June 30, 2005

Special Session And News Conference On PDC Executive Director

Our Report Which Devolves Into Note Pasting

As we reported earlier, the PDC board yesterday named Bruce Warner as the agency's new executive director, to take over from the departing Don Mazziotti, after an interim period during which former Vera Katz chief of staff Judy Tuttle serves in that position.

What follows is our attempt finally to get through our notes from the day's events, despite the foggy haze of whatever allergens are in the Portland air today and threatening to knock us out despite our earlier nap.

Briefly, before we begin, here are some other stories, articles, and items about the decision:

• Transportation chief will lead development agency
• ODOT Director Takes Top Development Commission Post
• PDC names Bruce Warner as executive director
• The winnah

Special Session: Interim Executive Director

The current PDC commissioners made their selection during a special session Wednesday morning, beginning with naming Tuttle to serve until August 5, allowing some overlap with Warner's tenure which begins August 1.

Commissioner Janice Wilson (departing shortly, to be replaced by Sal Kadri, whose appointment was approved by City Council this morning), said she was "thrilled" that Tuttle had accepted the interim appointment, saying that she "understands PDC" and crediting her with "sound judgement" and knowing "how to get things done".

Commissioner Eric Parsons (via telephone from Washington, DC) said he was "very pleased" that Tuttle had agreed to help with the transition period.

"Thanks for being loaned," said Commissioner Doug Blomgren (to which Tuttle quipped the original agreement had said "used").

Incoming commissioner Mark Rosenbaum (disclosure: Rosenbaum Financial almost was a major sponsor of this site) said, "I think she'll do a superb job for the agency during this period of time."

Chair Matt Hennessee said he was "delighted" to have Tuttle on board, arguing that she had a "unique gift of being a healer and a good listener, as well as a good administrator".

Special Session: Executive Director

"It's clear that there is no one person who is absolutely number one on everybody's list," said Commissioner Parsons (in an allusion to something Isaac Laquedem suggests perhaps?). But he said there was one candidate with "unusually strong management skills".

Wilson said she beleived that Warner meets all of the criteria set forth in the resolution passed by PDC when it launched its search for a new executive director, arguing that he had "the ability to take PDC at this critical time of its history and help us heal" and "move to the next stage of its development". She said she had "confidence" that PDC can be in the future everything that it has been in the past. "Bruce will assist us," she said, "in bringing us back the the place where every day we come to work and we're treated well, feel good about who we are [and] we're cared for."

Blomgren said that the three candidates had "different approaches to management" with different experience with PDC. Some, he said, had a "clear ability" to identify and address financial challenges, some had managed large organizations, some were familiar with big projects, and some brought a "particularly helpful approach" of "melding planning and development". (He didn't identify which candidates were which.) He said it would have been good if they could have combined all three candidates into one person. "We are selecting the person who is best capable of leading this agency at this time," he said.

Commissioner Bertha Ferran echoed that point, saying: "We're choosing the person who is the right candidate for what PDC needs at this point."

Rosenbaum said he appreciated being able to sit in on the interviews in advance of his own tenure on the PDC board, and credited Warner with "sensitivity" when it comes to minority and women labor and business issues.

Mayor Tom Potter appeared in order to briefly testify (saying "it was nice to be on the other side" for a change). Crediting all the candidates with being "excellent," he said that Warner would "serve the City and our region well in terms of economic development, housing, and opportunity for small business" and that the new executive director "clearly understands [that] PDC's role is so essential." Signalling his own perspectives on the agency, Potter said Warner's -- and PDC's -- job was to be "more accountable, transparent, and inclusive'.

Hennessee stressed that it was "important to underscore" that Portland is considered a "great City" and that this was "in large part due to work at PDC". He also credited Warner with wanting to come aboard and move forward "despite what's being written in the papers about PDC right now".

