“The Lane Council of Governments had long had the task of doing the projections, but was accused of producing flawed numbers tailored to meet cities’ development goals.” WOW, this sounds a lot like MOLALLA
Wow – if you google land use or safe harbor you find a lot of places that sound just like Molalla – and you will learn that they lose out if they don’t follow the letter of DLCD’s mandates.
I found one from a Bend Planning Commission meeting that talks about just that subject – that they would be successful if they used Safe Harbor.
I also read a great account of a LUBA case where Friends of French Prairie sued the City of Donald and Marion County at LUBA (land use board of appeals). The “Friends” won!! LUBA ruled that Donald/Marion County had not properly used Safe Harbor to figure a UGB land addition so the UGB addition was invalid. Go LUBA!! Go Safe Harbor!!
Try it yourself – “safe harbor” is very successful, so successful that DLCD is extending the reach of the “safe harbor” idea to extend to how land additions are figured – so that there is a codified way all cities must use so that no one gets “carried away” in the “land needs” department.
Sounds kind of scary, doesn’t it Molalla “plannin” ?- sounds like more rough waters ahead If you ever make it to the “land addition” part, there will be piles of new hoops to jump through and a hoppin’ mad bunch of local conservationists to contest YOUR “plans”! OUR plans are to protect and honor natural resources and resource lands from asphalt and YOUR BAD PLANNIN’!
It is totally amazing to see the highly detailed, very accurate minutes that EVERY OTHER CITY posts for their meetings. Molalla produces inaccurate minutes that lack detail. Other cities have lively discussions – Molalla works hard to suppress public input.! Google away, folks, learn how REAL HONEST CITIES CONDUCT THEIR BUSINESS!
Quote from a PSU demographic study done for Molalla River School District about the Comp Plan efforts here:
“Even if the current URA proposal is adopted by the City, many additional stages including state approval, Urban Growth Boundary expansion, annexations, land use applications, infrastructure extension, site preparation, and home construction are required before potential new urban land is occupied. These stages may take several years altogether.”
The upshot is that despite “Molalla Plannin’s” input about “growth” the experts at PSU look at Molalla’s potential for residential expansion with a skeptical eye. The point being that Molalla Plannin’ is far, far, far from getting ANYTHING DONE regarding the UGB expansion. A backward berg can say anything – but without county and state approval nothing is official and not a scrap of land gets added.
Here is one of the funniest and most telling Comp Plan stories yet:
Yesterday, while reading through the PUBLIC FILES on the PUBLIC COMP PLAN for the third time I found a new document labeled “Resolution No. 2007-05″ recorded on Feb 14, 2007 and signed by all six City Councilors.
This hilarious and ignorant document has the City Council endorsing via Resolution the very Hovee population figures that DLCD and the County now say are garbage.
And, to top off the ignorance of due process and proper procedure, the City “leaders” endorsed this baloney less than two weeks AFTER that plannin’ fool Potter got a scathing letter from DLCD about his “submission” – a hack job “comp plan” that DLCD laughed right off the stage – to the point that the DLCD writer suggested that next time Molalla get someone to proof read and to correct the massive spelling errors!
So, over TWO YEARS AGO the City Council ignored feedback from DLCD, ignored the County process, and passed a meaningless Resolution endorsing population #’s that are far too high. And then they muddled right ahead and let Potter, the plannin’ fool from Hell, write over TWO YEARS worth of more plannin’ baloney based on the WRONG POPULATION FIGURES.
WOW – what WILL they pass next ? A Resolution declaring Molalla the best city in Italy? Will they succeed and move the city to Texas? How about if they declare Molalla the State Capitol and take over running everything – how’s that for a scary story of your “leaders’ at “work”?
Clackamas County just sent ANOTHER LETTER to Molalla plannin’ to say once and for all SAFE HARBOR IS THE ONLY OPTION.
Can Molalla get its money back for all the BAD LEGAL ADVICE – and for all the years plannin’ WASTED plannin’ with the WRONG POPULATION FIGURES?
The plannin’ fools can now REVISE EVERYTHING – and the BIG LOSERS will be the pushy, greedy, “we could care less about Molalla” INSIDE TRADING LAND SPECULATORS.
Get it yet planners: LESS POPULATION MEANS LESS LAND. And the way things are going here you add land INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS ALL THE TIME – the next addition will be SCOTTS – how many acres will you “get” when that polluter goes bye bye soon? Aren’t you lucky that you have all those abandoned acres of car lots, lumber yards, mills, empty store fronts, and Scotts to “plan” for? All that opportunity without having to add a scrap of land!
Plannin’ opportunities abound here – called INFILL.
What a wealth of opportunity! Get a plannin’ – it will be easy now that there is NO CHOICE BUT SAFE HARBOR!
Today’s Oregonian has an article in a series called “Jobless in Oregon” titled “Losing jobs, hope” about hard times in Harney County, Oregon. There is a quote from a Harney County resident about the horrible lack of economic opportunities that could have been made by a person from Molalla, since it hits the problems in our box canyonville village on the head. The quote goes:
“It’s the whole chicken-and-the-egg thing. No one wants to locate here because there’s nothing here. But there’s nothing here because no on wants to invest here”. (Hines City Council sometime member Kevin Taylor).
Economic opportunities are shrinking state wide – unfortunately, transportation, quality of life issues, and concentrated work forces will determine where future economic growth will occur – and that doesn’t bode well for off the beaten path, ill planned, tiny Molalla. It is time for Molalla to celebrate the only going economic engine here – agriculture!
I laughed when I read recent plannin’ co-mission minutes where clueless Commission member Joe Greenman actually lamented the presence of the “feed store” in downtown.
Hey Greenman – do you get that the FEED STORE actually MAKES MONEY AND HAS A TON OF CUSTOMERS?
Hey Greenman: do you get that your “co-mission” is proposing idiotic “equestrian estates” in the CITY? Do you get that LARGE EQUINES EAT A LOT / NEED A LOT OF “STUFF” – and need FEED STORES NEARBY TO STAY ALIVE? That generates MONEY! The FEED STORE MAKES MONEY!
So, Greenman, I dare you and the scoff law fools making “plans” to create zoning to hound one of the few types of businesses – FEED STORES – that make MONEY out of the city! Get your heads out of the sand – read and heed the above “chicken and egg” quote because it fits Molalla perfectly!
In a nutshell, I hope that the City Councilors are learning about the FACTS about the housing market in places like Molalla. Building houses is NOT an economy, and building houses in NOT a tax base. There is NO MARKET, especially in off the beaten path places – like Molalla.
Smaller houses will serve the aging population. Think of small house “villages” – quality houses – clustered with shared greenspace. That’s the kind of innovative vision that good planning could bring to Molalla. Retired people are a great target for off the beaten path places like Molalla – and McMansions are dead meat in today’s sinking market.
The Metro plans for establishing 50 year urban/rural reserves are in serious trouble because the Core 4 (the four leaders who are the final deciders) can’t agree on the urban reserve issues.
From the quotes from this week’s articles, it is apparent that Clackamas County Commissioner Charlotte Lehan, Core 4 member, is a VERY strong proponent of protection for resource lands.
What Molalla will face if it is dumb enough to send its insane 2,200 acre urban reserve to County oversight will be a wall of realistic planners and Commissioners who will reject the SPRAWL Molalla is proposing.
Lehan is already predicting that LCDC will reject the SPRAWL Washington County is proposing – and Washington County actually has an economic base, unlike Molalla.
Quote from the Oregonian coverage about Metro’s deadlock follows (just imagine what Lehan would say to Molalla’s “planner” when he steps up to the County plate with his ridiculous land speculator driven 50 year “plans” – it will involve being laughed out of the County offices!):
Oregonian quote: “Metro officials believe Clackamas County is withholding its approval to force Washington County to reduce its urban reserve acreage. Officials in both counties acknowledged earlier this week that the planning process could result in a stalemate.
Clackamas County Commissioner Charlotte Lehan said the state Land Conservation and Development Commission will reject the reserves agreement, or residents will challenge it in court, if too much prime farmland is designated for development.” (end quote)
Maybe Molalla could move itself to Washington County where SPRAWL is welcomed – but likely won’t be allowed! How much tax money will Molalla waste trying to promote something that the County will clearly REJECT?
Here is more proof that Molalla’s UGB growth aspirations are better suited to Washington County’s style. The following outlines how protective Clackamas County is about farmland.
Here is a paragraph from the article posted below:
“Clackamas County’s commissioners have aligned themselves with farm groups — including the Washington County Farm Bureau — and believe Washington County’s development plans threaten some of the best farmland in the state”.
If Clackamas County Commissioners are so protective of farmland in another county, imagine how protective they are of Clackamas County prime farmland!
Read the entire Oregonian article (see below) to understand how seriously far apart Clackamas County and Molalla are on the issue of tons of urban reserves. Dream on, Molalla – those 2,200 acres of prime farmland won’t be looked at kindly at Clackamas County planning hearings! Oregonian article:
“The quest to designate Portland’s growth areas sets counties against each other”
By Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian
December 27, 2009, 6:00PM
Metro and its three counties find themselves at a stalemate over what areas to set aside for long-range development, putting an unprecedented attempt to find regional land-use happiness in jeopardy.
And some are wondering what might happen if the grumbling goes sideways.
Bad outcome? The attempt to designate urban and rural reserves grinds to a halt and the region reverts to growing by contentious, piecemeal expansions of the urban growth boundary every few years.
Worse outcome? One of the unhappy partners — say, Washington County — calls it quits and attempts to drop out of Metro.
“That discussion is widespread,” says Jonathan Schlueter, executive director of the Westside Economic Alliance, a Washington County business group. “It has to be an option.”
Others don’t see the situation so dire, and believe Metro and the counties will find a resolution despite sharp differences. Nonetheless, no one is able to say for sure how the trouble will shake out, considering the polarized positions.
Clackamas County’s commissioners have aligned themselves with farm groups — including the Washington County Farm Bureau — and believe Washington County’s development plans threaten some of the best farmland in the state.
Schlueter, echoing others on the west side, maintains Washington County is the region’s economic engine and that it’s aspirations have been “let down, ignored and dismissed” in the growth planning process.
The disagreement is not a concern solely for the wonks of the world. The greater Portland area is projected to attract a million more residents during the next 20 years and will have to accommodate the increased jobs, housing, traffic, infrastructure and services that accompany population growth.
By designating urban and rural reserves, regional leaders hoped to offer 40- to 50-year certainty on land-use decisions. Developers would know far in advance where urban areas would grow. Farmers could make crop or equipment purchase decisions, knowing development wouldn’t infringe for decades to come. Planners at all levels of government would be able to think ahead regarding utilities, schools, parks and other services.
The reserves process was specifically approved for the area by the Legislature. After two years of work, here’s where things sit:
Representatives of Metro and the counties, called the “Core Four,” have released a draft map that designates about 24,000 acres for urban reserves in the three counties and 224,000 for rural reserves. The map’s total urban reserves don’t include nine controversial areas that are undecided, including Stafford, Sherwood, Oregon City, Boring and the West Hills
Washington County originally wanted about 60,000 acres, later reduced to 34,000 acres, of urban reserves for itself and is reluctant to give up more development land at this point. Clackamas County’s commissioners, joined by farming and community groups, believe Washington County’s growth would put development on too much prime farmland. Clackamas County favors smaller urban reserves, about 18,000 acres total. The Metro Council, by a 4-3 vote, leaned to Washington County’s side of the equation.
Technically, Metro designates urban reserves and the counties designate rural reserves. But here’s the catch: The designations must be simultaneous and unanimous. A county unwilling to budge could sink the whole thing.
Metro staff attorney Dick Benner says it’s highly unlikely that Metro could legally reach a reserves agreement with only two of the counties. The law creating the process requires a certain acreage of urban reserves, he notes. “I don’t see any way we could get to that number if one of the two is Multnomah, because it has almost no urban reserves and doesn’t want much.”
Dropping out of Metro is similarly complicated, Benner says. The Legislature could dissolve the union by passing a “divorce bill” as it did when the cities of Eugene and Springfield sought to establish separate urban growth boundaries.
“This would be much more complicated,” Benner says. “They would wag a finger at us and say, ‘Can’t you two get along?’”
People tracking the urban reserves process hope it doesn’t come to that. A solution may arise in January during a round of public hearings.
“We remain optimistic,” says Schlueter of the Westside Economic Alliance. “We hope that peace can be found and a solution negotiated that truly serves the needs of this region for 50 years.”
Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey says dropping out of Metro — even if feasible — wouldn’t lead to a better resolution. “I believe there needs to be a regional government,” he says. “We all want to play by the same rules and do things that benefit the region as a whole.”
Added Tigard Mayor Craig Dirksen: “I’d hate to see this process fail and go back to the (growth planning) process we had before. I don’t think anybody wants that.”
I hear through the grapevine that Molalla is starting to see the reality in land use writing on the wall. Supposedly the light (finally – how many years, how much agency feedback and public outcry do they need to get the picture?) has gone on at city hall about the FACT that Molalla is NOT growing, the its economy is in SERIOUS TROUBLE, the businesses are DYING, and that Molalla will be REQUIRED to use efficiency measures to reuse its underused land sites before it even thinks about asking for new UGB land.
I hope the City Council will be wise enough to know that the ground hog day “comp plan” – with the exception of the Downtown Master Plan – is an incomplete mess that will cause an even bigger public money drain if the city tries to defend it at the next level – at County, where COMPACT GROWTH ADVOCATES – PLANNING PROFESSIONALS – run the show.
I hear (again!) that plannin’ Potter is saying the city will use safe harbor population. So what version is it now, Potter? Is it FINALLY going to be the REAL DLCD endorsed safe harbor – or yet another indefensible creation of the failed dream team outside consultants/ lawyers that have preyed on naive, untrained Molalla “staff”? How about FOR ONCE doing it RIGHT for a change?
In case more proof of the future of land use in Oregon is needed, there was a fantastic Oregonian lead editorial this week about how Metro and its compact/smart growth push is actually gaining huge ground with the public. Clackamas County is a strong advocate of resource protection and of small urban reserves – whether it is for Metro or for cities under the jurisdiction of the County. Here is part of this great editorial (note the survey and the trend that shows public support for money saving compact growth – read carefully Molalla officials, you can’t escape this mandate):
Oregonian editorial quote:
“Not surprisingly, the counties don’t all see eye-to-eye on the reserves. There have even been a few mutterings about Metro disintegrating over the issue.
But that’s extremely unlikely. If anything, public opinion is moving in the opposite direction. Surveys by Davis Hibbitts & Midghall Inc. show support for regional land-use planning — what Metro does — has only intensified.
Oregonians are strapped and in a frugal mood, yes. But, as the firm’s Adam Davis recently told the City Club, people increasingly view compact development as financially smart, preventing waste, lessening the need for taxpayer-funded services and saving families both in money (fuel and other transportation costs) and in commute times.
Pay attention, politicians. Density is no longer the dreaded d-word, easy to demonize. Not so long as it comes, Davis says, with public safety and a few things Metro helps to provide — ample parks, “open spaces and walkability.” (End quote)
PAY ATTENTION, POLITICIANS (and managers and plannin’ dudes!). Read the writing on the wall – people ARE looking for “ample parks, open spaces and walkability” and they are NOT looking to get taxed through the nose to fund sprawl so a few local good old boy local land speculators can get rich while property values continue to plunge in a dying town.
Maybe it is time to start a piggy bank to build sidewalks to Safeway one block at a time? With no plannin’ needed, maybe it’s time to buy a cement mixer and send out the plannin’ department to pour sidewalks – at least the city would be getting something for the huge money it is spending to keep the plannin’ doors open.
How much longer can the city manager reward the plannin’ di-rector with big bucks for plannin’ FAILURE? How much longer can the councilors reward the city manager with even bigger bucks for looking the other way in the face of huge plannin’ FAILURE? Where does the buck stop?
Does anyone reward you, the taxpayer, BIG TIME FOR FAILURE? Can YOU afford to fund FAILURE?
Here is another great quote about the fact that compact growth is the ONLY sane and affordable way for any area, from Metro to the tiny bergs like Molalla, to plan for the future. This quote addresses the reasons why Molalla won’t ever be allowed to tag any like 2,200 fantasy EFU acres as rural reserves.
Quote from Thousand Friends:
“Large Rural Reserves, Small Urban Reserves Benefit Everyone
* Large urban reserves are NOT in the best interest of maintaining and enhancing vibrant cities. Residents of every neighborhood want better transit service and more
parks, community centers, and theaters. Many cities need additional investment to keep and grow vibrant neighborhoods and retail areas, such as sidewalks, boulevards, civic centers, local grocery stores, spaces for farmers markets, etc.
However, studies show the cost of providing infrastructure on new land at the urban edge is at least twice as
expensive as accommodating growth in the existing urban area, through infill and redevelopment.
The region has limited public and private dollars for investment in infrastructure. Large urban growth boundary expansions will cause that investment to move to the edge, competing directly with existing neighborhoods and town centers.” End Quote
No one could even have the guts to say that Molalla has “limited” public and private dollars for investment in infrastructure. Molalla has NO public and private dollars for investment in anything.
Molalla is going to LOSE A MILLION DOLLARS in system development charges in the next year – on purpose!!!!
Molalla has to just about cook the books to shuffle money in the budget to “loan” from other departments to keep the doors of the plannin’ department alive.
It’s overdue for the city leaders to look the citizens in the eye and say loudly in public that the city won’t be a growin’ outside any borders anytime soon.
When IS that great big ground hog day comp plan bonfire scheduled? The new Molalla version 7 (or is it 8 – or 12 – by now?) comp “plan” can be subtitled: “‘To be continued when we are smart enough to hire a certified planner and afford to pay for a new square of sidewalk – or when hell freezes over – and we’re not taking bets on what will happen first!”
There are at least THREE CITY COUNCIL SEATS coming up for election this fall.
Where are the candidates to bring honesty, ethics, transparency, and accountability to Molalla city government?
I hear there are at least 2 new people planning to run.
It is time to turn off the tv and start talking about change with your friends and neighbors in Molalla.
EVERY VOICE, EVERY VOTE COUNTS. Being on Molalla City Council isn’t rocket science – look at what passes for “leadership” here these days and know that almost anyone could do a better job than the hashed mess we have here now.
Everyone needs to get involved – you made a big investment to live in Molalla and YOU NEED TO MAKE CERTAIN NEXT FALL THAT YOUR INVESTMENT IS HONORED AND PROTECTED.
I am certain that if new citizens step up with great energy and start to connect with residents they can be elected. Many people are waiting – EAGER to promote CHANGE!
It was hard to know whether to post this comment under Molalla or under Shane Potter loses again.
Last night as a County rep told about meetings related to County and State roads, she mentioned scary facts that bode ill for Molalla’s roads – and future in general.
Funds that are currently repairing roads in Oregon are largely related to Federal grants.
The State and County road funds are dwindling fast – we have all heard about the budget crisis in this recession/depression.
The reality of the road funding crisis is that this County rep said that there is actually talk of allowing some roads to revert from paved to gravel in the future due to lack of funds for repair.
So one would expect that a REALISTIC planning effort in Molalla should stop dreaming about a truck bypass on the old forest road. Molalla’s perception of “congestion” is a drop in the bucket compared to the big picture of road needs in Oregon and in Clackamas County.
Given the reports I have heard, Molalla would be better off turning the forest rd into a vegetable garden than waste any more spit about “congestion” and “truck bypass”. And remember those patchwork, crumbling city roads – what happens within the city when public grants run out?
The Federal and State handouts (from EVERYONE’S TAXES) to Molalla will surely run out soon – and without proper SDCs Molalla has nothing but nothing to show for years of residential boom.
Blame a neglectful city council, a secretive, top down city “manger” and a failed planning department next time you bump over those ugly potholes that aren’t likely to get fixed anytime soon.
Vote for reality next time from Federal to local levels – ask the important questions about fiscal REALITY. Molalla currently is nothing but a WELFARE STATE bucking from handout grant to handout grant. If you rail about welfare you should start railing about the HUGE PLANNING DEFICIT – $209,000+ as of the end of the second quarter.
If the city “leaders” can’t manage “planning” how can they manage a REALISTIC budget to maintain city infrastructure? If they can’t find a city “manager” who can step up to tell a failed “planner” to stop wasting YOUR money then vote in new leaders who aren’t just fake cheerleaders shouting empty slogans – it is time for the cruel, hard facts about the city’s budget FAILURES to come to light.
It looks like Molalla citizens might be waking up and asking questions about the possible insider trading/unethical (dare we say possibly corrupt) “deals” that go down between planning, the city council, the city mgr, and developers.
Paul Puffer’s letter to the editor in this week’s Pioneer outlines concerns about waiving a million dollars worth of SDCs for a “waiting in the wings” project. Who is scratching what back on that ugly “deal”?
Another writer talks about her belief that Molalla is growing and that 160 apts and a few commercial/retail businesses will bring better school buildings and expanded places to shop.
There is an economic reality that most residents in Molalla – and sadly most “planners” and “leaders” – refuse to face.
The harsh reality is that Molalla isn’t even close to being large enough or affluent enough to support most kinds of retail. A TEAM survey does nothing except prove what is lacking – good business developers have to locate where there is already a huge need to be filled. When Canby Fred Meyer is 15 minutes away and Clackamas Town Center is 20 minutes away, market forces make it unlikely that diverse retailers would locate here – they simply wouldn’t have the customer base to keep the doors open.
The other issue was the decaying school buildings. Molalla public schools (including home schoolers) have LOST 600 students in the past years. Molalla voters almost never vote YES for any tax bond measures like the ones that would be needed to build new schools – or even to fix the current structures. That is one more reality connected with life in an off the beaten path failed timber resource based box canyon berg.
