The record · Transcript
Council Session — 2026-09-03
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This recessed Portland City Council meeting, dated September 3, 2026, reconvened at 2:01 p.m. with roll call establishing attendance of the full body. Rules of decorum for testimony were read, and the presiding officer noted a heavy agenda including carryover items and outlined time constraints for the day. A moment of recognition was offered for a public figure's passing. The City Administrator delivered a monthly report covering the Immigrant Affairs Lead position's move into his office, ongoing litigation involving a Portland ICE facility, federal immigration enforcement data (figures were stated inconsistently across the report), the I-5 southbound closure preparations, utility and infrastructure updates, a credit rating improvement, and a leadership transition in Portland Solutions. Councilors asked follow-up questions on 311 call center hours, rental assistance and eviction prevention funding, and requested additional reporting appendices. The Council then took up a resolution directing the City Administrator to negotiate with Albina Vision Trust as a development partner for city-owned properties near the Moda Center; extensive invited and public testimony was heard, overwhelmingly supportive, followed by council discussion and a vote, with results recorded in the vote ledger. The Council then began a separate resolution regarding a proposed Portland State University performing arts venue and the future of the Keller Auditorium, hearing extensive divided public testimony from proponents and opponents before adjourning without reaching council discussion or a vote on that item, which was carried over to a future meeting.
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0 Good afternoon. I am calling back to order this recessed meeting of the Portland city council. It is Thursday, September 3rd at 2:01 p.m. Keelan. Can you please take the roll?
1 Good afternoon. Koyama Lane here. Aye, Morillo. Novick here. Clerk. Here. Green. Here. Zimmerman. Here. Amylose.
2 We cannot hear you. Councilor Avalos but we can see you.
3 Okay, good. Smith here. Kanal here. Pirtle-guiney here. Ryan here.
4 Dunfee here. And can we please read the rules of decorum for the chamber?
5 Welcome to the Portland city council to testify before council in person or virtually. You may sign up in advance on the council agenda at www.Portland.gov/councilor/agen. Information on engaging with council can be found on the council clerk's web page. Individuals may testify for three minutes unless the presiding officer states. Otherwise, your microphone will be muted when your time is over, the presiding officer preserves order. Disruptive conduct such as such as shouting. Refusing to conclude your testimony when your time is up, or interrupting others testimony or council deliberations will not be allowed. If you cause a disruption, a warning will be given. Further disruption will result in ejection from the meeting. Anyone who fails to leave once ejected is subject to arrest for trespass. Additionally, council may take a short recess and reconvene virtually. Your testimony should address the matter being considered when testifying. One state your name for the record. Your address is not necessary. Two if you are a lobbyist, identify the organization you represent. Three virtual testifiers should unmute themselves when the council clerk calls your name. Thank you.
6 Thank you very much. So for those paying attention at home, but mostly to my colleagues up here on the dais, we have some carryover from yesterday that has been placed, as per usual, at the end of our agenda. We did not finish our conversation on zenith. We had anticipated that and actually had built time into this agenda for that carryover. However, there are more than 50 people signed up for item number nine, and there are more than 30 people signed up for item number eight. So it will be a very tight timeline. There is still likely more testimony than we can actually accommodate today. We will get to absolutely everybody. We just may not get to council deliberations and conversation and votes. If items are not able to be completed today, they will start at the beginning of the agenda next week. Additionally, yesterday went very, very, very long as since the budget season ended, I had stopped tracking councilors individual times on a time on my stopwatch. I'm going to be bringing that back today. We need to get through this agenda. And councilors will be given five minutes per councilor Per turn, including responses. But councilors are always welcome to get back in the queue. Before we turn it over to the city administrator for an update on his monthly administration report, I'd like to turn it over to vice president Clark.
7 Thank you, council president. Thank you for giving me just a moment to recognize. Take a few minutes to recognize gloria steinem, who passed away, I think yesterday. That's a very meaningful name for a lot of us in this room. She was a trailblazer for women's rights, having dedicated her life to women's freedom. She was an outspoken advocate for women's reproductive freedom. As someone who actually sought out an illegal abortion in the 1950s. Earlier in her journalism career, she went undercover, if you recall, as a playboy bunny, to expose the poor working conditions in the famous playboy clubs. And this began her trajectory as a feminist icon. As a journalist, she co-founded miss magazine, a platform where women's rights were front and center. Gloria steinem was an inspiration to me personally and millions of women worldwide, empowering us to expect more and fight for what we deserve. She wore many hats a journalist, a writer and activist, and she was our symbol in the fight for equality. I hope we can all take a minute to reflect on her work towards women's rights and social justice. May she rest in power and know her fight was not in vain, and we will keep her legacy alive by continuing to fight for the change we need in this world. Thank you.
8 Thank you, vice president Clark. Can we.
9 Are you okay?
10 Can we please call our time? Certain item number seven.
11 Yeah. Sorry. Item seven, document 2026-295. September 2026. City administrator update.
12 Mr. City administrator, turning it to you for an update. Though this is not your fault. I will ask for this to be a brief presentation today because we are on a tight timeline, so take it away.
13 You don't have to tell me twice. I will just do this case report and just talk about a few key items, but really spending more time on kind of federal response. Update. Thank you, council, for this opportunity. Before I begin with this, let me scroll. Here we go. First, as of this week, the immigrant affairs lead position has moved officially into my office. Now her responsibilities and partnerships will remain the same, and we will expect this move to strengthen her ability to coordinate and implement the city's sanctuary initiatives across the bureaus. The city's land use enforcement process involving the Portland ice facility is still moving through the courts. In July, the city's hearings officer upheld the violation, finding the county circuit court has set a hearing date of November the 20th to consider the appeals filed by the building owner. As a reminder, the hearing officer ruled against the building owner and the owner appealed the matter to the circuit court by filing several writs of review at the hearing on November the 20th. The court will consider those appeals. Legal. Briefs will be filed by both parties in advance of that hearing. We are also seeing continued federal immigration enforcement activities across Oregon. Nearly newly released data from the deportation data project, obtained through federal federal records requests, show that federal agents arrested more than 700 people in Oregon as of August the 6th, compared to with 462 during the first eight months of 2025. Perk reported 85 detentions as of August the 29th, putting August on track to have the highest number of reported detentions since 2026. One development we are watching closely is the use of what we're called mega master hearings. These are immigration court hearings where very large number of people are scheduled. At the same time, some hearings have also been rescheduled with little notice when someone is missing a hearing, the court can issue a deportation order right away because the person was not present for their hearing at these circumstances, as circumstances evolve, we want to make sure the city can respond quickly with clear information, meaningful language access and strong partnerships with the community, organizations and legal providers already doing this work. I will continue to provide updates as we monitor federal immigration activity and the impacts on our community as a whole. Now, I will share just a few highlights from the report, and then the d, c, a, s and myself are here to answer any questions you may have. I want to focus on I-5 southbound closure. As you know, this large ODOT project is scheduled to begin next Friday. As we talk about in a recent work session, teams across the city have been working together to prepare for this closure. We want to continue to provide excellent services to our community, from emergency management work and to support our employees through this closure period. I want to share some other updates on bts in water are supporting field staff and working on strategies such as stage generations and emergency vehicles are turning to fuel locations and adjusting, hauling and sampling new schedules to try to help with this event as well. Only other thing I would like to share with you too as well, and this is really a shout out to our cfo in the debt management team and our underwriting and legal partners, and structuring and execution of this transaction. And just thank you to the investors who continue to place their confidence in the city and provide us with capital to build critical infrastructure for Portland. This is really surrounding our improvement. Credit rating that we saw came through last month. That was really kudos to our staff for really managing our resources in a responsible manner. And lastly, I wanted to take another moment to thank our former Portland solutions director, sky, for her incredible service to the city and welcome hank Smith to the interim director role over Portland solutions.
14 Thank you very much, mr. City administrator. We have some councilors in the queue, starting with vice president Clark.
15 Thank you. Council president, I just wanted to thank you, administrator lee, for including both the budget note update on utility rates, which is coming to public works in the next few weeks. And also, thank you for highlighting partnerships. Next Tuesday, the public works committee is going to be talking about something we call partnership for portland's public spaces, and I'm hoping that you will consider a potentially a citywide partnership strategy that extends beyond parks to all the other bureaus, and potentially even consider having that in your office. But that's for a future conversation. I just want to thank you, because the world really goes around here with volunteers and public private partnerships. So I appreciate your recognizing that. Thank you.
16 Thank you, vice president Clark councilor Kanal.
17 Thank you, council president, just before I get into the questions, I have a lot of questions on this month's report. Would it be possible for me to invite you because you're normally there anyway to the committee the whole next week to continue? And I'll just ask one today. Okay, I appreciate that. Is that all right with you, council president? And I assume the clerks will offers only to. Okay. Thank you. The one question I wanted to ask is at the top of page three. It mentions a reduction in hours to 311. In spite of the fact that council voted to provide enough money to retain hours at 311. And I had concern about this for the somewhat obvious reasons that we put money into it. I understand that the the fact that it's it was one time is a challenge. I also understand that you might have to at least temporarily reduce it until a limited term position could be created, but I'm curious why it is framed as as effectively this was meaningless. And it's a permanent reduction in hours. So could I get a ideally, there'd be a a time at which you're posting it and then limited duration will come back and get the the hours back.
18 Yes, the hours will come back. This is a temporary situation where the hours will be reduced until we're able to get the position filled.
19 Okay. And do you have a rough idea? I would of when that would be.
20 I can follow up with you with that scheduling.
21 Okay. I am aware that hr has processes that need to be followed, and I'm also aware that the city administrator's prioritization of it might be helpful for that. So I appreciate it. And while I have the floor, I'll just mention there right below that is an item for those who may be interested in helping steward the future of our fire and police disability and retirement program. The board of trustees is recruiting through September 27th, and it's on page three of the report, as well as at government. Jobs has a recruitment there as well. Thanks.
22 Thank you. Councilor Kanal councilor Avalos.
23 Can you hear me now?
24 We can hear you now. Yes.
25 Okay. Thank you. I had a question about the implementation of the keep Portland house ordinance. So one, I have heard some concerns from community about getting access to the rental assistance dollars, and wanted to know if you had an update on how that proud progress has gone. And then two. It was my understanding that since we sent the rental assistance money over to the county, because they were better suited to get those dollars out that we were going to be receiving eviction prevention money to the city for similar reasons. I'm curious where that.
26 Councilor let me follow up. In a memorandum to you, because we just did received some information as it relates to the housing dollars itself, but I'll follow up with you with a full write up on it.
