Cronyism is alive and well in Troutdale

Troutdale resident John Wilson gave me permission to share the public comment he gave at the February 28, 2017 Troutdale city council meeting:

"I would like to talk about cronyism.  For those who do not know what this means, I will give you the definition:

Cronyism is the practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations.  For instance, this includes appointing "cronies" to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications.

  Mayor and the council, you may be wondering why I would like to talk about this.  The reason is what took place at the Committee Interview and selection meeting a few weeks back.

 First, let me say I am not hurt, upset or angry that I was not selected, and if Glenn White and Zach Hudson want to keep the Citizens Advisory Committee from having a knowledgeable member on that committee,  it was their call.

 I attended the entire meeting and I am here tonight for the other citizens of Troutdale that gave up their evening in hopes they could give back to the community.  I had told Rob Canfield who was also there, that after Corey Brooks interviewed  he would be selected for the Budget and Planning Committee, no matter who else interviewed.

 There were many better qualified candidates to be on the budget committee, more qualified than all of the City Council and myself.  You have one candidate who had a Masters degree and works for the county preparing budgets.  They have done this for many years.  Glenn (city councilor Glenn White) is on record as saying he thought there may be a conflict since he did budgets for the county.  Glenn, you have had the applications since January, you had plenty of time to check, you didn’t because you already knew who was going in this seat.  This was a very empty  gesture on your part.
 

Almost everyone that applied for the Budget committee had a bachelors degree and worked in accounting.    Glenn do you remember  last year when you were insistent that the person selected should have a degree in accounting?  You are on the record as saying this.  What happened to the same philosophy this year?  (City councilors) Glenn, Rich, Zach and David you could hear crickets around the room when Tanney announced Corey as his selection for the voting seat and alternate.

   The best qualified are supposed to be picked, but instead the friend of Glenn, Rich, Zach, David and got picked.  This person campaigned with Zach, Rich and Glenn and was supported by Tanney. For qualifications,  the other candidates had college degrees and experience with budgets and planning. The only qualification Corey Brooks could offer was his association with  (city councilors) Glenn, Rich, Zach, and David.

  The people who came in applying for the Planning Commission  had  college degrees.  One had a Masters degree in planning and land use laws.  Did he get picked?  No. The same person that was picked for the budget committee was also picked for the planning commission-- Corey Brooks.  

I do believe that Corey Brooks is a good husband, Father, honest and a good member of the community but he did not rise above the others, others raised well above him.

 My belief is that he was picked for the budget committee and planning commission  so he will have some city experience under his belt in two years to run for office. Because he is friends of Glenn, Rich, Zach and Tanney, all the other applicants had no chance of being selected .

In other words--- cronyism. 

Mayor,  I believe that as long as these three councilors  and the chair of the budget and planning commission are around,  the application to be on one of the committees should include “ Unless you are friends with Councilors Glenn White, Rich Allen, Zach Hudson or Committee Chair Tanney Staffensen ,don’t apply for the Budget Committee, Planning Commission or Citizen’s Advisory Committee because cronyism is key to getting on them”.

 Mayor, I believe that a committee person should only be chair of one committee and should only be chair once in their 2 , 3 or 4 year tenure. I believe that I have proved my point tonight with what has taken place in the Budget and Planning Committees by the current chair and certain members of the City Council.  I would like you to look into this and hopefully make it happen.

 While the council and the selection committee are free to choose whomever they want, certain council members have demonstrated that they have no ethics when it comes to selecting the right people for certain committees.  I do believe that the middle schools teach ethics,  and would suggest that these city councilors go back to middle school and take those ethics classes. 

 I do not hold you Mayor Ryan or Councilor Lauer responsible for this,  as this is the first rodeo of this type you have been at.  I also do not hold Councilor Morgan responsible as he was not at this meeting.
 

I do hold Councilors Glenn White, Rich Allen, Zach Hudson, David Rimpa as well as Tanney Staffenson, the Chair for the Budget Committee and Planning Commission responsible for the cronyism that took place at this meeting."

Rich Allen has no right to expect blank check from Troutdale

The Troutdale city council, along with the city of Troutdale, are considering whether to have the city provide Troutdale city councilor Rich Allen legal fees in defense of a civil lawsuit filed against Mr. Allen. The city's insurance provider already declined to provide coverage for the libel lawsuit against Mr. Allen.

According to a Gresham Outlook article on December 26, 2016, 

"Troutdale's insurance provider has declined to provide protective coverage for a libel lawsuit targeting embattled City Councilor Rich Allen.

A review by CityCounty Insurance Services states that Allen "was not acting on behalf of the City of Troutdale … when he authored the newspaper article that gave rise to the lawsuit filed by Eastwind Development."