The only places that are enjoying relatively stable real estate values are the “20 minute” neighborhoods in PDX where people walking or riding bikes can get to virtually all needed goods and services in 20 minutes or less. In those increasing dense areas, ever time a big draw like Whole Foods goes in the property values go up – but the retailer choose those areas because of the density so the residents accept that the density is what allows them a vibrant urban life without constantly hopping into a car.
Molalla, by refusing to charge proper SDCs over the boom years, has failed to even keep up with the current sidewalk/bike trail/community open space needs. The naive letter writer who hopes to buy clothes and shoes and who asks for better schools fails to understand that the failed economy and realistic market forces weigh heavily against Molalla as anything but a bedroom community of Metro – and not a high quality one, given the refusal of “leaders” to make developers even begin to pay their fair share!
I hope city residents pick up on the themes in the Pioneer letters and start hammering on “their” elected city officials. Every day without leadership here is a day Molalla goes backwards in comparison to well run, transparent cities that engage in public debate and welcome diverse opinions.
Below is a great article from the Wilsonville Statesman newspaper that tells the story of how we wish things had evolved in the planning efforts in Molalla. Wilsonville embraces Goal One, looks to correct past planning mistakes, and recognizes that quality and smart growth (land use efficiency) is far more important than just stuffing in development like Molalla has done. Read and understand how professional planners and savvy leaders conduct long range planning – gee! they even talk to all the diverse citizens and care about what they think! Can you believe it???
“Wilsonville well on its way to smart growth
*
By: Patrick Johnson
* Published: 4/2/2010 3:17:03 PM
*
Deborah Iguchi, former planning commission chairwoman, gives ideas on how smart growth concepts can be used in future business and residential development in Wilsonville.
City planners recognize that the term “Smart Growth” means different things to different people.
For some it means skinny streets that slow traffic for pedestrian safety. To others it means pervious pavers and bio-swales to control storm water flow and temperature. And to others still, it means having local farmer’s markets.
This variety of opinion led city of Wilsonville officials to sit down recently with community members to try and define just what “smart growth” means in Wilsonville.
About a dozen people attended a two-hour workshop late last month, learning about smart growth concepts, finding out how Wilsonville is currently using the concepts and absorbing other means of incorporate this approach to Wilsonville in the future.
“The dialogue with forum participants was fun and thought provoking,” said Chris Neamtzu, city planning director. “I was particularly interested to hear people talk about the community and offer their perspectives on why they like living or working here, and what makes it a special place to them. I am optimistic given the interest that we have received, that there will be many more discussions around these important topics.”
The forum was the first in a series of educational events the city has scheduled to explore smart growth and sustainability — a goal set by the city council last year. Still, smart growth is not new to Wilsonville.
Examples in practice include solar panels on the roof of Walgreen’s, mixed-use areas in Villebois, a proposed eco-roof on a restroom facility at Graham Oaks Nature Park, and even sidewalks that broke away from the roadside to protect existing trees.
“There are a number of examples around Wilsonville where we are using a number of these concepts, but we would like to find out other ways to use them that the community supports,” Neamtzu said.
Paver Technology
Steve Adams, deputy city engineer, discussed how pavers are being used on Villebois
streets to help manage stormwater runoff.
“It’s actually, to my knowledge, probably the only paver stone street design of this exact type in the nation,” Adams said.
What makes Villebois Drive unique, he said, is a layer of pervious asphalt that helps to keep the rocks from compacting and reducing the amount of run-off the street can handle. Once the asphalt was in place, the street easily handled water poured on it from a 2-inch hose without any significant pooling. In fact, pavers are twice as strong as concrete streets.
“If you include the lifetime of it, paver stones are designed on a 50-plus year lifespan where asphalt is designed on a 20-year lifespan,” Adams said. “The advantage of pavers, if you do have an area that is damaged, is that there is a tool you can use to lift out the ones you want to replace and put them back in and vibrate it down. The Europeans use these pretty well and Americans are learning — we are probably 20 years behind Europe in using paver stone streets in how we construct them and how we m a i n t a i n
them.”
To t h a t end, the city is using the planning commission as a committee for citizen involvement to gather public opinion.
During the workshop, planning commissioners Marta McGuire, Amy Dvorak and Dustin Kohls made presentations and led discussion with those present. Community members attending the forum
said they would like to see more connections with farmland and the Willamette River in the community, as well as improvements to the walkability of Wilsonville.
Neamtzu noted the city recently finished a Memorial Park trails master plan which allows the creation of a series of trails around the forested area of Memorial Park. It could include up to three new river outlooks. Funding for the project in the next 18 months will come from the city’s 2006 Natural Areas Bond Measure.
Former planning commission chairman Richard Goddard said he was pleased with the turnout and made several points during the discussion phase of the forum.
“It seems to me that smart growth is a term that can mean different things to different people, and Chris and others gave some very good examples of what smart growth can mean here in Wilsonville,” he said. “I think Wilsonville has a lot things it can be proud of. I think a broad section of our community would support the notion of safer, healthier, economically vibrant communities.
“Environmentally sensitive growth and development are things the city ought to encourage and ought to support and our community should support.”
Former Development Review Board member Kristin Koetz also suggested the program solicit input from Wilsonville’s neighborhood associations.
“I think Wilsonville has come a long, long way,” said Deborah Iguchi, former planning commission chair. “We have lived here for 20 years so we have watched the community grow and do so in a very wonderful manner taking these ideas of smart growth and incorporating them as we developed and working to rectify earlier problems that were made.”
I attended a Hamlet/CPO dinner sponsored by the Clackamas County Dept of sustainability last night. While sometimes “sustainability” seems like an overworked cliché, Clackamas County is dead serious about sustainability and is well on its way to promote and implement plans for the future.
Most interesting was the fact that the County’s current work to update codes to encompass sustainable practices will be in direct conflict with the sad, backward looking “plans” that Molalla has created – plans that Molalla’s untrained plannin’ dude still hasn’t forwarded to County for formal hearings to consider adoption (Good luck on that, plannin’ dude! Can I furnish you with a box, an address label and some postage so you send it to the correct place this time? Or I could donate a box or matches and a burn barrel – that would save Molalla and plannin’ dude the humiliation of County rejection and/or a prolonged, expensive legal battle – remember, the STATE WIDE TEST CASE – over the insanely high, legally indefensible 50 yr population forecast!).
But back to sanity: The County introduced us to Duke Castle, promoter of the Natural Step, a successful world wide program to help define long term sustainability goals and then work “backward” to create incremental, realistic blueprints to achieve steady progress toward the goal of zero waste. Businesses and governments are actually succeeding – Whistler in Canada, host of the Olympics, was going broke as a ski town in these times of global warming. Community grassroots action in Whistler started the Natural Step program and now Whistler is achieving world wide notice for its sustainable practices and enjoys a growing tourism economy based on promoting itself as an example of zero waste. Duke, with numerous world wide and local examples, showed that this program is not pie in the sky but something that evolved cities, counties, businesses, and even countries are implementing successfully.
Clackamas County, with its Dept of Sustainability and with the current work to update County Comp Plan to encompass these principles, is well on its way in sustainable practices. When Duke asked the Hamlet/CPO participants to list barriers to sustainable thinking in our local communities I was able to quickly list “SELFISH GREED” as a big barrier in Molalla. Anyone watching the urban reserves debacle could easily outline how completely unsustainable Molalla’s “plans” are in terms of the future. The question to ask for a sustainable future is not “what’s in this for ME?” but “Will future generations benefit from this decision?”
In Molalla, the SELFISH GREED of merchants (TEAM) and land speculators completely supersedes any thought of what is sustainable. The merchants (TEAM) and the good old boy land speculators NEVER bother to think about what kind of burden the “plans” will leave for future generations.
Molalla’s timber resource past was based on GREED and NON-SUSTAINABLE EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES – and today it is easy to look around Molalla to see the horrible problems that kind of non-sustainable false economy has left for current generations of residents. Molalla’s legacy of GREED AND EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES has left us with extensive polluted brownfields, high unemployment, a shrinking school census, shuttered stores, job centers far from Molalla’s commuter based bedroom community, low quality of life features (no SDC funds for parks or roads, etc,) and a small group of SELFISH GREEDY “inside traders” fighting over the few crumbs here left to exploit.
Molalla’s abject GREEDY exploitation could be easily witnessed at plannin’ hearins’ when the GREEDY good old boy land speculators begged over and over to “get in” to the non-sustainable, ludicrous urban reserves, using their clueless tools – the pathetic plannin’ commission and the incompetent plannin’ dude – as the easy to manipulate scapegoats. That short sighted SELFISH GREEDY exploitation is also apparent here in the merchant class represented by TEAM, which pushes for garbage like no SDCs in hopes of lining the pockets of a few business owners without understanding that each SDC dollar lost puts a bigger nail in the coffin of Molalla’s dying quality of life!
And the SELFISH exploitation is also represented by the top down “manager” Atkins and mayor “I demand a silent herd of sheep city council” Clarke who go around bitterly complaining when citizens have the gall to actually ask questions and debate in public. (News flash to Atkins: While we realize you enjoy creating “spin’ and “propaganda, some of us are capable of actually digging for FACTS and making sure that people hear the FACTS. I salute everyone who stands up to debate the FACTS in public!).
Talk about Molalla’s on going recipe for social and economic disaster! It was hard to sit with evolved local and County leaders and hear the talk about the progress in sustainable practices happening right up to Molalla’s back door and then have to drive back to here to BROWNFIELDVILLE and think about how sad it is to see Molalla sell its future down the tubes because it doesn’t have the guts to chuck plannin’ dude, fire top down “manager, and tell TEAM/ good old boy land speculators that their out of synch, self serving GREEDY “visions” are a total insult to future generations.
I guess till the citizens of the city revolt and take back THEIR town we’ll all have to sit back and see how much further Molalla will run off the sustainability track:
Go ahead, TEAM and land speculators – stuff in those NO SDC apartments without collecting any SDCs to improve quality of life. Stuff the people in without good roads, without parks, without an eye to water conservation/energy conservation (sustainability!), without, without, without – that is what creates social problems, but those good old boys/TEAM could care less as long as they get to SELL SOMETHING. I hope selling some scraps of carpet or a few boards make up for creating a future ghetto Molalla!
Go ahead, keep that badge of false honor (that JOKE badge) of being the lowest SDC city around – having the lowest quality of life around is certainly something to be proud of, isn’t it?
Go ahead and keep asking those taxpaying citizens to pay twice – via Atkins’ insulting and absurd “neighborhoods can pay the city back” for road repairs proposal – that will certainly put you on the “lowest of the low” map, too! I can see that “Welcome to Ghetto Molalla” sign coming sooner than expected!
Go ahead, stuff in more commuters via residential development without a balance of jobs and ignore the obvious writing on the wall about peak oil/rising gas prices.
Go ahead, try stuffing those born to lose Ground Hog Day SRAWL plans into a box and send them on to our wise and growingly sustainable County – and go ahead and spend the city further into the ground via legal fees trying to defend that urban reserve 2,400 acres garbage when it becomes a state wide test case (remember: high quality land use (non- profit!) lawyers are waiting in the wings, chomping on the bit to TEAR THE URA POPULATION PROJECTION TO PIECES). That will certainly put Molalla on the map – something else for the “rest” of the world to laugh at!
Go ahead and keep STEALING MONEY out of other departments to “fund” the BANKRUPT PLANNIN’ DUDE (deficit of $350,000 and GROWING)!
Go ahead and keep hiring and electing top down, rubber stamping, false “puppet leaders” who haven’t the vision and courage to engage in public debate!
Keep it up Molalla, buck the trends, keep your head in the sand, promote an ugly future based on the non- sustainable SELFISH GREED of a few at the expense of the investments/quality of life of the majority!
Keep going backward, Molalla, and maybe we will get lucky and the bulldozers will finally make it to the right place – when Molalla crumbles under its growingly unsustainable practices we can start turning it back to farm and forest land that future generations could actually use for something economically and socially productive!
I’ll happily throw my support to the County’s progressive vision of sustainable practices – and work to provide an ethical, sustainable Oregon for the future. I’d like to think that I worked hard to leave my patch of Oregon a place better than I found it!
That was quite an amazing op-ed by Councilor Needham in this week’s Pioneer. The only thing lacking was a frank admission about who the good old boy inside trader “owner of the Ford site” really is: Dennis Kyllo.
Needham writes about how bad neighborhood roads are and says: “There are street repairs made on Ross Street that will benefit a local landowner, who stands to make a substantial profit; this is because of planning department decisions allowing a new building materials business in the former Ford facility rather than the previous building materials location across the street. This is the same landowner who stands to make substantial profits because of expanded urban growth boundaries in the comprehensive plan.”
It is sickening that since everyone knows (or can easily find out) who the “owner of the Ford site” is – Dennis Kyllo – that Needham wasn’t just frank enough to spill the beans. Let’s quit being so coy – Molalla’s history of catering to a few good old boys is so easy to trace it makes your head spin. Only in a hicksville filled with corrupt dealing would this kind of coy baloney fly in 2010.
If you ever want to be elected to anything beside the bottom feeding Molalla City Council, Needham, you might want to speak out a lot sooner and a lot more frankly than your “local landowner” baloney. Let the whole truth out – or don’t bother to write!
It was more than apparent, since summer of 07 when Atkins, in an interview in the Pioneer, was dumb enough to spill the “Molalla wants to help get a Kyllo Luxuryville development on EFU land” story, that Kyllo has the “special” pull to make the city work for him. And isn’t that a slap in the face to people who ACTUALLY LIVE IN MOLALLA AND PAY TAXES TO THE CITY – that “a landowner” who lives outside the city limits and can’t vote in city elections has that kind of juice with city government? Must be nice to get those perks.
First that VERY PREMATURE (and very fantasy based) announcement about the “40-50 high end homes” on Kyllo’s class 2 soil high value EFU treeless “tree farm”. Then,in 07-08, the city worked its magic to protect Kyllo from the Palomar pipeline – by whining that, because the first map projected the pipeline on Kyllo Tree Farm, the pipeline didn’t go “far enough south”. I am sure the folks down on Herman Rd really appreciate that gesture by Molalla, sticking them with the noxious foreign fossil fuel to California land stealing project. I guess we all can’t get those insider trading good old boy perks, can we?
Molalla plannin’ has done endless favors for Kyllo to try to get his land into some kind of “urban” zone. Kyllo Tree Farm clearly has a large wetland that goes from east to west across the southern third of the property. That wetland is mapped on a professional wetlands map paid for by public grants. That “done by professionals” map is in the planning files. I have documented the wetlands with photos as well. Yet, despite many photo submissions and many requests that Molalla plannin’ properly note the KYLLO WETLANDS on the planning maps, Kyllo Tree Farm, as mapped by plannin’ dude Potter, still doesn’t show the proper wetlands.
I found city legal bills where the city of Molalla paid for the city’s lawyer to consult with Kyllo’s private consultant about how to get that treeless tree farm into the urban reserve. Gee, “little guy taxpayer” – when you want the city to bend the rules for you does Atkins call in the city lawyer to help you FOR FREE?
That kind of “NO WETLANDS IN SPITE OF ENDLESS PROOF OF WETLANDS” fake-out might fly with the dummies that sit on the plannin’ commission and the scoff law city council – but it surely won’t fly when (or more like if) the city really has the guts to try to pass the insane urban reserves at County.
Thanks Needham for at least admitting in print that Molalla has yet again catered to the insider trading arm twisting of Kyllo by paving the city road next to the Ford site so Kyllo can make a buck – while the rest of the neighborhoods are likely to be asked to PAY THE CITY BACK for road repairs!
And thanks for saying in print that the “owner” of Ford’s site (KYLLO) has had endless undue “help” getting into the yet to be formally approved Ground Hog Day urban reserves. That fact was impossible to miss if anyone had the guts to sit through the abusive and creepy “plannin’ hearins’.
Good luck on that gettin’ urbanized for mansion plan, Kyllo (will you or your expensive consultants represent your “case” at County hearings? Will you or your scoff law team try to tell the County that there ain’t no that there wetlands on that there treeless tree farm?). I would be demanding my money back from all those expensive consultant fake-out “studies” – by hiring those “we’ll tell you anything you want to hear” scoff law “experts’ greedy, selfish land speculators like Kyllo just end up with a pile of huge bills. They’ll be a wishin’ they had been a growing them timber trees instead of a growin’ pretend mansions! At least in fifty years they would have at least had something to sell.
But next time, Needham, put a name on it – we have had enough of vague political missives – the people now demand FACTS. Tell it like it really is or don’t tell it at all!
Headline: ONLY IN MOLALLA!!! SHAMELESS NEPOTISM BASED RAISES!!!
News flash: Only in the worse run, most corrupt city around – MOLALLA! – would an INCOMPETENT fake-out city plannin’ dude like Potter be allowed to SQUANDER hundred’s of thousands of dollars on “long range plans”, throw money down the tubes for outside consultants like WINTER$$$$$BROOK, pay almost $100,000 in LEGAL FEES to defend the scoff law plans, and have a “look the other way to protect nepotism” city “manager Atkins and a worthless city council GIVE PLANNIN’ POTTER A RAISE!!!
When will the taxpayers be smart enough to revolt? Do they realize that in addition to every single city employee getting a RAISE in this DEPRESSION there is also a built in schedule to give even bigger RAISES based on years employed with the city?
So Potter gets a RAISE AND THEN GETS A BIGGER RAISE FOR BEING HERE LONG ENOUGH TO RUN UP A HUGE $350,000+ PLANNING DEFICIT VIA HIS INCOMPETENCE!
Nice “work” if you can get it – does your job AUTOMATICALLY PAY YOU MORE JUST FOR BEING THERE? No wonder people howl about the public sector!!! At least honest cities, counties and state agencies are DUMPING EMPLOYEES – especially in planning. But not in BACKWARD HICKSVILLE MOLALLA – Molalla gives RAISES FOR INCOMPETENCE AND FOR JUST SHOWING UP! One city employee is getting a TWENTY-ONE PERCENT SALARY INCREASE – in a severe recession in a town that can’t fix a pothole.
I bet that “law” firm of bottom feeding lawyers is laughing their heads off having plannin’ Potter for a client – what a gold mine for bogus legal fees!!!! They can smell FAILURE a mile away and those lawyers feed plannin’ dude any nonsense about “we’ll fix it” as long as Molalla pays the HUGE LEGAL BILLS TO KEEP POTTER SITTING AT HIS DESK MAKING A FOOL OF MOLALLA. Pathetic!
As a twenty year resident of rural Molalla I am somewhat amused by the new cry that a new middle school is needed.
As usual, a cry goes out without any regard to how tax/bond measures almost always fail in Molalla.
And as usual the promoters are failing to think creatively or to understand the demographic facts about what is happening here.
The schools have LOST 600 STUDENTS IN THE PAST THREE YEARS.
The district’s own demographic study points to shrinking population of young families (also predicted in long range planning nation wide as young families seek urban centers to curb driving as peak oil makes suburban location like Molalla less and less attractive due to distance from jobs and services and good transportation). Thus, the district will have growing numbers of lower income and aging residents – not the most likely supporters of tax bonds.
The promoters of a new bond fail to understand that the school district has FAILED MISERABLE at building bonds with childless taxpayers. Many civic groups are largely composed of older residents who have no children in the schools. The district policy of refusing to allow civic groups access to after hours school rooms for civic meetings ensures that many old residents have a sour attitude toward paying more taxes to support buildings they are banned from using.
In fact, the district is so out to lunch on the need for meeting rooms that it holds DISTRICT MEETINGS in hard fought civic spaces like the adult center and the library – instead of using its own EMPTY BUILDINGS FOR AFTER HOURS MEETINGS. That alone will cause a lot of NO votes when the district asks for money – we will ask “what’s in it for us”? If the district were smart it would immediately form an outreach committee to work with civic groups to open space in the schools for civic meetings.
Finally, the district needs to start thinking creatively about the possibility of new structure that is working all around the nation where junior highs are eliminated in favor of K-8 schools. A quick google of “benefits of K-8 schools” produced a raft of great information. One article and two good links follow – it is time to use the hulking buildings in diverse ways that benefit the students and the ENTIRE TAXPAYING COMMUNITY. Wake up parents and school district – you will never win votes if you don’t find a way to make the ENTIRE COMMUNITY see a benefit to school bonds. Open rooms to civic groups, build bonds, and then look into restructuring to eliminate the need for new building for a junior high.
Given the grim demographic study (look on the MRS district website to find a link to this study) and the fact that growth will not be coming to “outlands” like Molalla it is time for a reality check on what is and isn’t need for the future. We can’t afford to build new structures only to find out we don’t have a student population to fill the buildings we already pay dearly to keep open.
Article and links on K-8 follow:(Quote):
The Benefits of the K-8 Configuration
In recent years, many urban school districts have moved to close troubled 6-8 middle schools and have reconfigured elementary schools to serve grades K-8 in their place. Districts such as Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Newark, New Orleans, New York City, Oklahoma City, and Philadelphia were some of the first urban districts to reconfigure schools in this way. Some of the benefits cited for the transformation to the K-8 configuration include:
• Increased test scores
Several studies on grade configuration have reported middle schools to be less effective in terms of test scores than K-8 schools in the same district. The evidence is especially strong for students in high-poverty schools and rural schools. (Tucker & Andrada, 1997; Wihry, Coladarci, & Meadow, 1992; Franklin & Glascock, 1998; Offenberg, 2001)
• Improved student discipline
Some large middle schools containing a concentrated group of adolescents have experienced a large number of discipline problems resulting in office referrals, in- and out-of-school suspensions, and expulsions. The belief is that closing middle schools and moving the students to smaller, less crowded K-8 schools with greater parental involvement and greater student accountability will lead to a reduction in undesirable outcomes and improved student discipline. For example, Franklin & Glascock (1998) found that sixth and seventh graders had fewer suspensions and better attendance in K-8 schools than in middle schools.