(Time for a parenthetical, because we're going to come back to this. It is our own observation that when Hennessee speaks of PDC's current troubles, he nearly always uses language which refers to it in terms of things "being written about" rather than as problems being experienced. It's going to come up again when we get to the news conference, so we wanted to point it out now.)

He said that when he was thinking about the criteria set forth for the selection of a new executive director, he thought, "If you can find a person who can do all that, that's going to be an interesting person." He added that the "success of any human being" isn't just theirs but is also about those around them, which in this case includes the Mayor's office, City Commissioners, and the staff at PDC.

"There are some members of the community who are not as pleased with this selection," Hennessee said. But he offered: "They, too, in very short order will be able to say, 'I was wrong.'"

News Conference

Later that afternoon, a news conference was held at PDC to officially announce and introduce both Warner and Tuttle, at which Hennessee said he was "extremely delighted that [Warner] had candidated for this position [and] that he will begin his work in early August." According to Hennessee, "you'd think he was already on board" based upon the staff meeting earlier in the day.

He called Warner "exactly the combination of person that we need in terms of the skill set" given his experience with large organizations, an ability for "change" and his administrative skills. He also referenced the need for some "internal" issues to be addressed, as well as the need to address "communtiy trust" and "public participation".

With current director Don Mazziotti's last day being tomorrow, and Warner not taking that position until August 1, Hennessee said that in conjunction with the Mayor's office PDC had sought someone to take over during the interim in order to address "healing, bridge building, and at the same time making some important decisions for the commission."

"Judy [Tuttle] has our full support to do her job fully as the executive director in the forty days that she will be in her job," Hennessee said, citing what he said was a "track record of working collaboratively" and a familiarity with a "tense political environment".

(Note: At this point, we attempted to launch some audio recording software, and having forgotten tomute our laptop, promptly produced a nice high-pitched electronic squeal of feedback. This is irrelevant to the report, but makes for a nice aside.)

Hennessee also claimed that there was "a great deal of buzz going around this organization today" and that "some who were thinking of leaving have already decided to stay." We leave it to any willing PDC staffers out there in our readership to comment on this.

"I'm really thrilled about the folks that we have appointed," said Mayor Potter, saying that Tuttle will "help stabilize PDC's ship." He said that the new executive director(s) would "have the full support of the Mayor's office and, to the degree possible, the full support of the City Council." Potter added that he thought newly-appointed Sal Kadri is "going to do an excellent job" and credited incoming Mark Rosenbaum for being "busy familiarizing himself with the workings of PDC."

Potter said that Bruce Warner "really understands the need for a regional approach to economic growth in the metropolitan area" and that he "wants to work more closely with our City bureaus ... to build a strategic vision for our future." He also said that he was "pleased" that Warner was "enthusiastic" about building a community process that builds participation into the front-end of development projects.

Saying the Warner was committed to working with the City's neighborhoods, and understands housing and small business needs, Potter said that he is "looking forward to a real period of growth in our City" and that "PDC is going to be integral" in creating opportunities "al all levels of our society."

Okay. It's very warm in here, and I have an absolutely splitting headache. So we're going to do what we've only done maybe twice before. What follows is a direct cut-and-paste from our notes of Warner's remarks, followed by Tuttle's.

Bruce Warner

v good pool of candidates ... tapping them a bit and using them as a resrouce" ... why i pursued this position: lived in metro area al prof career ... "portland is agreat city" knowsn as "city that embraces innov urban design, its livab is uncmapred, and its full of eco oppor, and ... much mor ein the future" ...

