Tuesday, December 23, 2003 :::
Portland Tribune: Saltzman selects reservoir committee
In a short story about commissioner Dan Saltzman selecting the members of citizen advisory committee on the issue of the city's drinking water reservoirs the Tribune mentions that one of the members of the committee is Sandra McDonough, chairwoman of The Portland Business Alliance's natural resources committee.
-Read it here-
::: posted by Noah Brimhall at 11:19 AM
Friday, December 19, 2003 :::
Tribune: Urban renewal goes under microscope
In the latest Tribune there is an article about the Portland Development Commission renewing the Downtown Waterfront development district for four more years. The article makes a brief mention of the Alliance.
PDC Executive Director Don Mazziotti said the commission would like to sit down with the League of Women Voters and the Portland Business Alliance, two interest groups that urged a more comprehensive view of urban renewal districts facing expiration. The alliance had proposed a one-year extension of the waterfront district; the league argued against its continuation.
-Read it here-
::: posted by Noah Brimhall at 11:01 AM
Wednesday, December 17, 2003 :::
Oregonian: Portland Business Alliance takes stock, plans future
The Oregonian has an interview with the interm President of the Alliance Pat LaCrosse, as well as Judy Peppler, president of Qwest and a member of the alliance board. The interview focuses on the future of the Alliance, but there is an interesting section on the recently departed President and CEO of the Alliance, Kim Kimborough, although both LaCrosse and Pepple avoid critisizing Kimborough.
-Read it here-
[EDITOR'S NOTE: In September I apologized for the light publishing schedule, but now I must apologize for the extended absence since my last posting. Over the near future I hope to post more articles to this weblog and develop a new version of AllianceWatch to be hosted on it's own domain. Look for a AllianceWatch coming in early 2004. Send any suggestion you have to editor@alliancewatch.org]
::: posted by Noah Brimhall at 3:54 PM
Thursday, September 11, 2003 :::
City Gives Businesses Tax Break
As reported by Portland Communique and KGW, Mayor Vera Katz yesterday announced that the city would reduce the business license surcharge from 2.96 percent to 2.56 percent starting in 2004.
KGW reported that Alliance President Kim Kimbrough was happy with the move.
Katz's proposal is the "right news at the right time in terms of the message it sends to employers and employees in the Portland area," Kimbrough said
But that won't stop the Alliance from continuing its push to completely eliminate both the City and Multnomah County business license surcharges.
"We can't lose sight of the fact that this isn't the total answer," Kimbrough said. "The real prize is reducing this competitive disadvantage and ultimately getting rid of it."
::: posted by Noah Brimhall at 2:07 PM
Tuesday, September 09, 2003 :::
Alliance comes out against People's Utility District
In their September Newsletter the Portland Business Alliance came out with an article against the proposed People's Utility District (PUD).
"The Alliance believes a forced government takeover would be costly, risky, bad for the economy and bad for the community," says part of the story in the newsletter.
The proposal which will appear as Measure 26-51 on the November ballot would create a PUD in Multnomah County governed by a 5 member board. The district would be formed by condemning the assets of both Portland General Electric and PacificCorp in Multnomah County. A separate measure on the ballot, 26-52, would allow for a special levy to help fund the PUD.
The Alliance counts as members of it's board of directors Fred Miller, PGE Executive Vice President of Public Policy and Consumer Services, Andy MacRitchie, PacificCorp Executive Vice President, and Sandra K. McDonough, PG&E; National Energy Group Vice President, and Mark S. Dodson, NW Natural CEO.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the extended absence from the AllianceWatch Blog. I hope to have new and improved version of the blog started before 2004]
::: posted by Noah Brimhall at 5:27 PM
