August 06, 2004

Mayoral Candidate Francesconi Speaks With East Portlanders

And Other Items From The Campaign Trail

Today marked the start of a series of "meet the candidates" events hosted by the East Portland Chamber of Commerce, with Mayoral candidate Jim Francesconi sitting down with a dozen or so East Portlanders to answer their questions.

We almost abandoned our plans to make our way to SE 98th and Burnside early this morning, thanks to the vagaries of TriMet. Our first bus arrived seven minutes behind schedule, but miraculously delivered us to our transfer point two minutes ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, our second bus apparently had itself been running even further ahead of schedule than that, because we had to wait an additional fifteen minutes for the next one. All of which amounted to us arriving at SE 98th Avenue (or, more accurately, at SE 102nd Avenue, since we missed our stop) several minutes past the 7:30 AM start time.

But we didn't want to cop out on this event. Single-candidate events should offer a worthwhile counterpoint to debates and forums. And for us, personally, our continuing search to learn more about the City (which, after all, was the entire reason for launching this site) would only be served by trekking out to the east part of town.

All that said, we're going to take a further digression and run through some other random campaign news before delving into that discussion.

This past Tuesday, Portland Tribune columnist Phil Stanford continued his bizarre fixation upon Francesconi, Tom Potter, Seabiscuit, and candidate hair. It's arguably was with something of a relief that we opened today's edition of the paper to find that Stanford had once again gone off on vacation.

Meanwhile, the Potter campaign sent out an email on Wednesday announcing the successful move of their campaign office to SE Hawthorne. And, turning to the Commissioner No. 1 race for a moment, the Nick Fish campaign sent out an email this morning mentioning appearances Fish made at several National Night Out events this past Tuesday.

Finally (or, rather, last up before the Francesconi coverage), today's "Campaign Watch" in The Oregonian detailed some sparring between the two Mayoral candidates, with Francesconi accusing Potter of "overpromising taxpayer dollars" with his support for a Centennial Mill renovation, while Potter "accused Francesconi of supporting the elimination of arts funding in the county's 46 SUN schools, run as a partnership between Multnomah County and the city."

(For what it's worth, it's also indicated in this "Campaign Watch" that the recent arts and culture forum, it turns out, is available in transcript form from the Regional Arts & Culture Council.)

Which brings us to the main focus of this item: Francesconi's appearance at an event hosted by the East Portland Chamber of Commerce early this morning.

We arrived, as we said, several minutes late, to enter a small conference room during what we can only assume were Francesconi's opening remarks.

At issue when we walked in the door and took a seat was what Francesconi called "a great neighborhood business program" in Boston which he found appealing. "They market the neighborhood business districts from City Hall," he said.

Amongst the tools used in this program, according to Francesconi, are "storefront loans" outside of tax-increment districts. He also referenced other means of helping small businesses, such as having architects help with the navigation of the permitting process, and pilot programs (now underway, or intended for the future -- we're not certain) through the Small Business Council here. Francesconi also called for supporting "local purchasing through the City's purchasing power."

While reassuring the dozen or so people seated aroudn the conference table of his plans to support small business, he added a caveat: "My responsibiltiy is to advocate for that not in a way that weakens our land-use laws."

He went on to draw the connection between "jobs [having] to be for our own citizens to access" and the need to support schools. "All our schools," he said.

Francesconi credited his creation of apprenticeship programs at both Portland Parks & Recreation and the Office of Transportation as evidence of his commitment to those issues, and said he was "proud of schools being open until 10:00 PM" thanks to the SUN program he helped found.

He moved on to the issue of the "quality of our neighborhooods," defending the development of areas such as the Pearl District on the basis of needing a strong central City, but said that it was important "how we treat the equality of our neighborhoods ... [so] people feel they are part of the City." Francesconi tied this to the theme of all being "in this together."

On that same theme, he made reference to Parks & Recreation's board consisting of "lay persons" and separate foundation as examples of various components of the larger Portland community creating avenues through which to work. "Businesses have a role to contribute, too," he said. "And citizens." He also emphasized the importance of having strategic plans as guides.