"its posed strat to tak eadvntage of the new globla economy" ... what i want to do: "I want ot hlep pdc contiue it ssuccess thru keepign pdx a leade rin all of those areas" ... implenting programs base on desires of council/commissioenrs" ... housing, eco dev, redev ...

transition -- "this is more than a personal xisition for me, i bel it is a trans for the agency" ... new direction: "more account and trans int he work that they do" "need to focus more on revit hoods" ... "we do need to work ons trenghten our relationship and how we work with small businesses" ...

my itent is to work first of fint he first few eeeks ... with the staff to help them with some of th ehealing ... our chair tlaked about" ... internal controls, processes, procedures ... "make sure that they dont happen again" ... plesed invite me into communtiy convos (maor) ... "build that better brudge bet pdc and the communities" ... work v closey with mayor council bus communtiy to redirect acitvity of pdc thats works well with goals of city ... "we can do may mroe thigns if we work collab together" ... work w mayr and ocncul and like to dorp by soem of the small businesses, inside uzras and outside uras ... "hear hwat they think pdc ought to be doign and ask for their advice" ... attmep tot tour all of the hoods. ... esp in area ofhosuung ...

make it clear to everybody in this room ... i will lsiten crefuly to the inpout thaty ir eceive and i also will tak eit v v seriosuly" ... not always agree "but processes and the inpout wi be apprecated" ... "my immed priortiy .. i the internal account has to be dealt with and dealt with quickly and in a way that ensures it doesnt happen again" ... seirosu qeustos, contracitng, look fwd to audit, and working w city audotor and his staff "it will shien some lighton soem thigns thta do need to be changed" ...

Tuttle

"literally, actually" (turn it over to you - BW)

a few words about this org
"this rg has been thru alot" ... what this org has been ... "one only needs to look aroudn this town to asee that pdc has played an incredib role here" ... river dist ... south water ... "all of this has been done becos pdc hs been acting in this commntiy" ... not just brick/mortar ... "with an eye twds keeping this cit yreally in the forefront of livaiblity" ...

"a lot of that a good meas of thta is due to the wya pdc ha sworked" "proud history"

"it has been to say the least a diff time for this org over the las few months" .. "to begins taiblizing this org, ot begin repsituiong this org to be workign witht the commission and w bruce as incoing exec dir" seamless teansiton to where hti sorg wil be in the future ... plan to be working with odc ocmmissioenr on some speicfic hcnages in the org" corrective actiosn that may be made" ... ensure when bruce on "be readyt o beign the next phase of htis agency so that ti will be int he future as it has been int he pat a grea tpart of this city" ...

commend staff and work "thru this trying time"

And what follows here is the direct cut-and-paste from our notes of the Q&A with both media and other interested parties present at the news conference. While dumping all of this here likely will cause some difficulties in juding certain bits of what was said, we'll consider this a headache-inspired experiment in "discussion journalism" or some such animal. Use the comments here to ask me what any unclear portions mean, and I'll drop into the discussion to clarify, expand, or expound.

for Warner(6): as otusider, healing, ID this org as org that ha problems? fixable?

WARNER: of course i think the prolems ... are lcearly solvable" expectaiton workign with auditor and jjdy oppur to ID those oprobmes and take corrective action

for Warner: backgroudn int rans, how skillset apply here

WARNER: hils, trans, "but in all of those pstions i was nivoved in dev and redev" .. first exp w/pdc recruiting trips to come to sunset corridor ...

Irwin M: 12 yrs, watched city devel "magnificantly" ...rally a city boy ... both soken about hoods "and thats fine" but downtown plan calls for west end to be developed residentially dense aras ... hasnt happened, but beginning ... my view is that core of city is it sbeaitng heart and if the core doesnt proper i think tis extension ... are goign to suffer as well" ... can u also focus on further development in west end ... envision for core continued gwrwoth in centrla city partic west end

WARNER: when i look back to 72 decision, pakring lids, made to stop razing old bldgs for lots, a lot of thigns done moved cit yin right way ... visionf or 2 4hr downtown ... it has done what was epxted of it,still movign that way ... invest in transpo, with that 72 plan in mind ... "looks to me like the downtown is growing and maturing very well" ... plans 30 yrs ago are sound ... prlly need to rev thos eplasn regualr basis ...

