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Three Portland city councilors attended the Trail Blazers’ April 26 playoff game after being offered free tickets by the NBA team.
Councilors Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Sameer Kanal and Dan Ryan—all of whom represent North and Northeast Portland on the Portland City Council—attended the game at the invitation of the team. All three councilors say the team’s new majority owner, Texas billionaire investor and businessman Tom Dundon, invited them to meet him. All three accepted the offer.
While state law prohibits public officials from accepting a gift worth more than $50 from anyone with a legislative interest in front of their governing body, the state offers an exemption for officials who are attending an event for a “ceremonial purpose,” like throwing the first pitch at a baseball game—or helping pass a basketball down from the crowd and onto the court to kick off the game. The city has a near-identical exception to its gift rules.
Ella Hutcherson, a spokeswoman for Pirtle-Guiney, says the councilors accepted the gifted tickets under that exemption—and they did help pass the ball down to the Moda Center floor before tip-off. Other Portland city councilors have attended Blazers games for ceremonial purposes at the invite of the team this season, too.
Still, the councilors’ attendance at the game and their visit with Dundon comes amid a delicate dance among the state, city and Dundon over the future of the Trail Blazers.
The Oregon Legislature passed a bill during the spring session that commits funding to an estimated $600 million renovation of Moda Center—a bill passed after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver strongly suggested the team would look at other cities if taxpayers didn’t pony up for a renovation.
Legislators passed the bill under the assumption that local governments would chip in, too: $120 million from the city of Portland and $88 million from Multnomah County. Indeed, all 12 Portland city councilors in a February letter to the Legislature urged lawmakers to pass the bill—even though it became evident soon after that councilors were not on the same page about from where the city would source its contribution.
Soon after the bill passed, a handful of city councilors seemed to sour on the idea—in particular, Mayor Keith Wilson’s plan to siphon up to $75 million from the Portland Clean Energy Fund. Councilor Steve Novick told WW in March that he wouldn’t support using climate tax dollars for the renovation.
In addition, Councilors Tiffany Koyama Lane and Mitch Green have said they won’t sign nondisclosure agreements around negotiations, citing the need for public transparency in city investments.
The councilors’ reticence prompted Gov. Tina Kotek to tell The Oregonian earlier this week that “this is not a time to play politics.”
That the three councilors who represent District 2, the quadrant of the city that contains Moda Center, met with Dundon personally suggests the team’s ownership is courting the City Council to approve the investment Wilson promised.
Hutcherson, Pirtle-Guiney’s spokeswoman, said the councilor thought it “important to accept the invitation and use the opportunity to learn more about his approach and intentions as lease negotiations begin.”
“Councilor Pirtle-Guiney emphasized with him the critical importance of lease negotiations striking a good deal for Portlanders, not just the Blazers,” Hutcherson says. “To her, that includes good jobs in the arena for Portlanders, neighborhood investments, a clear commitment to stay in Portland for the long haul—with consequences for breaking the lease early—and a commitment to sharing the arena with the many potential users of that space.”
The councilors were given tickets by the team in Section 218—in the lower bowl, with a view of the game unobstructed by baskets. Such tickets regularly sell for upwards of $200 in the regular season, and many times more in the playoffs. When it comes to wooing elected officials, it seems, Dundon makes an exception to his famed frugality.
The Blazers did not respond to a request for comment.
