fund.

But now it looks as though Portland could receive even more money than the fee would have generated — from the state.

The transportation package that Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski unveiled Nov. 10 includes around $39 million in new street funds for the city — far more than the $24 million a year Adams’ fee would have raised.

The plan has to be approved by the 2007 Oregon Legislature and still falls short of Portland’s total street needs, but it’s not a bad tradeoff.

Potter’s ‘mayorness’ fades. The proof? Fewer presents

The City Auditor’s Office has released the third-quarter lobbying disclosure forms and they confirm what everyone at City Hall knows — that political power already has shifted away from Mayor Tom Potter to Mayor-elect Sam Adams.

In the all-revealing category of personal gifts received, Adams listed $6,287 in gifts received compared with just $394 for Potter.

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