27 Is there anything you can tell me now? About what? What does that mean? You you said you've received some information. That sounds ominous. What do you mean?
28 That means we receive some updates on.
29 Turn your mic on because.
30 Oh, sorry. Just an update on our resources that we already sent over to county. We've got an update on how those funds are being expensed. We will follow up in the full memorandum though to you. On the other points, though, just for the essence of time.
31 Okay.
32 Okay. Thank you. Councilor Avalos. Councilor. Koyama Lane.
33 Very, very quickly. I wanted to quickly second vice president clark's comments about the updates on utility rate setting. Really looking forward to that presentation coming to public works. I know that many of my colleagues are concerned about the rising costs of living, and are looking for ways to decrease the impacts on portlanders, and I think this is an area where I believe all of the council members can work collaboratively together.
34 Thank you, councilor Koyama Lane councilor Aye, Morillo.
35 Thank you, council president. I'll be really brief because I know we have limited time today and lots of folks eager to testify. I really appreciated the portion of the report that talked about the contracts and igas, and I just wanted to put a request in that we add another appendix that lists the current open request for proposals, RFP s or the rfi or fbs notices of funding availability, because there's been, I think, some lack of information for the council about different RFP s and things that are coming up for us and making sure that we can be included in that information sharing would be really helpful. Thank you.
36 Thank you, councilor Morillo, city administrator. I would just ask that I'd be interested in the memo that you'd be sending to councilor Avalos as well, and I'm sure the rest of the council would also be interested, because we spent months talking about those dollars and are excited to see the good work that is being done. So thank you very much. I see no other councilors in the queue. Thank you, mr. Administrator. Can we please move to item number eight.
37 Document 2026-285. Direct the city administrator to advance a process to identify a development partner for city owned properties adjacent to the moda center.
38 This is a resolution that came out of the city life committee. We have claire adams council operations here for a committee staff summary report. Oh, no it's not. Hi. Hi, kevin. I don't remember your last name.
39 Good afternoon, council president, councilors. For the record, my name is kevin alvarez, and I serve as a council policy analyst for the city life committee. The resolution before you document number 2026-285 heard in the city life committee on August 11th, 2026. The document advanced to full council on August 11th, 2026, with a recommendation that it be adopted. So what this resolution does, it states that the city administrator anticipates selecting a new development partner to advance vertical development of the city owned properties adjacent to the moda center and the veterans memorial coliseum. Following execution of a new long term lease for the moda center and directs the city administrator to negotiate with albina vision trust for the opportunity to serve as a partner. It establishes the qualifications expected of a development partner, including a community oriented mission, demonstrated experience in real estate financing and development, the ability to bring significant philanthropic or private investment and experience advancing the public interest of the city's adopted objectives for the area. It further directs that the process consider the organization's development vision, the relationship to the broader rose quarter and lower albina area compatibility with the event campus, the monetary value of development rights, and any anticipated public financial support. Additionally, the resolution addresses the partnership structure, disposition, strategy, timeline, roles and responsibilities, and key milestones. Binding agreements return to the city council for consideration on a timeline concurrent with the long term lease for the moda center, and negotiations may not exceed 12 months from commencement. The resolution does not convey the properties, transfer, development rights or appropriate funds on amendments. One amendment was approved by the city life committee on August 11th, 2026. The effects of which can be read in detail in the committee staff summary posted online on impact statements. The full impact statement on this item includes financial and budgetary impacts, economic and real estate development impacts, community impacts and community involvement. 100% renewable goal and economic and real estate development analysis. No verbal or written testimony was provided prior to committee action. And that concludes the committee staff summary for this item.
40 Thank you very much. Councilor pirtle-guiney, this you are both a co-sponsor and this came out of your committee. Before I turn it to your other co-sponsors, some committee chair remarks.
41 Do you want me to do these separately or just lead right into my co-sponsor remarks? Also.
42 You go nuts.
43 Okay. That was a fantastic overview. Thank you. This is something that we took up in committee and incorporated some amendments to ensure that there was a bit of time certainty. There were some questions about how long negotiations could last, and we assured that up in committee. So thank you for the overview. And kevin, I think this might be your first time presenting something here. And you actually weren't even with our committee at that point. So we appreciate you jumping in and are looking forward to working with you. Thank you, council president, if I may, I'll launch into some co-sponsor remarks. And then.
44 You turn it over to your colleagues.
45 That work. Okay. So colleagues, today we are at the threshold of a truly momentous opportunity as the city embarks on our negotiations for a long term lease for the moda center, we are also invited to envision what happens to the land around the moda center in this space. A transformational, community led restoration is already underway. We have a chance to help shape the future, a future where the rose quarter and lower albina are not only individually revitalized, but where they meet in a place where, in a place which can be a beacon of what our city can accomplish. When we act boldly and strategically, together and with community. The construction of I-5 and decades of urban renewal displacement removed thousands of black portlanders, black homeowners, black owned businesses from lower albina. The consequences of those decisions are still clear today. While we can't undo this history, we can make different choices about what comes next, and the resolution before us asks the city to begin a process of intentionally identifying and negotiating with a development partner for city owned parcels surrounding moda center and veterans memorial coliseum. By establishing a clear set of expectations for what we want in a potential development partner, we're asking for a partner with a community oriented mission, demonstrated development and financial experience, the ability to bring significant outside investment to the table, and a track record of advancing the public interest. Because these are right now, public properties. Importantly, the resolution acknowledges that there is an organization which fits these criteria, which has already come to the city and expressed an interest in these parcels. Albina vision trust is interested in doing this work with us and has a vision for what the future of these parcels could be. Albina vision trust has spent years not only developing a comprehensive vision for the restoration of lower albina, building relationships, partnerships and an investment strategy necessary to turn that vision into a reality. But that reality, that project, is already underway. There are. Restorative redevelopment of lower albina is one of the most transformative projects happening in our city today. With the resolution before us, we can take a step toward ensuring that, alongside the important decisions we have been debating about the moda center itself, the city is advancing restorative development, creating opportunities for community wealth building and supporting a more vibrant, connected lower albina. Right alongside that work, I am immensely proud to support and co-sponsor this resolution honoring the history of the neighborhood, while creating the conditions for people who live here to benefit from its future. I want to thank my fellow d2 councilors for championing this work with me, and thank the many incredible individuals and organizations who are here today, who have been a part of this work and are stepping up to be a part of the next chapter of it. There's a lot of work to do, but I hope that as we hear from these organizations, we can gain the rest of your support. I do want to note in closing, that I am going to have to go remote for part of our meeting today, and I apologize that I won't be in person to hear all of the testimony, but I will be online listening and appreciate everybody who is here to talk about this important decision before us. With that, I would like to turn it over to my co-sponsors to add their words of introduction as well.
46 Thank you, councilor Pirtle-guiney. Thank you, council president, colleagues. Thanks, everybody for being here before. Since you mentioned testimony, I did also want to ask the council president if we can be deferential to. We have an elected official who'd like to give testimony. Commissioner singleton just her schedule. When we get to that, in terms of the ordering within the normal testimony frame. Thank you. Yeah, I'm very excited to be a part of this conversation with everyone here and to have worked with both councilors, Ryan and pirtle-guiney, in championing this together and grateful to the city life committee. Just before the recess for discussing this and forwarding it on to the full council with a five zero vote. I appreciate the conversation because it is important for us to constantly remember as we talk about something development in the area from an economic lens and from a civic pride lens, to keep it focused on the specific region that we're talking about, to keep it focused on albina, it is impossible to separate the conversation there from a history of displacement, and this provides an opportunity for us as a city. And I don't just mean a city government, a capital c city or a council, I mean the entire city to create a new story written collaboratively by the people of albina and of the city at large, a future in which the surrounding neighborhood shares in the future prosperity we see in the rose quarter today will be an opportunity to continue centering equity and community, and to lay out a direction framework for how we move forward with restorative development. And as my colleague mentioned, when you look at the requirements in our existing rules as well as in the resolution itself, community oriented mission leadership with demonstrated experience in real estate financing, development and securing partnerships, and bringing significant philanthropic and private investment to the table, as well as advancing our adopted objectives for the region. Specifically, that conversation cannot possibly exclude albina vision trust, and so I'm very grateful for the opportunity to to talk about this with you and for us to take a vote that eventually, which will show that we're living our values through a good faith commitment to pursue partnership with albina vision trust. And I'm looking forward to seeing what I'm sure we're going to hear from them with more information as well on redeveloping these parcels in the future. Take it away, councilor Ryan.
47 Thank you. Thank you, kevin, first of all for the overview. And thank you, chair pirtle-guiney, for the further framing of this important step to move this restorative economic development work forward. And it's always wonderful when the three of us can come together in lockstep to move something that's really a big deal forward. You know, by division, trust has been at the helm, reimagining the revitalization of lower albina for about a decade, and I was able to hear about that before I was on council with much excitement. And then since I've been on now almost six years, it's been a really methodical process. In fact, I remember the meetings where I said, you and the blazers need to be at the same table together. So if you just travel north of the motor center, you can see the hard work that's taking shape. So congratulations buying a vision trust and all three d2 councilors. We've been proud to figure out how to integrate this as we move forward with the moda center work. Timing is everything. We can add up to ten parcels again, and a welcome part of the larger neighborhood. Plan to restore the area and bring economic opportunity into Portland. Ab objectives are intertwined with the city's. As a council has previously affirmed. They also emphasize supporting youth and children, which is so very important, of course, to our city's future. I'm just really proud to be a co-sponsor of this and support this resolution so we can keep the momentum going and not lose a step at this important time. And again, this is not just for north Portland, for district two. This is an economic development engine for the entire city. Thank you.
48 Thank you councilor. So colleagues I'm going to hold on technical or clarifying questions to the part with council discussion. And I'm going to turn it over to councilor Pirtle-guiney to call up some invited testimony to get us started.
49 Thank you, council president. And with your permission, we have two panels of invited testimony. For the first panel, we will hear from some of the community partners that are leading on the work in this region. And for the second panel, we will hear from some of our fellow elected leaders who also represent this area. So first, I'd like to call up one to johannes trent aldridge, d'artagnan kalman, andrew collins and azalea. Azalea. Renfield. I apologize as leah, when I'm reading it, it's different.