• Relief of overcrowding in some large middle schools
Most districts have many more elementary schools than middle schools. When districts face overcrowding issues at the middle school level, shifting students to smaller, less crowded elementary schools can reduce overcrowding in middle schools. (George, 2005)
• Eliminating a big transition
Shifting to a K-8 model would require one less school transition for students. Alspaugh (1998) found a significant achievement loss following each school-to-school transition. A statistically significant achievement loss was associated with the transition from elementary to middle school at the sixth grade, when compared to K-8 schools that did not have a transition after sixth grade. Blyth, Simmons, & Bush (1978) found that adolescent girls suffered from a drop in self-esteem, extracurricular participation, and leadership behaviors following the transition to middle school, but not when they remained in a K-8 school. For adolescent boys, a similar drop-off was found for extracurricular participation and grades. Since student performance, extracurricular participation, and self-esteem tends to drop off after students transition into middle school, it is thought that students who remain in their elementary schools would benefit academically from only going through one school transition rather than two transitions.
• Longer and potentially more positive teacher-student relationships and increased parent involvement
Students and parents who remain in a K-8 school for nine years are more likely to build and maintain more positive relationships with teachers over time and maintain higher levels of parental involvement than the typical middle school. (George, 2005)
• Lengthier stay in a neighborhood school
In recent years, many districts have expressed a desire to preserve neighborhood schools. The shift to K-8 neighborhood schools allows students to stay in their neighborhood schools for a longer period of time. (George, 2005)
• More collaboration between elementary and secondary teachers
Bringing elementary and middle school teachers together could lead to greater collaboration and enriched curriculum opportunities for students. The typical elementary school could become a place where subject matter depth and expertise is more highly valued and effectively utilized than before the K-8 reorganization. Secondary teachers could come to see the value of the “whole child” perspective of the elementary schools. This new balance could enrich the perspectives and curriculum at the elementary and secondary level inside the K-8 school. (George, 2005)
References:
Alspaugh, J.W. (1998). Achievement Loss Associated with the Transition to Middle School and High School. Journal of Educational Research, 92(1), 20-25.
Blyth, D.A., Simmons, R.G., & Bush, D. (1978). The Transition into Early Adolescence: A Longitudinal Comparison of Youth in Two Educational Contexts. Sociology of Education, 51(3), 149-162.
Franklin, B.J. & Glascock, C.H. (1998). The Relationship Between Grade Configuration and Student Performance in Rural Schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 14(3), 149-153.
George, P.S. (2005). K-8 or Not? Reconfiguring the Middle Grades. Middle School Journal. 37(1), 6-8.
Offenberg, R. (2001). The Efficacy of Philadelphia’s K-to-8 Schools Compared to Middle Grade Schools. Middle School Journal, 32(4), 23-29.
Tucker, C.G. & Andrada, G.N. (1997, March). Accountability Works: Analysis of Performance By Grade Span of School. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 332 367).
Wihry, D.F., Coladarci, T., & Meadow, C. (1992). Grade Span and Eighth-Grade Academic Achievement: Evidence from a Predominantly Rural State. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 8(2), 58-70.
Yes, we are dying for 2,400 acres because Molalla is such a hot ticket growth prospect (ha ha ha):
Molalla, OR Real Estate Market – May 2010 report:
This location has 2,492 households . Houses have depreciated 2.5% over the last 12 months. There are 198 homes for sale in this location, including 240 foreclosures.
Lest we forget the horrible legacy Molalla plannin’ and “manager” Atkins foisted upon the rural areas via behind the scenes deals with the nasty pipeline speculators, the below call to the the NW NASTY shareholders meeting/protest is occasion to review the FACTS.
The city of Molalla met behind closed door in 2006 with pipeline speculators. Potter is on record telling the speculators NOT TO BOTHER to consult with the landowners and TELLING ABJECT LIES about getting over 2,000 acres of new land that he would ‘KNOW FOR SURE” about by May 2007. Gee Potter – nice work! How dumb can you be? How much better a job of alienating “market potential” customers who live outside of the city limits could you do?
Then, to pour salt on the already bleeding wounds of pipeline abuse, Atkins went to the papers in summer 2007 to whine that the pipeline didn’t go far enough south (per the behind the closed doors sessions). Atkins actually had the gall to announce in public in summer 2007 that Molalla was trying to protect KYLLO TREE FARMS from the pipeline because class 2 soil, EFU KYLLO TREE FARM and Molalla had cooked up plans for a HIGH END LUXURYVILLE development of 40-50 high end mansions with tennis courts, hiking trails, swimming pools – you know, the kind of city the current residents wish they had but can’t get because the city has been too stupid to charge SDCs to develop and maintain proper infrastructure. (By the way, Atkins, how IS that high end mansion plan coming? Ha ha ha!).
So – all hell was unleashed on rural landowners. We have Molalla “government” to thank for not including the landowner “stakeholders” (choke – the landowners should be called slaves instead of “stakeholders”) in the discussion IMMEDIATELY. So if Molalla ever wonders why piles of local people have ZERO RESPECT for the city, just copy and read this account every time you forget why!
And when someone asks Atkins about this story, I can just hear his baloney answer: that the city signed a resolution and that Atkins stood at a FERC hearing and whined about earthquakes way after the fact – after Atkins/city forced the pipeline south to Herman Road. So, as always, Atkins/city the cry is TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. Like the current land use fiasco, the conduct of the city during the pipeline siting has caused wounds that will likely never heal.
Let’s hope Atkins, Potter, and the rest of the noxious council that waved maps of rural properties around crying “further south” are getting out their magic markers and producing some big protest signs so they can join us in PDX to picket the rape of private property for gas speculators gain.
SHAME ON MOLALLA for dumping Palomar on rural landowners!!! How could anyone EVER trust Molalla after those despicable actions?
Potter and Atkins should show up on May 27 and picket FOR the pigs of NW NASTY. After all, they spent years working FOR PALOMAR AND FOR GREEDY LAND SPECULATORS.
Potter’s sign could read: ” I LIED FOR THE GAS SHILLS – PAY ME NOW”
Atkins sign could read: “I WORK FOR KYLLO TREE FARM MANSIONS, TO HELL WITH THE REST OF YOU!”
And, since protest signs have a back and a front, Atkins and Potter can run the slogan “MOLALLA = GREED TRUMPS TRUTH” on the back of their pro-Palomar signs.
The rest of us will be there to join honest, sane, and outraged Oregonians from around the state to say a LOUD NO!!!! TO NW NASTY AND IT’S DESTRUCTIVE PALOMAR PIPELINE:
Subject: Stop the Pipeline Rally: Thurs, May 27th, 1pm]
Dear friends,
If you are a NW Natural shareholder, please consider attending the
annual meeting this week on Thursday at 2:00 pm. The no-LNG rally will be outside from 1:00- 4:00.
As many of you know, NW Natural owns 50% of Palomar Pipeline, the pipeline that was to run from Bradwood Landing through the Gales Creek valley and would ultimately supply gas to California. We believe that now a deal will be struck with Oregon LNG, the speculator who is trying to build an LNG terminal at Warrenton. The proposed Oregon LNG pipeline runs right through our property and may hook up with Palomar Pipeline in Molalla to cross the Cascades.
We as shareholders can make a difference! Let’s hold NW Natural
accountable for their bad investments.
Thanks very much.
Sincerely,
Sue Vosburg
*From:* Monica Vaughan
Stop the Pipeline Rally: Thurs, May 27th, 1pm
WE AGREE, NO LNG!
On Tuesday afternoon, NW Natural’s business partner, Northernstar, declared bankruptcy and announced they are *suspending development on the Bradwood LNG terminal!* The LNG terminal was one of the two proposed for the Columbia River and would have directly connected to the Palomar Pipeline. This is an amazing victory!
*Next step? Stop NW Natural’s Palomar Pipeline.*
Now, more than ever, it is time to demand that NW Natural stop wasting shareholders and rate-payers money, and immediately cancel the entire Palomar Pipeline. *Join us, for the largest No LNG event of the year to rally at the NW Natural Shareholder Meeting on May 27th.
*
*Rally at NW Natural Shareholder Meeting*
*Thursday, May 27 at 1PM*
*Oregon** Convention Center, Portland*
*777 NE MLK Blvd*
Thank you for being part of this campaign. We have lined the streets of Portland with No LNG signs. We have hand delivered hundreds of petitions and comments opposing the pipeline to company executives. And in February’s special legislative session, we overpowered the rich gas lobby in Oregon with more than 600 direct contacts to Oregon representatives from constituents, as well as Letters to the Editor and Op-Eds in the Oregonian. And now, we have helped end Bradwood LNG.
All of these efforts are coming to an exciting climax on Thursday, May 27^th and we need your help to make it known that LNG and the Palomar Pipeline do not belong in Oregon!
On Thursday, May 27th we need to send a message loud and clear to the executives and investors of NW Natural. Ratepayers, landowners, fishers, farmers and shareholders Agree: No LNG! Can you help us get that message across? Join the diverse crowd at the biggest No LNG event of the year!
RSVP by clicking here now.
People all over the state are taking action against NW Natural’s
pipeline plans. Read below to learn about some of the bold statements and actions people have taken recently, including the story of a campaign supporter who turned off her gas in protest of the Palomar pipeline.
Thanks for taking action & I’ll see you at the rally!
Monica Vaughan
/Hey NW Natural Campaign/
*CUB says LNG would cost ratepayers
*The Citizens Utility Board recently wrote a strong statement opposing LNG development in our state. According to CUB, an organization whose mission is protecting gas customers:
/LNG terminals have no place in Oregon if these terminals are to be
installed, Oregonians would have to cope with increased gas prices and environmental damages, without receiving any appreciable benefit from the new energy source./
CUB is an important ally in the fight against LNG in Oregon and their
position sends a strong message.
*Kima turns off her gas in protest
*In another strong statement of opposition, last week Kim Garrison, a Portland-area volunteer, took a bold action and turned off her NW Natural gas in protest of the Palomar Pipeline. She is refusing to give any money to a company so out of line with her values of smart land use and environmental protection.* **Read her statement to the company here.
*
Kima understands that shutting off gas in protest may not be the right action for many people. While Kima knows that this decision may not be appropriate for everyone, she hopes to inspire other Oregonians who oppose the pipeline plans to take bold action and stand up for their beliefs.
*Students organize to stop NW Natural’s plans
*Students at Linfield College organized a Bike the Pipe event in which dozens of students took a ride to the proposed pipeline route to meet with impacted farmers and their local and county-level representatives. Together, they strategized ways to stop LNG development.
Meanwhile, students at Pacific University and University of Oregon have organized events and petitions to educate their communities about the potential impacts.
*Portlanders and their rural neighbors gathered to protest LNG on public land
*On Earth Day 90 people rallied in down town Portland to oppose LNG development on our public lands. Demonstrators gathered together to call out LNG and pipeline promoters for their misuse of our public lands and ask the State of Oregon to deny necessary permits and land leases for LNG and pipelines.
*How will you take action?* All this month there are loads of
opportunities to volunteer for the campaign and participate in rally
lead-up events. Sign up to help out and turn up the pressure on NW
Natural
.
And be sure to attend our rally on Thursday, May 27^th at 1pm!
*Together we can stop Palomar!*
The Palomar pipeline is something that we have the power to stop. We can save Mt. Hood National Forest from a 47-mile long clearcut. We can protect local farms from losing productivity for a pipeline right-of-way. We can prevent heavy construction from endangering sensitive habitat. We can stop the development of the biggest fossil fuel project on the west coast. We can shield thousands of NW Natural ratepayers from increased gas costs caused by expensive LNG infrastructure and foreign-sourced gas. Together we can plug the pipe plans!
You couldn’t have asked for a better day to wave signs against the petro pigs who want to enslave local Molalla landowners to the BLAST ZONE Palomar pipeline. Well done Oregonians for coming out in droves to challenge NW NASTY company! And how wonderful to see new faces – PDX residents – coming out to decry NW NASTY.
Again – thanks so much (NOT!) to the City of Molalla for colluding with the petro pigs in the siting of Palomar. The local rural landowners gag whenever they hear “City of Molalla”. Shame on you Molalla for dropping this hoggish NW NASTY abuse on rural Molalla citizens! The City deserves its failure to thrive for foisting this abortion of a pipeline “further south”. As long as Palomar has any life left may the bird of FAILURE leave its droppings all over Molalla city hall – that is called KARMA.
(Quote):
Northwest Natural faces LNG protests at its annual meeting
By Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian
May 27, 2010, 6:55PM
Ted Sickinger/The Oregonian
Protesters outside the Oregon Convention Center today chanted slogans and made speeches questioning the need for additional LNG pipelines in the state.Northwest Natural Gas Co.’s annual meeting on Thursday once again became a referendum on importing liquefied natural gas to Oregon, despite the company’s best efforts to distance itself from controversial projects and focus on its strong financial performance.
More than 200 protesters rallied outside the Oregon Convention Center meeting site, chanting, waving placards at passing traffic, and listening to speeches from anti-LNG activists, including former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. Bradbury, the losing candidate in the democratic primary election for governor, arrived on his Segway and spoke to the crowd via bullhorn.
“I am very clearly opposed to the liquefied natural gas terminals, and I don’t support pipelines for liquefied natural gas terminals,” Bradbury told The Oregonian. “I don’t see any reason for us to become more dependent on foreign fossil fuels.”
Landowners, environmentalists and fishermen are urging the Portland-based gas utility to scrap its plans for a pipeline that was originally intended to serve a proposed LNG terminal on the Columbia River.
Backers of the Bradwood Landing LNG project east of Astoria suspended their development efforts earlier this month and filed for bankruptcy, citing permitting delays. LNG opponents want Northwest Natural to officially end the development of the Palomar pipeline, too.
NW Natural executives have said they now believe the likelihood of any LNG project being built in Oregon is low. But they insist the utility still needs a more diverse and reliable gas supply than provided by a single pipeline running through the Columbia River Gorge that serves 90 percent of customer demand in the Willamette Valley.
Consequently, the company still wants to build a cross-Cascades section of Palomar to connect an interstate pipeline near Maupin to a gas hub south of Portland. That section necessitate a construction easement the width of a freeway through private land and sections of the Mt. Hood National Forest.
The company has contemplated such a pipe for decades, but never been able to justify it as a standalone project. David Anderson, the company’s chief financial officer, said Thursday that demand growth from customers in the Willamette Valley over the years makes such a project more viable today, but acknowledged that the company still needs to demonstrate sufficient demand from its own ratepayers and other customers to get regulatory approval.
Project opponents have environmental concerns with any part of the Palomar pipeline. They contend it isn’t necessary, particularly as the operator of the existing pipeline in the Columbia River Gorge, Williams Northwest Pipeline, has already proposed a new pipe that would largely parallel its existing system and have less environmental impact.
Opponents also suggest that NW Natural is keeping its LNG options open in case anyone buys Bradwood’s federal license out of bankruptcy and restarts the project, or another proposed LNG terminal near Astoria — Oregon LNG — gets the go ahead. Oregon LNG’s proposed pipeline terminates at the same Molalla gas hub as the east section of Palomar, which would make Palomar the gateway for LNG to be shipped to out-of-state customers.
While NW Natural Chief Executive Gregg Kantor told shareholders definitively that the company had no discussions with Oregon LNG, opponents point to the fact that the company is proceeding with its original application for the entire length of Palomar.
Said Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of the conservation group Columbia Riverkeeper, “The application before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission doesn’t lie.”
NW Natural did deliver good financial news for shareholders. The company added customers, generated record earnings and increased its dividend in 2009 despite the severe economic downturn.
The earnings results were largely dependent on favorable regulatory treatment, as Oregon regulators allow the utility to share any savings if it can purchase gas cheaper than the prices used to set customers’ rates. Plummeting gas prices made that sharing mechanism lucrative last year, and also delivered lower rates for customers.
Here is a great account of the outrage inside the NW NASTY MEETING – reminds me a bit of the NASTY fake out “plannin’ hearins” held in Molalla where only one side was heard because the CIty of Molalla insisted it was their way or hit the highway. Yuck to both Molalla and NW NASTY. Gee, I guess the City of Molalla and NW NASTY all take their training from North Korea or the old Red China – you know, censorship and bullies running the show.
(Quote):
Protesters Disrupt NW Natural Shareholder Meeting
Today, approximately 300 people joined together outside the Oregon Convention Center to rally against the Palomar Pipeline at the NW Natural Annual Shareholder meeting. Rally participants were protesting a proposed 217-mile pipeline that would have connected the proposed Bradwood Landing LNG terminal on the Columbia River to the existing TransCanada pipeline in eastern Oregon. The crowd was made up of many impacted landowners, as well as people who have stated concerns about the impacts from the pipeline on Mt. Hood National Forest. Using colorful flags to represent three of the most prevalent reasons for opposing LNG, protestors held images of salmon, forests and farms. At a point when the shareholders were entering the meeting, a fabric “pipeline” dramatically snaked through the crowd pretending to knock down the “Oregon Values” flags.
Inside the Shareholders Meeting attendees were met with vague answers and misleading information about the NorthernStar Natural Gas bankruptcy and how that would affect shareholder investments. Greg Kantor, CEO of NW Natural, stated that the $17.2 million in debt owed to Palomar by NorthernStar Natural Gas would be “covered.” This gave cause for one participant in the meeting to stand and voice concerns about the reality of the impacts of NorthernStar’s Bankruptcy and the Palomar Pipeline. Olivia Schmidt, Community Organizer for the Anti-LNG Coalition and an invited guest of a shareholder in the meeting, stood and began asking questions.
“How is it possible that the $17 Million owed by NorthernStar will be repaid when we see from the bankruptcy filings that there are less than $1 Million in assets to liquidate to close that gap?” Schmidt continued to press on the issue, raising concerns about additional ambiguities in the stated plans of the company. “You say that you will continue permitting for the entire Palomar Pipeline despite the absence of the Bradwood Landing LNG terminal; does that mean that your pipeline will be re-routed to connect to the proposed Oregon LNG terminal?”
When Kantor gave Schmidt the option of either silencing herself and sitting down or leaving the room she chose to depart the meeting stating “I can only listen to so much dishonesty from this company and I’ve had my fill. There are 250 protestors outside this meeting demanding the cancelation of Palomar Pipeline because of the harm it will cause to Oregon families, our economy and Mt. Hood. You as shareholders are responsible for holding this company accountable.” She left the meeting willingly, but was escorted by 5 security personnel.
i guess the MO-LALLA PLANNING PO-LICE must be taking some time off in Molalla. Yesterday my eyes bugged out as I drove past that abandoned hulk that used to be Keith Brown Lumber. It was bad enough when it sported its “Going out of business” sign message for months – years! – after it went bankrupt.
But now, in the giant plywood covered windows (nice ghetto touch when windows get smashed for fun and “replaced” with ugly plywood, that shows a lot of pride – not) we get to read a haphazard message about a coming “GIANT SWAP MEET” planned for the space.
Really classy Molalla – I sat through years of idiotic plannin’ meetins’ with the plannin’ po-lice spouting them rules about “signage” and nuisances and “color palettes a la Shane”. But now, as we enter the land of TEAM’s “rebirth”of downtown, we are “treated” to a GIANT SWAP MEET site announced like graffiti in red spray paint on boarded up windows.
Nice touch there Molalla! Good way to “introduce” people to “downtown”. Heck – in these times it might be actually be the first honest kind of “signage” and cultural “touches” to show what Molalla has to offer.
TEAM, please be sure to have our new ghetto “SWAP MEET” open on second Fridays. People might actually find something to buy.
As far as the economy, and how Molalla’s mayor Clarke’s only claim to past fame was “we built houses”, note this quote from a noted economist about why “we built houses” was a really SHORT SIGHTED PATH. He notes that the slowest recoveries are those that follow a housing bubble (quote):
“William Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, had forecast private-sector job growth would be nearly flat in May. He said that, unlike stock bubbles, which pop quickly and often reinflate quickly, housing bubbles offer lingering downturns and slow recoveries.”
And the pathetic news is – Molalla’s hidebound “leaders” still don’t understand that building houses doesn’t build a real, solid, sustainable economy – or provide jobs or fully fund the services and infrastructure needed to sustain a community.
Here’s my idea for “saving’ old downtown” – I’ll even let TEAM use it for free:
I wonder how many storefronts we could cover with plywood “windows” with spray painted “signage” and get Molalla moving again? How many GIANT SWAP MEETS will it take to fill all those sad and crumbling downtown store fronts? Bring on the plywood and the cans of paint – how about a mural contest with spray paint to spruce the place up? We could import bus loads of graffiti punk artists from PDX, sell them inflated priced paint and a small fee to spray away – the fun could go on forever, given the current state of Molalla’s non- economic recovery. A new busload each week, more plywood, more paint, lots of cheap burgers and cokes. Maybe even have a brewfest to fuel the creative juices!
I know of a motorcycle race track south of town – maybe these racers could swarm in a la the Wild Bunch and add to the “fun” and the “ambiance”.
Just think of it – we could be billed the “Graffiti Capital of America”, the place where “What’s illegal everywhere else earns us an economy”.
Finally, did anyone notice the absurdity of the TEAM market survey results: the most marked statement in the Pioneer article was that, according to most store owners, NOTHING much had changed since the 2006 survey. In other words, the same problems and concerns noted in 2006 were still noted FOUR YEARS LATER.
