February 22, 2003
Rink Backers Change Rules, Again
Proponents of an ice rink in Pioneer Courthouse Square recently held a total of six public workshops across the city. Opinion was solidly against the project. So what do backers of the rink do? As they've done all along, they've decided to change the rules of the game:
Greg Goodman, president of the square's board of directors, said this week that it's probably not yet time to make a decision on the rink proposal.
"The reality is ... we heard from a very small group of people," Goodman said at a special board meeting. And the reality of it is, it's a community square."
The 25-member board's executive committee will meet in a closed session today to discuss a course of action.
"I think we need to do some more listening, some more outreach," he conceded. "Maybe polling."
In other words, having failed to receive an endorsement from the interested public -- having, in fact, received the precise opposite -- they are going to take some time out to consider how to rig the game more to their liking.
While the new delay is in some sense good news for those who find the proposal to be a disastrous one for the Square, the clear motives behind the decision to change the rules mean that rink opponents must keep up the pressure.
Meanwhile, I do hope that the lack of response from Pioneer Courthouse Square, Inc. to my repeated requests for information on just when the data generated by the workshops will be made available -- as promised at the first workshop -- merely means that the material is not yet ready, and doesn't instead mean that they just don't want the public's specific and strenuous objections to be on display for all to see.
Comments (2)
steve on 22 Feb 2003
Have your requests for surveys/data been formal ones through the relevant City agency (Parks?)? Ask me if not, and you want to know. You can ask to see actual surveys and any other summaries not otherwise released. Meanwhile, I would think that a basic public report summarizing results would be forthcoming.
The One True b!X on 22 Feb 2003
Well, it wasn't Portland Parks & Recreation running the public workshops. It was Pioneer Courthouse Square, Inc. and whatever company they contracted with to develop the public process. It's Pioneer Courthouse Square, Inc. who I've asked about the workshop data.