Shifting subjects, Francesconi mentioned his priorities on public services: "Starting with public safety, but also infrastructure."

"To do that," he said, "we're going to have to make some tough decisions." In other words, he said, no large-scale (and Mayor Katz-area) visions such as Major League Baseball or capping freeways. In a comparison obviously intended to distinguish himself from Potter, he added: "We need somebody with experience, somebody who frankly knows what's going on."

Concluding his opening remarks, Francesconi added this pitch to his East Portland audience: "I did very well east of 82nd. I have some problems in other parts of the City, politically."

Before the questioning got underway, one of the participants offered a personal observation. "This election," he said, "is one of the most important our community is going to see for a long, long time."

The first question for Francesconi revolved around businesses around the City, through the payroll tax which goes to TriMet, "subsidizing the free ride downtown." Inequality was the concern here, and it seemed something of a twist on Francesconi's earlier comments about an equality of neighborhoods.

"We're not going to raise the payroll tax any more," Francesconi said. "That was the easy [part of the answer]." He suggested that the City did something for TriMet in exchange for the existence of fareless square, but couldn't put his finger on what.

("So it comes from us again," someone interjected, referring to taxpayers.)

Francesconi framed the question in terms of "what do we do in equivalence in other places ... in terms of transportation or something else."

Saying that it was important to engage in a program such as fareless square for the Central City, Francesconi nonetheless stressed the matter of "what can we do ... in the town centers to help them, too."

The questions continued. "Every candidate is saying they are for small businesses," someone remarked. "How can Portland compete [for example] with Clackamas County?" A brief story was related of one business owner wanting to move from Portland to Clackamas County in order to escape the business income tax. They did't do so only because the cost of moving all of their equipment was too prohibitive.

Francesconi emphasized his support for raising the owners' deduction when it came to the busienss income tax to $125,000 -- a move he said would cost the City $4 million in revenues. "I had the votes," he said, "until the police arbitration." That agreement forced the City Council to draft a new budget and took a number of initiatives off the table for the budget year in question.

"We have to send some concrete signals to small businesses," Francesconi said. Reform of the business income tax, he said, would send "a message of our money where our mouth is."

Francesconi also said that Parks & Recreation had purchased goods from NAPA Auto Parts (rather than through usually governmental channels) and reportedly saved up to $500,000 by doing so. Doing this citywide, he argued, would produce "estimated savings [of] as much as $10 million." Such savings, he continued, could allow the City to reduce the business income tax, gire more police officers, and invest in infrastructure.

"Anything I can save means hiring more people sooner," said one local business owner seated at the conference table, who asked that the City "not put such a burden on the business community" that it has to cut jobs just to pay its taxes.

"What I'm more concerned about at the moment," Francesconi said," is people moving to Clackamas, people moving to Vancouver."

The business owner in question responded. "People want to do business in Portland," he said. "At the same time, it is very daunting." He cited the business income tax, the previously-mentioned payroll tax to TriMet, and permitting fees. "They want to be here, but it's breaking them."

"It's hard on the small businesses," Francesconi agreed. "[Although] some of the large businesses are doing okay." He stressed that it was important, one way or the other, to have the revenues to fund essential services. He also said that it wasn't "just about [the] taxes and regulatory side," but that there were "other things too that create a healthy community." Amongst these other things, according to Francesconi, is the need for "advocacy from the Mayor's office."

Another participant in the discussion raised the issue of the departure of Louisiana-Pacific, which relocated its operations to Nashville, and that company's comments about the inadequate business environment in Portland, and that (said this participant) no one had come to talk with the company prior to its decision to leave. "It's good to know all the business people you can," he said.

"Part of it is the Portland Development Commission has a responsibility to do that [outreach]," Francesconi said. He also called for regular surveys of the local business community, something the City Auditor has begun to do. "That's also why we need strong business associations," he added, referring to the need for business organizations.

"I'm not denying what you're saying," he continued. "I'm proud of the relationships that I do have."

