Murmurs: A Hipster Dividend

1. No, Portland’s proposed “density bonus” is not a cash handout to you for tolerating an increasingly crowded city. It’s a series of new incentives City Commissioner Dan Saltzman wants to give developers to encourage more affordable housing in the central city. Officials predict Portland will need 24,000 new affordable housing units by 2035. The bonus in Saltzman’s proposal, which got an airing before the City Council on June 23, would allow developers to construct bigger or taller buildings if they include affordable units onsite or pay to help build or preserve affordable units elsewhere. The proposal would also end incentives for eco-roofs and bike storage—add-ons that Saltzman says the market now demands anyway.

1. Portland Public Schools principals are finally getting significant pay raises. The principals have gone wanting even as Superintendent Carole Smith got a 30 percent pay increase over the past two years, and made sure her top advisers got big increases as well (“Help for Her Friends,” WW, April 1, 2015). Since 2011-12, high-school principals’ wages went up only 3.5 percent. The new proposal calls for raises of about 5 percent for principals, 5 to 6 percent for vice principals and 9 percent for assistant principals, whose work year is increasing.

1. Gov. Kate BrownAll Gov. Kate Brown had to do was keep her head down, and her pathway to holding on to the governorship looked clear. That proved impossible. Brown—elevated to office in February after Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned—hoped to avoid serious competition in the 2016 Democratic primary to fill out Kitzhaber’s term. Her chief rival, State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, looked as if he had little hope of challenging Brown, but her reversal on the low-carbon fuel standard has angered enviros. She signed the carbon-reduction bill in March, but is now saying she’ll repeal it if lawmakers approve a higher gas tax from the Legislature. Brown’s supporters worry her zigzag has opened an avenue for Wheeler. Wheeler spokesman Michael Cox says the state treasurer is now focused on legislative issues. “He’s going to sit down after the legislative session,” Cox says, “and figure out how best he can continue to serve.”

1. Meanwhile, no state official has raised as much campaign money this year as Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian. The $44,000 he’s collected since winning re-election in 2014 has set off speculation he’s angling for secretary of state in 2016. “Brad is focused on protecting workers and building a stronger workforce,” says Avakian spokesman Jef Green. “He has not made any decision about the secretary of state race.” If Avakian runs, he may face two legislators in the Democratic primary—Sen. Richard Devlin (D-Tualatin) and House Majority Leader Val Hoyle (D-Eugene), both of whom are considering joining the race.

WWeek 2015