December 23, 2003
Commissioner Saltzman Names Members Of Reservoir Review Panel
Yesterday, Commissioner Dan Saltzman made public his selections of citizens to serve on the panel which will review the decision to bury the Mt. Tabor reservoirs:
Saltzman has named Ogden Beeman, past president of the City Club of Portland and the Northwest District Association, as chairman of the group.
The other nominees include: Eileen Brady, vice president of marketing and information services at the nonprofit organization Ecotrust; Vanessa Gaston, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Portland; William Glaze, chairman of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's scientific advisory board; Steffeni Mendoza Gray, executive director of the Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement.
Also on the panel: state Rep. Steve March, D-Portland; Dave Mazza, editor of the Portland Alliance; Sandra McDonough, chairwoman of The Portland Business Alliance's natural resources committee; Gary Oxman, Multnomah County health officer; Frank Ray, budget analyst for the city of Gresham; Capt. James Spitzer, Multnomah County Health Department's emergency preparedness manager; Tiffany Sweitzer, president of Hoyt Street Properties; and Tom Walsh, former general manager of TriMet.
According to the Tribune, Saltzman considers the nominees to be from "diverse backgrounds with varying fields of expertise and have expressed no public opinion on the controversial reservoir issue."
Today's coverage in The Oregonian, meanwhile, has some reaction from Friends of the Reservoirs:
Friends of the Reservoirs had urged Saltzman to choose a "citizens jury" from voter rolls if he truly wanted an independent look at the project. Representatives from the antiburial group said they were disappointed that Saltzman had not gone that route or at least picked somebody from their group to serve on the panel.
But the group's Charles Heying also said the selections appear to be a good-faith effort to devise a blue-ribbon committee beyond the fields of public health and safety.
The panel will spend $100,000 to $200,000, taken from the budget of the open reservoir reaplcement project itself, hire a technical advisory and a facilitator, and is expected to start its 90-day work period in February, after the City Council approves the panel next month.