News It's way too early for normal people who have balance in their lives to pay any attention to the mayoral race.  And then there are reporters. The primary is 10 months away and incumbent Sam Adams has not even announced yet that he will be seeking reelection. Still, here are some interesting (to us) details about the money that announced candidates Charlie Hales and Eileen Brady have raised.Largest ...   More

News In our lengthy interview with Mayoral Candidate Charlie Hales, the subject of hiring bureau chiefs came up.  Without mentioning any names, Hales fired a shot at Mayor Sam Adams' January promotion of his chief of staff Tom Miller, to become the head of the Portland Bureau of Transportation.  The $150,000 job involves the management of 700 people and Hales thinks that the lack of a search process ...   More

News Topics on the agenda at Portland City Hall this morning include an update on the Bike Plan for 2030, a $105,000 pay claim, additional city funding for Hooper Detox and a $50,000 grant for Janus Youth Programs.Here's a breakdown:Bike Plan for 2030: More than a year ago, on Feb. 11, 2010, city officials led by Mayor Sam Adams approved a largely unfunded master plan for improving bike infrastructure in ...   More

News Despite the cancellation of today’s City Council hearing on whether Portland should rejoin the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force, about 70 protesters still turned out at City Hall this afternoon to oppose the city’s participation in the JTTF. Chanting “No secrets, no spies, we want our civil rights” and carrying signs reading “Stop FBI Harassment,” protesters said participation in the ...   More

News When City Council voted 4-1 yesterday to approve a funding plan to pay for computer upgrades at the Bureau of Development Services, Commissioner Amanda Fritz was the lone "no" vote. No surprise there—it's a position she's found herself in before, but the plan and its back story combine for a more interesting tale.The computer upgrading plan—to borrow $6.6 million secured by the city's general fund—comes ...   More

After listening to a rousing one-hour presentation at City Hall devoted to the arts in Portland, Mayor Sam Adams this morning turned his attention to one troubling piece of public art in the city: the photo of former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt that still hangs in the entryway to the mayor's office. While Portland's mayor from 1973 to 1979, Goldschmidt sexually abused a minor named Elizabeth Dunham. Dunham ...   More

News The wait will go on for City Council to decide whether Portland police should rejoin the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force.Mayor Sam Adams said today that there's not a draft proposed agreement yet ready between the city and the feds, so there will be no council hearing this Thursday, March 10 to take more public testimony on rejoining the JTTF .Adams said in a news release (PDF) that he, the council ...   More

News Commissioner Amanda Fritz on Friday briefed reporters on the new initiative she'll spearhead in the coming months: Mayor Sam Adams' recently proposed Office of Equity. Fritz, a longtime neighborhood activist before she joined the City Council in January 2009, will oversee the new office, which is expected to merge with the three-year-old Office of Human Relations. Adams announced the new office just ...   More

News Mayor Sam Adams announced today he had reassigned oversight of two city bureaus, the Office of Cable and Franchise Management and the Bureau of Development Services, to Commissioner Dan Saltzman.The move continues a City Hall tradition that Saltzman knows well. Since first taking office in 1999, Saltzman has taken the helm at many troubled bureaus. The Bureau of Development Services is only the latest. ...   More

News Portland city commissioners unanimously voted to approve a new three-year contract with the police union  that gives the 900 union members a 2-percent raise in exchange for concessions on overtime, police oversight and random drug testing. And while other City of Portland unions gave up cost-of-living increases in 2010 in light of the recession (see update below), Commissioner Randy Leonard called ...   More