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Seen a Rogue on
the loose?
This fall, the PDC and similar entities around the country were in the running for so-called Federal Empowerment Zone designations. Congress began the program in 1993 to help rejuvenate economically depressed areas. In May, the PDC paid Casson, who had just left the agency after 13 years, $35,000 to write an application before the program's Oct. 9 deadline. Casson's task was complicated by the inclusion of Multnomah County and Vancouver with Portland as partners in the application, but many thought it made the application tough to beat. "We thought the bi-state approach was very strong," says Marge Kafoury, the city's chief lobbyist. Despite the complications, everybody thought the process was on track. "We had every expectation that the application would be in on time," says PDC finance director Chris Sherer. It wasn't even close. Casson didn't finish the application until Oct. 19. Even worse, she didn't fess up to the PDC until last week. The blown deadline cost the applicants a shot at a $3 million grant and $130 million in federally subsidized loans. The subsidy could have saved the city millions of dollars. Despite the high stakes, nobody checked to see whether Casson had completed the work. Casson makes no attempt to shirk the blame. "I've put everybody in a bad light," she says. "I take responsibility for that, and I apologize deeply." Casson's apology notwithstanding, the agency that knew her best--PDC--bears ultimate responsibility. We couldn't reach PDC director Felicia Trader because she was on a trade mission in Japan with Mayor Vera Katz. Katz's chief aide, Sam Adams, was contrite. "There's no way to sugarcoat this," says Adams. "We screwed up. I think an apology is appropriate, and we do apologize. I cannot remember this ever happening before, and you can be darned sure we will review this in detail to make sure it's not going to happen again."
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