The second time’s a charm for the water activists and industrial ratepayers who’d like to snatch Portland’s water and sewer systems away from city council.
The Portland Auditor’s Office on Friday gave a constitutional thumbs up to a proposal that would create an independent elected board, the Portland Public Water District. It’s an early, but crucial, step in the fairly involved process of getting an initiative petition before Portland voters.
Backers of the effort, a group called Portlanders for Water Reform, initially submitted paperwork on July 18, but had to pull back when (partly because of questions from the Mercury) they realized the measure contained potentially serious typos. The group refiled on July 26. It needs 30,000 signatures to land the measure on the May 2014 ballot.
With the blessing of city elections staff, the City Attorney’s Office will craft ballot language, which could then be appealed by the effort’s foes.
Supporters of the new water district also have registered with Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown’s office to form a fundraising committee. The group’s already been proactive about soliciting donations, recruiting a prominent Republican fundraiser to cajole cash with tales of water rate abuse. No campaign finance activity is listed yet.
The proposal amends the city charter to create a seven-member board that would become an arm of the city, answerable to no one but the electorate. The unpaid members would serve three-year terms, and their only task would be administering Portland’s water and sewer systems.
Proponents argue water and sewer rates need an independent eye, and say council has badly misused ratepayer money in the past. But the measure already has its share of opponents, too, including much of Portland City Hall. Only Mayor Charlie Hales and Commissioner Dan Saltzman have yet to come out against the effort, which their colleagues paint as a bid by big business to take over the city’s water and sewers.
The city commissioners are also democratically elected and therefore directly answerable to the electorate. Howsabout we address our concerns with them, instead of creating an additional layer of bureaucracy replete with necessary support staff.
Also, seven -unpaid- members? Really? I could scarcely think of a better way to hand our water infrastructure decisions over to special interests who would have the time, money, and motivation to run for this office.
Since when are politicians answerable to the electorate? We have some of the highest water rates in the country. I can scarcely think of a better functioning monopoly than the one we have now.
Is there a link to the text of the proposal? In their first draft they forgot that the city extends beyond I205.
Come on @Spindles, the fact that Phoenix – for instance -has lower rates for water has little to do with our city’s ability to manage PDX’s water system. Water rates should be substantially higher _everywhere_ including here.
Follow the money – who benefits by privatizing the water system. You guessed it – big businesses that would love nothing more than to pay less for the ability to drain our water system and pump toxic crap into the treatment system.
Eff them. We’ve fucked enough natural resource systems, let’s not go there so quickly with our stellar water.
“Water rates should be higher – including here”
I really don’t know how to respond to such sound reasoning….