December 12, 2003
(Updated) 'It matters who you are, not what you're saying'
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
Today's Portland Tribune reports that what pushed Commissioner Saltzman to delay work on the open reservoir replacement project was a group of politically-connected insiders telling him the same things countless average Portland residents had been telling him for months on end.
Kevin Kohnstamm said he thinks it resulted, at least in part, because of a coffee meeting that Saltzman attended at his home in October. Kohnstamm, a former city employee and Enron Corp. communications director whose family owns Timberline Lodge, said he wrote a letter to Saltzman a few months ago describing his concerns that the proper public process for the reservoir project had not taken place.
...
"People were concerned that Dan was going about this in a way that wasn't Portland-like," Kohnstamm said.
The list of attendees included Tom Koehler, a government relations consultant and book publisher with Celilo Group Media; Bob Stacey, executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon; Michael Powell, owner of Powell's bookstores; Brian Rohter, president of New Seasons Market; Chet Orloff, former Oregon Historical Society director; and Mark Goodman, vice president of City Center Parking.
While the article has Saltzman saying that he hadn't heard anything new at this meeting, it also has him saying itt gave him a wider perspective, but still no change in his decision on the reservoirs. So a "sub-set" of the meeting undertook a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort, which eventually led to the newly-announced review panel which will examine the reservoir burial issue.
Interestingly, it is one of those very insiders who, in the article, points out how unfortunate is this insider process:
Kohnstamm said the difference in the influence of the two groups was disturbing.
"That was the lesson learned in this that bothered me the most," Kohnstamm said. "That in City Hall, it matters who you are, not what you're saying."
Saltzman, for his part, denies any such thing, pointing out that he's met with reservoir opponents before, and will do so again.
Problem is, of course, that meeting with people and actually allowing oneself to hear what they are saying are two entirely different things.
That Saltzman's door may have been open to opponents to the project is irrelevant if he simply dismisses their concerns -- especially if he does so because he's either incapable of, or unwilling to, separate out each concern and consider it on its own, regardless of the group's overall agenda.
Ignoring a valid message simply because you're at odds with the messenger doesn't seem like the proper way to conduct City business. And to ignore a groundswell of Portland residents arguing that the reservoir process was deeply flawed only to listen to an insider group of business people arguing the exact same point?
Well, let's just say that's the sort of approach that has helped generate the "appearance of impropriety" that has surrounded this project from the beginning.
Update
Just as a parenthetical, Henry Stern points out today in his "City Matters" column that the timetable for the review panel "puts its conclusions on track for candidate posturing just weeks before the May 18 election."
Comments (1)
Scott Forrester on 06 Apr 2005
PGE, Portland and Saltzman
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Quote:
"Kevin Kohnstamm said he thinks it resulted, at least in part, because of a coffee meeting that Saltzman attended at his home in October. Kohnstamm, a former city employee and Enron Corp. communications director..."
Question:
Will Commissioner Saltzman again have another "coffee meeting" with his friend Mr. Kohnstamm this time about Portland's acquisition of PGE/Enron?