50 I know we've got some folks and maybe some of the overflow rooms as well, so.
51 We'll go ahead and get started.
52 I would defer to you on the order.
53 Okay? Okay. Yeah, I know that the other folks are making their way, so we'll go ahead and get started. Good afternoon councilors. My name is winter johannes. I have the privilege of serving as the executive director of the albina vision trust. Before I begin, I'd like to acknowledge and appreciate the leadership of our d2 councilors. Thank you for helping us move forward from rhetoric to action. We would not be here without you. I'd also be remiss to not share my appreciation for councilor Smith's steadfast commitment to albina and councilor Avalos for strengthening today's resolution. All of you have heard me talk about the tactile and spiritual legacy of albina, and I know a lot of folks will talk about the history and future, so I'd like to focus my remarks on just a few key points. Our work fundamentally started with a commitment to not start the story in the middle. And in that spirit, I think it's important that we acknowledge that the resolution before you today is nearly a decade in the making. It was nearly 15 years ago that Portland was fortunate enough to benefit from the visionary leadership of rakaia adams, who catalyzed the spirit and imagination of the entire city by helping us to reclaim the identity of albina and ensuring that its future would be built around the safety and prosperity of black and brown children. Early on, the albina vision recognized that the business models of nearly everyone in the district would be changing, and we had the opportunity to either witness the change or lead the transformation. We chose the latter, and in the years since, we've worked methodically to bring both private and publicly owned land under community control. Our boundaries are constrained and focused, which is why we are the obvious partner for the city, for the redevelopment of the city owned sites. We have had intentional partnerships and investments in this area, and have been willing to do the arduous work, including fundraising for the planning studies, providing the local match so that the city of Portland could take advantage of federal funding. Doing parking studies with the blazers. This is the obvious and next step with the city council president. Is it okay if I take 30s to wrap up? Thank you. I'll just get to the closing here. You know, in Portland, we're often forced between a false choice. We either talk about equity endlessly with no action, or we are asked to rebrand crumbs as fortunes. We can reject both. And the partners in the room today are here to affirm that all of us are deeply invested in this collective effort to rebuild albina and the albina vision trust is one part of this bigger effort to do that. We know that our greatest currency is trust, and the breadth of the organizations here today reflect that. The grandness of our vision has never been about the fancy architectural renderings. We know that the people of Portland are grand, and that it is time to build a central city neighborhood that reflects that. The people are beautiful already. So thank you for your consideration and support.
54 Cool. Thank you. Good afternoon, councilor, president, councilor, vice president, and all councilors at the dais. My name is azalea winfield. I'm the ceo of russell. You know, when I came here, I had a whole script, but I want to throw it out. I want to speak honestly and truthfully from the heart. This is truly nothing more than opportunity meets preparation. As went to said before, this work has been already happening before we even have this opportunity zone. This is such a beautiful moment right now. I want to make sure I come down personally to be here in the council chambers with you all, to share this moment of something that's going to be transformative. When we think about community benefit, what's so beautiful about our city is that people are watching. Albina vision trust is a nationally recognized organization that happens to be in our city. Limit their ability to raise funding, to work in community, to gain notoriety and respect is unprecedented. When you think about the dedication and the folks that sit here on my right and left, that we all come here as a united force to say, this is the opportunity, but be but be not dismayed. This is about all of Portland. When we revitalize one part of the area, it really impacts the whole city. It's right next to the moda center. And think about those plans being uncovered and what's to come. That time is now. I can be more proud to be part of this delegation here and sit before you all to do some wonderful work. Thank you for trusting us, and thank you for getting on a resolution and making it right to actually spell out our vision trust. Avalos, thank you so much for the amendment and for you all accepting that amendment. This is prime opportunity for all of us. I'm so proud of this city and what we're doing. May god be with us and may we continue to serve our city, the great city of Portland. Thank you.
55 Thank you very much. Council president, vice president, all councilors. I'm andrew collis, I'm the president and ceo of collins construction. Second generation family owned business started by my father, herman collins. Most importantly, I'm a portlander born and raised here. I love this city. I love this state. And I really want to talk about the industry that I've been in all my life. I've had the privilege of being in the construction and development industry all my life. And when I think about what that means, developers, they have vision, albina, vision, trust. Their vision is so broad and so great that it's something that a lot of us can't even see. But it's taken leadership of people like winta and all of her team to be able to see what our city actually can and will become. It also takes leadership, takes leaders like all of you, to understand that this isn't a handout, this is a negotiation with a viable development organization that has put in the time, put in the work, put in the dedication, and put in the effort to have a broad range of our entire community. It's not one person. It's all people. They see that our community represents more. And the most important part that excites me about this vision is that when I talk to little kids, they see themselves in winter, they see themselves in trent, they see themselves in this incredible team that's standing before you. And what that does, it changes. It changes society. It changes what we believe we can and should become. Because if you can't see it, you can't be it. I've had the fortune of having a father that told me from the time I was a little kid, we were going to create a construction company in this town of Portland in one of the most non easy industries to get into, and we were going to employ people, and we were going to change the way people thought about this industry. What our vision trust is doing is going to change this entire society. So thank you for your time and your commitment to this incredible work.
56 Good morning, president Dunphy and members of the council. My name is trent aldridge. And I have the privilege of being the ceo at ci. For 45 years, ci has worked alongside young people, families and communities across Portland. During that time, we've seen buildings rise, businesses open and districts transform. But too often the people who carried the history, culture and character of those neighborhoods were left out of the decisions that shaped them, and the benefits that followed. That is why I am here in strong support of and this resolution. What excites me most is not simply what we may build, but who is there to shape it. The effort represents a different model, an approach that recognizes that thriving communities are built through connected investments, and people place, opportunity and culture. A model that recognizes that economic vitality and community well-being are not competing goals. In fact, they are deeply connected. Ci has long believed that no single strategy creates economic mobility, but many strategies working together no single organization or no single sector can solve the complex challenges we face. Real progress happens when organizations, institutions, bureaucracies, and communities align around a commitment to community. That is what I see in this collective action. Albina vision trust, city of Portland, 1803. Williams and russell cully construction. All of us together bring an expertise that can move something profound forward. This is an opportunity for Portland to create economic growth while honoring history, expanding opportunity, and building wealth where communities see themselves reflected in what's being built around them. We have heard many ideas about how to revitalize Portland. Today, we have an opportunity to demonstrate what people centered development looks like and an opportunity to show that when community is centered, when we create lasting prosperity, we honor history and we build stronger future for generations to come. I am proud to stand with this group. I'm proud to stand with avw, and I would highly encourage a vote. Yes. Thank you for your time and your leadership.
57 Good afternoon. For the record, I am d'artagnan coleman, vice president of philanthropy and partnership for 1803 fund. I'm also a resident of north Portland district two. I express my gratitude to council president Dunphy. The councils of district two to all councilors, 1803 is a capital investor. We envision a rooted and prosperous black Portland. Today, my brief testimony as an is an important endorsement on the record. I state that the 1803 fund is in partnership with albina vision trust. The work that albina envision trust leads in lower albina is integral to 1803 vision and mission, and we are in consistent communication, collaboration and partnership with albina vision trust. I am here to state that 1803 is in full agreement in supports that alpine division trust be granted the development rights as written in the community benefit agreement and per what is outlined in the resolution on record, including the albina vision trust community investment plan. I also want to thank all of our partners here at the table, and I am an 1803 fund are in full support of winter, her team and albina vision trust. Thank you.
58 Thank you very much. Thank you, all five of you.
59 Thank you. Thank you.
60 Council president, may we call up one more panel of invited testimony.
61 Please, please.
62 Thank you. I would like to invite district six metro councilor Duncan wong and district two county commissioner Shannon singleton to share their thoughts with us. Commissioner singleton, at least, is online. Commissioner, go right ahead.
63 Wonderful. Thank you so much. Hello all. My name is shannon singleton. I am the commissioner for district two in Multnomah county. I wanted to start with just appreciating and thanking my council, city council colleagues, councilors, Kanal, pirtle-guiney and Ryan for moving this forward and ensuring that we have the opportunity to actualize restorative development. And thank you, councilor Smith, for always uplifting the needs and voices of black portlanders and councilor Avalos for your work to make this a stronger resolution. As you all mentioned, the black community was displaced by the development of the rose quarter, I-5 and legacy health expansion and robbed of the wealth that had been created. Albina vision trust has the experience and trust to actualize changes for our community. I have been working in lockstep with albina vision trust on this issue since the motor center renovation discussions were brought to my attention and I was ecstatic to unanimously, unanimously pass my amendment stating that county funds are contingent on an agreement that, quote, includes a commitment to concurrently and successfully negotiate a binding agreement between the city of Portland and albina albina vision trust that establishes albina vision trust development rights for city owned parcels adjacent to the moda center. I wanted to come today to say that I stand here ready to continue to partner with you all and make sure that we can actualize this, and I want to appreciate all the speakers that came before me. I think you have seen today that the whole community is behind this, and that everybody is going to do the work to make sure that this can happen, and we can actually have restorative development for our community. So thank you so much for giving me some time today, and I will end there.
64 Thank you. Commissioner councilor. Go right ahead.
65 Thank you. Good afternoon, council president Dunphy and councilors. My name is duncan wong and I'm the metro councilor for district six. I'm here to share encouragement and enthusiasm from our council and council. President gonzales, who is very disappointed he couldn't make it here himself today. And metro's 2019 voter approved parks and nature bond. Our. Our council created the large scale community visions program because we wanted to support visionary, multifaceted capital projects that could increase community access to nature while creating benefits like inclusive economic development, job opportunities, affordable housing, and safe and reliable transportation. The bond and other metro programs have helped catalyze large scale projects projects up and down portland's riverfront, including the district and the redevelopment of tom mccall waterfront park. So when albina vision trust came up to us in 2023 with a vision for albina as a complete neighborhood reconnected to itself into the river, we're proud to invest $5 million on behalf of our region to begin acquiring the land needed to bring it to life with the many other public, private and philanthropic investments now flowing into our region has the chance to repair the historic harms done right here to portland's black community, and to set a national example of how to do this right. But reconnecting this district will be made much more difficult if our investments and development aren't interconnected with each other. Fortunately, albina vision trust's deep roots in the community and proven track record of success in revitalizing albina have made them a potent leader and anchor for the district's transformation. We're excited to continue to partner with you all. And I think the region has actually spoken. All 24 cities believe that this is a regional project of significant importance, and look forward to your support on this project. Thank you.
66 Thank you, councilor, council president. With that, I would turn it over to you for the public testimony.
67 Perfect. Thank you. I did notice on our public testimony sheet that there are two other elected officials who are signed up, and if they are in the room, I'd love to invite them down first, michelle, to pass the Portland public school board and justice reggie with the Beaverton school board. And if they're not, we will just continue on to public testimony.
