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The Portland Public Schools Board voted last night to move forward with a plan to lease the vacant Whitaker Middle School site in Northeast Portland to a private nonprofit organization led by School Board Chair Gary Hollands despite concerns about a possible conflict of interest.
The vote was 4-2. Board members Julia Brim-Edwards, Edward Wang, Andrew Scott and Herman Greene voted in favor. Board members Michelle DePass and Patte Sullivan voted no. Hollands abstained.
Hollands last month proposed building a $175 million sports complex on the site of Whitaker, which was closed in 2001 and torn down after WW reported that the school was tainted by radon and suffered poor ventilation, a potentially deadly combination (“The Poisoning of Whitaker,” May 22, 2001). The athletic complex would be built by the Albina Sports program, which Hollands runs as interim executive director.
The plan passed only after being amended twice. One amendment, brought by board member Julia Brim-Edwards, seeks to inoculate the board from Hollands’ influence by removing him from PPS’s side of the negotiations with the Albina Sports Program. Brim-Edwards said she spoke with an outside lawyer about her obligations as a School Board member before drafting her amendment.
“Given Director Hollands’ role with the Albina Sports Program, he will not provide input to or engage with PPS staff or the board on the PPS negotiations, internal discussions, strategies, analysis, or other actions relating to a real estate transaction in any capacity other than representing Albina Sports Program,” Brim-Edwards’ amendment reads. Hollands would also be denied access to any confidential information about the deal from PPS.
Sullivan said she opposed the plan because she would rather go through with PPS plans to build athletic fields on the site.
“I am not comfortable with a public-private connection,” Sullivan said. “I think all the land should stay with PPS and that it should be our project.”
DePass, too, had issues with a public-private venture and said she worried about ensuring PPS access to the complex at a time when schools are short on athletic fields.
“I have grave concerns about taking publicly owned land and privatizing it,” DePass said. “I don’t understand the business model.”
DePass said she also requested data on the educational benefits of a sports complex, given poor test scores for students of color. “I want to see more information about the potential for this sports program,” she said.
Before the vote, Hollands apologized for including a slide in his original proposal—presented to the facilities and operations committee of the board on Sept. 20—that listed a number of elected officials as being on a “working team of community, business leaders.” That list included City Commissioners Dan Ryan, Carmen Rubio and Mingus Mapps and Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal. Reached by WW after the presentation, none said they were on the working team. A spokesman for Ryan said the commissioner wasn’t even briefed on the project.
Hollands said the mistake was a clerical error.
“As a result of my limited grammatical proficiencies, it was seen that all the individuals depicted on this slide were collectively grouped,” Hollands said before the vote. “I would like to express my apologies to any elected officials and supporters.”