POTTER: introces bruce to mandels "youll be seeing a lot of them in the next few years"

"that was 1972 and hti sis 205" "we need to take another look at our city" ... ne wpop, movemet int erm sof children (out of town becos of hosung?) ... "in the nxt 12 motnhs the visoing rpcoess will uncover alot of these naswers"

HENNESSEE: two commssieonrs that by extneison are the manels .. pdc long history of being collabw ith hoods and comuntiy groups "and i see that contuinuing" ...
(back to ch6) "to char this as an org that ia troubled or in criss i take total and icmeptle tforntla issue with tta" ... "we have closed a very vital part of a project odnwtown of worht near to 150M" (MF) ... closing in on agree casade sta ... unnoticed by papers and odesnt make headlines ... work continues in SW andin hoods ... "that goe son every day and contunes to go despites any of the others htigns going on" ... "certinai ssues htta have created ocncerns and headliens int he apper" papers get to know wonderful stuff goingon here everyday ...

TUTTLE: assuring the mandels ... "the ide in some of the convos that weve had about hoods and small bus is that we want to expand the role of pdc not to narrow ht role of pdc" not abandongin any one palce but expanding

Lenny Anderson/INterstate URA committee: as outside ura "we cant seem to shut down the ones that have done their projects" ... "at osme point thos errsources that are deciated in a ura need go back into schools, police, fire, parks, the basic budget of the ocmmuntiy" ... take $ out in TIF "you are tkaing it out of the res to fht resources thta we have" ... CE/SW "when someone sturn comes to close the gate im hpiny ou guys iwll do ti"

WARNER: this is an issue that ive heard" ... topic at city club ... "when do u declare vict and move on" ... "I dont have an answer to tha right now ... but i unerstand the tension thats there, i also udnerstand th eneeds that ar eout there" (do with those dolalrs) ... some areas, have been retunring some $ back to taxing ist ... "theres actually some quesiton as to when is an ura finished"

TUTTLE: as none of those will be closing in the next forty days ... "it is something that does req some attention"

HENNESSEE: "in truth in 40 days judy will agve it all sovled"

my bel is thta but for UR, property values might not have icnreae idin some of these areas" ... "we have to rememebr the but for" ... the purrose of pdc is not just to go crreate RA and freeze tax base.. "its laos to encourage other devleopentn" ... it snot just hwta pdc has dne, its how we have encouraged spurred and inspuired others" to do good work in this city ...

"with the efforts underway right now ... some of thos eissues are certoging to come to the fore" ... "thinking hard both about that issue" ... see some turned back ... "i think that wil happen" ... appeal to ppl to remmebr thay but for pdc...

WARNER: forgot somethign in my presentaiton i think is improtant

i want to make it clear .." that i am goign to redouble the effort sof ht eagency to eal with the minority communities and deal witht he needd of certina areas of this city" ... need tobe out ther eunderstandng the needs of these ocmmunties ..." i do want to get out to those ocmmunits, and i want to engage them"

Q rel between pdc/council - any changes?

WARNER: changes thru charter manedment process? ... "CL did have a propsoal" ... "city is going to be loking at a chatete rrev process htis flal" intend to be activel yinvovled in that ch rev process" ... "pdc is able to do what it does becos it is strong and has some autnomoy"

HENNESSEE: commission has been talking about the imp of reconginzg that... celebraiton f orgs 50th, and recog tha with soem tacing juris reachign their max indebt, the imp of going back to say "what is the orle of pdc now and how might thta mission, or should that mission be modified in anyw way" ...

One thing we do want to quickly revisit is part of Hennessee comments above, mainly the following bit, cleaned up from the typo-ridden version in the notes: "To characterize this as an organization that is troubled or in crisis, I take a total and complete frontal issue with that."

This goes back to our observation above. Over time, we've noticed a tendency on Hennessee's part to pitch PDC's current situation not in terms of real trouble at the agency but as things "being written about in the papers". That tendency comes pretty much to the forefront with the statement above. If Hennessee really believes that his agency is neither "troubled" nor "in crisis" then it's no wonder that he had to make a reference at one point to staffers who had been planning to leave their jobs there.

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