Nice work TEAM – I sure am glad I don’t own a busniness and get strong armed into having to contribute yearly business fees to keep TEAM running backwards. If you couldn’t pump up Molalla durning the “boom” what do you REALLY expect the future to hold?
Read the entire New York Times lead story about the sorry state of the recession – the biggest debate seems to be whether it will take a REALLY LONG TIME to slowly recover – or whether we will soon GO BACKWARDS INTO WORSE RECESSION.
I’m getting my spray paint business ready, maybe going to corner the local market on plywood, too, just in case someone takes my “graffiti destination resort” advice seriously! Anyone know where I can lease that bus to bring in those “graffiti artists”? How soon can we get the brewfest set up and get those motorcycles roaring in?
I can feel it in my bones, where’s the phone # for TEAM? Molalla’s “economic” recovery could be just around the corner! And, believe me, given the non-success of TEAM to date, my bones could do a better job of “forecasting”. Just cover everything with “GIANT SWAP MEET” spray painted messages – successful “recovery” ahoy!
QUOTE: NEW YORK TIMES:
June 4, 2010
Job Data Casts Pall Over Economic Recovery
By MICHAEL POWELL
A shadow fell across America’s economic recovery on Friday, as the Labor Department’s monthly report showed that job growth was weak in the private sector, provoking a precipitous sell-off in the stock market.
The headline numbers for May suggested reason for optimism — employers added 431,000 jobs and the jobless rate fell to 9.7 percent, from 9.9 percent in April. But the underlying numbers showed that almost all of the growth came from the 411,000 workers hired by the federal government to help with the Census. Most of those jobs will end in a few months.
By contrast, the private sector created 41,000 positions, far short of expectations for 150,000 to 180,000 jobs. And the number of long-term unemployed, those Americans out of work for 27 or more weeks, remained at its highest level since the Labor Department began collecting such data in the 1940s.
The ailing American labor market and continued threatening economic news out of Europe — this time from Hungary, where a government spokesman raised the prospect of default — set the stock market on edge, as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 323.31 points, or 3.2 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index tumbled 3.4 percent, and the Nasdaq composite slid 3.6 percent.
Currency and commodity prices fell in tandem. The euro spiraled downward, dropping below $1.20 for the first time since early 2006. And the price of oil dropped to $71.51 a barrel.
The financial world has cast a wary eye at Europe for months, with attention fixed on the southern tier stretching from Greece to Spain and Portugal. But Friday offered a reminder that Eastern Europe was a frail reed, as a spokesman for the Hungarian prime minister said that the previous government had manipulated economic figures and that Hungary was in “a very grave situation.”
President Obama tried to put a gloss on the jobs report, telling workers at a trucking company in Hyattsville, Md., that the numbers showed an economy that was “getting stronger by the day.” Mr. Obama mentioned that Census Bureau hiring accounted for most of the new jobs, but he added that the nation had added jobs for each of the last five months. “These numbers do mean that we are moving in the right direction,” he said. “There are going to be ups and downs.”
In fact, the May figures suggested a job market wheezing after months of more vigorous growth. The economy must add more than 100,000 jobs a month just to absorb new workers entering the market. Those entrants — including a large batch of high school and college graduates — will join a labor pool swollen with 15 million Americans looking for work. As well, the report showed that hard-pressed city and state governments had begun to cut budgets and shed employees, a process that could accelerate sharply in coming months.
“It’s a very, very grudging labor market,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief economist for MFR Inc. “A growing amount of evidence now points to this recovery taking a long time.”
Several economists expressed concern about the shape of a future constrained by a weakening Europe and slow consumer spending. Robert Reich, who served as labor secretary for President Bill Clinton, placed the chance of the United States slipping back into recession at 50 percent; while his is a minority view, Mr. Reich gave voice to the more bearish take.
“The consumers are tapped out, we’ve got a fiscal drag from cities and states which are just beginning to lay off people in great numbers, and most of the buying has been consumers replacing household items — I just don’t see the oomph,” he said, in a view that drew some private assents from within the Obama administration Friday.
A sliver or three of hope could be found in the report. Manufacturers hired 29,000 workers last month, and both hours worked — 40.5 hours a week — and wages rose. Factory employment has risen steadily, by 126,000 jobs over the last five months, with fabricated metals and machinery particularly strong.
“Nothing in this report suggests that the recovery is in trouble — the markets need to get a grip,” said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group in New Jersey.
Growing numbers of Americans who had worked part time have found full-time work. And the Census jobs will put money into the pockets of the nation’s hard-pressed working and lower-middle class. As these workers have little margin for error, they will spend these dollars quickly.
But that, other economists said, described the limit of good news Friday. The number of long-term unemployed remained at about 6.7 million, accounting for 46 percent of the jobless rolls. And the number of “discouraged workers,” which is to say people not looking for work because they see no prospect of employment, rose by 291,000 from a year earlier.
William Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, had forecast private-sector job growth would be nearly flat in May. He said that, unlike stock bubbles, which pop quickly and often reinflate quickly, housing bubbles offer lingering downturns and slow recoveries. He says he does not believe the economy is so weak that it will fall into the ditch of a second recession.
But that is not to suggest he is particularly optimistic.
“We won’t have a second down, but it’s going to be grimly slow,” he said.
And, save for the hiring of Census workers and the rise in work hours, Heather Boushey, senior economist at the liberal Center for American Progress, saw little cause for cheer. Consumers account for 70 percent of American economic activity, she said, and people cannot spend what they cannot earn.
“At this point, it looks like the labor market is stabilizing into an L-shaped pattern, without sufficient job creation to bring unemployment down,” she said. “This would not only be devastating for workers and their families, but also threaten the path of the economic recovery over all.”
For now, the nation has more workers like Robert Mucha than at any time since the Depression. A Chicago-based engineer, the 43-year-old Mr. Mucha has been looking for work since losing his job in 2008. After putting in résumé after résumé, Mr. Mucha finally took a job as a Census worker.
He has no illusions about his future.
“I keep hearing about how there’s a job waiting around the corner, but I never seemed to get it,” he said. “And when I’m finished with the Census, I’ll be looking again.”
Helene Cooper and Christine Hauser contributed reporting.
There is going to be a fantastic new Green Acres / Beverly Hillbillies debate at City Council regarding whether or not to allow bee keeping in the city limits. It will probably be another absurd “only in Molalla” debate, like the “should we allow burning in the city limits” that ended up being a stalemate till someone in a dense area like Big Meadow burns down a sub-division and URBAN burning is finally properly banned.
Like plannin’ Potter’s CRAZY “equestrian estates” (where you can keep a horse three days a week before it has to go bye bye to “somewhere else”), I suggest that the city could allow the bees 1 day a week in one urban yard and then force the hive to walk on down the pike to the next yard, being certain to codify that the hive exactly follow the path of urban poison sprays. Then, there would be created a huge new business in downtown Molalla: bee keeping supplies, including a booming business to keep all those dead hives replaced as the toxins in the city and the lack of natural food sources kill the bees
And what a boom for that failing misnamed “urgent care” clinic (“urgent” needs to be replaced with “after hours low grade regular almost doctor care” – don’t go there if it is urgent or beyond what a school nurse can treat, but I digress). Think of all the visits to “urgent care” when Johnny in Big Meadow sticks his little fingers into the hive, or when Grannie gets swarmed on her front porch at the retirement home or when them urban bees come a swarmin’ into the laps of the folks dining at Hitchin’ Post.
A quick tip Molalla: you are SUPPOSED to be URBAN. We all realize that is a lesson that is hard for the CITY to accept – but it is overdue to stop trying to blur the line between URBAN AND RURAL.
URBAN: density, diverse housing, strip malls, traffic, high taxes, no farm production, no farm tractors, or hay making or cows, or turkeys, or pigs or horses or bees or u picks or Christmas tree farms. No burning, no wells, no septic. Hire a bus, take a field trip to a CITY like Canby or Silverton or PDX, maybe that can help the city “leaders” get a handle on URBAN.
RURAL: acreage, tractors, bees, chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows, horses, dust, spray, fertilizers, hay, nursery crops, field crops, wells, septic systems, no close neighbors, forests, wildlife, free running streams – you know, what it looks like when you LEAVE THE CITY LIMITS. You know, the place where people try to live sustainable lifestyles and protect natural resources for the future. The place where we grow FOOD and FUEL and enjoy our PRIVACY. I bet given the choice between a hive in Big Meadow and a hole in a tree in the rural lands the bees would make a bee line out of Molalla! Go bees, go rural!
Here’s a new good one from TEAM and their “great” (ha! ha!) “work” recruiting new “business” for Molalla.
It is a new “business” right downtown by the 4 way stop (near all the many great saloons! right near the great GUN STORE!) that should fit right in with StonePlace SECTION 8 apts. and the general sleazy ambiance of old downtown.
Quick! What’s your guess? What SLEAZY “business” would be dumb enough to “invest” in one of the ugly, crumbling, empty storefronts? What, oh what, might be the fruit of all that Second Friday fry bread jumpin’ and jivin” come on down with the family baloney?
HELLO, it is OFFICIAL: It is going to be a spankin’ new PAWNSHOP!!!
Le’t get a new banner over the 4-way saying:
“WELCOME TO FELONY FLATS”
In fact I’ll DONATE that name for our new groovy PAWNSHOP. Now the 4-way area has perfect symmetry: get drunk at one of those copious bars, buy a gun, hold someone up, pawn the loot, and get drunk again at a different bar, all within a couple of blocks at FELONY FLATS INTERSECTION.
Nice job TEAM! You really know how to “upgrade” a city! I can hardly wait to see the “customers” who patronize the PAWNSHOP.
Welcome to REALITY FOLKS – and how’s them there plans commin’ for that there HIGH END STEAK HOUSE, TEAM? Are you a goin’ to be a puttin’ that there HIGH END STEAK HOUSE in next to the FELONY FLATS district?
Seems there’s goin’ to be some money flowin’ in and out of that there PAWNSHOP and them there gun totin’ drunks might be a needin’ some HIGH END STEAK after all the work of drinkin’ and stealin’ and pawnin’ gets done. Let’s be a gettin’ that HIGH END STEAK a ready for some eatin’ at FELONY FLATS.
And speaking of TEAM, yesterday, after I saw TEAM’s letter praising the idiotic city for losing a MILLION DOLLARS on the SDC waiver I saw red. I was even more angry when I saw that the accountant I have used for years signed her name to that letter.
I believe in social justice. I believe that TEAM could give a crap about the conditions – the QUALITY OF LIFE – in the city. Almost all of the Board of Directors of TEAM live OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS, so they drive away every day and don’t have to worry about bad roads, lack of sidewalks and lack of parks inside the city limits. They could care less about FELONY FLATS. All they care about is bleeding the trapped city residents for $$$$$. Bleed the people, and head out of town!
So what did I do to show solidarity for the trapped residents who TEAM thinks don’t need SDCs for a better quality of life?
I called my accountant and I FIRED HER. I will find someone OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS OF MOLALLA to prepare my taxes next year. That accountant – who DOESN’T LIVE IN THE CITY – can kiss a couple of hundred dollars, or more, of my money goodbye. Next time maybe that accountant should think for a second about what the actions of TEAM represent.
Until TEAM wakes up and supports QUALITY OF LIFE OF EVERYONE then my $$$$$ are driving to other cities. Canby, Lake O, Silverton, Oregon City here I come with MY WALLET!
The richie fools of TEAM – the merchants who DON’T LIVE IN THE CITY! – deserve to be boycotted. That’s social justice! If the people of the city don’t deserve respect – when the city taxpayers have the burden for quality of life infrastructure shifted to them because SDCs aren’t charged and when urban renewal is imposed – then let’s cut the funds off where it hurts and take our money SOMEWHERE ELSE TO SPEND!
It might be symbolic but I wont give a cent to any greedy Molalla merchant or service provider who signs their name to a TEAM board of directors letter that disrespects QUALITY OF LIFE FOR EVERYONE.
While reading real estate information in today’s Sunday Oregonian I cam across a new rating tool for real estate buyers. It is called the “Walkability” rating (google “walkability.com” and you can type in any address to see how a city and its neighborhoods are rated).
I have written many times about changing demographic trends in American real estate. The ongoing trend is for middle class working families to choose neighborhoods close to markets, jobs, transit choices, and services. That equals Metro in our area. Suburban sprawl towns like Molalla have lost the race for family oriented living.
It was fascinating to punch in a couple of random addresses in the City of Molalla. On a ratings scale of 1-100 (100 best in walkability) an address on Mary Dr – not that far from Safeway and “old downtown” came in at only 51 on the scale. An address on S. Molalla Ave down by Dibble house was 61.
When I chose an address in Canby on Ivy Street the score was a whopping 92!
The wisdom of this new rating is that from $3,000 to $20,000 (or more!) is added FOR EACH POINT ON THE WALKABILITY SCORE!
Sadly, there is little, given the size of the Molalla market, to improve the score much here. It is now a vicious circle of planning failure here. If Molalla had skipped the idiotic “highway” development of Safeway Mall and kept ALL COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT in the old downtown area it wouldn’t have diluted the “walkability” factor. As it is, there is no way for people to walk to Safeway, no matter how close they live. Further, because Molalla has no balancing jobs and because the boom if long gone, there won’t be population growth on scale to attract further commercial business to provide more walkable choices. No matter how close a house is to Safeway Mall or even “old downtown” Molalla will still score relatively low on this important new tool for buyers exploring the desirability of a town based on quality of life. If there aren’t diverse parks, stores, restaurants, services, good local jobs, and public transit choices, then many buyers will pass over a town like Molalla.
Again, hindsight is perfect – but gee, wouldn’t it have been swell if someone had hired a REAL CERTIFIED PLANNER LONG AGO. I expect a REAL CERTIFIED PLANNER would have listened to DLCD when it said to concentrate development of stores and services in old downtown and to plan for the stalled low/no growth era that was certain to come. DLCD stated that in early 2007 – that Molalla’s growth would halt in the near future and that Molalla should concentrate on efficiency measures to use the land it already has for smart, compact growth.
Too bad no one listened. So party on Molalla – crap up more land with more dead end streets, turn a blind eye to the need for parks and open space, and most of all, keep failing to charge SDCs. Cling to your INCOMPETENT BULLY BOY BOZO “planner” with his inflated salary and zero customer service skills. You only have yourselves to blame when the rest of the world raises their “walkability” scores as your quality of life – and the value of your real estate – sinks like a stone.
I laughed as I drove by “Second Friday” last week. With temperatures approaching 100 it looked ridiculous to see people pretending to have fun on the BLACK TOP PARKING LOT NEXT TO CITY HALL. How pathetic that there isn’t even an open space/green space in old downtown. Have fun “playing” on the asphalt! I hope no one had to call 911 because there wasn’t any cooling shade! And hey, how about all those lines of parked cars – someone should post that picture on “walkability. com” – the score here would drop 20 more points!
The ‘REAL WORLD” marches forward with smart, compact growth planning – and Molalla sinks backward with a ship of fools leading the way!
See you soon for the urban reserves hearings at County – that’s something NOT TO BE MISSED! It will be HILARIOUS and TRAGIC at once: Hilarious to see PLANNIN’ BOZO try to defend what he has already been REPEATEDLY TOLD WON’T BE ALLOWED (is Molalla actually going to let plannin’ BOZO POTTER SPEAK at the County hearings? If so someone has to bring a video camera, I bet we could sell it as a “HOW NOT TO DO IT” video!!!) – and tragic to see more time and money wasted by our County professionals who are hard at work on SUSTAINABLE PLANNING WITH NEW CODES TO SUPPORT SMART, COMPACT, ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND EFFICIENT LAND USE.
Go County, go efficiency measures, go sustainability codes!!! And who has a good video camera, we have to get plannin’ BOZO talkin’ ON RECORD at the County hearings – HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!
Cheap is as cheap does – and cheating on quality of life planning got you a CHEAP CITY AND NOW YOU HAVE CHEAPER THAN CHEAP REAL ESTATE VALUES. Thank BOZO BULLY BOY Potter and his band of land speculators for that! And don’t say you weren’t warned LONG AGO ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES.
It’s funny to watch Urban Decay in Molalla and to watch the people here try to pretend it isn’t happening. With all the real estate websites it is easy to see the forclosures – and even today the # of empty homes (current 80 are empty in the city).
With Urban Decay and the refusal of families to commute the long distances to jobs (the real estate sites list the average commute for Molalla residents at over 30 minutes – one of the longest in the County) the school enrollment continues to shrink each year. The first #’s out of the District show the school census down over 170 students – with the middle school well under 600 students. So that means that that the District will likely show a LOSS of about 800 students in 4 years – matching the loss in property value with the end of the boom. It’s over due for a reality check – and to not go out on a financial limb “wishing” that growth will happen. Molalla is dead in the water – and deader than dead as long as it keeps “I don’t live here” temper tantrum prone “manager” Atkins and “I ruined the town with BAD PLANNIN’ ” pretend planner incompetent of all incompetents Potter sitting in city hall. Run screaming tax payers – don’t let the city get its greedy wasteful mitts on your hard earned money.
The Golden Triangle of Urban DECAY lives at the 4 way stop with the pawnshop, the gun store, the bars and the coming feature – a full time Flea market at Keith Brown. Good job Molalla – when is the tattoo parlor and the adult “entertainment” store coming to old downtown? TEAM must be working overtime to “create” this disaster – what family in its right mind would consider trooping into this urban jungle?
As we continue to watch Molalla decay and shrink, the writing on the wall is SCREAMING about plannin’ Potter and his band of greedy speculators coming failure at County over the 2,400 acres of bogus urban reserves (that Potter wasted a fortune of YOUR public monies “plannin”). Here is a hilarious counter point – Oregon City is begging METRO to REMOVE land for residential expansion! In the aast cities in METRO begged to get land in – and now the bust has Mayor Alice Norris saying “I don’t think Oregon City can say with a straight face” that it needs more residential land. Ha ha ha incompetent Potter and manager Atkins, the over paid, hair trigger temper guy who let incompetent Potter waste money plannin’ absurdities! If Oregon City isn’t growing then rest assured that MOLALLA IS SHRINKING AND WON’T BE NEEDING ANY NEW BOGUS URBAN RESERVES. See you at the County hearing where the POTTER CIRCUS will be the laughing stock of the state!
Here’s the entire article from the 9-11-2010 Oregonian – read it and weep Atkins and Potter – you BLEW IT AGAIN! What a bunch of DUMMIES -and the citizen’s should be up in arms about the WASTE OF TAX FUNDS TO PAY AN INCOMPETENT TO PLAN GARBAGE!
Quote:
oregonlive.com
Oregon City says it doesn’t need more land for housing
Published: Friday, September 10, 2010, 5:35 AM
Steve Mayes, The Oregonian Steve Mayes, The Oregonian
Oregon City commissioners decided last week that the town has enough residential land for now and won’t need more in the near future.
This year, Metro is considering how much to expand the Portland-area land supply. The regional agency is required to maintain a 20-year supply of residential land and makes adjustments every five years.
Metro has identified about 8,300 acres of suitable land.
There is one Oregon City parcel on the list: a 573-acre parcel east of town. The site is divided by South Maplelane Road.
Oregon City commissioners voted unanimously to ask Metro to exclude the land from its urban growth boundary expansion.
The commission also rejected requests by three landowners who want their property added to the Metro list.
“I don’t think Oregon City can say with a straight face” that it needs more residential land, Mayor Alice Norris said.
The demand for buildable lots has fallen dramatically in the past two years said Tony Konkol, community development director.
None of the 950 acres brought into the city’s urban growth boundary in 2002 and 2004 has been developed. Oregon City residents have been reluctant to approve annexations, and without voter approval, the land can’t be developed.
The city has 375 new residential lots. A major redevelopment at Clackamette Cove may add 180 condos and a 216-unit apartment complex.
Since January 2009, the city has issued 169 home-building permits.
During that same period, land-use requests for more lots dried up. The city approved just 13 new lots.
Oh! Help! ONLY in Molalla would such a “leader” step forward and only in Molalla would we say GO FOR IT!
Councilor Needham, who must know he would have a better chance to sprout wings and fly to the moon than he does to become a Clackamas County Commissioner, has come out of the closet to say he is now running for BOTH Commissioner and MOLALLA MAYOR.
Needham couldn’t even afford to post info in the Voter’s Guide – that in itself is a total kiss of death to his Commissioner chances. And by the way, none of the City Council candidates from Molalla bother to buy a spot either.
But spread the word: KICK CLARKE OUT OF OFFICE BY WRITING IN NEEDHAM FOR MAYOR. Needham couldn’t govern a County but no one could do a worse job as Mayor than CLUELESS MIKE CLARKE.
Another business to BOYCOTT IN MOLALLA! The man who owns WITHERS LUMBER has written an inane letter of support for IDIOT RIDGE MOTOCROSS FAKE “PARK”. The letter is on file at Clackamas County Planning. I was so looking forward to buy all my lumber and building supplies in Molalla but I will be more than happy to go to Canby or Oregon City in the future.
May a MOTOCROSS TRACK LAND NEXT TO WHEREVER WITHERS LIVES – and I’ll take my dollars somewhere else.
MOLALLA 2009
Population 7,590
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2009 Population Estimates
This is another funny fact – Potter has apparently “pumping up” the census in the 10 years between official counting. This is off the federal census site – I’d be budgeting for some new “SHRINKING MOLALLA” population signs. Not lookin’ too good for that pumped population for 50 years, is it Potter?
“The Lane Council of Governments had long had the task of doing the projections, but was accused of producing flawed numbers tailored to meet cities’ development goals.” WOW, this sounds a lot like MOLALLA
Wow – if you google land use or safe harbor you find a lot of places that sound just like Molalla – and you will learn that they lose out if they don’t follow the letter of DLCD’s mandates.
