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Happy birthday, Tom Dundon! We actually have no idea when his birthday is, but neither do Oregon lawmakers, and that didn’t stop them from buying an expensive present for the Texas billionaire and prospective Portland Trail Blazers owner. On a bipartisan vote in the final hours of the short legislative session March 6, legislators approved a $365 million subsidy to renovate Moda Center, the Blazers’ home court. As WW reported on wweek.com, Dundon pays nothing, unless the arena overhaul incurs cost overruns; taxes paid by the Blazers and other Rose Quarter entertainers will be diverted to paying off the state bonds to be issued for the arena renovation. Viewed another way, of course, this is a present for all of us: Dundon is less likely to move the Blazers if they come with an upgraded arena. “Oh, you shouldn’t have!” said our readers.
John Carter, via wweek.com: “So a man who made his fortune through subprime mortgages, courting desperate people to sign bad deals, did the same with the Legislature. He got them to act with fear and nostalgia.
“The Legislature just doesn’t have that emotional connection to things that matter, like schools, roads, and public transit. Robert Wagner was waxing nostalgic about childhood memories of seeing the Blazers, those fuzzy feelings rationalizing giving the team what they ask for at any cost.
“The whole thing is baffling because if you aren’t good at negotiating deals and agreements that serve the public interest and reach some mutually beneficial compromise, then what are you there for? If any of them worked at a company they would be fired for making a deal as bad and one-sided as this.”
Witty_namez, via Reddit: “I used to mock those hick Southern cities for giving away the store to sports ball teams, but I guess I can’t do that anymore.
“The only fun part is that Portland has to approve this, and all the ‘socialists’ on the Portland City Council will meekly vote to give away millions of taxpayer dollars to a billionaire because they don’t have the spine to oppose this terrible deal.”
A. Hairyhanded Gent, via wweek.com: “At its core, PDX cannot at this time risk looking even worse than it does to outside investors by losing a major league franchise. PDX must keep at least that slim claim to relevance.
“Yes, it’s that bad now… Otherwise, PDX becomes Louisville, Kentucky, but minus the Kentucky Derby and a significant university.
“Not even as desirable a place to bring money as Louisville...YEOW!
“I agree; it seems wrong to use public moneys, but we’re now looking like Loserville the way companies have left, and now maybe the sole claim to relevance as a major city.
“Do you think that in two years Powell’s will still be here? Powell’s is a disproportional intangible that makes PDX look good.
“That’s what I’m talking about.”
Dieter, via wweek.com: “My overall thinking is guided by the wisdom that cats will come to whomever feeds them; and that history seems to repeat itself.
“I am mindful that in the 1980s, King County (Seattle) erected a tax mechanism to fund upgrades to the Kingdome—which in the end were not good enough. When the Kingdome was imploded in 2000, there were remaining unpaid public debts and those debts were not retired until 2015—long after the Kingdome was a faded memory.
“King County voters in the 1990s were not keen to fund a replacement to the Kingdome—and heaven forbid that the franchise owners would put their own money into the mix. The franchise owners, not to be outfoxed by the voters, went the Olympia and got state funds to pay for the new venue. Washington did what it appears Oregon is now doing, with taxpayers throughout the state on the hook for expenses that will mostly benefit the big-city dwellers.
“I shudder when I think that it was 50 years ago in 1976, when Ronald Reagan—then running against Ford for president—uttered those first dire warnings about welfare queens feeding at the public trough.”
FreeStateofPortland, via Reddit: The same people here saying it’s bad are the same ones who, if the Blazers left town, would be posting, ‘This is what happens in Democrat dumpster fire cities.’”
CLARIFICATION
Last week’s story on labor strife at Portland Community College (“All Their Faculties,” March 4) implied that a law requiring unemployment benefits for striking workers might lead to PCC paying employees more than their salaries. In fact, that possibility is prevented because state law doesn’t mandate that community colleges pay staff for a minimum number of instructional days regardless of closures due to labor disputes.
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