Surprise, surprise — it's not actually drizzling. Thursday looks suspiciously pleasant, with mostly sunny skies and a high around 51°F. The weekend holds up nicely too, climbing toward 59° by Sunday.
On to the news: Portland's community college workers are ready to walk off the job for the first time in history. The city's Housing Bureau somehow had $106 million sitting in a drawer nobody checked. And Oregon's political class is lining up to spend hundreds of millions in public money to keep a billionaire's basketball team from leaving town. Just another week in the City of Roses.
PCC Workers Ready to Make History on the Picket Line
The Federation of Faculty and Academic Professionals and the Federation of Classified Employees both voted — by identical margins of 94% — to authorize what would be the first strikes in the history of Portland Community College. The two unions represent a combined 2,300 faculty members and classified workers, and a strike could start as soon as March 10.
The sticking point, as it tends to be: money. The faculty union is aiming for a 4.25% bump for year three of its contract and a 4.5% increase in the last year. PCC officials responded with an offer of a "structure increase" of 0.35% to 0.5%. Workers point out that the college managed to increase the President's Office budget by $17 million while offering instructors raises that don't keep pace with inflation. PCC counters that it's facing $18 million in state cuts with more on the way. Both things can be true, and neither one means an English instructor with a PhD should be filing for food stamps. Mediation sessions continue. Tick tock.
The City Found $106 Million It Forgot to Mention
You know that feeling when you're doing laundry and find a twenty in your coat pocket? Portland's Housing Bureau had that experience, except the coat was a bureaucratic filing system and the twenty was $106 million.
Portland has now discovered roughly $106 million of previously unidentified funding within the Portland Housing Bureau — more than five times the initial amount identified by city staff in November, which sparked alarm among both the public and elected officials at the time. City Administrator Raymond Lee characterized the situation as a relic of the city's former government system, in which housing bureau leaders allowed certain program funds to accumulate over time with the plan to spend those excess dollars on future projects once enough money had amassed.
He called it "typical practice." Critics called it a lot of other things. The city is now facing a $67 million budget shortfall while $106 million in housing funds sat largely untouched — during a period when Multnomah County is preparing to close 675 shelter beds. The money has strings attached and can't simply be redirected, but at minimum Portland now has some answers to find and some very uncomfortable questions to answer at the next council meeting.
The $600 Million "Keep the Blazers Here" Campaign Gets Political
Oregon's most powerful elected officials are rallying behind a bill to renovate the Moda Center, and if you squint, it looks like a very polite hostage negotiation. Senate Bill 1501, introduced by Senate President Rob Wagner, aims to redirect income taxes from the state's general fund directly to a new "Oregon Arena Fund" for renovation costs for the Moda Center — the NBA's oldest unrenovated arena.
The subtext is about as subtle as a Portland rain in November: new owner Tom Dundon, a Texas billionaire who bought the Blazers for $4.25 billion last year, is not expected to foot the bill on renovation costs. And the current lease expires in 2030. Gov. Tina Kotek, Mayor Keith Wilson, and a veritable parade of local leaders turned out to testify in favor. Opponents from Tax Fairness Oregon noted that a group of investors who spent $4 billion on the team seems disinclined to spend a few hundred million fixing the building. Both sides have a point. The bill currently creates a framework without appropriating any actual money — which, in the context of Portland's Housing Bureau, sounds oddly familiar.
This Day in History
On February 26, 1846, the first post office west of the Rocky Mountains opened in Astoria, Oregon — a small but significant moment that signaled the Pacific Northwest was, officially, on the map. Letters could now travel to the frontier. Nobody had invented reply-all yet.
Upcoming Events
Portland Spring Home & Garden Show — Portland Expo Center (Feb 26–28)
Monster Jam — Moda Center (Feb 27–28)
Girls Night: The Musical — Winningstad Theatre (Feb 27)
Pac West Cheer and Dance Nationals — Oregon Convention Center (Feb 27–Mar 1)
azn zine fest — JW Fubonn Shopping Center, Powellhurst-Gilbert (Feb 28)
Cold Cave — Roseland Theater (Feb 28)
Fancy Pants: A Cozy Clothing Swap — Rae Loft at the Bakery Building (Feb 28)
Chinese New Year Cultural Fair — Oregon Convention Center (Feb 28)
Front Row Card Show — Oregon Convention Center (Feb 28–Mar 1)
MYS – The Soul Within: Tchaikovsky's Sixth — Newmark Theatre (Feb 28)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973) — Clinton Street Theater (Feb 28, 7PM, Free)
Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous — Portland Playhouse (through Feb 28)
Drag Bingo & Lipsync Smackdown — The Pharmacy on NW 21st (Free)
Drag Murder Mystery Brunch — The Triple Lindy (Feb 28)
Portland Spirit River Rhythms Dinner Cruise — Portland Spirit (Feb 27)
Cascade Festival of African Films — Portland Community College (Free, through Feb 28)
Well…
That's your Thursday briefing, Portland. It's sunny and 51°, the Housing Bureau found a cool hundred million it forgot about, and the future of the Trail Blazers apparently depends on a very expensive renovation funded by everyone except the billionaire who owns them. Dress accordingly — in layers, because the political climate in this city can change faster than the weather. See you tomorrow.