68 To hear from.
69 Okay, it's your day job. Well, then we'll we'll I know which hat to wear at different times.
70 Got it.
71 Thank you, council president. I didn't have them on my list.
72 No problem. I was just I saw them on there. I wanted to call it out really quickly. So keelan, can we please call public testimony?
73 Yes. And as a reminder, I will call up testifiers in groups of five. Each individual will have two minutes. For those testifying in person, you will see the timer countdown displayed on the monitor in front of the testimony table. For those testifying virtually, the timer is displayed in zoom. You will hear the timer sound twice, once when there are 30s left, then a second time when your time is up. Before you begin your testimony, please state your name for the record. All right. Thank you. First up, we have alex aurora akasha, lawrence spence, tanisha. Renee, mike alexander.
74 And I also see michelle is here, so.
75 Hello, friend. Hi, how are you? I'm doing well. Great.
76 Dive on in.
77 Are you ready?
78 Yeah.
79 Good afternoon, council president Dunphy, members of the council. For the record, my name is michelle dupuis. That's d as in david e capital p. Make sure it's capitalized a s s. And I'm speaking as a member of the Portland school board and a longtime albina resident. I'm here to speak to the importance of this resolution for our entire city in general, and black portlanders in particular. This council resolution is an important piece of albina vision trust work to bring the community vision for lower albina to life over the next 50 years. It will enable ave to reconnect the neighborhood and build community wealth and ave, in partnership with the city, will be able to do this using the very tools that were used to dismantle and displace residents, dismantle the neighborhood land use policy, transportation investment, access to capital and anti-displacement strategies. My grandparents on both sides settled here from new orleans and panama. They met. My parents met at dawson park the first day my dad was in this country. I was born in this district, and I had my first job at the black panthers free health clinic before it was legal to work. It was a long time ago, and I've raised my family here. My grandparents contributed to the social and neighborhood institutions, and they spent their money and time in this district. And that's the vision for tomorrow, a place where commerce can happen and an economy that will not extract, but instead enrich this community dollars that will circulate within this community and where people won't be strangers, where families can once again afford to settle like my grandparents did. I urge you to vote an enthusiastic yes when the time comes to vote, because the city has an opportunity right now to keep this historic moment focused on reconnecting a neighborhood and returning land to portland's black community, regardless of any outcome of the current arena negotiations. Thank you.
80 Okay. Good afternoon, members of council and all that are joining us here today. My name is tanisha renee. I'm the deputy executive director at williams and russell cdc. I'm here today in strong support of the city, moving forward with albina vision trust as its development partner for the rose quarter. Ave is not simply developing property they are taking under or they are undertaking one of the largest restorative redevelopment efforts in the country, working to buy back land, rebuild community and reroute black lives, legacies and futures and the lower albina area. As a sister organization doing reparative development work, we understand that who develops this land matters, stewardship matters and community accountability matters, and the ability to bring public, private and philanthropic investment together around a shared vision. Matters ave has demonstrated that capacity, and more importantly, has earned the trust required to lead this work. I urge council to move these negotiations forward and vote yes. Thank you.
81 Thank you.
82 Nice.
83 Good afternoon, chair Dunphy, vice chair Clark and members of the Portland city council. My name is akasha lawrence spence, and I have the honor and privilege of serving as the director of external affairs at albina vision trust, carrying forward the community vision of a reconnected and abundant lower albina. When I moved to Portland over a decade ago, I was wooed by the promise of walkable neighborhoods, new age transit, local food and a vibrant small business community. But I embedded myself into the black community. I learned of a past not unfamiliar to me, one wrought with discrimination, exclusion, and missed opportunities at restoration and redevelopment. I felt the resonance of displacement as I learned how homes, businesses, playgrounds and civic institutions were seized from this community in the name of progress and prosperity. When over 13 city blocks were flattened to make way for city sanctioned development, I learned that despite every tactic used to scatter and dismantle black wealth and civic power, that it was striving alive in the faces you see in this chamber today. This resolution to return 6.2 acres of land in the heart of lower albina entertainment district, is a chance to embed the resonance of community, life and culture present in lower albina, in the parcels at the heart of portland's sports and entertainment arena, it is an opportunity to call forward Portland status as a city globally recognized for urban planning and design, community participation and empowerment, and strategic planning. It's an opportunity to call forward a city that espouses the reasons portlanders love their city for its attractive, walkable neighborhoods. With the opportunity to make walkability and livability a promise fulfilled for black portlanders, this is our vision, but both ours and yours. A collective vision to make the reality of our community abundance a dialog between past, present, and the thriving future we build as an inheritance to our descendants. In the longer term, it creates an example for how our cities can do this right proactively and collaboratively plan its future with all its communities in mind. I urge a yes vote on this resolution. Thank you.
84 Thank you very much.
85 Great. Good afternoon, president Dunphy and members of city council. My name is michael alexander, and I have the privilege to serve as a member of the board for our vision trust for the last decade and as its chair since 2024, this city council resolution is an important piece of work to bring the community vision for lower albina to life over the next 50 years. It enables ave to reconnect the network of our neighborhood, to align development around the arena with the city's adopted plans that are already reshaping some of the area, and to build community wealth through durable and equitable community benefits. Over the past decade, ave has stewarded a community defined vision for albina, rooted in its past and in a deep belief in the possibility of repair and transformation. This resolution gives us the opportunity to reconnect albina as a complete neighborhood with streets, with children, play and safety, where people want to gather, where businesses and storefronts are owned by our neighbors, and where wealth and prosperity reach the people who have waited the longest to share in it. Ave community centered 94 acre redevelopment vision for lower albina makes it the natural, long term developer of the city owned parcels surrounding the arena. Over the past decade, we have earned local and international recognition. We've constructed and opened. Albina won our inaugural 94 unit family centered housing, and we've secured rights for the first offer and refusal for the Portland public school site. We believe this resolution can be more than an element of an arena deal. It can be a catalyst for the long term overdue restoration of lower albina. Thank you.
86 Thank you all very much.
87 Alex aurora. Next up we have nate mccoy, burke, nelson, anthony, cy arakaki, mark jackson, james posey.
88 Welcome to kick us off. Since you are here.
89 Well, good afternoon, council president humphrey and council members, what you are experiencing today. Is the richness and the vibrance of the black community. And though we have faces before you representing organizations, we come in the spirit of our ancestors to beseech you, to encourage you to recognize and understand. This is a kairos moment. You have the opportunity to support a transformative revolutionary opportunity. If we were to go ahead and wind back time and eavesdrop on table conversations and bedrooms, where families lamented being uprooted to what they knew in terms of albina today, as a council, we can engage in restorative justice and set the record straight, not just for black people, but for Portland and for the nation that we have courage and we have conviction to do what is just and what is right. We support, as a coalition of african and african American pastors, me being pastor mark jackson, whom you all know, we endorse, and we celebrate this moment with a support the vote with a yes. Thank you.
90 I'm supposed to go after that.
91 Make burke do it.
92 Just kidding.
93 Good afternoon, council president Dunphy. Members of the council, even our city administrator as well. My name is nate mccoy. And today I'm wearing my interim executive director hat of the black business association of Oregon, while my senior policy advisor next to me will speak on behalf of namak, Oregon. I'm here today to express a strong support for the resolution before you and to continue the milestones of achievement and progress made by albina vision trust. For those of us who know the saying, it takes a village to raise a child, we also understand that it takes a village to rebuild, restore and raise up a community. Albina is more than just a place. As mark said on a map, it is home. It is history. It is culture. It is vibrance. It is generations of black portlanders, including my own family. Like many others here today, it represents both what we have taken or have seen taken and what we can restore moving forward. What makes this moment significant is not simply talking about development. We are talking about restorative justice and economic justice in one of the most desirable and historically significant parts of our city. The albina vision represents an opportunity to rewrite past wrongs while creating a future where black businesses, black families, entrepreneurs, workers and communities have a meaningful stake in the prosperity being created. From the perspective of black business association of Oregon, the economic participation is crucial. Right now, we know what our financial climate looks like. Community development must include pathways for black owned and historically underrepresented businesses to participate, grow, build wealth, and remain rooted in the community. The beacon of opportunity is before us and with and happening in the central core is also becoming a Portland success, and we've heard it nationally. What we I want to end with is we have an opportunity to demonstrate that development does not have to mean displacement and investment. We can really create a long and standing access to capital and ways to move a community forward in a black led way. This is about legacy, and I implore you to vote yes and support this resolution before us. And let me just say, I love seeing leadership working together at the council. This is a beautiful thing, and I hope we see a lot more of it moving forward. Thank you.
94 Thank you very much.
95 Good afternoon.
96 Council president Dunphy and the rest of council. My name is burke nelson, and I'm here on behalf of the national association of minority contractors. I'm proud to express our strong support for the albina vision trust and its transformative vision for the rose quarter and the broader lower albina community. For decades, the albina neighborhood has carried the burden of displacement and disinvestment. Today, we have an opportunity not only to reconnect a community physically divided by infrastructure, but to restore economic opportunity, cultural identity and generational wealth for future generations. Albina vision trust redevelopment strategy represents the type of bold, inclusive investment that can become a model for cities across America. From an imax perspective, the effort has the potential to create thousands of family wage construction jobs, expand opportunities for minority owned businesses, and generate long term economic activity throughout portland's urban core. Just as importantly, it creates a pathway for historically marginalized communities to participate in and benefit from the prosperity generated by redevelopment. Elana. The closest comparison is something similar down south, where I'm from, los angeles had a huge economic impact around 1999, when a bunch of buildings were erected around a sports facility, much like albina vision trust is doing here in Portland. Elana vision trust presents a similar opportunity by combining community centered planning, infrastructure investment, housing, commercial development and workforce participation, the rose quarter can become a thriving economic engine for the region. While honoring the history and legacy of the albina community, nimac believes the true economic development is measured not only by buildings constructed, but by the people whose lives are improved along the way. A bts vision embodies the principle, and we look forward to supporting a redevelopment effort that creates jobs, grows minority business participation and leaves a lasting legacy of shared prosperity for Portland. Thank you.
97 Good timing.
98 Good afternoon. My name is melvin broadus. I'm with pc, I. I didn't have anything prepared. I'm going to speak from my heart, which is about to pound out of my chest right now. President, council president, councilors, city administrator. Thank you for this opportunity. I'm quite proud to be sitting among these brothers supporting an organization that is going to do something good for black Portland. I grew up in this city. I was born and raised right here. I was not a transplant. I was born and raised right here. I've seen Portland make a lot of changes. I've been an entrepreneur with my dad from childhood, and yes, we were displaced. We grew. I grew up on missouri avenue during the time, pardon me, during the time they put I-5 in, we played in the dirt while they were doing that construction as as kids. And I remember what we call today, Portland black wall street, up and down williams avenue. So I remember those, those, those businesses that were there. I, I went in, I, I visited them and bought food from them. We went to the cleaners there. So I'm excited to see the redevelopment of black wall street in Portland. And I thank ave for being involved. And as on behalf of pc, I, I will say we look forward for the opportunity to participate in this development and those others that are available in the future. So congratulations to ave.
