Murmurs: Conflict Mounts at Willamette Falls

In other news: Judge rejects homeless services takeover.

Willamette Falls in Oregon City. (Christine Dong)

CONFLICT MOUNTS AT WILLAMETTE FALLS: The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde filed a motion this week to intervene in a federal lawsuit Portland General Electric filed in April regarding Willamette Falls. PGE seeks to seize land that the Oregon Department of State Lands controls. The state had granted the Grand Ronde a permit to use the falls for fishing and ceremonial purposes, but PGE objected to the fishing platform on safety grounds. In its filing, the Grand Ronde say PGE’s lawsuit “is a massive overreach based on false and misguided concerns.” Tribal council chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy wrote: “If PGE succeeds, not only will it threaten the Tribe’s ceremonial fishery, it will transfer ownership of Oregon’s iconic Willamette Falls from the state of Oregon, and all of Oregon’s citizens, to a private, for-profit corporation.” PGE declined to comment.

JUDGE REJECTS HOMELESS SERVICES TAKEOVER: A Multnomah County circuit judge ruled Monday that attorneys for Metro, the Portland area’s regional government, were correct in ruling that an initiative by the advocacy group People for Portland to reallocate hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes for homeless services could not be put on the ballot in November. Circuit Judge Stephen K. Bushong agreed with Metro that People for Portland failed to include the full text of laws that the initiative seeks to change. Advocates for Metro’s homeless services measure, which is expected to raise about $250 million a year through a tax on wealthy income earners in the three metro-area counties, say they’re thrilled with Bushong’s decision. People for Portland says it is considering further legal action.

GRAND CENTRAL BAKERY BECOMES A TRUST: When most people set up trusts, it’s to avoid taxes as they pass on wealth to their descendants. Not Grand Central Bakery. It’s setting up a trust to keep the company from ever being sold and to preserve its mission: treating its 370 employees and suppliers fairly. The trust also ensures the bakery will keep making Jammers and Bolo Rolls in perpetuity. When the transition to trust ownership is complete this summer, Grand Central will become one of just a few companies that are perpetual purpose trusts, noncharitable trusts established for the benefit of a purpose rather than a person. Grand Central was founded in 1989 by Gwyneth Bassetti. Her son Ben Davis opened the first Portland location on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard in 1993. The new trust will have an independent seven-member board that will collaborate with the CEO to ensure the company’s actions align with the trust’s objectives.

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: WW received nine awards last week from the Society of Professional Journalists in a five-state contest. The Region 10 Excellence in Journalism Contest picks the best work by newspapers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Among the awards WW received: first place among medium-size newsrooms for reporter Sophie Peel in environment and natural disaster reporting for her cover story on Portland’s heat islands (“The Hottest Place in Portland,” July 14, 2021). Arts and culture editor Andi Prewitt won first place in soft news feature writing for her history of the tater tot, while art director Mick Hangland-Skill took first prize for his year-end photo essay of Portland places reshaped by the events of 2021. WW received the second-place award for general excellence among midsized newsrooms.

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