I found one from a Bend Planning Commission meeting that talks about just that subject – that they would be successful if they used Safe Harbor.
I also read a great account of a LUBA case where Friends of French Prairie sued the City of Donald and Marion County at LUBA (land use board of appeals). The “Friends” won!! LUBA ruled that Donald/Marion County had not properly used Safe Harbor to figure a UGB land addition so the UGB addition was invalid. Go LUBA!! Go Safe Harbor!!
Try it yourself – “safe harbor” is very successful, so successful that DLCD is extending the reach of the “safe harbor” idea to extend to how land additions are figured – so that there is a codified way all cities must use so that no one gets “carried away” in the “land needs” department.
Sounds kind of scary, doesn’t it Molalla “plannin” ?- sounds like more rough waters ahead If you ever make it to the “land addition” part, there will be piles of new hoops to jump through and a hoppin’ mad bunch of local conservationists to contest YOUR “plans”! OUR plans are to protect and honor natural resources and resource lands from asphalt and YOUR BAD PLANNIN’!
It is totally amazing to see the highly detailed, very accurate minutes that EVERY OTHER CITY posts for their meetings. Molalla produces inaccurate minutes that lack detail. Other cities have lively discussions – Molalla works hard to suppress public input.! Google away, folks, learn how REAL HONEST CITIES CONDUCT THEIR BUSINESS!
Quote from a PSU demographic study done for Molalla River School District about the Comp Plan efforts here:
“Even if the current URA proposal is adopted by the City, many additional stages including state approval, Urban Growth Boundary expansion, annexations, land use applications, infrastructure extension, site preparation, and home construction are required before potential new urban land is occupied. These stages may take several years altogether.”
The upshot is that despite “Molalla Plannin’s” input about “growth” the experts at PSU look at Molalla’s potential for residential expansion with a skeptical eye. The point being that Molalla Plannin’ is far, far, far from getting ANYTHING DONE regarding the UGB expansion. A backward berg can say anything – but without county and state approval nothing is official and not a scrap of land gets added.
Here is one of the funniest and most telling Comp Plan stories yet:
Yesterday, while reading through the PUBLIC FILES on the PUBLIC COMP PLAN for the third time I found a new document labeled “Resolution No. 2007-05″ recorded on Feb 14, 2007 and signed by all six City Councilors.
This hilarious and ignorant document has the City Council endorsing via Resolution the very Hovee population figures that DLCD and the County now say are garbage.
And, to top off the ignorance of due process and proper procedure, the City “leaders” endorsed this baloney less than two weeks AFTER that plannin’ fool Potter got a scathing letter from DLCD about his “submission” – a hack job “comp plan” that DLCD laughed right off the stage – to the point that the DLCD writer suggested that next time Molalla get someone to proof read and to correct the massive spelling errors!
So, over TWO YEARS AGO the City Council ignored feedback from DLCD, ignored the County process, and passed a meaningless Resolution endorsing population #’s that are far too high. And then they muddled right ahead and let Potter, the plannin’ fool from Hell, write over TWO YEARS worth of more plannin’ baloney based on the WRONG POPULATION FIGURES.
WOW – what WILL they pass next ? A Resolution declaring Molalla the best city in Italy? Will they succeed and move the city to Texas? How about if they declare Molalla the State Capitol and take over running everything – how’s that for a scary story of your “leaders’ at “work”?
NEWS FLASH: It’s final – SAFE HARBOR AHOY!!!!
Clackamas County just sent ANOTHER LETTER to Molalla plannin’ to say once and for all SAFE HARBOR IS THE ONLY OPTION.
Can Molalla get its money back for all the BAD LEGAL ADVICE – and for all the years plannin’ WASTED plannin’ with the WRONG POPULATION FIGURES?
The plannin’ fools can now REVISE EVERYTHING – and the BIG LOSERS will be the pushy, greedy, “we could care less about Molalla” INSIDE TRADING LAND SPECULATORS.
Get it yet planners: LESS POPULATION MEANS LESS LAND. And the way things are going here you add land INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS ALL THE TIME – the next addition will be SCOTTS – how many acres will you “get” when that polluter goes bye bye soon? Aren’t you lucky that you have all those abandoned acres of car lots, lumber yards, mills, empty store fronts, and Scotts to “plan” for? All that opportunity without having to add a scrap of land!
Plannin’ opportunities abound here – called INFILL.
What a wealth of opportunity! Get a plannin’ – it will be easy now that there is NO CHOICE BUT SAFE HARBOR!
Today’s Oregonian has an article in a series called “Jobless in Oregon” titled “Losing jobs, hope” about hard times in Harney County, Oregon. There is a quote from a Harney County resident about the horrible lack of economic opportunities that could have been made by a person from Molalla, since it hits the problems in our box canyonville village on the head. The quote goes:
“It’s the whole chicken-and-the-egg thing. No one wants to locate here because there’s nothing here. But there’s nothing here because no on wants to invest here”. (Hines City Council sometime member Kevin Taylor).
Economic opportunities are shrinking state wide – unfortunately, transportation, quality of life issues, and concentrated work forces will determine where future economic growth will occur – and that doesn’t bode well for off the beaten path, ill planned, tiny Molalla. It is time for Molalla to celebrate the only going economic engine here – agriculture!
I laughed when I read recent plannin’ co-mission minutes where clueless Commission member Joe Greenman actually lamented the presence of the “feed store” in downtown.
Hey Greenman – do you get that the FEED STORE actually MAKES MONEY AND HAS A TON OF CUSTOMERS?
Hey Greenman: do you get that your “co-mission” is proposing idiotic “equestrian estates” in the CITY? Do you get that LARGE EQUINES EAT A LOT / NEED A LOT OF “STUFF” – and need FEED STORES NEARBY TO STAY ALIVE? That generates MONEY! The FEED STORE MAKES MONEY!
So, Greenman, I dare you and the scoff law fools making “plans” to create zoning to hound one of the few types of businesses – FEED STORES – that make MONEY out of the city! Get your heads out of the sand – read and heed the above “chicken and egg” quote because it fits Molalla perfectly!
Article in Portland Tribune called “Housing Rebound unlikely Soon”:
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=125979219736554800
In a nutshell, I hope that the City Councilors are learning about the FACTS about the housing market in places like Molalla. Building houses is NOT an economy, and building houses in NOT a tax base. There is NO MARKET, especially in off the beaten path places – like Molalla.
Here’s a great article about the trend toward small houses:
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/12/small_houses_go_big-time
.html
Smaller houses will serve the aging population. Think of small house “villages” – quality houses – clustered with shared greenspace. That’s the kind of innovative vision that good planning could bring to Molalla. Retired people are a great target for off the beaten path places like Molalla – and McMansions are dead meat in today’s sinking market.
The Metro plans for establishing 50 year urban/rural reserves are in serious trouble because the Core 4 (the four leaders who are the final deciders) can’t agree on the urban reserve issues.
From the quotes from this week’s articles, it is apparent that Clackamas County Commissioner Charlotte Lehan, Core 4 member, is a VERY strong proponent of protection for resource lands.
What Molalla will face if it is dumb enough to send its insane 2,200 acre urban reserve to County oversight will be a wall of realistic planners and Commissioners who will reject the SPRAWL Molalla is proposing.
Lehan is already predicting that LCDC will reject the SPRAWL Washington County is proposing – and Washington County actually has an economic base, unlike Molalla.
Quote from the Oregonian coverage about Metro’s deadlock follows (just imagine what Lehan would say to Molalla’s “planner” when he steps up to the County plate with his ridiculous land speculator driven 50 year “plans” – it will involve being laughed out of the County offices!):
Oregonian quote: “Metro officials believe Clackamas County is withholding its approval to force Washington County to reduce its urban reserve acreage. Officials in both counties acknowledged earlier this week that the planning process could result in a stalemate.
Clackamas County Commissioner Charlotte Lehan said the state Land Conservation and Development Commission will reject the reserves agreement, or residents will challenge it in court, if too much prime farmland is designated for development.” (end quote)
Maybe Molalla could move itself to Washington County where SPRAWL is welcomed – but likely won’t be allowed! How much tax money will Molalla waste trying to promote something that the County will clearly REJECT?
Here is more proof that Molalla’s UGB growth aspirations are better suited to Washington County’s style. The following outlines how protective Clackamas County is about farmland.
Here is a paragraph from the article posted below:
“Clackamas County’s commissioners have aligned themselves with farm groups — including the Washington County Farm Bureau — and believe Washington County’s development plans threaten some of the best farmland in the state”.
If Clackamas County Commissioners are so protective of farmland in another county, imagine how protective they are of Clackamas County prime farmland!
Read the entire Oregonian article (see below) to understand how seriously far apart Clackamas County and Molalla are on the issue of tons of urban reserves. Dream on, Molalla – those 2,200 acres of prime farmland won’t be looked at kindly at Clackamas County planning hearings! Oregonian article:
“The quest to designate Portland’s growth areas sets counties against each other”
By Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian
December 27, 2009, 6:00PM
Metro and its three counties find themselves at a stalemate over what areas to set aside for long-range development, putting an unprecedented attempt to find regional land-use happiness in jeopardy.
And some are wondering what might happen if the grumbling goes sideways.
Bad outcome? The attempt to designate urban and rural reserves grinds to a halt and the region reverts to growing by contentious, piecemeal expansions of the urban growth boundary every few years.
Worse outcome? One of the unhappy partners — say, Washington County — calls it quits and attempts to drop out of Metro.
“That discussion is widespread,” says Jonathan Schlueter, executive director of the Westside Economic Alliance, a Washington County business group. “It has to be an option.”
Others don’t see the situation so dire, and believe Metro and the counties will find a resolution despite sharp differences. Nonetheless, no one is able to say for sure how the trouble will shake out, considering the polarized positions.
Clackamas County’s commissioners have aligned themselves with farm groups — including the Washington County Farm Bureau — and believe Washington County’s development plans threaten some of the best farmland in the state.
Schlueter, echoing others on the west side, maintains Washington County is the region’s economic engine and that it’s aspirations have been “let down, ignored and dismissed” in the growth planning process.
The disagreement is not a concern solely for the wonks of the world. The greater Portland area is projected to attract a million more residents during the next 20 years and will have to accommodate the increased jobs, housing, traffic, infrastructure and services that accompany population growth.
By designating urban and rural reserves, regional leaders hoped to offer 40- to 50-year certainty on land-use decisions. Developers would know far in advance where urban areas would grow. Farmers could make crop or equipment purchase decisions, knowing development wouldn’t infringe for decades to come. Planners at all levels of government would be able to think ahead regarding utilities, schools, parks and other services.
The reserves process was specifically approved for the area by the Legislature. After two years of work, here’s where things sit:
Representatives of Metro and the counties, called the “Core Four,” have released a draft map that designates about 24,000 acres for urban reserves in the three counties and 224,000 for rural reserves. The map’s total urban reserves don’t include nine controversial areas that are undecided, including Stafford, Sherwood, Oregon City, Boring and the West Hills
Washington County originally wanted about 60,000 acres, later reduced to 34,000 acres, of urban reserves for itself and is reluctant to give up more development land at this point. Clackamas County’s commissioners, joined by farming and community groups, believe Washington County’s growth would put development on too much prime farmland. Clackamas County favors smaller urban reserves, about 18,000 acres total. The Metro Council, by a 4-3 vote, leaned to Washington County’s side of the equation.
Technically, Metro designates urban reserves and the counties designate rural reserves. But here’s the catch: The designations must be simultaneous and unanimous. A county unwilling to budge could sink the whole thing.
Metro staff attorney Dick Benner says it’s highly unlikely that Metro could legally reach a reserves agreement with only two of the counties. The law creating the process requires a certain acreage of urban reserves, he notes. “I don’t see any way we could get to that number if one of the two is Multnomah, because it has almost no urban reserves and doesn’t want much.”
Dropping out of Metro is similarly complicated, Benner says. The Legislature could dissolve the union by passing a “divorce bill” as it did when the cities of Eugene and Springfield sought to establish separate urban growth boundaries.
“This would be much more complicated,” Benner says. “They would wag a finger at us and say, ‘Can’t you two get along?’”
People tracking the urban reserves process hope it doesn’t come to that. A solution may arise in January during a round of public hearings.
“We remain optimistic,” says Schlueter of the Westside Economic Alliance. “We hope that peace can be found and a solution negotiated that truly serves the needs of this region for 50 years.”
Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey says dropping out of Metro — even if feasible — wouldn’t lead to a better resolution. “I believe there needs to be a regional government,” he says. “We all want to play by the same rules and do things that benefit the region as a whole.”
Added Tigard Mayor Craig Dirksen: “I’d hate to see this process fail and go back to the (growth planning) process we had before. I don’t think anybody wants that.”
–Eric Mortenson
I hear through the grapevine that Molalla is starting to see the reality in land use writing on the wall. Supposedly the light (finally – how many years, how much agency feedback and public outcry do they need to get the picture?) has gone on at city hall about the FACT that Molalla is NOT growing, the its economy is in SERIOUS TROUBLE, the businesses are DYING, and that Molalla will be REQUIRED to use efficiency measures to reuse its underused land sites before it even thinks about asking for new UGB land.
I hope the City Council will be wise enough to know that the ground hog day “comp plan” – with the exception of the Downtown Master Plan – is an incomplete mess that will cause an even bigger public money drain if the city tries to defend it at the next level – at County, where COMPACT GROWTH ADVOCATES – PLANNING PROFESSIONALS – run the show.
I hear (again!) that plannin’ Potter is saying the city will use safe harbor population. So what version is it now, Potter? Is it FINALLY going to be the REAL DLCD endorsed safe harbor – or yet another indefensible creation of the failed dream team outside consultants/ lawyers that have preyed on naive, untrained Molalla “staff”? How about FOR ONCE doing it RIGHT for a change?
In case more proof of the future of land use in Oregon is needed, there was a fantastic Oregonian lead editorial this week about how Metro and its compact/smart growth push is actually gaining huge ground with the public. Clackamas County is a strong advocate of resource protection and of small urban reserves – whether it is for Metro or for cities under the jurisdiction of the County. Here is part of this great editorial (note the survey and the trend that shows public support for money saving compact growth – read carefully Molalla officials, you can’t escape this mandate):
Oregonian editorial quote:
“Not surprisingly, the counties don’t all see eye-to-eye on the reserves. There have even been a few mutterings about Metro disintegrating over the issue.
But that’s extremely unlikely. If anything, public opinion is moving in the opposite direction. Surveys by Davis Hibbitts & Midghall Inc. show support for regional land-use planning — what Metro does — has only intensified.
Oregonians are strapped and in a frugal mood, yes. But, as the firm’s Adam Davis recently told the City Club, people increasingly view compact development as financially smart, preventing waste, lessening the need for taxpayer-funded services and saving families both in money (fuel and other transportation costs) and in commute times.
Pay attention, politicians. Density is no longer the dreaded d-word, easy to demonize. Not so long as it comes, Davis says, with public safety and a few things Metro helps to provide — ample parks, “open spaces and walkability.” (End quote)
PAY ATTENTION, POLITICIANS (and managers and plannin’ dudes!). Read the writing on the wall – people ARE looking for “ample parks, open spaces and walkability” and they are NOT looking to get taxed through the nose to fund sprawl so a few local good old boy local land speculators can get rich while property values continue to plunge in a dying town.
Maybe it is time to start a piggy bank to build sidewalks to Safeway one block at a time? With no plannin’ needed, maybe it’s time to buy a cement mixer and send out the plannin’ department to pour sidewalks – at least the city would be getting something for the huge money it is spending to keep the plannin’ doors open.
How much longer can the city manager reward the plannin’ di-rector with big bucks for plannin’ FAILURE? How much longer can the councilors reward the city manager with even bigger bucks for looking the other way in the face of huge plannin’ FAILURE? Where does the buck stop?
Does anyone reward you, the taxpayer, BIG TIME FOR FAILURE? Can YOU afford to fund FAILURE?
Here is another great quote about the fact that compact growth is the ONLY sane and affordable way for any area, from Metro to the tiny bergs like Molalla, to plan for the future. This quote addresses the reasons why Molalla won’t ever be allowed to tag any like 2,200 fantasy EFU acres as rural reserves.
Quote from Thousand Friends:
“Large Rural Reserves, Small Urban Reserves Benefit Everyone
* Large urban reserves are NOT in the best interest of maintaining and enhancing vibrant cities. Residents of every neighborhood want better transit service and more
parks, community centers, and theaters. Many cities need additional investment to keep and grow vibrant neighborhoods and retail areas, such as sidewalks, boulevards, civic centers, local grocery stores, spaces for farmers markets, etc.
However, studies show the cost of providing infrastructure on new land at the urban edge is at least twice as
expensive as accommodating growth in the existing urban area, through infill and redevelopment.
The region has limited public and private dollars for investment in infrastructure. Large urban growth boundary expansions will cause that investment to move to the edge, competing directly with existing neighborhoods and town centers.” End Quote
No one could even have the guts to say that Molalla has “limited” public and private dollars for investment in infrastructure. Molalla has NO public and private dollars for investment in anything.
Molalla is going to LOSE A MILLION DOLLARS in system development charges in the next year – on purpose!!!!
Molalla has to just about cook the books to shuffle money in the budget to “loan” from other departments to keep the doors of the plannin’ department alive.
It’s overdue for the city leaders to look the citizens in the eye and say loudly in public that the city won’t be a growin’ outside any borders anytime soon.
When IS that great big ground hog day comp plan bonfire scheduled? The new Molalla version 7 (or is it 8 – or 12 – by now?) comp “plan” can be subtitled: “‘To be continued when we are smart enough to hire a certified planner and afford to pay for a new square of sidewalk – or when hell freezes over – and we’re not taking bets on what will happen first!”
There are at least THREE CITY COUNCIL SEATS coming up for election this fall.
Where are the candidates to bring honesty, ethics, transparency, and accountability to Molalla city government?
I hear there are at least 2 new people planning to run.
It is time to turn off the tv and start talking about change with your friends and neighbors in Molalla.
EVERY VOICE, EVERY VOTE COUNTS. Being on Molalla City Council isn’t rocket science – look at what passes for “leadership” here these days and know that almost anyone could do a better job than the hashed mess we have here now.
Everyone needs to get involved – you made a big investment to live in Molalla and YOU NEED TO MAKE CERTAIN NEXT FALL THAT YOUR INVESTMENT IS HONORED AND PROTECTED.
I am certain that if new citizens step up with great energy and start to connect with residents they can be elected. Many people are waiting – EAGER to promote CHANGE!
It was hard to know whether to post this comment under Molalla or under Shane Potter loses again.
Last night as a County rep told about meetings related to County and State roads, she mentioned scary facts that bode ill for Molalla’s roads – and future in general.
Funds that are currently repairing roads in Oregon are largely related to Federal grants.
The State and County road funds are dwindling fast – we have all heard about the budget crisis in this recession/depression.
The reality of the road funding crisis is that this County rep said that there is actually talk of allowing some roads to revert from paved to gravel in the future due to lack of funds for repair.
So one would expect that a REALISTIC planning effort in Molalla should stop dreaming about a truck bypass on the old forest road. Molalla’s perception of “congestion” is a drop in the bucket compared to the big picture of road needs in Oregon and in Clackamas County.
Given the reports I have heard, Molalla would be better off turning the forest rd into a vegetable garden than waste any more spit about “congestion” and “truck bypass”. And remember those patchwork, crumbling city roads – what happens within the city when public grants run out?
The Federal and State handouts (from EVERYONE’S TAXES) to Molalla will surely run out soon – and without proper SDCs Molalla has nothing but nothing to show for years of residential boom.
Blame a neglectful city council, a secretive, top down city “manger” and a failed planning department next time you bump over those ugly potholes that aren’t likely to get fixed anytime soon.
Vote for reality next time from Federal to local levels – ask the important questions about fiscal REALITY. Molalla currently is nothing but a WELFARE STATE bucking from handout grant to handout grant. If you rail about welfare you should start railing about the HUGE PLANNING DEFICIT – $209,000+ as of the end of the second quarter.
If the city “leaders” can’t manage “planning” how can they manage a REALISTIC budget to maintain city infrastructure? If they can’t find a city “manager” who can step up to tell a failed “planner” to stop wasting YOUR money then vote in new leaders who aren’t just fake cheerleaders shouting empty slogans – it is time for the cruel, hard facts about the city’s budget FAILURES to come to light.
This year – VOTE FOR REALITY!!!!!!!
It looks like Molalla citizens might be waking up and asking questions about the possible insider trading/unethical (dare we say possibly corrupt) “deals” that go down between planning, the city council, the city mgr, and developers.
Paul Puffer’s letter to the editor in this week’s Pioneer outlines concerns about waiving a million dollars worth of SDCs for a “waiting in the wings” project. Who is scratching what back on that ugly “deal”?
Another writer talks about her belief that Molalla is growing and that 160 apts and a few commercial/retail businesses will bring better school buildings and expanded places to shop.
There is an economic reality that most residents in Molalla – and sadly most “planners” and “leaders” – refuse to face.
The harsh reality is that Molalla isn’t even close to being large enough or affluent enough to support most kinds of retail. A TEAM survey does nothing except prove what is lacking – good business developers have to locate where there is already a huge need to be filled. When Canby Fred Meyer is 15 minutes away and Clackamas Town Center is 20 minutes away, market forces make it unlikely that diverse retailers would locate here – they simply wouldn’t have the customer base to keep the doors open.
The other issue was the decaying school buildings. Molalla public schools (including home schoolers) have LOST 600 students in the past years. Molalla voters almost never vote YES for any tax bond measures like the ones that would be needed to build new schools – or even to fix the current structures. That is one more reality connected with life in an off the beaten path failed timber resource based box canyon berg.
