June 05, 2003
Correcting Phil Stanford, Again
Last month, readers might recall, I corrected Phil Stanford after he griped about county ballot materials being inconsistent as to whether to use pen or pencil.
Well, it's time to correct him again. In this week's column for the Portland Tribune, Stanford once again thinks he is taking the county to task for something:
In case you were wondering what all that heavy equipment is doing down at the Multnomah County headquarters at Southeast Seventh and Hawthorne: They're in the process of lifting 100 tons of dirt onto the fifth floor for something called a "green roof" -- at a cost to you the taxpayer of only a quarter of a million bucks. Before they're finished, they'll even plant grass and wildflowers up there. ... Now that's real nice. But I've got a question: Does that mean they won't threaten to let the prisoners out of jail until it's time to raise taxes again?
As happened last time, I had a nagging suspicion that Stanford was neglecting, or ignoring, part of the story. So I emailed the county office for Facilities & Property Management to do some fact checking. They passed along my inquiry to the public information [06/05 - Ed.] affairs office, who responded to my questions.
First off, Stanford is indeed correct as to the cost. "The construction contract for the roof," the county wrote back to me, "is for $266,806." For what it's worth, Anderson Roofing is the contractor.
More importantly, I asked if the source of funding for the "green roof" project came from, say, the general fund, or if it come from a source restricted to capital projects such as this one.
"Your guess is right on," the public information office said. "The funds the county as used for the project are restricted for capital improvement projects. Capital Improvement Funds are restricted for use, and the green roof meets the criteria for accessing these funds."
Meaning, of course, that these funds have nothing whatsoever to do with funds used for, say, the county jails. Making, of course, Stanford's comments fairly irrelevant.
Now, if one wants to challenge this sort of funding system -- the type of thing Portland Mayor Vera Katz, for her part, likes to refer to as "the different colors of money" -- be my guest.
But in Stanford's case, he just wanted to take yet another cheap shot at the county, proper journalistic practices be damned. While this might possibly endear you to the reading public, it is, in the end, a disservice to all concerned.
Comments (2)
Noah@AllianceWatch on 05 Jun 2003
Thanks for looking into this. The other thing Phil fails to fully explore is the purposes for this roof. It is not just meant to look pretty and make you feel warm and fuzzy. It also collects rain water and uses it to grow plants thereby reducing stormwater and the associated infrastructure. The plants on the roof recycle carbon dioxide for oxygen. The green roof can provide better insulation for the building. There are a ton of advantages to green roofs. You can read more of them here: http://www.peck.ca/grhcc/public.htm
Elaine on 05 Jun 2003
Sheesh. It used to be that we couldn't believe everything we read in the newspapers. It's getting to the point where we won't be able to believe anything we read in the newspapers.