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LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| Oregon State Rep. Mary Nolan, D-Portland is running against incumbent Amanda Fritz for Portland City Council Position Number 1. COURTESY MARY NOLAN |
Nolan's Resume
The Memo asked Nolan about her experience relating to this position. “The job of city commissioner in Portland encompasses all three branches of government, but particularly the executive and legislative functions,” she said. “I have an extensive track record in these areas.”
For the last ten years, she has been state representative for District 36, and has served as Democratic majority leader. Earlier, she served in Portland city government, starting with work on economic development for the Bureau of Planning in 1976.
In 1979 and 1980, she headed the Street Lighting program “where there was a need for substantial change,” she said. She oversaw the change from mercury to sodium vapor streetlights, a change that was “not without controversy,” but resulted in lights that are more efficient; she also “persuaded Pacific Power and Light to finance” the change, “saving the city thousands of dollars.”
She served as director of the Bureau of Maintenance in 1986 and “hired the first woman foreman,” and advanced affirmative action goals. From 1989 to 1993, she headed the Bureau of Environmental Services and said of that stint that “we launched our widely successful curbside recycling program,”* which not only led to more convenient recycling involving much greater public participation, but also restructured the waste hauling industry in a way that “gave the haulers a chance to remain solvent.”
In addition, she said, she was “slapped with an order to install sewers in Mid-county. Those were tough times, and it was challenging for the neighborhoods because of the cost. “I got it done on time, with protection for homeowners, especially the low-income. I think the full amortization has been done by now.”
She “led the effort that led to” the Big Pipe Project. Because of the work to reduce Combined Sewer Overflow, Nolan pointed to the recent Big Float celebration. “It was the first time since (former Oregon governor) Tom McCall it was safe to float in an inner tube, with your toes dangling over the side,” in the Willamette River. She also “opened up Northeast Airport Way as a development success story.”
East Portland issues
Nolan, who lives in Southwest Portland, was asked about her familiarity with Mid-Multnomah County, “One can always learn more,” she said, “but I have a good familiarity with the spectrum of neighborhood and commercial needs. I won't pretend to know as much about Lents as (Lents community activist) Cora Lee Potter, but I have a good understanding.”
This area lags behind most of the rest of the city in basic infrastructure and services such as streets, sidewalks and parks. How can the city provide these things at a time when revenue shortfalls make it hard to simply maintain existing services? “There's not a switch that can be flipped to address budget deficits,” Nolan said.
There are, however, some things to pursue, she said: “Follow-through on work the city has done to name and quantify services investments in service geographically. Then we have to make deliberate choices. We need to make more robust use of tax increment financing; when used properly, it makes an opportunity for (private) investments; it leverages economic activity that wouldn't otherwise happen.”
In addition, she said, “Lots of work has been done in the Lents urban renewal district. I don't have specific answers, but the potential is there. We need to make sure we're paying attention to east and north Portland. The I-205 Freeway was a massive investment that hasn't realized the benefits that such projects normally do. Airport Way has, but not the rest. We need to focus our resources, and not just the financial ones. Showing business opportunities in Rivergate or Northwest is not enough. We need to use the bully pulpit to show the treasures we have.
“We need to do cheerleading for modern day philanthropists. The historic footprint of the city, including Forest, Laurelhurst and Mount Tabor parks, has benefited from philanthropy. For whatever reason, east Portland hasn't had that kind of philanthropy. East Portland wasn't even in the city until 25 years ago. The city as a whole should support that sort of philanthropy.”
Gateway Urban Renewal
In Gateway, urban renewal has been caught in a conundrum. Experts at PDC and developers have said the Gateway Regional Center Urban Renewal Area - especially the Prunedale area near its center - needs public improvements before it is attractive enough to draw significant private investment. The lack of such investment has meant little increase in property values, and not much tax increment funding to create the needed improvements. How would Nolan rectify this situation?