99 Thank you very much. Thank you all.
100 Okay. Sorry. Just let's see here, anthony c arakaki. Mark jackson.
101 Mark.
102 Sorry. Thank you. Okay. Next up we have james posey, john Washington, andrea bontemps, lakita elliott, justice. Reggie.
103 I guess.
104 Before I go, we'll say thank you for the consideration and I appreciate that. I understand.
105 Absolutely welcome.
106 Well, in absence of some of my other community friends that I know are here, give me just a second. For the record, my name is justice raji. I'm the director of advocacy and civic engagement for the urban league of Portland. I'm also a registered lobbyist on behalf of the urban league with the city of Portland. And I'm here in that capacity today just so. I am also board chair of the williams russell cdc. The urban league supports the resolution as written by the vision trust is the right partner for the city to negotiate with on the rose quarter and vmc parcels ave has spent nearly a decade building the community led 94 acre restorative vision for lower albina in. The city has already adopted those thoughts in the community investment plan and the north northeast quadrant plan and the central city 2035. So this resolution is honoring the work of a vetted public partner that's already in place. With that. The long range development planning that honors the current ambition of the descendants and the relations of those displaced who experienced the disrespect and disregard and economic harm of past public planning, is key to making right where wrong prevailed and building the opportunity for healing any vision for prosperity that does not root these people in the soil is bereft of credibility in community work. Over the recent decades, there has been a centering of bringing and the appointment of alignment and voice and shared visions across different organizations. Those who have interest in seeing albina restored and seeing our region restored in a place for prosperity for all. And by supporting this work, this council takes a step of supporting that external work that has led to this moment. As was shared in the past, organizations and community will not be left with nothing to show by fighting for favor over resources and opportunity, and there's sufficient opportunity to make an impact in this city across the board, and the talent is there and the ability to execute is there. Back in support today. You can be part of that story. Council should honor that and take the next step and show their commitment to the community and show trust and build trust by supporting this resolution as written. Thank you.
107 Thank you very much.
108 Hi, my name is john Washington. I'm the executive director of the school district business association, which is in the albina district and the oldest, one of the oldest business districts in the city. I appreciate you guys allowing me to come here and say hello to you today. Hello, each of you councilors, I, I tell you, and as melvin said earlier, it's always like a hot seat looking at all y'all, you know, in this panel. But I come to express my support for any of the restorative types of things that are going on in our district. I mean, it's been long overdue. It's been long overdue to see some real revenue hit the streets in northeast, and especially around the business sector. It's been a challenge over the last 20 years. And just for most of you, I've been around long enough to see a lot of these things start. And that caused me. That makes for me to be this thing. My professor used to say to me in college, called me a phenomenologist, and a phenomenologist is when you see some stuff leave the station, but you live long enough to see where it landed. You know, I'm excited about this because now something is really beginning to happen. There's some aspects of this that I struggle with from time to time, because this whole notion around fair and equitable distribution of wealth sort of is a challenge, making sure that we all be able to participate in these opportunities. So community is really important to me in these situations. And oversight is also another important aspect of this. So I appreciate you all allowing me to come in and let you all know that we fully support any development that goes into our district, that moves us in the right direction and moves the needle. Thank you.
109 Thank you very much.
110 Hello. Good afternoon councilors. My name is lakita elliott, elliott. I am a fourth generation black portlander, a person who is deeply involved in the community across a lot of sectors. I'm also the mother of a six year old who spends a lot of time in and near the rose quarter because he's the biggest Portland trailblazers and Portland fire and even Portland winter hawks fan. So we spend a lot of days there near the rose quarter. For for me, it's. I believe that this work will ensure that the future for him is bright, that his story about Portland and black Portland will be a beautiful one, that his stories will be about a place that was designed with him in mind, where he can thrive and he can prosper, and he can see people who look like him in a community, again, that was built for him and with him in mind. I appreciate the work that you all are doing to advance this work. I especially want to thank councilor Kanal, pirtle-guiney, and Ryan for your leadership in this matter and for the ways that you all continually show up in community. I see you all at the black parties. I see you all at the, you know, all of the community events. I see commissioner Pirtle-guiney coaching baseball in the community. I saw Dan Ryan flipping burgers and doing the electric slide at unthank park. So I appreciate the way that you all show up genuinely in the community and the way that you all show up to be accountable to making sure that the city is going to be a good steward of the lands in district two. It's important to note that the organizations that showed up here, including 1803 fund cy constructions, william russell, are all valued members of our community and valued and important to note the way that they work together and that we show up together because they have the voices of the community behind them. I want to say that your. Your resolution specifically says that the development partners should have a community oriented mission and leadership. Avnrt does. It says that they should have the ability to bring investment a, b, t does, and experience advancing the community voice. And they do that particularly well. I see them show up and engage everyone across sectors in the community, neighbors, new, new folks, old folks, all of the people who need to be involved in engaging these conversations. And so I urge you to say yes, because they are the only organization that is capable of doing this work. Thank you.
111 Thank you very much.
112 I guess it's me. Okay. Hi, I'm andrea bon temps. I'm the owner of le bon temps cafe and catering. I am a Portland native and albina district native. All my life. I just want what everybody is doing is great and I'm glad to see. The last time I seen this much camaraderie was. I'm dating myself now, probably the 90s, the very beginning of the 90s, and I want to feel I'm feel empowered by what's going on. I just want to make sure that black businesses have a chance as well, to sit at the table and make sure that black businesses are also included in this expansion, because I think that's a very vital part of small businesses. I have a business on mlk and, and I know for years we weren't on mlk and now I'm on mlk, so I just want a bti know them very well. They're doing a good job. And, and all the other groups that are included. I just think it's, I think it's a really good idea. And I think we can all come together and I hope you guys vote yes.
113 Thank you very much. Thank you all.
114 I james posey. Next up we have herman Green. Stephen Green. Jt flowers, laquita landford and mike schmidt.
115 All right.
116 I was trying to give everybody a chance.
117 To get up here as a black preacher. I got to figure out how I'm gonna get this done in two minutes. So I'm just going to read. My name is herman Green. Last name greene. I want to say good afternoon, council members, council president and our city administrator. There are moments when leadership is called upon to talk about what is possible, and then there are moments when leadership is called upon to make what is possible become reality council. This is one of those moments. For decades, we've talked about the displacement of portland's black community. We've studied it, we've acknowledged it. We've even had some self half baked attempts to apologize for it. And we've talked about equity, inclusion, economic opportunity, and repairing the harm of the past. But there comes a time when the talking has to stop and we have to become a people of action. And I believe that that time is now. This land development partnership is so much bigger than a transaction. It's an opportunity to demonstrate what happens when a city has the courage to move from acknowledging inequity to actually creating opportunity. This is about more than just this partnership. This is about ownership and who we believe should be a part of shaping what the future of our city looks like. It's about jobs, businesses, housing, entrepreneurship, wealth creation. It's about black families and black children being able to see themselves not as simply living in Portland, but helping to own, build and shape Portland. And if I dare say it, it's about restoring something that has been broken for generations. Trust. Albina. Vision trust has earned that. They have built relationships in Portland and across this country country. They have developed a restorative vision that lives beyond the visionaries themselves. And most importantly, they've demonstrated when they say they're going to do something, that they actually do it. So now we're urging this council to do the same. Council you were not elected to simply describe the Portland we hope to become. You were elected to help us build it. And leadership is ultimately measured by what we are willing to do when the opportunity to make a difference is sitting directly in front of us like it is today. So for those of us who have been marginalized, underrepresented, displaced, or unheard for decades, this moment says to us, we see you, we hear you, and this time we're prepared to act. So I'm urging this council to have the courage to move this forward. Not someday, but now. Let Portland become a national model, not because we talked about what could be, but because we had the courage to act and produce what we all know should be. Thank you.
118 Thank you.
119 All right. Following that, good afternoon, council president dunfee, council members and administrator lee. My name is stephen Green. My family and I have lived in district two for the past three decades. I own vanport studio, a business dedicated to helping black founders reach new heights. I'm here today in support of the resolution to have albina vision serve as the city's development partner for the city owned properties surrounding the moda center. For decades, we've talked about what was
120 Taken from albina homes, businesses, wealth, community and connection. But this decision gives us an opportunity to talk about what we're going to build next. At a Portland city club event in 1994, albina banks, founding president leon Smith remarked that as he looked over north and northeast Portland, including the then under-construction rose garden, he saw an enormous economic opportunity. He said the question wasn't whether redevelopment would happen, it was who would benefit from it. 30 years later, that question is back before us. The redevelopment of the moda center rose quarter and surrounding properties may be one of the largest economic development opportunities Portland will see in a generation. The question is what we want that investment to leave behind? Albina vision trust has spent the last decade answering that with a vision for housing, education, businesses, public spaces and opportunities for black portlanders to once again build wealth in a place where they lost so much and they didn't arrive at yesterday with a development proposal. They've spent years building relationships, assembling resources, and earning trust around a vision Portland has already said it supports. We don't need another plan for lower albina. We need a partner capable of carrying the vision forward. Leon Smith, later on in the speech, said albina is the land of possibilities, not limitations. This is one of those moments where Portland gets to decide whether we still believe that. Choose albina, trust, albina, vision trust, and let's carry that vision forward. Thank you.