The only places that are enjoying relatively stable real estate values are the “20 minute” neighborhoods in PDX where people walking or riding bikes can get to virtually all needed goods and services in 20 minutes or less. In those increasing dense areas, ever time a big draw like Whole Foods goes in the property values go up – but the retailer choose those areas because of the density so the residents accept that the density is what allows them a vibrant urban life without constantly hopping into a car.
Molalla, by refusing to charge proper SDCs over the boom years, has failed to even keep up with the current sidewalk/bike trail/community open space needs. The naive letter writer who hopes to buy clothes and shoes and who asks for better schools fails to understand that the failed economy and realistic market forces weigh heavily against Molalla as anything but a bedroom community of Metro – and not a high quality one, given the refusal of “leaders” to make developers even begin to pay their fair share!
I hope city residents pick up on the themes in the Pioneer letters and start hammering on “their” elected city officials. Every day without leadership here is a day Molalla goes backwards in comparison to well run, transparent cities that engage in public debate and welcome diverse opinions.
Below is a great article from the Wilsonville Statesman newspaper that tells the story of how we wish things had evolved in the planning efforts in Molalla. Wilsonville embraces Goal One, looks to correct past planning mistakes, and recognizes that quality and smart growth (land use efficiency) is far more important than just stuffing in development like Molalla has done. Read and understand how professional planners and savvy leaders conduct long range planning – gee! they even talk to all the diverse citizens and care about what they think! Can you believe it???
“Wilsonville well on its way to smart growth
*
By: Patrick Johnson
* Published: 4/2/2010 3:17:03 PM
*
Deborah Iguchi, former planning commission chairwoman, gives ideas on how smart growth concepts can be used in future business and residential development in Wilsonville.
City planners recognize that the term “Smart Growth” means different things to different people.
For some it means skinny streets that slow traffic for pedestrian safety. To others it means pervious pavers and bio-swales to control storm water flow and temperature. And to others still, it means having local farmer’s markets.
This variety of opinion led city of Wilsonville officials to sit down recently with community members to try and define just what “smart growth” means in Wilsonville.
About a dozen people attended a two-hour workshop late last month, learning about smart growth concepts, finding out how Wilsonville is currently using the concepts and absorbing other means of incorporate this approach to Wilsonville in the future.
“The dialogue with forum participants was fun and thought provoking,” said Chris Neamtzu, city planning director. “I was particularly interested to hear people talk about the community and offer their perspectives on why they like living or working here, and what makes it a special place to them. I am optimistic given the interest that we have received, that there will be many more discussions around these important topics.”
The forum was the first in a series of educational events the city has scheduled to explore smart growth and sustainability — a goal set by the city council last year. Still, smart growth is not new to Wilsonville.
Examples in practice include solar panels on the roof of Walgreen’s, mixed-use areas in Villebois, a proposed eco-roof on a restroom facility at Graham Oaks Nature Park, and even sidewalks that broke away from the roadside to protect existing trees.
“There are a number of examples around Wilsonville where we are using a number of these concepts, but we would like to find out other ways to use them that the community supports,” Neamtzu said.
Paver Technology
Steve Adams, deputy city engineer, discussed how pavers are being used on Villebois
streets to help manage stormwater runoff.
“It’s actually, to my knowledge, probably the only paver stone street design of this exact type in the nation,” Adams said.
What makes Villebois Drive unique, he said, is a layer of pervious asphalt that helps to keep the rocks from compacting and reducing the amount of run-off the street can handle. Once the asphalt was in place, the street easily handled water poured on it from a 2-inch hose without any significant pooling. In fact, pavers are twice as strong as concrete streets.
“If you include the lifetime of it, paver stones are designed on a 50-plus year lifespan where asphalt is designed on a 20-year lifespan,” Adams said. “The advantage of pavers, if you do have an area that is damaged, is that there is a tool you can use to lift out the ones you want to replace and put them back in and vibrate it down. The Europeans use these pretty well and Americans are learning — we are probably 20 years behind Europe in using paver stone streets in how we construct them and how we m a i n t a i n
them.”
To t h a t end, the city is using the planning commission as a committee for citizen involvement to gather public opinion.
During the workshop, planning commissioners Marta McGuire, Amy Dvorak and Dustin Kohls made presentations and led discussion with those present. Community members attending the forum
said they would like to see more connections with farmland and the Willamette River in the community, as well as improvements to the walkability of Wilsonville.
Neamtzu noted the city recently finished a Memorial Park trails master plan which allows the creation of a series of trails around the forested area of Memorial Park. It could include up to three new river outlooks. Funding for the project in the next 18 months will come from the city’s 2006 Natural Areas Bond Measure.
Former planning commission chairman Richard Goddard said he was pleased with the turnout and made several points during the discussion phase of the forum.
“It seems to me that smart growth is a term that can mean different things to different people, and Chris and others gave some very good examples of what smart growth can mean here in Wilsonville,” he said. “I think Wilsonville has a lot things it can be proud of. I think a broad section of our community would support the notion of safer, healthier, economically vibrant communities.
“Environmentally sensitive growth and development are things the city ought to encourage and ought to support and our community should support.”
Former Development Review Board member Kristin Koetz also suggested the program solicit input from Wilsonville’s neighborhood associations.
“I think Wilsonville has come a long, long way,” said Deborah Iguchi, former planning commission chair. “We have lived here for 20 years so we have watched the community grow and do so in a very wonderful manner taking these ideas of smart growth and incorporating them as we developed and working to rectify earlier problems that were made.”
I attended a Hamlet/CPO dinner sponsored by the Clackamas County Dept of sustainability last night. While sometimes “sustainability” seems like an overworked cliché, Clackamas County is dead serious about sustainability and is well on its way to promote and implement plans for the future.
Most interesting was the fact that the County’s current work to update codes to encompass sustainable practices will be in direct conflict with the sad, backward looking “plans” that Molalla has created – plans that Molalla’s untrained plannin’ dude still hasn’t forwarded to County for formal hearings to consider adoption (Good luck on that, plannin’ dude! Can I furnish you with a box, an address label and some postage so you send it to the correct place this time? Or I could donate a box or matches and a burn barrel – that would save Molalla and plannin’ dude the humiliation of County rejection and/or a prolonged, expensive legal battle – remember, the STATE WIDE TEST CASE – over the insanely high, legally indefensible 50 yr population forecast!).
But back to sanity: The County introduced us to Duke Castle, promoter of the Natural Step, a successful world wide program to help define long term sustainability goals and then work “backward” to create incremental, realistic blueprints to achieve steady progress toward the goal of zero waste. Businesses and governments are actually succeeding – Whistler in Canada, host of the Olympics, was going broke as a ski town in these times of global warming. Community grassroots action in Whistler started the Natural Step program and now Whistler is achieving world wide notice for its sustainable practices and enjoys a growing tourism economy based on promoting itself as an example of zero waste. Duke, with numerous world wide and local examples, showed that this program is not pie in the sky but something that evolved cities, counties, businesses, and even countries are implementing successfully.
Clackamas County, with its Dept of Sustainability and with the current work to update County Comp Plan to encompass these principles, is well on its way in sustainable practices. When Duke asked the Hamlet/CPO participants to list barriers to sustainable thinking in our local communities I was able to quickly list “SELFISH GREED” as a big barrier in Molalla. Anyone watching the urban reserves debacle could easily outline how completely unsustainable Molalla’s “plans” are in terms of the future. The question to ask for a sustainable future is not “what’s in this for ME?” but “Will future generations benefit from this decision?”
In Molalla, the SELFISH GREED of merchants (TEAM) and land speculators completely supersedes any thought of what is sustainable. The merchants (TEAM) and the good old boy land speculators NEVER bother to think about what kind of burden the “plans” will leave for future generations.
Molalla’s timber resource past was based on GREED and NON-SUSTAINABLE EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES – and today it is easy to look around Molalla to see the horrible problems that kind of non-sustainable false economy has left for current generations of residents. Molalla’s legacy of GREED AND EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES has left us with extensive polluted brownfields, high unemployment, a shrinking school census, shuttered stores, job centers far from Molalla’s commuter based bedroom community, low quality of life features (no SDC funds for parks or roads, etc,) and a small group of SELFISH GREEDY “inside traders” fighting over the few crumbs here left to exploit.
Molalla’s abject GREEDY exploitation could be easily witnessed at plannin’ hearins’ when the GREEDY good old boy land speculators begged over and over to “get in” to the non-sustainable, ludicrous urban reserves, using their clueless tools – the pathetic plannin’ commission and the incompetent plannin’ dude – as the easy to manipulate scapegoats. That short sighted SELFISH GREEDY exploitation is also apparent here in the merchant class represented by TEAM, which pushes for garbage like no SDCs in hopes of lining the pockets of a few business owners without understanding that each SDC dollar lost puts a bigger nail in the coffin of Molalla’s dying quality of life!
And the SELFISH exploitation is also represented by the top down “manager” Atkins and mayor “I demand a silent herd of sheep city council” Clarke who go around bitterly complaining when citizens have the gall to actually ask questions and debate in public. (News flash to Atkins: While we realize you enjoy creating “spin’ and “propaganda, some of us are capable of actually digging for FACTS and making sure that people hear the FACTS. I salute everyone who stands up to debate the FACTS in public!).
Talk about Molalla’s on going recipe for social and economic disaster! It was hard to sit with evolved local and County leaders and hear the talk about the progress in sustainable practices happening right up to Molalla’s back door and then have to drive back to here to BROWNFIELDVILLE and think about how sad it is to see Molalla sell its future down the tubes because it doesn’t have the guts to chuck plannin’ dude, fire top down “manager, and tell TEAM/ good old boy land speculators that their out of synch, self serving GREEDY “visions” are a total insult to future generations.
I guess till the citizens of the city revolt and take back THEIR town we’ll all have to sit back and see how much further Molalla will run off the sustainability track:
Go ahead, TEAM and land speculators – stuff in those NO SDC apartments without collecting any SDCs to improve quality of life. Stuff the people in without good roads, without parks, without an eye to water conservation/energy conservation (sustainability!), without, without, without – that is what creates social problems, but those good old boys/TEAM could care less as long as they get to SELL SOMETHING. I hope selling some scraps of carpet or a few boards make up for creating a future ghetto Molalla!
Go ahead, keep that badge of false honor (that JOKE badge) of being the lowest SDC city around – having the lowest quality of life around is certainly something to be proud of, isn’t it?
Go ahead and keep asking those taxpaying citizens to pay twice – via Atkins’ insulting and absurd “neighborhoods can pay the city back” for road repairs proposal – that will certainly put you on the “lowest of the low” map, too! I can see that “Welcome to Ghetto Molalla” sign coming sooner than expected!
Go ahead, stuff in more commuters via residential development without a balance of jobs and ignore the obvious writing on the wall about peak oil/rising gas prices.
Go ahead, try stuffing those born to lose Ground Hog Day SRAWL plans into a box and send them on to our wise and growingly sustainable County – and go ahead and spend the city further into the ground via legal fees trying to defend that urban reserve 2,400 acres garbage when it becomes a state wide test case (remember: high quality land use (non- profit!) lawyers are waiting in the wings, chomping on the bit to TEAR THE URA POPULATION PROJECTION TO PIECES). That will certainly put Molalla on the map – something else for the “rest” of the world to laugh at!
Go ahead and keep STEALING MONEY out of other departments to “fund” the BANKRUPT PLANNIN’ DUDE (deficit of $350,000 and GROWING)!
Go ahead and keep hiring and electing top down, rubber stamping, false “puppet leaders” who haven’t the vision and courage to engage in public debate!
Keep it up Molalla, buck the trends, keep your head in the sand, promote an ugly future based on the non- sustainable SELFISH GREED of a few at the expense of the investments/quality of life of the majority!
Keep going backward, Molalla, and maybe we will get lucky and the bulldozers will finally make it to the right place – when Molalla crumbles under its growingly unsustainable practices we can start turning it back to farm and forest land that future generations could actually use for something economically and socially productive!
I’ll happily throw my support to the County’s progressive vision of sustainable practices – and work to provide an ethical, sustainable Oregon for the future. I’d like to think that I worked hard to leave my patch of Oregon a place better than I found it!
That was quite an amazing op-ed by Councilor Needham in this week’s Pioneer. The only thing lacking was a frank admission about who the good old boy inside trader “owner of the Ford site” really is: Dennis Kyllo.
Needham writes about how bad neighborhood roads are and says: “There are street repairs made on Ross Street that will benefit a local landowner, who stands to make a substantial profit; this is because of planning department decisions allowing a new building materials business in the former Ford facility rather than the previous building materials location across the street. This is the same landowner who stands to make substantial profits because of expanded urban growth boundaries in the comprehensive plan.”
It is sickening that since everyone knows (or can easily find out) who the “owner of the Ford site” is – Dennis Kyllo – that Needham wasn’t just frank enough to spill the beans. Let’s quit being so coy – Molalla’s history of catering to a few good old boys is so easy to trace it makes your head spin. Only in a hicksville filled with corrupt dealing would this kind of coy baloney fly in 2010.
If you ever want to be elected to anything beside the bottom feeding Molalla City Council, Needham, you might want to speak out a lot sooner and a lot more frankly than your “local landowner” baloney. Let the whole truth out – or don’t bother to write!
It was more than apparent, since summer of 07 when Atkins, in an interview in the Pioneer, was dumb enough to spill the “Molalla wants to help get a Kyllo Luxuryville development on EFU land” story, that Kyllo has the “special” pull to make the city work for him. And isn’t that a slap in the face to people who ACTUALLY LIVE IN MOLALLA AND PAY TAXES TO THE CITY – that “a landowner” who lives outside the city limits and can’t vote in city elections has that kind of juice with city government? Must be nice to get those perks.
First that VERY PREMATURE (and very fantasy based) announcement about the “40-50 high end homes” on Kyllo’s class 2 soil high value EFU treeless “tree farm”. Then,in 07-08, the city worked its magic to protect Kyllo from the Palomar pipeline – by whining that, because the first map projected the pipeline on Kyllo Tree Farm, the pipeline didn’t go “far enough south”. I am sure the folks down on Herman Rd really appreciate that gesture by Molalla, sticking them with the noxious foreign fossil fuel to California land stealing project. I guess we all can’t get those insider trading good old boy perks, can we?
Molalla plannin’ has done endless favors for Kyllo to try to get his land into some kind of “urban” zone. Kyllo Tree Farm clearly has a large wetland that goes from east to west across the southern third of the property. That wetland is mapped on a professional wetlands map paid for by public grants. That “done by professionals” map is in the planning files. I have documented the wetlands with photos as well. Yet, despite many photo submissions and many requests that Molalla plannin’ properly note the KYLLO WETLANDS on the planning maps, Kyllo Tree Farm, as mapped by plannin’ dude Potter, still doesn’t show the proper wetlands.
I found city legal bills where the city of Molalla paid for the city’s lawyer to consult with Kyllo’s private consultant about how to get that treeless tree farm into the urban reserve. Gee, “little guy taxpayer” – when you want the city to bend the rules for you does Atkins call in the city lawyer to help you FOR FREE?
That kind of “NO WETLANDS IN SPITE OF ENDLESS PROOF OF WETLANDS” fake-out might fly with the dummies that sit on the plannin’ commission and the scoff law city council – but it surely won’t fly when (or more like if) the city really has the guts to try to pass the insane urban reserves at County.
Thanks Needham for at least admitting in print that Molalla has yet again catered to the insider trading arm twisting of Kyllo by paving the city road next to the Ford site so Kyllo can make a buck – while the rest of the neighborhoods are likely to be asked to PAY THE CITY BACK for road repairs!
And thanks for saying in print that the “owner” of Ford’s site (KYLLO) has had endless undue “help” getting into the yet to be formally approved Ground Hog Day urban reserves. That fact was impossible to miss if anyone had the guts to sit through the abusive and creepy “plannin’ hearins’.
Good luck on that gettin’ urbanized for mansion plan, Kyllo (will you or your expensive consultants represent your “case” at County hearings? Will you or your scoff law team try to tell the County that there ain’t no that there wetlands on that there treeless tree farm?). I would be demanding my money back from all those expensive consultant fake-out “studies” – by hiring those “we’ll tell you anything you want to hear” scoff law “experts’ greedy, selfish land speculators like Kyllo just end up with a pile of huge bills. They’ll be a wishin’ they had been a growing them timber trees instead of a growin’ pretend mansions! At least in fifty years they would have at least had something to sell.
But next time, Needham, put a name on it – we have had enough of vague political missives – the people now demand FACTS. Tell it like it really is or don’t tell it at all!
Headline: ONLY IN MOLALLA!!! SHAMELESS NEPOTISM BASED RAISES!!!
News flash: Only in the worse run, most corrupt city around – MOLALLA! – would an INCOMPETENT fake-out city plannin’ dude like Potter be allowed to SQUANDER hundred’s of thousands of dollars on “long range plans”, throw money down the tubes for outside consultants like WINTER$$$$$BROOK, pay almost $100,000 in LEGAL FEES to defend the scoff law plans, and have a “look the other way to protect nepotism” city “manager Atkins and a worthless city council GIVE PLANNIN’ POTTER A RAISE!!!
When will the taxpayers be smart enough to revolt? Do they realize that in addition to every single city employee getting a RAISE in this DEPRESSION there is also a built in schedule to give even bigger RAISES based on years employed with the city?
So Potter gets a RAISE AND THEN GETS A BIGGER RAISE FOR BEING HERE LONG ENOUGH TO RUN UP A HUGE $350,000+ PLANNING DEFICIT VIA HIS INCOMPETENCE!
Nice “work” if you can get it – does your job AUTOMATICALLY PAY YOU MORE JUST FOR BEING THERE? No wonder people howl about the public sector!!! At least honest cities, counties and state agencies are DUMPING EMPLOYEES – especially in planning. But not in BACKWARD HICKSVILLE MOLALLA – Molalla gives RAISES FOR INCOMPETENCE AND FOR JUST SHOWING UP! One city employee is getting a TWENTY-ONE PERCENT SALARY INCREASE – in a severe recession in a town that can’t fix a pothole.
I bet that “law” firm of bottom feeding lawyers is laughing their heads off having plannin’ Potter for a client – what a gold mine for bogus legal fees!!!! They can smell FAILURE a mile away and those lawyers feed plannin’ dude any nonsense about “we’ll fix it” as long as Molalla pays the HUGE LEGAL BILLS TO KEEP POTTER SITTING AT HIS DESK MAKING A FOOL OF MOLALLA. Pathetic!
As a twenty year resident of rural Molalla I am somewhat amused by the new cry that a new middle school is needed.
As usual, a cry goes out without any regard to how tax/bond measures almost always fail in Molalla.
And as usual the promoters are failing to think creatively or to understand the demographic facts about what is happening here.
The schools have LOST 600 STUDENTS IN THE PAST THREE YEARS.
The district’s own demographic study points to shrinking population of young families (also predicted in long range planning nation wide as young families seek urban centers to curb driving as peak oil makes suburban location like Molalla less and less attractive due to distance from jobs and services and good transportation). Thus, the district will have growing numbers of lower income and aging residents – not the most likely supporters of tax bonds.
The promoters of a new bond fail to understand that the school district has FAILED MISERABLE at building bonds with childless taxpayers. Many civic groups are largely composed of older residents who have no children in the schools. The district policy of refusing to allow civic groups access to after hours school rooms for civic meetings ensures that many old residents have a sour attitude toward paying more taxes to support buildings they are banned from using.
In fact, the district is so out to lunch on the need for meeting rooms that it holds DISTRICT MEETINGS in hard fought civic spaces like the adult center and the library – instead of using its own EMPTY BUILDINGS FOR AFTER HOURS MEETINGS. That alone will cause a lot of NO votes when the district asks for money – we will ask “what’s in it for us”? If the district were smart it would immediately form an outreach committee to work with civic groups to open space in the schools for civic meetings.
Finally, the district needs to start thinking creatively about the possibility of new structure that is working all around the nation where junior highs are eliminated in favor of K-8 schools. A quick google of “benefits of K-8 schools” produced a raft of great information. One article and two good links follow – it is time to use the hulking buildings in diverse ways that benefit the students and the ENTIRE TAXPAYING COMMUNITY. Wake up parents and school district – you will never win votes if you don’t find a way to make the ENTIRE COMMUNITY see a benefit to school bonds. Open rooms to civic groups, build bonds, and then look into restructuring to eliminate the need for new building for a junior high.
Given the grim demographic study (look on the MRS district website to find a link to this study) and the fact that growth will not be coming to “outlands” like Molalla it is time for a reality check on what is and isn’t need for the future. We can’t afford to build new structures only to find out we don’t have a student population to fill the buildings we already pay dearly to keep open.
Article and links on K-8 follow:(Quote):
The Benefits of the K-8 Configuration
In recent years, many urban school districts have moved to close troubled 6-8 middle schools and have reconfigured elementary schools to serve grades K-8 in their place. Districts such as Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Newark, New Orleans, New York City, Oklahoma City, and Philadelphia were some of the first urban districts to reconfigure schools in this way. Some of the benefits cited for the transformation to the K-8 configuration include:
• Increased test scores
Several studies on grade configuration have reported middle schools to be less effective in terms of test scores than K-8 schools in the same district. The evidence is especially strong for students in high-poverty schools and rural schools. (Tucker & Andrada, 1997; Wihry, Coladarci, & Meadow, 1992; Franklin & Glascock, 1998; Offenberg, 2001)
• Improved student discipline
Some large middle schools containing a concentrated group of adolescents have experienced a large number of discipline problems resulting in office referrals, in- and out-of-school suspensions, and expulsions. The belief is that closing middle schools and moving the students to smaller, less crowded K-8 schools with greater parental involvement and greater student accountability will lead to a reduction in undesirable outcomes and improved student discipline. For example, Franklin & Glascock (1998) found that sixth and seventh graders had fewer suspensions and better attendance in K-8 schools than in middle schools.
