Thanks to two years of spending cuts, rate hikes, pay freezes, even a little accounting magic, Portland received some good financial news on December 8. Current projections for the city's 2011-2012 budget show a surplus of more than $21 million. "It is a positive but awkward situation this government finds itself in," Mayor Sam Adams said, noting that the surplus comes "as other governments"—like the state of Oregon—"are cutting." But don't expect heaps of cash to start raining down from city hall. The surplus is a onetime present, with much of the money earmarked for two priorities: savings to cushion against cuts in future years, and funding what's known as Portland's "shadow" budget, a list of ongoing city expenses that must compete every year for leftover cash. DENIS C. THERIAULT
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As promised, Mayor Sam Adams on Friday, December 10, mapped out his plans to study whether Portland should rejoin the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. The so-called "work plan" will consider questions including how last month's arrest of terrorism suspect Mohamed Osman Mohamud would have gone differently under the auspices of the task force and whether the FBI has improved its judicial record since the city withdrew in 2005. A public hearing has been tentatively scheduled for late February. Adams' plan also would submit the city council to work sessions with experts and advocacy groups like the ACLU of Oregon and others. DCT
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The Willamette River is another step closer to getting its first new bridge in 35 years. At its board meeting, TriMet approved spending $127 million on the so-called Caruthers Bridge, a white, swoopy span for transit, bikes, and pedestrians, which would carry the planned MAX Orange Line from downtown to Southeast Portland, where it would link to Milwaukie. But the project isn't in the clear financially—TriMet's still scrambling to fill a $35 million budget gap. Public transit activists are critical of the project, arguing that TriMet shouldn't spend millions to expand while it's also cutting back on service. SARAH MIRK
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A report on Portland's economy, commissioned by the heaviest-hitting members of the region's business community (including the Portland Business Alliance and the Port of Portland), offered an incredibly dismal assessment of the city's attempts to position itself as the nation's leading hub of green, high-tech innovation. Instead of comparing Portland to presumed peers like Seattle, Denver, and Minneapolis—we lag each in income, affordability, manufacturing, and education—leaders ought to get more realistic, the report says, and start making nice with the business community. The money line? "Our falling incomes now make us more like Pittsburgh and Cleveland." Ouch. DCT