121 Thank you very much.
122 Great, great.
123 Good afternoon, council and community. My name is laquita lanford, and I am very honored today to be sitting here in this space. Exactly. And especially with these with all of our community and with this group right here, like everyone in this room. I'm the new kid on the block, but I've also been in Portland for about 25 years. I left and I came back to a city that had changed very much in the ten years that I was gone from Portland, from 2005 until 2014. I am the founder and executive director of afro village and pdx, and I'm here today because I believe in the restoration of albina and the opportunity before our city. I believe in the work that albina division trust has been doing. Winter has been such an amazing young leader and a sister to to follow. And when I had my own issues and conversations around our housing crisis, winter and I when she was the policy advisor for chloe daley, would sit and walk and talk about. Today at a moment like today, I believe in the restoration. What urban renewal, displacement and public public policy took away from portland's black community. But restoration must be more than development as Portland makes major policy, major public investments in the future of laura albina, we must be intentional about who has access to the economic opportunities those invested, those investments create. That means black contractors, black owned businesses, worker entrepreneurs, young people, community based organizations like afro village should have a real pathway in participation not to discuss after it has. The decision have already been made. I wanted to ask myself this question, and I did yesterday. What what would it look like in 20 years from now? What will black Portland own because of this investment? Not just what we build, what we what what receive, who will receive contracts? Who will start businesses, who will build, build careers, and who will gain property in the lower albina of district, I currently have a investment of of $1.9 million, and we're under construction right now at 17 at 1701 north larrabee. And I'm happy and I'm proud to be one of the first developers in the lower albina district. And I am in full support of this resolution for the albina vision trust. And I say big up to what it is that we do and to continue to support all of these individuals in the space, because we have championed for so long what has been a displacement and disparity in black Portland. So thank you guys very much. Peace.
124 Thank you very much.
125 Good afternoon. My name is jt flowers, and this is the first time in a very long time that I'm not officially representing the albina vision trust in any type of capacity. So please bear with me on timing here. When I started working for the incomparable. Went to johannes at the albina vision trust as our second full time employee. We did not have a single square foot of land to our name. As an organization birthed of a multi-generational effort to reposition black folks, working folks, and historically displaced folks as agents in the lives they live and owners of the soil beneath their toes. We didn't actually own a thing. This history of dispossession, of lack of going without, of forced impermanence is a legacy our city has chosen for black people. For it was folks who sat in these very seats who made the decision to carve up our neighborhood and parcel it off to the highest bidder. It was voters who approved public bonds to build highways and sports arenas on top of our businesses, our homes, our churches, and our places of sacred safety. It was planners who said we know best while slamming doors in our faces and using blight as a scythe to hack our legs from out underneath us, to scatter us vermin to the furthest reaches of our city and convince us to define and ours to unwittingly live out. We are here today because we reject that premise, because we know that together we have everything we need to make ourselves, our city and our collective spirit whole. Because we believe that every working class neighborhood can and should also be a world class neighborhood. And because we are born as mr. Broaddus and mr. Collis just said, from a legacy of builders, we stand before you today as a movement of wayward villagers who have poured 70 years into building a trusted, community led institution that understands what it means to actually execute on a vision as an entity that has brought $850 million in direct investment to our neighborhood and to our city as an effort that is now nationally recognized as the largest community led development, not just in the city of Portland, but in the united states of America. The albina vision trust was founded to crack, open and fundamentally redefine our relationship with the land, with the world, and with one another as an effort to lead a people towards possibility, towards power and towards political agency. We are here to move our children and their children after them closer to a tomorrow, unburdened. I gotta wrap my time up. Okay. Thank you so much. Well, let me just chop all of this down. I'll say this really quickly. If you give me 30 more seconds, y'all. My vision trust was founded as a freedom dream. Freedom looks like many things, but today it manifests itself simply as a decision sitting on your desk while a village of your neighbors look on to see how this group of 12 citizens will choose to etch your names into the history books. So yes, of course, we are here today to urge your wholehearted support for this resolution, but more so, we are here to remind you that this building, that this neighborhood is situated in a community, that this community is ours to rebuild, that this partnership is about reimagining what power looks like. And that power reimagined can transform who benefits from what we build and how we build it. Thank you so much, and I'm sorry for going so far over my time.
126 Thank you very much. Thank you all.
127 I was.
128 I was not going to be the one to stop mr. Flowers from cooking. But I will remind folks, we do unfortunately have so many people to testify, we can try to stick to two minutes, but that was pretty great. So.
129 Next up we have reina casey, kimberly horner, santino juarez, fawn aberson, and Washington.
130 Reina. You're online if you want to go. We're waiting for folks to get to the testimony table down here.
131 Yes. My name is reina casey. Common spelling starts with a c, and I am not coming to testify as a business owner. I'm coming to testify as a community member and a community leader to endorse this move for albina vision trust. I have seen the work that they have done in albina and not just laura, albina, but all the way across the community, and it's been nothing but enlightening. I ask that you guys please endorse this and you go ahead and you push this through because it's not because it's needed. It's needed for Portland, it's needed for black Portland, and it's needed for the future. Portland.
132 Thank you very much. Perfect timing. Come on down. Welcome.
133 Thank you. Good afternoon, mayor, city council and members of the public. My name is kimberly horner, and I am the executive director for the Portland community reinvestment initiatives. We go by the acronym pri. Our organization has been around since 1991. It was formed as a result of historic discrimination and displacement of black people in Portland. Our organization has done a lot of work to uplift the black community and make sure that people have a place to stay in this community and call it home. I am here today to say I support the work that albina vision trust is doing, and they're doing great work, and they are wonderful people who are dedicated to this cause. What I would like to say, though, is I would like for the city to make sure that they are still recognizing organizations like pcri, who have been developers in this community, and standing shoulder to shoulder with the city in order to keep historically displaced black people in decent living conditions and providing them with economic opportunity to grow, to grow their families, and to grow their livelihoods. We have a document called pathway 1000. Our goal is to build 1000 units in a ten year time span. We have delivered on those promises. We built king and parks beatrice morrow during COVID. We are asking simply for the city to reconsider their efforts in delivering land and making sure that there's equitable distribution to the city's assets, so that some of us can continue to do this good work. Our organization has given other companies that you've seen come up here earlier today, their first contracts. We have uplifted people in economic opportunities. This has nothing to do with them. It has more to do with the city making sure that you are being fair and equitable in your distribution of assets when the time comes. We support this, but we say, please do not forget the organizations that have been the legacy organizations, and we're here to support the effort. We support albina vision trust, but please recognize the work we do and please don't forget us when opportunity exists. Thank you.
134 Thank you very much.
135 It's weird that I'm the last person. I didn't mean that to happen, but I will say that my name is fawn albertson. I work for floss and media. We're a nearly 25 year old media and marketing agency that has been based in northeast Portland for its entire existence. It is a black owned and operated firm, and we have documented so much historical stuff over that 25 years, especially around north northeast Portland. We've been around when the black lives matter movement came along and we covered that. We saw when the trader joe's debacle, we call it, and the Portland african American leadership forum put a basically a foot down and said, no more, no more displacement. We saw 40 black organizations come together and meet with the mayor and change that. They did a historic $33 million investment into affordable housing, which led to this insane movement that we've seen today. We were around when legacy emanuel met with doctor brown, and they deeded that land back. We watched 40 organizations come together and black organizations and submit representation, and you can see where that process has unfolded today. Now a v t is doing it again with expanding opportunities for the rose quarter. I would just invite you to say that as we begin to expand these opportunities, that we make sure that we're not having any unintended consequences of contraction, because there is a formula that's working here in northeast Portland, there's a formula that's working for these groups coming together. So your leadership right now will ensure that it stays that formula for successful living.
136 Thank you very much.
137 Oh I'm going to stay with you. Wait. We stay with you.
138 Okay.
139 Yeah.
140 Go ahead.
141 All right. Hi.
142 My name is ed Washington, and I'm a almost lifelong resident of Portland. And I'm here to speak on behalf of this resolution. This is probably one of the greatest things that's ever happened, not only for the african American community in Portland, but for the city of Portland. And it's an opportunity that hopefully we will not miss in any way. Some years ago, I had the opportunity to go to boston, and I remember going into the back bay of boston and someone pointed out to me, they said this used to be the italian neighborhood, until they decided to put the first freeway through, and my family moved here and we lived in vanport. We were there during the flood of 1948, and we were bounced around from 1948 to 1950, before my mother could find a place for the family of six. And I think that as I had the opportunity to get to know what the this organization is doing, please do not miss this opportunity. This is an organization that knows what it's doing. They know how to do it, and they will do it well. And Portland, don't mess this one up. Thank you very much. Heard that's all I have to say.
143 Thank you very much.
144 Thank you. Just just checking to see if santino juarez up here. Okay. That completes testimony.
145 Okay. Thank you very much, colleagues. We are now into both technical and clarifying questions as well as council discussion. Feel free to jump into the queue if anybody wants to say anything. Councilor Green, kick us off.
146 Thank you so much. Thank you to everyone who provided testimony. It was extremely moving. And before I ask my questions, I just want to say wholeheartedly, I am 100% on board and I can't wait to vote yes on this. But the thing I want to make sure I understand is in the resolution at the very end, it says, be it further resolved, the binding agreement shall return to city council for consideration on a concurrent timeline, as long as as the long term lease for the moda center and for a period to not exceed 12 months. I guess what I want to know is as we go down this road, are we are we committed to being, you know, exploring this development, partnership, relationship development, partnership relation, even if other things related to the motor center get sideways? Because because I would like that to be the case. Thanks.
147 And we see that as the case as well. Councilor. We don't see anything happen on this site that would change this agreement from the standpoint of our willingness to work with a v t and having a partnership with atv, with the development of this property, we know whatever happens with motor can change some of the dynamics of of the money that's associated with the site that will be developed there. But we have a commitment to do that with a v t.
148 Thank you so much. And I just want to acknowledge. Thanks for acknowledging that. And I just want to sort of lift up a lot of what I heard, which was there are always going to be distributional winners and losers when you do development work in the city of Portland. And we have we have put our thumb on the scale in the past that has harmed black portlanders. And so I want to thank the sponsors of this resolution for saying we have an opportunity to put our thumb on the scale in a different way and, you know, provide some opportunity here. And that's how I see it. This these are public lands, and this is a partner who has been, I think, a good faith. Steward, I think is the best way to put it. And so I'm supportive. Thanks.
149 Thank you, councilor Green. Councilor Morillo.
150 Thank you, council president, thank you so much to everybody who came and delivered such beautiful testimony today. It's really a privilege to get to hear from all of you. And I want to give special thanks to winta, because winta and I know each other from my first day at city hall when I was doing constituent services a few years ago, and I knew absolutely nothing about how city hall worked before I stepped into this place. I come from, you know, my mom's, she was a single mother. Were immigrants. We aren't normally invited into this space and understand how to navigate it. And I didn't know anyone in the building, and it was very intimidating. And winta was the first person who came to say hello to me, and she gave me all the tools that she had developed, doing constituent work, and just showed me the ropes about what it was like to be in city hall. And she had no reason to do that, to come and help someone new who wasn't in her office. But that's how she approaches the work. And she always engages people, no matter who they are or where they come from or their perspective. She just does it with such wisdom and grace. And I, I'm very grateful for everything that ave has done in the community. We had a really great conversation about the the development and housing projects that ave has already worked on. The fact that the vast majority of people that are housed in those spaces are single mothers, and how significant and important that is. And that's exactly the type of thing that I really value and care about. So I'm just very grateful for everyone coming here today and talking about it. I'm really excited to vote yes on this, and I hope that you guys have a big celebration in chambers outside of chambers, wherever. I wish we could step out and give the rest of the meeting and join, but we got other important topics. And so yeah, thank you so much and I appreciate you. I'm excited to vote yes.
