City Hall: Mayor's New Transportation Chief Tours Spain

Tom Miller, when he was Mayor Sam Adams' chief of staff.
By BETH SLOVIC

Tom Miller, who racked up plenty of frequent flier miles as Mayor Sam Adams' chief of staff, is continuing his globe-trotting ways as the new director of Portland's perennially cash-strapped Bureau of Transportation.

Miller, whose promotion in January came with a 50 percent raise, is in Rotterdam this week on personal vacation until Friday. Then he flies to Spain on PBOT's dime for Greenlight Greater Portland's "Best Practices Trip 2011."

A spokeswoman for the transportation department says Miller's flight to Rotterdam in The Netherlands was part of the travel plan for the best-practices conference; Miller left earlier to incorporate his vacation. The transportation bureau will pay for the flight, the conference and Miller's time in Spain, a trip that is expected to cost more than $5,000. (Update at 1:45 pm: The spokeswoman for the bureau originally gave WW an incorrect figure for the price of the trip. It will cost about $5,000.)

Greenlight Greater Portland describes the April 2-9 conference—"Madrid, Barcelona ... Ole!"—this way:

Before moving to the transportation bureau, Miller oversaw two dozen employees in the mayor's office and earned about $100,000 a year. He now directs more than 700 employees and collects an annual salary of $150,000.

Miller replaces Sue Keil, who doesn't officially retire for several more weeks.

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.