• Relief of overcrowding in some large middle schools
Most districts have many more elementary schools than middle schools. When districts face overcrowding issues at the middle school level, shifting students to smaller, less crowded elementary schools can reduce overcrowding in middle schools. (George, 2005)
• Eliminating a big transition
Shifting to a K-8 model would require one less school transition for students. Alspaugh (1998) found a significant achievement loss following each school-to-school transition. A statistically significant achievement loss was associated with the transition from elementary to middle school at the sixth grade, when compared to K-8 schools that did not have a transition after sixth grade. Blyth, Simmons, & Bush (1978) found that adolescent girls suffered from a drop in self-esteem, extracurricular participation, and leadership behaviors following the transition to middle school, but not when they remained in a K-8 school. For adolescent boys, a similar drop-off was found for extracurricular participation and grades. Since student performance, extracurricular participation, and self-esteem tends to drop off after students transition into middle school, it is thought that students who remain in their elementary schools would benefit academically from only going through one school transition rather than two transitions.
• Longer and potentially more positive teacher-student relationships and increased parent involvement
Students and parents who remain in a K-8 school for nine years are more likely to build and maintain more positive relationships with teachers over time and maintain higher levels of parental involvement than the typical middle school. (George, 2005)
• Lengthier stay in a neighborhood school
In recent years, many districts have expressed a desire to preserve neighborhood schools. The shift to K-8 neighborhood schools allows students to stay in their neighborhood schools for a longer period of time. (George, 2005)
• More collaboration between elementary and secondary teachers
Bringing elementary and middle school teachers together could lead to greater collaboration and enriched curriculum opportunities for students. The typical elementary school could become a place where subject matter depth and expertise is more highly valued and effectively utilized than before the K-8 reorganization. Secondary teachers could come to see the value of the “whole child” perspective of the elementary schools. This new balance could enrich the perspectives and curriculum at the elementary and secondary level inside the K-8 school. (George, 2005)
links for further reading on K-8:
http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/K8schools.html
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06176/700759-53.stm
References:
Alspaugh, J.W. (1998). Achievement Loss Associated with the Transition to Middle School and High School. Journal of Educational Research, 92(1), 20-25.
Blyth, D.A., Simmons, R.G., & Bush, D. (1978). The Transition into Early Adolescence: A Longitudinal Comparison of Youth in Two Educational Contexts. Sociology of Education, 51(3), 149-162.
Franklin, B.J. & Glascock, C.H. (1998). The Relationship Between Grade Configuration and Student Performance in Rural Schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 14(3), 149-153.
George, P.S. (2005). K-8 or Not? Reconfiguring the Middle Grades. Middle School Journal. 37(1), 6-8.
Offenberg, R. (2001). The Efficacy of Philadelphia’s K-to-8 Schools Compared to Middle Grade Schools. Middle School Journal, 32(4), 23-29.
Tucker, C.G. & Andrada, G.N. (1997, March). Accountability Works: Analysis of Performance By Grade Span of School. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 332 367).
Wihry, D.F., Coladarci, T., & Meadow, C. (1992). Grade Span and Eighth-Grade Academic Achievement: Evidence from a Predominantly Rural State. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 8(2), 58-70.
Yes, we are dying for 2,400 acres because Molalla is such a hot ticket growth prospect (ha ha ha):
Molalla, OR Real Estate Market – May 2010 report:
This location has 2,492 households . Houses have depreciated 2.5% over the last 12 months. There are 198 homes for sale in this location, including 240 foreclosures.
Lest we forget the horrible legacy Molalla plannin’ and “manager” Atkins foisted upon the rural areas via behind the scenes deals with the nasty pipeline speculators, the below call to the the NW NASTY shareholders meeting/protest is occasion to review the FACTS.
The city of Molalla met behind closed door in 2006 with pipeline speculators. Potter is on record telling the speculators NOT TO BOTHER to consult with the landowners and TELLING ABJECT LIES about getting over 2,000 acres of new land that he would ‘KNOW FOR SURE” about by May 2007. Gee Potter – nice work! How dumb can you be? How much better a job of alienating “market potential” customers who live outside of the city limits could you do?
Then, to pour salt on the already bleeding wounds of pipeline abuse, Atkins went to the papers in summer 2007 to whine that the pipeline didn’t go far enough south (per the behind the closed doors sessions). Atkins actually had the gall to announce in public in summer 2007 that Molalla was trying to protect KYLLO TREE FARMS from the pipeline because class 2 soil, EFU KYLLO TREE FARM and Molalla had cooked up plans for a HIGH END LUXURYVILLE development of 40-50 high end mansions with tennis courts, hiking trails, swimming pools – you know, the kind of city the current residents wish they had but can’t get because the city has been too stupid to charge SDCs to develop and maintain proper infrastructure. (By the way, Atkins, how IS that high end mansion plan coming? Ha ha ha!).
So – all hell was unleashed on rural landowners. We have Molalla “government” to thank for not including the landowner “stakeholders” (choke – the landowners should be called slaves instead of “stakeholders”) in the discussion IMMEDIATELY. So if Molalla ever wonders why piles of local people have ZERO RESPECT for the city, just copy and read this account every time you forget why!
And when someone asks Atkins about this story, I can just hear his baloney answer: that the city signed a resolution and that Atkins stood at a FERC hearing and whined about earthquakes way after the fact – after Atkins/city forced the pipeline south to Herman Road. So, as always, Atkins/city the cry is TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. Like the current land use fiasco, the conduct of the city during the pipeline siting has caused wounds that will likely never heal.
Let’s hope Atkins, Potter, and the rest of the noxious council that waved maps of rural properties around crying “further south” are getting out their magic markers and producing some big protest signs so they can join us in PDX to picket the rape of private property for gas speculators gain.
SHAME ON MOLALLA for dumping Palomar on rural landowners!!! How could anyone EVER trust Molalla after those despicable actions?
Potter and Atkins should show up on May 27 and picket FOR the pigs of NW NASTY. After all, they spent years working FOR PALOMAR AND FOR GREEDY LAND SPECULATORS.
Potter’s sign could read: ” I LIED FOR THE GAS SHILLS – PAY ME NOW”
Atkins sign could read: “I WORK FOR KYLLO TREE FARM MANSIONS, TO HELL WITH THE REST OF YOU!”
And, since protest signs have a back and a front, Atkins and Potter can run the slogan “MOLALLA = GREED TRUMPS TRUTH” on the back of their pro-Palomar signs.
The rest of us will be there to join honest, sane, and outraged Oregonians from around the state to say a LOUD NO!!!! TO NW NASTY AND IT’S DESTRUCTIVE PALOMAR PIPELINE:
Subject: Stop the Pipeline Rally: Thurs, May 27th, 1pm]
Dear friends,
If you are a NW Natural shareholder, please consider attending the
annual meeting this week on Thursday at 2:00 pm. The no-LNG rally will be outside from 1:00- 4:00.
As many of you know, NW Natural owns 50% of Palomar Pipeline, the pipeline that was to run from Bradwood Landing through the Gales Creek valley and would ultimately supply gas to California. We believe that now a deal will be struck with Oregon LNG, the speculator who is trying to build an LNG terminal at Warrenton. The proposed Oregon LNG pipeline runs right through our property and may hook up with Palomar Pipeline in Molalla to cross the Cascades.
We as shareholders can make a difference! Let’s hold NW Natural
accountable for their bad investments.
Thanks very much.
Sincerely,
Sue Vosburg
*From:* Monica Vaughan
Stop the Pipeline Rally: Thurs, May 27th, 1pm
WE AGREE, NO LNG!
On Tuesday afternoon, NW Natural’s business partner, Northernstar, declared bankruptcy and announced they are *suspending development on the Bradwood LNG terminal!* The LNG terminal was one of the two proposed for the Columbia River and would have directly connected to the Palomar Pipeline. This is an amazing victory!
*Next step? Stop NW Natural’s Palomar Pipeline.*
Now, more than ever, it is time to demand that NW Natural stop wasting shareholders and rate-payers money, and immediately cancel the entire Palomar Pipeline. *Join us, for the largest No LNG event of the year to rally at the NW Natural Shareholder Meeting on May 27th.
*
*Rally at NW Natural Shareholder Meeting*
*Thursday, May 27 at 1PM*
*Oregon** Convention Center, Portland*
*777 NE MLK Blvd*
Thank you for being part of this campaign. We have lined the streets of Portland with No LNG signs. We have hand delivered hundreds of petitions and comments opposing the pipeline to company executives. And in February’s special legislative session, we overpowered the rich gas lobby in Oregon with more than 600 direct contacts to Oregon representatives from constituents, as well as Letters to the Editor and Op-Eds in the Oregonian. And now, we have helped end Bradwood LNG.
All of these efforts are coming to an exciting climax on Thursday, May 27^th and we need your help to make it known that LNG and the Palomar Pipeline do not belong in Oregon!
On Thursday, May 27th we need to send a message loud and clear to the executives and investors of NW Natural. Ratepayers, landowners, fishers, farmers and shareholders Agree: No LNG! Can you help us get that message across? Join the diverse crowd at the biggest No LNG event of the year!
RSVP by clicking here now.
People all over the state are taking action against NW Natural’s
pipeline plans. Read below to learn about some of the bold statements and actions people have taken recently, including the story of a campaign supporter who turned off her gas in protest of the Palomar pipeline.
Thanks for taking action & I’ll see you at the rally!
Monica Vaughan
/Hey NW Natural Campaign/
*CUB says LNG would cost ratepayers
*The Citizens Utility Board recently wrote a strong statement opposing LNG development in our state. According to CUB, an organization whose mission is protecting gas customers:
/LNG terminals have no place in Oregon if these terminals are to be
installed, Oregonians would have to cope with increased gas prices and environmental damages, without receiving any appreciable benefit from the new energy source./
CUB is an important ally in the fight against LNG in Oregon and their
position sends a strong message.
*Kima turns off her gas in protest
*In another strong statement of opposition, last week Kim Garrison, a Portland-area volunteer, took a bold action and turned off her NW Natural gas in protest of the Palomar Pipeline. She is refusing to give any money to a company so out of line with her values of smart land use and environmental protection.* **Read her statement to the company here.
*
Kima understands that shutting off gas in protest may not be the right action for many people. While Kima knows that this decision may not be appropriate for everyone, she hopes to inspire other Oregonians who oppose the pipeline plans to take bold action and stand up for their beliefs.
*Students organize to stop NW Natural’s plans
*Students at Linfield College organized a Bike the Pipe event in which dozens of students took a ride to the proposed pipeline route to meet with impacted farmers and their local and county-level representatives. Together, they strategized ways to stop LNG development.
Meanwhile, students at Pacific University and University of Oregon have organized events and petitions to educate their communities about the potential impacts.
*Portlanders and their rural neighbors gathered to protest LNG on public land
*On Earth Day 90 people rallied in down town Portland to oppose LNG development on our public lands. Demonstrators gathered together to call out LNG and pipeline promoters for their misuse of our public lands and ask the State of Oregon to deny necessary permits and land leases for LNG and pipelines.
*How will you take action?* All this month there are loads of
opportunities to volunteer for the campaign and participate in rally
lead-up events. Sign up to help out and turn up the pressure on NW
Natural
.
And be sure to attend our rally on Thursday, May 27^th at 1pm!
*Together we can stop Palomar!*
The Palomar pipeline is something that we have the power to stop. We can save Mt. Hood National Forest from a 47-mile long clearcut. We can protect local farms from losing productivity for a pipeline right-of-way. We can prevent heavy construction from endangering sensitive habitat. We can stop the development of the biggest fossil fuel project on the west coast. We can shield thousands of NW Natural ratepayers from increased gas costs caused by expensive LNG infrastructure and foreign-sourced gas. Together we can plug the pipe plans!
Monica Vaughan
(541) 521-1832
HeyNwNatural.org
twitter: HeyNwNatural
You couldn’t have asked for a better day to wave signs against the petro pigs who want to enslave local Molalla landowners to the BLAST ZONE Palomar pipeline. Well done Oregonians for coming out in droves to challenge NW NASTY company! And how wonderful to see new faces – PDX residents – coming out to decry NW NASTY.
Again – thanks so much (NOT!) to the City of Molalla for colluding with the petro pigs in the siting of Palomar. The local rural landowners gag whenever they hear “City of Molalla”. Shame on you Molalla for dropping this hoggish NW NASTY abuse on rural Molalla citizens! The City deserves its failure to thrive for foisting this abortion of a pipeline “further south”. As long as Palomar has any life left may the bird of FAILURE leave its droppings all over Molalla city hall – that is called KARMA.
(Quote):
Northwest Natural faces LNG protests at its annual meeting
By Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian
May 27, 2010, 6:55PM
Ted Sickinger/The Oregonian
Protesters outside the Oregon Convention Center today chanted slogans and made speeches questioning the need for additional LNG pipelines in the state.Northwest Natural Gas Co.’s annual meeting on Thursday once again became a referendum on importing liquefied natural gas to Oregon, despite the company’s best efforts to distance itself from controversial projects and focus on its strong financial performance.
More than 200 protesters rallied outside the Oregon Convention Center meeting site, chanting, waving placards at passing traffic, and listening to speeches from anti-LNG activists, including former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. Bradbury, the losing candidate in the democratic primary election for governor, arrived on his Segway and spoke to the crowd via bullhorn.
“I am very clearly opposed to the liquefied natural gas terminals, and I don’t support pipelines for liquefied natural gas terminals,” Bradbury told The Oregonian. “I don’t see any reason for us to become more dependent on foreign fossil fuels.”
Landowners, environmentalists and fishermen are urging the Portland-based gas utility to scrap its plans for a pipeline that was originally intended to serve a proposed LNG terminal on the Columbia River.
Backers of the Bradwood Landing LNG project east of Astoria suspended their development efforts earlier this month and filed for bankruptcy, citing permitting delays. LNG opponents want Northwest Natural to officially end the development of the Palomar pipeline, too.
NW Natural executives have said they now believe the likelihood of any LNG project being built in Oregon is low. But they insist the utility still needs a more diverse and reliable gas supply than provided by a single pipeline running through the Columbia River Gorge that serves 90 percent of customer demand in the Willamette Valley.
Consequently, the company still wants to build a cross-Cascades section of Palomar to connect an interstate pipeline near Maupin to a gas hub south of Portland. That section necessitate a construction easement the width of a freeway through private land and sections of the Mt. Hood National Forest.
The company has contemplated such a pipe for decades, but never been able to justify it as a standalone project. David Anderson, the company’s chief financial officer, said Thursday that demand growth from customers in the Willamette Valley over the years makes such a project more viable today, but acknowledged that the company still needs to demonstrate sufficient demand from its own ratepayers and other customers to get regulatory approval.
Project opponents have environmental concerns with any part of the Palomar pipeline. They contend it isn’t necessary, particularly as the operator of the existing pipeline in the Columbia River Gorge, Williams Northwest Pipeline, has already proposed a new pipe that would largely parallel its existing system and have less environmental impact.
Opponents also suggest that NW Natural is keeping its LNG options open in case anyone buys Bradwood’s federal license out of bankruptcy and restarts the project, or another proposed LNG terminal near Astoria — Oregon LNG — gets the go ahead. Oregon LNG’s proposed pipeline terminates at the same Molalla gas hub as the east section of Palomar, which would make Palomar the gateway for LNG to be shipped to out-of-state customers.
While NW Natural Chief Executive Gregg Kantor told shareholders definitively that the company had no discussions with Oregon LNG, opponents point to the fact that the company is proceeding with its original application for the entire length of Palomar.
Said Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of the conservation group Columbia Riverkeeper, “The application before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission doesn’t lie.”
NW Natural did deliver good financial news for shareholders. The company added customers, generated record earnings and increased its dividend in 2009 despite the severe economic downturn.
The earnings results were largely dependent on favorable regulatory treatment, as Oregon regulators allow the utility to share any savings if it can purchase gas cheaper than the prices used to set customers’ rates. Plummeting gas prices made that sharing mechanism lucrative last year, and also delivered lower rates for customers.
– Ted Sickinger
Here is a great account of the outrage inside the NW NASTY MEETING – reminds me a bit of the NASTY fake out “plannin’ hearins” held in Molalla where only one side was heard because the CIty of Molalla insisted it was their way or hit the highway. Yuck to both Molalla and NW NASTY. Gee, I guess the City of Molalla and NW NASTY all take their training from North Korea or the old Red China – you know, censorship and bullies running the show.
(Quote):
Protesters Disrupt NW Natural Shareholder Meeting
Today, approximately 300 people joined together outside the Oregon Convention Center to rally against the Palomar Pipeline at the NW Natural Annual Shareholder meeting. Rally participants were protesting a proposed 217-mile pipeline that would have connected the proposed Bradwood Landing LNG terminal on the Columbia River to the existing TransCanada pipeline in eastern Oregon. The crowd was made up of many impacted landowners, as well as people who have stated concerns about the impacts from the pipeline on Mt. Hood National Forest. Using colorful flags to represent three of the most prevalent reasons for opposing LNG, protestors held images of salmon, forests and farms. At a point when the shareholders were entering the meeting, a fabric “pipeline” dramatically snaked through the crowd pretending to knock down the “Oregon Values” flags.
Inside the Shareholders Meeting attendees were met with vague answers and misleading information about the NorthernStar Natural Gas bankruptcy and how that would affect shareholder investments. Greg Kantor, CEO of NW Natural, stated that the $17.2 million in debt owed to Palomar by NorthernStar Natural Gas would be “covered.” This gave cause for one participant in the meeting to stand and voice concerns about the reality of the impacts of NorthernStar’s Bankruptcy and the Palomar Pipeline. Olivia Schmidt, Community Organizer for the Anti-LNG Coalition and an invited guest of a shareholder in the meeting, stood and began asking questions.
“How is it possible that the $17 Million owed by NorthernStar will be repaid when we see from the bankruptcy filings that there are less than $1 Million in assets to liquidate to close that gap?” Schmidt continued to press on the issue, raising concerns about additional ambiguities in the stated plans of the company. “You say that you will continue permitting for the entire Palomar Pipeline despite the absence of the Bradwood Landing LNG terminal; does that mean that your pipeline will be re-routed to connect to the proposed Oregon LNG terminal?”
When Kantor gave Schmidt the option of either silencing herself and sitting down or leaving the room she chose to depart the meeting stating “I can only listen to so much dishonesty from this company and I’ve had my fill. There are 250 protestors outside this meeting demanding the cancelation of Palomar Pipeline because of the harm it will cause to Oregon families, our economy and Mt. Hood. You as shareholders are responsible for holding this company accountable.” She left the meeting willingly, but was escorted by 5 security personnel.
i guess the MO-LALLA PLANNING PO-LICE must be taking some time off in Molalla. Yesterday my eyes bugged out as I drove past that abandoned hulk that used to be Keith Brown Lumber. It was bad enough when it sported its “Going out of business” sign message for months – years! – after it went bankrupt.
But now, in the giant plywood covered windows (nice ghetto touch when windows get smashed for fun and “replaced” with ugly plywood, that shows a lot of pride – not) we get to read a haphazard message about a coming “GIANT SWAP MEET” planned for the space.
Really classy Molalla – I sat through years of idiotic plannin’ meetins’ with the plannin’ po-lice spouting them rules about “signage” and nuisances and “color palettes a la Shane”. But now, as we enter the land of TEAM’s “rebirth”of downtown, we are “treated” to a GIANT SWAP MEET site announced like graffiti in red spray paint on boarded up windows.
Nice touch there Molalla! Good way to “introduce” people to “downtown”. Heck – in these times it might be actually be the first honest kind of “signage” and cultural “touches” to show what Molalla has to offer.
TEAM, please be sure to have our new ghetto “SWAP MEET” open on second Fridays. People might actually find something to buy.
As far as the economy, and how Molalla’s mayor Clarke’s only claim to past fame was “we built houses”, note this quote from a noted economist about why “we built houses” was a really SHORT SIGHTED PATH. He notes that the slowest recoveries are those that follow a housing bubble (quote):
“William Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, had forecast private-sector job growth would be nearly flat in May. He said that, unlike stock bubbles, which pop quickly and often reinflate quickly, housing bubbles offer lingering downturns and slow recoveries.”
And the pathetic news is – Molalla’s hidebound “leaders” still don’t understand that building houses doesn’t build a real, solid, sustainable economy – or provide jobs or fully fund the services and infrastructure needed to sustain a community.
Here’s my idea for “saving’ old downtown” – I’ll even let TEAM use it for free:
I wonder how many storefronts we could cover with plywood “windows” with spray painted “signage” and get Molalla moving again? How many GIANT SWAP MEETS will it take to fill all those sad and crumbling downtown store fronts? Bring on the plywood and the cans of paint – how about a mural contest with spray paint to spruce the place up? We could import bus loads of graffiti punk artists from PDX, sell them inflated priced paint and a small fee to spray away – the fun could go on forever, given the current state of Molalla’s non- economic recovery. A new busload each week, more plywood, more paint, lots of cheap burgers and cokes. Maybe even have a brewfest to fuel the creative juices!
I know of a motorcycle race track south of town – maybe these racers could swarm in a la the Wild Bunch and add to the “fun” and the “ambiance”.
Just think of it – we could be billed the “Graffiti Capital of America”, the place where “What’s illegal everywhere else earns us an economy”.