151 Thank you, councilor Morillo councilor. Oh, jumping around in the queue there, y'all. Councilor. Novick.
152 I just wanted to thank winta and abc for the tour they gave me of the area a few weeks ago. And also to thank you for giving us something to feel good about today before we get into the keller PSU knife fight that's going to follow.
153 Thank you. Councilor. Novick. Councilor Kanal.
154 Thanks everybody for being here. Thank you to all the testifiers. Next time. Any y'all hear that there's no black Portland or black portlanders, just remember that. You know, if you look and if you have reasons to bring people out for issues that matter to them, people show up in this space. It's more for the city employee side. And also thank you for the reminders of the legacy of why there are fewer black portlanders than there used to be, and the reminders throughout that of the history of the city and of specifically, albina. I've been really I think many of us get emotional when we think about the history of this. In particular, our individual relationships with winter, actually, and, and with jt and so many of the other folks who've been involved and are involved as well. I did want to just make one point because I've made my, my main argument earlier, and it's kind of a piggybacking off of something that councilor Green mentioned with relation to distributional winners and losers in the history of this country, city after city, county after county, state after state, and certainly at the national level, we've seen government attempt to divide communities of color against themselves through both intentional and unintentional actions that create two things first, scarcity and then competition. Which latino group is going to speak for latinos? Which asian American group is going to get the funding to run? The only museum in town which immigrants are going to get to speak at that one event for it? Which black led organizations are going to get the only money that we award, and the way out of that is to stop doing the only the way out of that is to get rid of the scarcity and to stop making it where there can only be one. And so what I'm really excited about, given that no organization speaks for any community as a whole, and that this is not the only opportunity. In fact, it's not the only opportunity we've taken so far at this council to partner with organizations that are rooted in black communities in Portland, is to get away from that scarcity and say that anybody here with a vision can win. Anybody here can benefit. As long as you are serving the community as a v. T is. And I appreciate that we're talking not only about the organization albina vision trust, but we're talking about the albina vision and about the trust we can create here. So with that, thank you so much. And I encourage everyone to vote yes.
155 Thank you. Councilor Kanal councilor Smith.
156 Thank you, mr. President. I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I think it's so important that we support this resolution. We support restoring connections, replacing isolated parking lots with a street grid. It helps to stitch together neighborhoods that were historically divided, improving walkability and access for residents in lower albina. I believe the vision includes plazas, parks and pedestrian friendly thoroughfares, and to be able to transform a transit hub into a true community destination, not just a place to park. If we're going to truly improve transit integration, we need a modern redevelopment, and that modern redevelopment is a v t. In partnership with the city of Portland. And I like it. I think that we have endless opportunities for housing stabilization, housing opportunities, developing the site. It will create an opportunity to incorporate multifamily housing, including affordable housing units directly adjacent to high capacity transit that will support the city's density and equity goals. New construction allows for the implementation of the modern Green building standards, sustainable stormwater management, and energy efficient systems. That aging infrastructure it often lacks. So I'm excited. I'm excited about reducing urban heat, islands transit, transitioning from vast expanses of asphalt parking to landscape urban environments significantly reduces the heat island effect, and it improves local air quality. I have a respiratory problem, so I need great air quality. I need to make sure that we're supporting those projects that produce these kinds of outcomes. And a world class destination, upgrading the surroundings of the moda center. It will elevate the visitor experience in the city of Portland and matching the quality of the venue with modern, inviting and safe public spaces. And I want to make sure that we support and spend our public dollars on year round utilization by creating a lively district, the area becomes a destination of nonevent days, ensuring the district remains active, safe and vibrant throughout the year rather than solely during games or during concerts. And with all of that, said, mr. President, I support this project wholeheartedly and I would like to put a vote to this today as an emergency. If we have nine votes, let's do it and not come back.
157 This is a resolution. We don't need to.
158 A resolution.
159 We will be.
160 Voting on this. Let's vote on this.
161 As soon as councilors have their say. We're going to a vote and then take a break.
162 All right, all right, I hear you. Thank you. And thank you for for the sponsors, the three sponsors in district two. Many people think I'm the councilor for district two. I am too kind of. I'm that ghost councilor That walks around. But I appreciate you all pulling this together and getting the language that makes sense. And that's meaningful. And I appreciate all that you have done. Councilor pirtle-guiney are you on?
163 She is. Yes.
164 I am here.
165 Councilor. Yes. You know, I have much love for you. So thank you so much for getting this together and making sure we had the the right language. And councilor Ryan councilor Kanal, I'm very proud of you all and the representation that you do in district two. I have many family members and friends in that district, so I am always looking for opportunities to help uplift district two. So thank you very much. And thank you, miss winter, for giving us a platform to be able to do something not just like you said, not just to survive, but for us to thrive. And this is what's going to happen in this community. When we come together, we can thrive in a way that's world class. So thank you so much for leading this effort.
166 Thank you, councilor Smith. Councilor Ryan.
167 Thank you, council president. Several times this afternoon, we heard I have to follow that you were all that good. You really were. There were so many moments where your truth, your knowledge, your wisdom, your vision, your passion, your love was spoken. And I'm just delighted to follow up and say, yes, of course, of alpine vision trust. You continue to live out your name. You really named yourself well, the vision that got you here. With a steady decade of dialog and building relationships, I see you, michael alexander, and the trust that you've cultivated in that decade. I see you went to and I heard you also, all of you today say that enough words. It's time for action. Let's go. Let's vote on this and move it along. Thanks.
168 Thank you, councilor Ryan. Councilor Avalos, last word. And we're going to move to a vote. Let's see if we can't hear you. Try muting and just unmuting again. Something's going on. We can hear it. It's like fuzzy.
169 She said.
170 She's trying. She's. Kind of.
171 I got nothing to say.
172 Oh wait. No. There you go. There we go. We got you. That time. It's leaning a little closer to the microphone.
173 Closer and louder.
174 So many problems today. Thank you again to everybody who spoke today. What I said was that we had quite a star studded day in city hall, with so many community leaders coming to support an important project. I want to thank quinta for your work and in particular for working with me on our amendments. I'm really grateful for getting that passed and feeling really good about the overall, the way that the resolution has landed and securing that we are making this commitment with a v t, we're protecting the city and a v t and the community, and I'm really eager to see what comes back and to help you all enact your vision. So thank you for your service and your leadership. Let's get to voting.
175 Thank you, councilor Avalos. Keelan, can we please call the roll on this?
176 All right. Calling the roll on document 2026-285. This is a resolution Koyama Lane.
177 Proud to vote.
178 I Morillo. I Novick. I Clark. I Green. I Zimmerman I Avalos.
179 That was an I a.
180 Aye, Morillo Kanal. I pirtle-guiney. I Ryan. I Dunphy.
181 Congratulations I.
182 The resolution is adopted with a vote of 12 ayes.
183 Thank you all colleagues. The time is currently 350. I'm going to give us until 4:00 to come back for. At which point we will take up the item the performing arts venue item. We will not. We will certainly not make it to the zenith item today. And that will be continued to a future hearing. Thank you. See you in ten minutes. I'm calling us back to order. Thank you all for your patience. While we experience a little bit of humanity, can we please call item number nine keelan.
184 Document 2026-270. Except the future of large scale performing arts recommendations to advance a new broadway capable venue as part of the proposed performing arts and culture center at Portland state university, and initiate planning for the future of the keller auditorium.
185 Thank you very much, colleagues. This is a resolution christhopher herr from council operations is here with a committee staff summary report. Hello, christopher.
186 Good afternoon, council president, councilors. For the record, my name is christhopher herr and I'm reading on behalf of kevin alvarez, who serves as staff to the city life committee and prepared this committee staff summary. The resolution before you document number 2026-270 was first heard in the city life committee on July 28th, 2026 and again on August 11th, where it was referred to council with a recommendation it be adopted. This resolution accepts the recommendations of the city's future of large scale performing arts work and supports advancing planning and predevelopment for a potential new city owned approximately 3000 seat, broadway capable venue as part of the proposed performing arts and culture center at Portland state university PSU. The resolution directs the deputy city administrator to stand up a staff project team of technical experts with PSU to complete pre-development functions, including a detailed financial plan with a fully defined capital stack and a comprehensive philanthropic strategy, and a project commitment agreement with PSU by December 1st, 2026, as amended in committee. The resolution does not authorize, appropriate or commit city funds for development or construction beyond funding previously authorized by city council and requires the deputy city administrator to return to council with a detailed financial plan before executing any agreement that financially obligates the city for. Amendments were approved in the city life committee on August 11th, the full effects of which can be read online in the posted committee staff summary the full impact statements on this item includes financial and budgetary impacts, economic and real estate development impacts, community impacts and community involvement, 100% renewable goals, and economic and real estate development analysis. 53 people provided verbal testimony in committee on July 28th and 68. Submitted written testimony prior to committee action. General themes of testimony included. Divided testimony on whether the city should commit to the project before a vetted budget, capital stack and financial plan exists, with opponents citing deferred maintenance at portland's five venues and recent budget reductions, and supporters saying that the public commitment is what unlocks philanthropic and private investments. Conditions of the keller auditorium, with supporters describing seismic acoustics, sightline accessibility and backstage deficiencies that renovation would not resolve, and opponents describing the revenue as operational and revenue generating and renovations is less expensive and more environmentally sound, cause interest in avoiding a prolonged closure of the keller. With arts work and local 28 members supporting construction of a new venue before renovation to preserve touring revenue and employment issues of location and partnership with supporters, citing some land development experience and educational role alongside downtown revitalization benefits, revitalization benefits and opponents. Citing the university's own financial conditions and the effects on hotels, restaurants and businesses near the existing sites. That concludes the committee staff summary. Thank you.
