To President Obama: How To End Partisan Politics

For far too long we have watched the top dogs of Washington squander our time and money away on frivolous arguments and meaningless pandering. On the campaign trail Obama promised, if elected, to put a stop to the bickering.

Obama had this to say in his inaugural address:
"We come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics,"

Clearly, with the sluggish progress of congress thus far, this goal has not come to fruition. Mr. President, there is a bear in the room and there is only one way to deal with it. This Grants Pass man may have a solution for you:

Grants Pass Man Grabs Shotgun, Kills Bear In House
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/grants_pass_man_grabs_shotgun.html

While I do not advocate violence in any form, this metaphor closely matches what needs to be done with the old ways of conducting our business in the two houses. We as a people are sick and tired of paying irresponsible people to embarrass us. A bear has snuck into the living room, are you going to let it maul your family?

Or are you going to put it down?

The PGE Park Renovations: Another Debacle in the Making

After months of nail-biting and fan-mongering, the Portland City Council has finally inked a preliminary deal regarding the plan to renovate PGE Park to make way for an MLS Soccer team. Portlanders can finally relax with the knowledge that Rip City will finally have another professional sports venue where we can get silly drunk while supporting our local economy. Right? Wrong. Like most true Stumptown natives, I would love to see a host of teams waltz in here and claim residence, but it can’t be at the expense of our livelihood. As that weird looking blond from the Matrix so poignantly puts it: “not like this, not like this.”

With the twisted wreckage of failed proposals piled at their feet, the Council voted 4-1 to pass the financing plan. The proposal hinges on Timbers owner Merritt Paulson, who will supply the majority of the $31 million necessary for this scheme. The tentative new agreement looks something like this:

• The city will be paying for $11.2 million of the $31 million necessary to complete the renovations. Mr. Paulson will be covering the rest. At first glance this looks like a sweet deal, until one realizes that this hinges upon the ‛benefactor’s’ use of the park between 2017 and 2035, carte blanche. He will be paying the rent up front, tax and interest free. This means that the city will receive no revenue from the venue for nearly two decades, while subsidizing the wages of the employees and generating no tax and interest income.
• The city has dropped the contentious issue of whether to tear down Memorial Coliseum, develop Lents Park, or build a stadium in the sky near Sam Adams’ ephemeral cloud mansion. Instead, Paulson is said to be in discussions with the city of Beaverton for a new home for our beloved triple A baseball team.
• Also dropped was the issue of using funds previously slated for urban renewal and proceeds from the taxes levied on the players salaries. In order to make up the financial windfall from dropping these proposed elements of the financing scheme, the Council will borrow against the Spectators Facilities Fund (SFF). This places most of the debt-responsibility on the shoulders of Blazers fans, who contribute most of the money that constitutes the SFF. In doing so, the city has levied the success of the Blazers against the proposed success of a new soccer team in a less than ideal economic environment (did no one call David Beckham?). The high-risk, high-interest plan that will result will rely heavily on the income generated from Rose Quarter operations, such as ticket taxes, parking fees, etc.

When teaching me the game of Poker, my father always stressed that I should never play with scared money. Maybe we should play a few rounds with the City Council. The $11.2 million, a sum that will take at least twenty-five years to pay off, is a massive hemorrhage of money from a body that is already dangerously close to atrophying. If all goes as planned, and we actually have an MLS stadium by 2011, we will still be paying this off until 2036. And this is the best-case scenario.

During the majority of this time, the City of Portland will see little revenue from the presence of the park. The Blazers, the major financial backing of the deal, are only locked into a deal with the Rose Garden till 2025. This leaves at least a decade of complete uncertainty. This deal is more toxic than the Millsap offer and unfortunately, the Jazz front office cant bail us out of this one. As a Portlander, my money is shaking in terror, and the City Council just went all in.

Go Timbers.