Both Sides of Portland Water Fight Pick Up $20,000 Checks

New water district donors include Andrew Miller and CH2M Hill

The war over the future government of Portland's water supply is getting even more money.

Both sides of the campaign on Ballot Measure 26-156, which would remove Portland's water and environmental services bureaus from City Hall control, reported $20,000 contributions today.

And both sides also got money from allies sure to inflame the other side.

The "yes" campaign's patron is familiar: Siltronic, the German semiconductor manufacture that wants its water rates lower, gave $20,000. That donation brings its total investment in this campaign to $80,000.

Portlanders for Water Reform Committee, which is seeking to form a public water district with an independently elected board, also picked up an $8,000 check from Andrew Miller—the Washington County timber magnate and Republican donor who funded a 2012 anti-light rail rebellion in Clackamas County.

Meanwhile, the campaign to fight the measure—Stop the Bull Run Takeover PAC—grabbed its own $20,000 donation, from the trade union Oregon AFSCME Council 75.

That's the biggest contribution yet to the "no" campaign, and brings AFSCME 75's total tab to $30,000.

Stop the Bull Run Takeover PAC's got another big contribution—$5,000 from engineering firm CH2M Hill. The Portland-based company has received design and engineering contracts related to building underground tanks to replace the city's open-air reservoirs. 

WWeek 2015

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