Finally, did anyone notice the absurdity of the TEAM market survey results: the most marked statement in the Pioneer article was that, according to most store owners, NOTHING much had changed since the 2006 survey. In other words, the same problems and concerns noted in 2006 were still noted FOUR YEARS LATER.
Nice work TEAM – I sure am glad I don’t own a busniness and get strong armed into having to contribute yearly business fees to keep TEAM running backwards. If you couldn’t pump up Molalla durning the “boom” what do you REALLY expect the future to hold?
Read the entire New York Times lead story about the sorry state of the recession – the biggest debate seems to be whether it will take a REALLY LONG TIME to slowly recover – or whether we will soon GO BACKWARDS INTO WORSE RECESSION.
I’m getting my spray paint business ready, maybe going to corner the local market on plywood, too, just in case someone takes my “graffiti destination resort” advice seriously! Anyone know where I can lease that bus to bring in those “graffiti artists”? How soon can we get the brewfest set up and get those motorcycles roaring in?
I can feel it in my bones, where’s the phone # for TEAM? Molalla’s “economic” recovery could be just around the corner! And, believe me, given the non-success of TEAM to date, my bones could do a better job of “forecasting”. Just cover everything with “GIANT SWAP MEET” spray painted messages – successful “recovery” ahoy!
QUOTE: NEW YORK TIMES:
June 4, 2010
Job Data Casts Pall Over Economic Recovery
By MICHAEL POWELL
A shadow fell across America’s economic recovery on Friday, as the Labor Department’s monthly report showed that job growth was weak in the private sector, provoking a precipitous sell-off in the stock market.
The headline numbers for May suggested reason for optimism — employers added 431,000 jobs and the jobless rate fell to 9.7 percent, from 9.9 percent in April. But the underlying numbers showed that almost all of the growth came from the 411,000 workers hired by the federal government to help with the Census. Most of those jobs will end in a few months.
By contrast, the private sector created 41,000 positions, far short of expectations for 150,000 to 180,000 jobs. And the number of long-term unemployed, those Americans out of work for 27 or more weeks, remained at its highest level since the Labor Department began collecting such data in the 1940s.
The ailing American labor market and continued threatening economic news out of Europe — this time from Hungary, where a government spokesman raised the prospect of default — set the stock market on edge, as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 323.31 points, or 3.2 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index tumbled 3.4 percent, and the Nasdaq composite slid 3.6 percent.
Currency and commodity prices fell in tandem. The euro spiraled downward, dropping below $1.20 for the first time since early 2006. And the price of oil dropped to $71.51 a barrel.
The financial world has cast a wary eye at Europe for months, with attention fixed on the southern tier stretching from Greece to Spain and Portugal. But Friday offered a reminder that Eastern Europe was a frail reed, as a spokesman for the Hungarian prime minister said that the previous government had manipulated economic figures and that Hungary was in “a very grave situation.”
President Obama tried to put a gloss on the jobs report, telling workers at a trucking company in Hyattsville, Md., that the numbers showed an economy that was “getting stronger by the day.” Mr. Obama mentioned that Census Bureau hiring accounted for most of the new jobs, but he added that the nation had added jobs for each of the last five months. “These numbers do mean that we are moving in the right direction,” he said. “There are going to be ups and downs.”
In fact, the May figures suggested a job market wheezing after months of more vigorous growth. The economy must add more than 100,000 jobs a month just to absorb new workers entering the market. Those entrants — including a large batch of high school and college graduates — will join a labor pool swollen with 15 million Americans looking for work. As well, the report showed that hard-pressed city and state governments had begun to cut budgets and shed employees, a process that could accelerate sharply in coming months.
“It’s a very, very grudging labor market,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief economist for MFR Inc. “A growing amount of evidence now points to this recovery taking a long time.”
Several economists expressed concern about the shape of a future constrained by a weakening Europe and slow consumer spending. Robert Reich, who served as labor secretary for President Bill Clinton, placed the chance of the United States slipping back into recession at 50 percent; while his is a minority view, Mr. Reich gave voice to the more bearish take.
“The consumers are tapped out, we’ve got a fiscal drag from cities and states which are just beginning to lay off people in great numbers, and most of the buying has been consumers replacing household items — I just don’t see the oomph,” he said, in a view that drew some private assents from within the Obama administration Friday.
A sliver or three of hope could be found in the report. Manufacturers hired 29,000 workers last month, and both hours worked — 40.5 hours a week — and wages rose. Factory employment has risen steadily, by 126,000 jobs over the last five months, with fabricated metals and machinery particularly strong.
“Nothing in this report suggests that the recovery is in trouble — the markets need to get a grip,” said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group in New Jersey.
Growing numbers of Americans who had worked part time have found full-time work. And the Census jobs will put money into the pockets of the nation’s hard-pressed working and lower-middle class. As these workers have little margin for error, they will spend these dollars quickly.
But that, other economists said, described the limit of good news Friday. The number of long-term unemployed remained at about 6.7 million, accounting for 46 percent of the jobless rolls. And the number of “discouraged workers,” which is to say people not looking for work because they see no prospect of employment, rose by 291,000 from a year earlier.
William Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, had forecast private-sector job growth would be nearly flat in May. He said that, unlike stock bubbles, which pop quickly and often reinflate quickly, housing bubbles offer lingering downturns and slow recoveries. He says he does not believe the economy is so weak that it will fall into the ditch of a second recession.
But that is not to suggest he is particularly optimistic.
“We won’t have a second down, but it’s going to be grimly slow,” he said.
And, save for the hiring of Census workers and the rise in work hours, Heather Boushey, senior economist at the liberal Center for American Progress, saw little cause for cheer. Consumers account for 70 percent of American economic activity, she said, and people cannot spend what they cannot earn.
“At this point, it looks like the labor market is stabilizing into an L-shaped pattern, without sufficient job creation to bring unemployment down,” she said. “This would not only be devastating for workers and their families, but also threaten the path of the economic recovery over all.”
For now, the nation has more workers like Robert Mucha than at any time since the Depression. A Chicago-based engineer, the 43-year-old Mr. Mucha has been looking for work since losing his job in 2008. After putting in résumé after résumé, Mr. Mucha finally took a job as a Census worker.
He has no illusions about his future.
“I keep hearing about how there’s a job waiting around the corner, but I never seemed to get it,” he said. “And when I’m finished with the Census, I’ll be looking again.”
Helene Cooper and Christine Hauser contributed reporting.
There is going to be a fantastic new Green Acres / Beverly Hillbillies debate at City Council regarding whether or not to allow bee keeping in the city limits. It will probably be another absurd “only in Molalla” debate, like the “should we allow burning in the city limits” that ended up being a stalemate till someone in a dense area like Big Meadow burns down a sub-division and URBAN burning is finally properly banned.
Like plannin’ Potter’s CRAZY “equestrian estates” (where you can keep a horse three days a week before it has to go bye bye to “somewhere else”), I suggest that the city could allow the bees 1 day a week in one urban yard and then force the hive to walk on down the pike to the next yard, being certain to codify that the hive exactly follow the path of urban poison sprays. Then, there would be created a huge new business in downtown Molalla: bee keeping supplies, including a booming business to keep all those dead hives replaced as the toxins in the city and the lack of natural food sources kill the bees
And what a boom for that failing misnamed “urgent care” clinic (“urgent” needs to be replaced with “after hours low grade regular almost doctor care” – don’t go there if it is urgent or beyond what a school nurse can treat, but I digress). Think of all the visits to “urgent care” when Johnny in Big Meadow sticks his little fingers into the hive, or when Grannie gets swarmed on her front porch at the retirement home or when them urban bees come a swarmin’ into the laps of the folks dining at Hitchin’ Post.
A quick tip Molalla: you are SUPPOSED to be URBAN. We all realize that is a lesson that is hard for the CITY to accept – but it is overdue to stop trying to blur the line between URBAN AND RURAL.
URBAN: density, diverse housing, strip malls, traffic, high taxes, no farm production, no farm tractors, or hay making or cows, or turkeys, or pigs or horses or bees or u picks or Christmas tree farms. No burning, no wells, no septic. Hire a bus, take a field trip to a CITY like Canby or Silverton or PDX, maybe that can help the city “leaders” get a handle on URBAN.
RURAL: acreage, tractors, bees, chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows, horses, dust, spray, fertilizers, hay, nursery crops, field crops, wells, septic systems, no close neighbors, forests, wildlife, free running streams – you know, what it looks like when you LEAVE THE CITY LIMITS. You know, the place where people try to live sustainable lifestyles and protect natural resources for the future. The place where we grow FOOD and FUEL and enjoy our PRIVACY. I bet given the choice between a hive in Big Meadow and a hole in a tree in the rural lands the bees would make a bee line out of Molalla! Go bees, go rural!
Here’s a new good one from TEAM and their “great” (ha! ha!) “work” recruiting new “business” for Molalla.
It is a new “business” right downtown by the 4 way stop (near all the many great saloons! right near the great GUN STORE!) that should fit right in with StonePlace SECTION 8 apts. and the general sleazy ambiance of old downtown.
Quick! What’s your guess? What SLEAZY “business” would be dumb enough to “invest” in one of the ugly, crumbling, empty storefronts? What, oh what, might be the fruit of all that Second Friday fry bread jumpin’ and jivin” come on down with the family baloney?
HELLO, it is OFFICIAL: It is going to be a spankin’ new PAWNSHOP!!!
Le’t get a new banner over the 4-way saying:
“WELCOME TO FELONY FLATS”
In fact I’ll DONATE that name for our new groovy PAWNSHOP. Now the 4-way area has perfect symmetry: get drunk at one of those copious bars, buy a gun, hold someone up, pawn the loot, and get drunk again at a different bar, all within a couple of blocks at FELONY FLATS INTERSECTION.
Nice job TEAM! You really know how to “upgrade” a city! I can hardly wait to see the “customers” who patronize the PAWNSHOP.
Welcome to REALITY FOLKS – and how’s them there plans commin’ for that there HIGH END STEAK HOUSE, TEAM? Are you a goin’ to be a puttin’ that there HIGH END STEAK HOUSE in next to the FELONY FLATS district?
Seems there’s goin’ to be some money flowin’ in and out of that there PAWNSHOP and them there gun totin’ drunks might be a needin’ some HIGH END STEAK after all the work of drinkin’ and stealin’ and pawnin’ gets done. Let’s be a gettin’ that HIGH END STEAK a ready for some eatin’ at FELONY FLATS.
And speaking of TEAM, yesterday, after I saw TEAM’s letter praising the idiotic city for losing a MILLION DOLLARS on the SDC waiver I saw red. I was even more angry when I saw that the accountant I have used for years signed her name to that letter.
I believe in social justice. I believe that TEAM could give a crap about the conditions – the QUALITY OF LIFE – in the city. Almost all of the Board of Directors of TEAM live OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS, so they drive away every day and don’t have to worry about bad roads, lack of sidewalks and lack of parks inside the city limits. They could care less about FELONY FLATS. All they care about is bleeding the trapped city residents for $$$$$. Bleed the people, and head out of town!
So what did I do to show solidarity for the trapped residents who TEAM thinks don’t need SDCs for a better quality of life?
I called my accountant and I FIRED HER. I will find someone OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS OF MOLALLA to prepare my taxes next year. That accountant – who DOESN’T LIVE IN THE CITY – can kiss a couple of hundred dollars, or more, of my money goodbye. Next time maybe that accountant should think for a second about what the actions of TEAM represent.
Until TEAM wakes up and supports QUALITY OF LIFE OF EVERYONE then my $$$$$ are driving to other cities. Canby, Lake O, Silverton, Oregon City here I come with MY WALLET!
The richie fools of TEAM – the merchants who DON’T LIVE IN THE CITY! – deserve to be boycotted. That’s social justice! If the people of the city don’t deserve respect – when the city taxpayers have the burden for quality of life infrastructure shifted to them because SDCs aren’t charged and when urban renewal is imposed – then let’s cut the funds off where it hurts and take our money SOMEWHERE ELSE TO SPEND!
It might be symbolic but I wont give a cent to any greedy Molalla merchant or service provider who signs their name to a TEAM board of directors letter that disrespects QUALITY OF LIFE FOR EVERYONE.
While reading real estate information in today’s Sunday Oregonian I cam across a new rating tool for real estate buyers. It is called the “Walkability” rating (google “walkability.com” and you can type in any address to see how a city and its neighborhoods are rated).
I have written many times about changing demographic trends in American real estate. The ongoing trend is for middle class working families to choose neighborhoods close to markets, jobs, transit choices, and services. That equals Metro in our area. Suburban sprawl towns like Molalla have lost the race for family oriented living.
It was fascinating to punch in a couple of random addresses in the City of Molalla. On a ratings scale of 1-100 (100 best in walkability) an address on Mary Dr – not that far from Safeway and “old downtown” came in at only 51 on the scale. An address on S. Molalla Ave down by Dibble house was 61.
When I chose an address in Canby on Ivy Street the score was a whopping 92!
The wisdom of this new rating is that from $3,000 to $20,000 (or more!) is added FOR EACH POINT ON THE WALKABILITY SCORE!
Sadly, there is little, given the size of the Molalla market, to improve the score much here. It is now a vicious circle of planning failure here. If Molalla had skipped the idiotic “highway” development of Safeway Mall and kept ALL COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT in the old downtown area it wouldn’t have diluted the “walkability” factor. As it is, there is no way for people to walk to Safeway, no matter how close they live. Further, because Molalla has no balancing jobs and because the boom if long gone, there won’t be population growth on scale to attract further commercial business to provide more walkable choices. No matter how close a house is to Safeway Mall or even “old downtown” Molalla will still score relatively low on this important new tool for buyers exploring the desirability of a town based on quality of life. If there aren’t diverse parks, stores, restaurants, services, good local jobs, and public transit choices, then many buyers will pass over a town like Molalla.
Again, hindsight is perfect – but gee, wouldn’t it have been swell if someone had hired a REAL CERTIFIED PLANNER LONG AGO. I expect a REAL CERTIFIED PLANNER would have listened to DLCD when it said to concentrate development of stores and services in old downtown and to plan for the stalled low/no growth era that was certain to come. DLCD stated that in early 2007 – that Molalla’s growth would halt in the near future and that Molalla should concentrate on efficiency measures to use the land it already has for smart, compact growth.
Too bad no one listened. So party on Molalla – crap up more land with more dead end streets, turn a blind eye to the need for parks and open space, and most of all, keep failing to charge SDCs. Cling to your INCOMPETENT BULLY BOY BOZO “planner” with his inflated salary and zero customer service skills. You only have yourselves to blame when the rest of the world raises their “walkability” scores as your quality of life – and the value of your real estate – sinks like a stone.
I laughed as I drove by “Second Friday” last week. With temperatures approaching 100 it looked ridiculous to see people pretending to have fun on the BLACK TOP PARKING LOT NEXT TO CITY HALL. How pathetic that there isn’t even an open space/green space in old downtown. Have fun “playing” on the asphalt! I hope no one had to call 911 because there wasn’t any cooling shade! And hey, how about all those lines of parked cars – someone should post that picture on “walkability. com” – the score here would drop 20 more points!
The ‘REAL WORLD” marches forward with smart, compact growth planning – and Molalla sinks backward with a ship of fools leading the way!
See you soon for the urban reserves hearings at County – that’s something NOT TO BE MISSED! It will be HILARIOUS and TRAGIC at once: Hilarious to see PLANNIN’ BOZO try to defend what he has already been REPEATEDLY TOLD WON’T BE ALLOWED (is Molalla actually going to let plannin’ BOZO POTTER SPEAK at the County hearings? If so someone has to bring a video camera, I bet we could sell it as a “HOW NOT TO DO IT” video!!!) – and tragic to see more time and money wasted by our County professionals who are hard at work on SUSTAINABLE PLANNING WITH NEW CODES TO SUPPORT SMART, COMPACT, ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND EFFICIENT LAND USE.
Go County, go efficiency measures, go sustainability codes!!! And who has a good video camera, we have to get plannin’ BOZO talkin’ ON RECORD at the County hearings – HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!
Cheap is as cheap does – and cheating on quality of life planning got you a CHEAP CITY AND NOW YOU HAVE CHEAPER THAN CHEAP REAL ESTATE VALUES. Thank BOZO BULLY BOY Potter and his band of land speculators for that! And don’t say you weren’t warned LONG AGO ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES.
It’s funny to watch Urban Decay in Molalla and to watch the people here try to pretend it isn’t happening. With all the real estate websites it is easy to see the forclosures – and even today the # of empty homes (current 80 are empty in the city).
With Urban Decay and the refusal of families to commute the long distances to jobs (the real estate sites list the average commute for Molalla residents at over 30 minutes – one of the longest in the County) the school enrollment continues to shrink each year. The first #’s out of the District show the school census down over 170 students – with the middle school well under 600 students. So that means that that the District will likely show a LOSS of about 800 students in 4 years – matching the loss in property value with the end of the boom. It’s over due for a reality check – and to not go out on a financial limb “wishing” that growth will happen. Molalla is dead in the water – and deader than dead as long as it keeps “I don’t live here” temper tantrum prone “manager” Atkins and “I ruined the town with BAD PLANNIN’ ” pretend planner incompetent of all incompetents Potter sitting in city hall. Run screaming tax payers – don’t let the city get its greedy wasteful mitts on your hard earned money.
The Golden Triangle of Urban DECAY lives at the 4 way stop with the pawnshop, the gun store, the bars and the coming feature – a full time Flea market at Keith Brown. Good job Molalla – when is the tattoo parlor and the adult “entertainment” store coming to old downtown? TEAM must be working overtime to “create” this disaster – what family in its right mind would consider trooping into this urban jungle?
As we continue to watch Molalla decay and shrink, the writing on the wall is SCREAMING about plannin’ Potter and his band of greedy speculators coming failure at County over the 2,400 acres of bogus urban reserves (that Potter wasted a fortune of YOUR public monies “plannin”). Here is a hilarious counter point – Oregon City is begging METRO to REMOVE land for residential expansion! In the aast cities in METRO begged to get land in – and now the bust has Mayor Alice Norris saying “I don’t think Oregon City can say with a straight face” that it needs more residential land. Ha ha ha incompetent Potter and manager Atkins, the over paid, hair trigger temper guy who let incompetent Potter waste money plannin’ absurdities! If Oregon City isn’t growing then rest assured that MOLALLA IS SHRINKING AND WON’T BE NEEDING ANY NEW BOGUS URBAN RESERVES. See you at the County hearing where the POTTER CIRCUS will be the laughing stock of the state!
Here’s the entire article from the 9-11-2010 Oregonian – read it and weep Atkins and Potter – you BLEW IT AGAIN! What a bunch of DUMMIES -and the citizen’s should be up in arms about the WASTE OF TAX FUNDS TO PAY AN INCOMPETENT TO PLAN GARBAGE!
Quote:
oregonlive.com
Oregon City says it doesn’t need more land for housing
Published: Friday, September 10, 2010, 5:35 AM
Steve Mayes, The Oregonian Steve Mayes, The Oregonian
Oregon City commissioners decided last week that the town has enough residential land for now and won’t need more in the near future.
This year, Metro is considering how much to expand the Portland-area land supply. The regional agency is required to maintain a 20-year supply of residential land and makes adjustments every five years.
Metro has identified about 8,300 acres of suitable land.
There is one Oregon City parcel on the list: a 573-acre parcel east of town. The site is divided by South Maplelane Road.
Oregon City commissioners voted unanimously to ask Metro to exclude the land from its urban growth boundary expansion.
The commission also rejected requests by three landowners who want their property added to the Metro list.
“I don’t think Oregon City can say with a straight face” that it needs more residential land, Mayor Alice Norris said.
The demand for buildable lots has fallen dramatically in the past two years said Tony Konkol, community development director.
None of the 950 acres brought into the city’s urban growth boundary in 2002 and 2004 has been developed. Oregon City residents have been reluctant to approve annexations, and without voter approval, the land can’t be developed.
The city has 375 new residential lots. A major redevelopment at Clackamette Cove may add 180 condos and a 216-unit apartment complex.
Since January 2009, the city has issued 169 home-building permits.
During that same period, land-use requests for more lots dried up. The city approved just 13 new lots.
– Steve Mayes
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Oh! Help! ONLY in Molalla would such a “leader” step forward and only in Molalla would we say GO FOR IT!
Councilor Needham, who must know he would have a better chance to sprout wings and fly to the moon than he does to become a Clackamas County Commissioner, has come out of the closet to say he is now running for BOTH Commissioner and MOLALLA MAYOR.
Needham couldn’t even afford to post info in the Voter’s Guide – that in itself is a total kiss of death to his Commissioner chances. And by the way, none of the City Council candidates from Molalla bother to buy a spot either.
But spread the word: KICK CLARKE OUT OF OFFICE BY WRITING IN NEEDHAM FOR MAYOR. Needham couldn’t govern a County but no one could do a worse job as Mayor than CLUELESS MIKE CLARKE.
NEEDHAM FOR MAYOR!
Another business to BOYCOTT IN MOLALLA! The man who owns WITHERS LUMBER has written an inane letter of support for IDIOT RIDGE MOTOCROSS FAKE “PARK”. The letter is on file at Clackamas County Planning. I was so looking forward to buy all my lumber and building supplies in Molalla but I will be more than happy to go to Canby or Oregon City in the future.
May a MOTOCROSS TRACK LAND NEXT TO WHEREVER WITHERS LIVES – and I’ll take my dollars somewhere else.
MOLALLA 2009
Population 7,590
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2009 Population Estimates
This is another funny fact – Potter has apparently “pumping up” the census in the 10 years between official counting. This is off the federal census site – I’d be budgeting for some new “SHRINKING MOLALLA” population signs. Not lookin’ too good for that pumped population for 50 years, is it Potter?