Francesconi went on to say that it's also important to have companies in the Portland area which contribute to what its residents find important -- such as qualitiy of life and environmental protection. "[There is] a certain ethic that we do want to support," he said.

"He had some other reasons he wanted to leave," Francesconi added, saying that the owner of Lousiana-Pacific had wanted to consolidate his operations in the South. Mentioning that such a move was also going to mean the loss of workers who did not want to move, Francesconi said: "Memphis is not a nice place to live."

Circling back again, Francesconi called the business income tax an "unstable" thing because areas elsewhere in the region don't have one. "We don't have our fair share [of businesses]," he said, "because of this business income tax."

Another participant commented on the community and business diversity of involvement in Atkinson Elementary School, and how "closely knit the whole school is." That sort of community involvement, she said, is something upon which the City should build. On another subject altogether, she also asked about the status of the Texas Pacific Group takeover of Portland General Electric, and the possible alternatives.

"Atkinson ... is really an international school," Francesconi said, remarking that there were "like thirty languages there." Noting that "test scores are very high," he added: "With the right leadership, kids can succeed."

He argued in favor of efforts such as the SUN program's matching up of business partners with principals. "Make school relevant," Francesconi explained. He suggested that the East Portland Chamber of Commerce itself could be matched up with the principal of a local school in this way.

As for a public takeover of PGE: "That's not what we want to do," Francesconi said, noting that Commissioner Erik Sten and Tom Potter support such a move. "Public power can be a good thing in some circumstances," he admitted. But he added: "Putting citizens at risk is not what we want to do."

Stating that there were problems with the TPG takeover bid (such as "not enough rate relief" and "not enough on green power and the low-income side"), Francesconi said: "If TPG doesn't go through, we need to look at alternatives." But he stressed that a City takeover wasn't one of them, focusing instead on finding a local owner or crafting some sort of regional solution.

Following up on this, a participant asked about comparative power rates. "PGE's rates have been historically higher," Francesconi said, adding that the TPG offer maintains that tendency, but said the estimated rates "could be 4% lower."

Shifting utilities, another participant asked about the Water Bureau, especially given the issues surrounding the billing system fiasco. (He joked about putting the Water Bureau in private hands as well.)

"That's another reason we shouldn't be running [PGE]," Francesconi said.

As to the Water Bureau itself, Francesconi said that it currently has "a lot more staff" because many tasks are being performed manually while the Bureau continues its move to a new billing system, and that, he said, "is driving up expenses."

"Most of the cost," he continued, "is the capital construction in an aging infrastructure ... including cleaning up the Willamette River." He said that as Mayor, there will be more outside audits. "I was the first member of Council," he added, "to say don't cap the reservoirs." He also said that any filtration system at Powell Butte should be of the ultra-violet radiation type.

Francesconi also stressed issues surrounding the cleanup of Portland Harbor (a designated Superfund site). "It is important we do more environment-friendly things," he said, such as efforts relating to "green streets" and water run-off. "We need more help from the Federal government."

Beginning to wrap up, Francesconi brought the conversation back to the general. "I think we can change the perception that Portland is unfriendly to business," he said. Returning briefly to issues surrounding the Water Bureau, he added: "This one I'm more worried about because we have some structural issues."

This was the wind-down point, and while our notes indicate some final comments from Francesconi about "capping the franchise tax" as it pertains to certain groups of people (the elderly might have been one of the examples), we failed to capture anything specific enough to pass along.

With that, then, Francesconi put on his jacket and moved along to another commitment. We passed along our business card to the reputed host of the event, had a brief conversation with someone from East County News (who waved hello during introductions around the table, saying that he'd visited this site), and stepped out into the 8:30 AM rainstorm for a walk to the nearby MAX station.

These single-candidate discussions hosted by the East Portland Chamber of Commerce (and our coverage of them) will continue later this month, with Nick Fish scheduled for August 13 and Tom Potter for August 20. At least according to the Chamber's website, no event with Fish's opponent Sam Adams appears to be scheduled.

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