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CAN’T HAVE BILLIARDS WITHOUT SAM’S
I was thrilled to see a piece on billiards in Portland [“Pool Party,” WW, Aug. 13]. Good job identifying one of the many great things about living in Portland. But what a HUGE omission: not a word about Sam’s Hollywood billiards, which is the best, largest, and most historic pool hall in town. The most competitive pool is happening on Sam’s 9-foot tables, which are far more challenging than the wimpy 7-foot tables your reporter seems to only know about. Bigger tables attract higher talent. This is like an article about baseball in New York that never mentions the Yankees. And I HATE the Yankees! Nor is there mention of the venerable Classic Billiards (3636 SE 122nd Ave.) which also features 9-foot tables and a very competent pro shop and who could really use some free publicity. Finally, a solid shout-out should go to McMenamins, which has lovingly preserved the game of pool in many of its locations for no apparent commercial reason beyond a simple love of the game.
Also, I didn’t love the line about getting dirty looks if you don’t know lag vs. flip, etc. Pool can feel weirdly intimidating to newbies, but I’ve found the Portland pool scene to be very welcoming to beginners who come to learn and grow into the sport. Just take a moment to learn the rules, and ask to be brought up to speed on the local etiquette, which can vary slightly by venue and format.
Pool is a most elegant and demanding sport. For me, a retired priest, it is a spiritual practice. And there are few places outside of the DMV where you can rub shoulders with such a randomly diverse bunch of people—delinquent and saintly, queer and straight, moneyed and broke, high and sober, young and old—pool has them all.
Matthew Lawrence
Southwest Portland
Matt Kalinowski replies: I live at Sam’s (ask for “Matt in the Hat”) four to six hours a day, as both a shooter and freelance writer with a laptop. I’ve been in the 14.1 League for almost 20 years now and played BCA league at Sam’s for about five. But Sam’s doesn’t host open tournaments, which is why it wasn’t mentioned, and neither does Classic.
OREGON DOESN’T LEARN FROM INVESTMENT MISTAKES
The Oregon Investment Council has had a long and sordid history investing in private equity [“Off Target,” OJP, Aug. 6]. The OIC has stubbornly promoted private equity despite public testimony in opposition.
Private equity investments have several problems from the standpoint of the public interest. They often require nondisclosure agreements whereby the OIC is required to not reveal important details about the investment to the Oregon public. This is a violation of transparency usually expected from our public institutions. Furthermore, these investments often involve questionable businesses who use private equity to avoid public scrutiny, as I will demonstrate. Finally, Oregon is expected to stay invested for years in these equities without having any control over what these private equities do with the money going forward. According to an AP report, “State officials previously said investors have limited say in private equity investments once they are completed.”
Illustrating these issues, Oregon has had a number of questionable private equity investments.
First, in 2005, Elliot Broidy got Oregon to invest $50 million in Israeli companies as part of private equity firm Markstone Capital Partners. In 2009, Broidy pleaded guilty to a pay-to-play scheme selling the same investments to New York state’s pension fund. Then New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said, “This is an old-fashioned payoff of state officials case.” Check Broidy out on Wikipedia, he is a busy operator.
Second, in 2017, Oregon invested $233 million in private equity firm Novalpina Capital, which owned a majority stake in the NSO Group, maker of the notorious Israeli Pegasus spyware, used to hack into the cellphones of journalists, human rights workers, and others around the globe. Oregon was at the time possibly the largest investor in Israeli spyware in the world.
When are we going to learn?
Peter Miller
Southeast Portland
WILL FOLLOW ADVICE FOR HALF THE PRICE
As detailed in the Aug. 6 edition of WW, the Oregon pension fund managed by the Oregon Treasury, specifically Rex Kim, the treasury’s chief investment officer, has gone its own way, investing an overly large percentage of the $100 billion in the fund in “private equity” investments. They’ve missed the boat in the form of a record-setting stock market rise in past years and have, for the most part, ignored the advice of paid investment consultants. The article indicates that they have missed the boat for 10 years!
My solution: Sack Kim and State Treasurer Kim Steiner, who seem to have, at best, cavalier attitudes about the fund’s performance and, at worst, display arrogance at the clear failure of achieving even the yardstick measure of performance.
I will gladly take over Kim’s role and follow the paid consultants’ advice of asset allocation. And for “only” half of what the state is paying Kim (which is $810,000).
Stunning and disappointing for all Oregonians. They should both resign.
John R Caufield
Southwest Portland
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Portland, OR
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Email: amesh@wweek.com
