News and Culture

Leave it to the fireman to come to the rescue.

With a little-used procedural maneuver, Portland Commissioner (and former first responder) Randy Leonard is trying to give his City Council colleague Sam Adams another chance to pass his signature transportation package over industry opposition.

Last week, Adams declared victory in his long-sought $464 million transportation tax package, after his staff struck a deal with its chief opponent, Oregon Petroleum Association lobbyist Paul Romain, who is also representing a coalition of gas stations and small convenience stores.

But shortly after the Council approved Adams’ plan 4-0 this Wednesday, Romain announced that there was no deal, and that his Qwik-E-Mart coalition would seek to refer the measure to the ballot after all. Romain said he had agreed to not oppose the “measures”—as Adams had broken the tax package into three chunks to complicate legal challenges and referral efforts—but that he would still seek to refer the “measure” (singular).

Portland Office of Transportation Director Sue Keil emailed to Romain: “perhaps I was naïve, but I felt that you and I were dealing in a respectful professional honest manner. I am personally offended by the manipulation of words that represents a betrayal of trust.”

To which Romain replied, in part: “I intentionally said that we would not refer the ‘measures’ because Sam has been so tricky in his actions. I am sorry that he has brought you into this. … I was very clear about our opposition to the street tax and that the three measures made it cost prohibitive for us to refer the measures. Sam brought the three back into one for his own political reasons, and that left the OPA Board with the option to join a referral.”

It looked like Romain had managed to outmaneuver the entire Portland City Council. But now Commissioner Leonard, a longtime Romain antagonist, countered the lobbyists’ sucker punch with a blow to the kneecaps.

Late last night, Leonard emailed City Auditor Gary Blackmer to object to the passage of Adams’ “Safe, Sound and Green Streets” plan, which Leonard had voted for.

“I am concerned that these two items may be in forms that may not be in the publics best interest,” wrote Leonard, who’s endorsed Adams’ mayoral run.

Under the City Charter, commissioners have 10 days after the passage of an ordinance to raise objections and bring the item back under consideration. Essentially, Leonard has given Adams another chance to reshape his tax plan in a way that will minimize opposition. It’s a risky move, but perhaps less so than seeing what voters might make of the new street maintenance fee, if given the opportunity.

*** Update ***
Update: Adams tells WWire the Council will reconsider his transportation plan as three separate ordinances at next week’s meeting.
“In the last 48 hours representatives of the big oil distributors have proven themselves to be completely untrustworthy,” Adams says. “They’ve shown that they will do anything, including lie in public, to try and prevent this from moving forward.”

And Romain tells WWire: “[W]e do not represent ‘big oil.’ Our clients are the locally owned stations and stores, not the big oil companies. We buy from those big oil companies. Also, please remind Randy Leonard, Sam’s puppet, that you have 30 days in which to refer a measure. It is very difficult to refer anything in a big city within that time frame, so you cannot wait 10 days to begin a referral campaign. You have to assume that the politicians are not just playing games when they pass measures.”
***

Leonard says Adams was “a little bit” naïve in making a compromise with his opponents.
“I’ve had the benefit of being burned at times by Paul Romain,” says Leonard, a former state legislator. “Once that happens to you you don’t touch the stove again.”
“If I was one of [Romain's] clients and saw this process unfolding, I’d be asking some hard questions: ‘Don’t I pay you to read things?’ ‘If you’d waited 10 days before you went out and bragged [about measure versus measures], you would’ve sealed this thing up,’” Leonard says.
***Update***
Adams says he had misgivings” about negotiating with Romain, but that Mayor Tom Potter “was giving me a lot of pressure” to move forward with one ordinance instead of three.
“I was trying to keep peace within the family,” Adams says.
***
Romain is trying to stake out the high ground.
“It’s truly amazing what they will do to avoid letting the public vote. I think a true public debate on the merits would be good,” he tells WWire.
“This move might be a delay tactic to convince us to stop gathering signatures. We won’t do that. We’re going full steam ahead,” Romain says.
A prospective referendum petition was filed yesterday with the City Auditor’s office.

A press release from supporters of the referral effort follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jason Williams, Taxpayer Association of Oregon
…
Website: www.oregonwatchdog.com
February 1, 2008
ADAMS, LEONARD TO PREVENT RIGHT TO VOTE ON STREET TAX
A coalition of small business owners and Portland taxpayers were shocked to learn this morning that Commissioners Randy Leonard and Sam Adams have formally sought to deny the public’s right to vote on the Street Maintenance Tax.

Commissioner Leonard filed an objection to the street maintenance tax measure, saying that he “is concerned that these two items may be in forms that may not be in the publics best interest.” The only possible reason for Leonard’s objection is to deny a public vote.

Jason Williams, founder of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon, made the following statement on the referral:

“Once again, the only reason for this action is to prevent the people of the City of Portland from voting on this significant issue. It’s a classic example of sleazy politics. The good cop-bad cop games played by Adams and Leonard show their absolute lack of respect for the voters of Portland.”

Lila Leathers, who owns Leathers Fuels in Portland and is the Chief Petitioner on the Referendum made the following statement:

“I am appalled by the actions of our elected officials. There is a process in law to allow the public to have a voice in legislation, and my right to refer legislation is being grossly abused. We will continue to gather signatures on our referendum in the event that this is just another political ploy by devious politicians. I hope that the Mayor and the other two members of the Portland City Council object to this sleazy political maneuver and vote against this phony objection.”

Registered Portland voters interested in signing the petition should go to www.oregonwatchdog.com for more information.

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1. Romain: Street Tax Foes Will Seek Referral After All Contrary
2. Updated: Games Begin on Portland’s Street Tax There
3. Adams Cuts Deal With Gas Stations On Street Tax The Portla
4. Referral-Gate Update: No Election in May But Stay Tuned for November The battl
5. Adams’ Admission Reaction: Leonard To Meet With Adams At 2 pm (UPDATED) UPDATE: Ma

Tags: Punched In The Face

This entry was posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 10:44 am and is filed under City Hall, News, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.