 "There is only coverage under the Trust Agreement if the lawsuit is related to actions taken by Mr. Allen in his official capacity as a city councilor," CIS manager Bill LaMarche wrote in an email. "Therefore, CIS cannot defend nor indemnify Mr. Allen in this matter."

Eastwind Development launched a $250,000 defamation lawsuit against Allen on Nov. 17, alleging he knowingly published false information that damaged the company's reputation and smeared the business as unethical."

Mr. Allen has no right to expect a blank check from Troutdale residents to defend his egregious behavior. The city of Troutdale should not pay Mr. Allen's lawyers to represent a city councilor engaged in alleged reprehensible conduct.

Mr. Allen's alleged conduct raised in the lawsuit was not performed on behalf of the city.  Mr. Allen's alleged conduct raised in the lawsuit was not in furtherance of any adopted city policy.

Payment of Mr. Allen's legal fees would serve only Mr. Allen's private interest and not in the public interest of Troutdale's citizens or the city itself.

I urge Troutdale citizens to contact the city and the city council, and demand that they refuse to pay Mr. Allen's personal legal fees.

Threats and Intimidation Don't Belong in Troutdale Politics

Threats and intimidation don't belong in Troutdale politics. Here is a press release from the WCGC member PAC describing what's happening:

TROUTDALE, OR—Below is a statement from the WCGC Members PAC regarding the actions of certain Troutdale City employees and Diane Castillo-White, wife of Troutdale City Councilor Glenn White.

“In recent days, deplorable actions taken by certain Troutdale city employees and Diane Castillo-White - wife of Troutdale City Councilor Glenn White –that have been occurring in and around Troutdale.  On Saturday October 15th, a flyer was left at various residences calling into question the funding of campaigns of Casey Ryan, John Wilson, Robert Canfield and Randy Lauer.  This flyer falsely accused them of accepting thousands of dollars from the PAC and related donors.  It should also be noted that this flyer appeared the same day that certain City employees were seen canvassing on behalf of their preferred candidates; namely Rich Allen, Glenn White, Corey Brooks and Zach Hudson.  The WCGC Members PAC strongly denies the allegations in the flyer and invites anyone interested to look at the ORESTAR campaign finance website to see where PAC money is actually being spent.

Further, as the City Council is the ultimate decision maker regarding compensation and benefits for City employees, we ask that the City conduct an investigation into the potentially wrongful conduct of their employees and demand that Councilors Allen, White, Brooks and Hudson be recused from any and all Council meetings regarding labor negotiations for as long as they are in office.  The perception of ‘pay for play’ between staff and elected officials is troubling, as further evidenced by the candidate forum being hosted tonight by the City employees labor union, and we urge City Manager Craig Ward and City Attorney Ed Trompke to investigate this potential violation of the public trust.

We are also disgusted at the repeated intimidation tactics being deployed by Diane Castillo-White, wife of Councilor Glenn White, in her desperate attempt to get her husband, Councilors Rich Allen and Corey Brooks along with Zach Hudson elected. Castillo-White is widely known for her chair-throwing, profanity-laced verbal assault of a sitting City Councilor during which she threatened to ‘get him’ earlier this year.  

Her intimidation tactics have now risen to bullying local businesses to remove signs placed legally by the Casey Ryan campaign.  She has allegedly threatened to organize a boycott of these businesses yet accuses the property owners of dividing the City.  The WCGC Members PAC strongly condemns these desperate actions and calls on Councilor White to accept responsibility for the actions of his campaign, apologize and remove her from further involvement.  Failing that, we call on City Manager Ward and City Attorney Trompke, along with Mayor Doug Daoust, to draft a censure resolution of Councilor White at the Troutdale City council meeting on Tuesday October 25th.

The WCGC Members PAC will be looking into any and all legal remedies in response to these egregious, desperate acts.”

Interim Troutdale City Councilor Corey Brooks (second from left) campaigning with current and former Troutdale City employees and Dianne Castillo-White (second from right).

(Disclaimer: I am running for Troutdale City Council, and have been endorsed by the WCGC.)

Coming up on East County Now- Nothing Screams Economic Success Like "Shipping Container Storefronts"!

Coming up up next on East County Now,  6 pm Saturday December 12, 2015, on Portland, Oregon area cable channels: Comcast channel 11, Frontier channel 22.
-Gresham Urban Renewal: nothing screams "success" like shipping container storefronts!
-Former Troutdale mayor Jim Kight....he's baaaack!
-Troutdale city councilor Rich Allen's Fantasy Wonderland!
Here's the show promo:

Troutdale Council Continues To Ignore ADA Laws

  After Troutdale's City Hall was condemned  last year by the city's building inspector, the City Council moved its meetings to the city's City Conference Building (CCB) at 223 SE Buxton Ave.