“I don't have a full-fledged plan I can pull out of my back pocket,” Nolan said. “We're floundering in the good-faith efforts the city has made. I have no illusions something can happen in six months or a year. But there are some opportunities.” She cited Portland Adventist Medical Center, which is “not a taxpayer, but does provide good middle class jobs. I would put my first-string team into the east Portland area. We would recruit a coalition of the smartest minds and the smartest investors.”
A problem with Gateway and many other urban renewal districts is the diversion of funds to the “pet projects” of city leaders that have little to do with the district's mission. For instance, Opportunity Gateway Program Advisory Committee members were chagrined when $1 million of Gateway Regional Center URA's first-year budget went to the creation of the Children's Receiving Center (gone now, replaced by The Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services), a social service project spearheaded by Commissioner Dan Saltzman. However well intentioned and necessary a facility like this was according to PAC members, it not only had nothing to do with the area's revitalization, but also worked against it by removing a prime piece of commercial real estate from tax rolls.
Asked for her reaction Nolan said, “I don't support the use of any funds for pet projects that are not clearly within the mission of the money. Of course, one person's pet project could be someone else's core mission, and that's debatable. But urban renewal funds, utility rates, user fees - not only for ethical reasons, but to keep the long-term trust of our public partners, they should not be misused. There's room for legitimate debate about this, but it should be in public, available to the public, and people who are watch dogs for the public.”
Parkrose and David Douglas School Districts
Many Portlanders, and even many city officials, equate “public schools” with the Portland School District, failing to acknowledge or not realizing that four other districts lie within the city limits. On this subject Nolan said, “I'm reaching out to get to know the school districts. I already know people in David Douglas and Parkrose. I'm committing to reflecting the entire city. We need proportional representation, but also personal connections.”
Asked about superintendents in the David Douglas and Parkrose districts, Nolan could not easily conjure up the names, and she was unaware that Parkrose's Superintendent, Karen Fischer Gray, has served on the Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission for the past year.
Concerning such matters, Nolan said, “I'm wise enough and humble enough to go to people who can inform me of the current status.”
Bike lanes
New bike lanes are being built in east Portland, and folks here are divided over whether that is a good thing. There are local bicycle advocates who have long called for these improvements. On the other hand, the Memo received one e-mail calling on the city to stop “the manic pursuit of making Portland the most bike-friendly city in the country. Only a small, vocal minority (of riders) actually commute.” Funds should be spent instead on “repairing streets full of potholes and paving unpaved streets”. “Portland needs a transportation system that is both realistic and ambitious,” Nolan said. “Bikes and bike lanes to make bike commuting safe are important, but are not the entire system. We need efficiency in our transportation investments. The footprint is not likely to change much; we're not likely to put another freeway through. There's only so much you can do with our existing streets. We need more efficient use of buses and car-pooling. We need to look at reducing the need for trips by doing land use in an efficient way. We need to meet our needs by driving 10 miles a day instead of 15.”
In much of east Portland people drive farther because of a lack of connecting streets that other parts of town take for granted. Planners call for providing for new streets as land is subdivided, but some property owners say such a move could retard development. Here Nolan said, “I don't know how to answer. I don't know what the map looks like now.”
*The Memo was not the only publication to question Nolan's claiming credit for curbside recycling. In the Oregonian's Politifact Oregon piece of September 21, “Should Mary Nolan get credit for curbside recycling?” her claim to us in person, and on her campaign website that she “launched” the program is suitably ambiguous. In the Oregonian piece, Sue Keil, who took charge of setting up the program said of Nolan, “It happened on her watch” as bureau head, and it was Nolan who hired Keil. However, another knowledgeable person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, points out that the commissioner in charge, Earl Blumenauer, was committed to providing the service and “It would have happened no matter who was in charge of the bureau.” It would not necessarily have happened the way it did with Nolan in charge, but the detail work of replacing the customer bases of the city's many hauling companies with geographic franchises that were efficient, profitable and fair was largely the work of Keil, Anne McLaughlin, Bruce Walker and the rest of Keil's team.
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