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Mayor Sam Adams Raids Road Funds for Pet Project

April 4, 2012

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http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/03/portland_would_backstop_green-.html
The city would tap parking-meter revenues that could otherwise go to basics such as road repaving.

vThe plan also throws the spotlight back on Ken Rust, a lobbyist and financial adviser for the company seeking the city’s help, Columbia Biogas.
Rust was Portland’s top budget manager until his retirement last July after 18 years in city government, prompting questions about his current role from city Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade. Thursday, Portland City Attorney Jim Van Dyke issued a memo saying Rust’s role in the Columbia Biogas negotiations didn’t appear to violate any state laws or city code.

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/03/post_73.html
The furor over The Nines illustrates the tricky politics of economic development. In the Tea Party era, when few government spending decisions go unchallenged, one person’s strategic investment in the future is another’s unconscionable government giveaway. The Nines sets off the same debate of political favoritism and unintended consequences as Oregon’s generous Business Energy Tax Credits and the U.S. Energy Department’s backing of failed solar operation, Solyndra

In fairness to The Nines and the city, the hotel is still open for business and has added some much-needed vitality to downtown. Convincing Sage to tackle a difficult project in an old building, and helping save the downtown Macy’s store in the process, marked a significant feat of salesmanship by the city, a fact even some competitors concede. 
 

Others take a dimmer view. The Nines’ discounting started a destructive rate war from which the industry is still struggling to recover, a war The Nines could better afford because of its public subsidy. You can hear the echo of The Nines in their talking points about the proposed Convention Center Hotel. “The worst thing we can have is a big hotel chain come in on the public dollar, siphon off our business, and leave the public holding the bag,” said Len Bergstein, a Portland public relations consultant working on behalf of Aspen Lodging Group.