Fellow Troutdale resident John Wilson recently asked City of Troutdale Building Official  Dick Bohlmann if the CCB's restrooms needed to be ADA compliant.

Bohlmann told Wilson they weren't, and haven't been ADA compliant since the city purchased the building in the early 1990's.  Bohlmann also told Wilson that Troutdale's recently condemned City Hall restrooms were never in compliance with ADA standards, despite being the meeting place for City Council Meetings, City Court sessions,  and Planning Commission meetings for many years.

Bohlmann also gave a short history of the CCB building. It was originally Troutdale's US Post Office. After the USPS moved to its new building in 1989, a church purchased the CCB. The church was given one year to make the restrooms ADA compliant as a condition of occupancy. But they never made them ADA compliant. Several years later, the City of Troutdale purchased the building. The City also failed to upgrade the building's restrooms to comply with ADA requirements.

Fast forward to a Troutdale City Council Meeting a few weeks ago. Wilson, speaking during the public comment portion of the City Council meeting, brought up the issue of the CCB restroom lack of ADA compliance and requested that the City Council direct city staff to bring the building into ADA compliance. Wilson asked how could the City require Troutdale residents, businesses, and developers to spend thousands of dollars to comply with ADA requirements when the City had ignored ADA laws for years.

 The City Council refused to appropriate funds to bring the CCB building restrooms into ADA compliance. According to Wilson, a source from the city government stated this could be done for around $5,000. Even now, the CCB building is used weekly by city committees and local clubs and groups including the YMCA.

The City Council has directed the City Manager to enter into multi-year lease agreements for a non-city owned building in downtown Troutdale for meeting space to hold their City Council, Court, Planning Ccommission meetings etc. 

The City Council has appropriated funds to bring this non city building's restroom and a wall ($5,000) into ADA compliance as well as another $10,000 in annual rent to hold their City Council, Court and planning meetings in.  This pencils out to approx. to 70 meetings a year at a cost of $214.00 per meeting (1^st year costs $15,000) the first year.  

Say Goodbye To Your Tax Dollars, Troutdalians!

 Troutdale taxpayers: Is this ok with you? $5,000 to make a city owned building's restrooms ADA compliant, versus  spending $5,000 to make a non city owned building ADA compliant in addition to 1st year costs of $15,000 in rent?  What other buildings in Troutdale are out of ADA compliance?

This belongs in the "It's easy to spend other people's money" category, if you ask me.

Metro to Troutdale: DO WHAT WE SAY, OR ELSE!

Those were Troutdale City Councilor Rich Allen's sentiments in his comment on the OPB web site story "Metro and Troutdale Battle Over Environmental Standards".   

Here is Allen's complete comment:

"It's an outrage. We were merely asking Metro for help identifying where our code was lacking, and they went into enforcement actions instead. I feel like I asked for help and I got the back of the hand. Teaches me for thinking Metro was a partner in the common goal of protecting the environment. It's do exactly what they say without question or else." -Councilor Rich Allen of Troutdale

A beaver in Troutdale's Beaver Creek says, "Metro? We don't need no stinkin' Metro!"

The OPB story quoted  Metro chief operating officer Martha Bennett, who laid out Metro's take it or leave it stance:

"Metro chief operating officer Martha Bennett says Metro could force Troutdale city councilors to accept a planning ordinance they recently rejected. Or Metro councilors could hit Troutdale's wallet. Bennett explains, "They can withhold funds that Metro distributes to local juridictions. Or they can ask the state of Oregon to find Troutdale out of compliance with Oregon land-use planning goals – and if that happens, the city would lose cigarette tax revenue, liquor tax revenue, and gas tax revenue."

Shame on you, Martha Bennett. Have you ever bothered to read Troutdale's Development Code for yourself? Have you ever visited Troutdale? Have you ever bothered to talk to anyone from Troutdale? Have you ever walked along Beaver Creek or the Sandy River and viewed the plentiful wildlife- fish, beavers, great herons, skunks, deer, even the occasional cougar??

I didn't think so.

Say Goodbye To Troutdale Taxpayer Dollars

Original Estimate of Troutdale's Centennial Arch: $80,000. Actual Cost: Over $350,000.
Original Estimate of Troutdale's New Parks Maintenance Building? $700,00. Actual Cost? $1.2 Million.
Original Estimate of Troutdale's Sunrise Park Parking Lot? $150,000. Actual Cost? $210,000(so far).

When private companies make mistakes, they lose their own money and eventually go out of business. This makes private business owners cautious and careful.


However, when a city like Troutdale makes mistakes on things like building project estimates, there are no consequences. It's your money that's lost. And the city has no reason to be cautious and careful with your money, because there are no consequences when they waste your money. The city just spends more of your money. And it raises your taxes.  

What a way to run a city.