187 Thank you very much. Councilor pirtle-guiney this came out of your committee. Any opening remarks?
188 It did. Colleagues, this resolution came out of the future of large scale performing arts ex officio table, which was convened by the mayor as part of the effort to help us determine what the future of our venues and our city should look like, the mayor invited stakeholders from across the performing arts ecosystem to provide guidance to the city. As we consider the future of the keller auditorium and the potential for a new venue at Portland state university. Broadly speaking, the group recommendation from this table was to advance the PSU performing arts center and to maintain programing at the keller to avoid economic disruption as development is undertaken. As christhopher herr noted, it was also recommended that concurrently, planning for keller's future should be initiated to allow for construction to begin there following the opening of a PSU venue. Those two things are both captured in the resolution before us today. The resolution was heard over two meetings to ensure that we had sufficient time to hear from a significant number of testifiers and to do the work of deliberation and adoption of amendments. As was noted in the committee staff summary. I want to thank councilor Zimmerman, Zimmerman and Avalos for bringing amendments forward, and councilor Clark does not sit on the city life committee, but sponsored one of those amendments. There was a significant amount of work and engagement done in committee, and though the recommendations that came forward were not unanimous, I think that we worked hard to capture both the majority recommendation and some of the concerns that were raised in the item that you have before you today. Making sure I didn't miss anything here. I apologize, council president, I would note that the vote came out of committee on a 4 to 1 vote. And as we move forward, if there are questions about the amendments or the work done, I'm happy to answer them. I know my fellow committee members can as well, but we seek your support today in moving this forward. This is a resolution which ultimately, at the end of the day, is directing the administration to start conversations, to take the next step and to see what is possible in advancing the recommendations that came out of the convenings that the mayor pulled together. We'd like to see that work move forward, and we hope we have the full council support in that today. Thank you, council president.
189 Thank you, councilor Pirtle-guiney colleagues, there are 53 people signed up. It's nice that all 53 who testified at committee signed up again. Good to see you again. And also I will note that it is 415 right now, and we are technically scheduled here until five. It is my priority to hear testimony of everybody who is here. So I have asked staff to prepare to be here as late as six. 6:00 will be my absolute drop dead time if we can't get through it. Sorry, that's the end of our testimony. We will not get to council discussion today. We will not get to a final vote today and we will not be getting to the the following item. But I want to hear all of your voices. So we will hold our technical clarifying questions and council discussion for later. And keelan can we please call our first panel of testifiers?
190 Yeah. And I will just give very quick reminder. I'll call up testifiers in groups of five. Each individual will have 90s. For those testifying in person, you'll see the timer countdown displayed on the monitor in front of the testimony table. For those testifying virtually, the timer is displayed in zoom. You will hear the timer sound twice, once when there are 30s left, then a second time when your time is up. Before you begin your testimony, please state your name for the record. Our first panel of testifiers includes an. Could. Duke castle, sarah schwartz, aj romero, jemal and julie vigilant.
191 Come on down, folks, and welcome. Feel free to. Thank you, president.
192 Thank you. Good afternoon, council president Dunphy, council vice president Clark and members of Portland city council. For the record, my name is anne and I proudly serve as president of Portland state university. I'm pleased to testify in support of the resolution to advance a new broadway capable venue on the PSU campus in 2023. As I was just assuming my presidency, PSU responded to a city request to submit a proposal in. In a public process exploring an alternative location for the city's broadway capable auditorium. We are a willing and enthusiastic partner. We are here to serve students and the university's signature performing arts programs to serve the city and to benefit portland's arts ecosystem. We are here also because we know that our city, community and campus have a bright future. We see opportunity with this resolution to generate a deeper, broader, inclusively dynamic vision for downtown Portland. We envision a thriving, helping sequence filled with storefronts, restaurants, and most importantly, people. As a public university, we are operating from a position of mission and vision, not as a bottom line corporation. As you know, we've also done our homework and we bring resources to the table, including the largest developable piece of property downtown and bond financing, philanthropy financing, and more. We're excited about this resolution because at PSU, we always see ourselves as a partner in tackling the big issues facing our city. Figuring out the financing for this project is no different. We look forward to getting in a room, rolling up our sleeves with city staff to find creative solutions and to support our city's growth ready creative sector sector. Thank you for your time and consideration of this important step forward. I appreciate your service to the city, and I hope you will let knowledge serve the city in portland's next great era. Thank you.
193 Thank you very much.
194 I do council, can you hear me?
195 Yep. Go ahead.
196 Great. Thank you. Well, I'm here to strongly recommend recommend that you do not pass this resolution. We all know how this is going to turn out. A plan will be developed for the PSU venue that will be more expensive than upgrading the killer. At a time when we don't have the money. And with a new venue that we really don't need a plan to modernize. The color was presented to the previous city council that showed how all the color concerns can be successfully addressed at a cost significantly less than what we're going to find out it's going to cost us at PSU. Why would we continue to put staff time and resources into a project that we can't afford and will make us, in many ways, worse off? Some feel that this project will revitalize the city. Frankly, I believe that speculative fantasy the PSU project will draw business away from restaurants and hotels in the central part of our city. The hospitality industry struggling to fill the rooms they have now. They don't need another competitor to make things worse. And this project also, I don't believe is going to solve such problems. Written student testimony indicates that they feel making PSU more affordable with additional student housing will have a greater impact than this project. Unions have a legitimate concern about theatrical skills being lost. However, other cities have solved this problem by investing in a temporary venues. We should do the same. The real need for our community is to bring more businesses to the downtown core, to continue to deal with homelessness, and to fill the missing gaps in our police force. Councilor Dan Ryan made it very clear in his city life test comments that it's time to end this.
197 Thank you.
198 Sorry we are out of time at this point.
199 Okay.
200 Thank you. I would just I would just say.
201 Sorry. All right. Thank you very much.
202 Good afternoon. My name is sarah schwartz. I'm the president of the PSU foundation and the project lead for the performing arts and culture center. Three years ago, when the city asked Portland state to explore what a broadway capable theater campus might make possible for Portland, we answered with a bold vision a cultural campus that goes beyond a broadway theater to create opportunities for audiences, artists, students, and community organizations while strengthening portland's entire arts ecosystem. Since then, the proposal has undergone extensive technical analysis and scrutiny of advisory groups, and we have had thousands of conversations with artists, arts organizations, business leaders, donors, students, investors, and community partners. The result is this PSU has identified funding for the academic and community spaces. It will own and operate. Development partners are at the table. The state of Oregon and early philanthropic donors have stepped forward, and $230 million has already been aligned with the project. What is critical now is understanding how the city can best fund the broadway theater it will own. Today's resolution does not commit the city to any particular path. It authorizes city staff to work with PSU to evaluate funding strategies and provide council with the information it's requested. We must move swiftly forward. Counselors, your partners are at the table, and we're excited to start building this vision with you. Thank you for your consideration and we hope you will support the resolution.
203 Thank you very much. Good timing.
204 Council president Dunphy.
205 Vice president Clark, and members of the council, thank you for letting me speak today. For the record, my name is aj romero, and I serve as the PSU graduate student trustee on the board of trustees. I am here today in strong support of the resolution to advance a new broadway capable venue as part of the proposed performing arts and culture center at Portland state university. In my role on the board, I represent the voice of students across all disciplines, backgrounds, and areas of study. You're going to hear from a lot of people today. I don't think there are a lot of students registered, so take that into mind from a governance and student perspective, this project is a transformative generational opportunity for our entire university, community and region. This center will not just transform downtown. It will be a powerful engine for student recruitment and enrollment. Today's students are looking for vibrant, connected campuses with state of the art resources hosting a premiere broadway capable facility right on campus gives PSU a unique competitive edge, attracting top talent locally, nationally, and internationally not only in the performing arts, but across business, technical and creative fields. Integrating a world class venue into our campus directly enhances the overall student experience and catalyzes downtown revitalization. It expands academic and workforce development opportunities across campus, creating high value internships, technical jobs, and venue and event management roles. Beyond these broader impacts of having a broadway capable venue on our campus, provides access to training facilities and mentorship opportunities that our students would benefit from and might not have otherwise have access to. This matters, especially because PSU organs access institution, with Portland state having multiple designations for serving underrepresented communities. This helps PSU advance our mission as oregon's access institution. Locating academic space next to professional theater space will give PSU performing arts students a direct view into potential careers following graduation.
206 Thank you. Thanks. Thank you very much.
207 Chair and council members. For the record, my name is julie vigeland. I'm a south waterfront resident, a lifelong advocate, patron, volunteer, and supporter of arts and culture in Portland. Simply thank you for your extraordinary work. The recommendations before you reflect years of study, public engagement, and thoughtful deliberation. I have spent much of my life championing the arts because they enrich our communities, they strengthen our economy and create the shared experiences that help cities thrive. That is why I am encouraged by the recommendation to move forward with planning for the performing arts and culture center. With a broadway theater at its heart, what it takes me is not simply a new venue. It is the opportunity to welcome new audiences, connect students to the arts, strengthen artists and organizations across our region, and inspire philanthropy. I know from my personal experience in fundraising for major projects, that donors are drawn to bold visions, strong partnerships, and projects that can make a lasting difference. This is that kind of opportunity. At some point, every generation becomes a steward rather than a beneficiary. Our responsibility is not only to preserve what we inherited, but to widen the circle of opportunity. I believe this project can do just that. Let's let future generations look back and say that we had the vision to invest in what Portland could become. I urge you to vote yes on this resolution.
208 Thank you all very much.
209 Next up, we have leroy bynum, daniel pollack-pelzner, linda kimball, amy donahue, chuck dillard.
210 Welcome,
211 Folks. Come on down. You have 90s apiece. Please make sure to introduce yourselves for the record.
212 Good afternoon.
213 I'm leroy bynum, the dean of su's extraordinary college of the arts. And I am again excited to speak to you on behalf of the performing arts and culture center proposed for su's campus. As a career long lover of the stage and a lifelong champion of diversity and access. For me, the process of developing this proposal has been all about serving and uplifting portland's entire performing arts ecosystem. At the same time, the arts educator and administrator in me know all too well the transformative power of performance venues to elevate the arts and the artists while also bringing cultural, economic and social vibrancy to the communities they serve. Moreover, for performers like myself, there are two unassailable certainties. First, all artists need venues that allow them to look and sound their best. And second, all audience members need and deserve to see and hear clearly what is being presented on the stage. This requires the intentional creation of state of the art tunable acoustics for complementary sightlines, achievable with certainty only when a performance hall is built from the ground up. Psu excels in training amazing performing artists. We also have leaned in with intention to building the talent pipeline for the backstage professionals Portland so desperately needs. So thank you for inviting us to propose building portland's broadway theater on su's campus. We remain honored to partner with you in creating a center for everyone.
214 Thank you very much.
215 Good afternoon. My name is daniel pollack-pelzner. I teach theater at PSU. I grew up in Portland, where my folks took me and my sister to see shows at the keller, and my wife and I are delighted to be back in the city, taking our kids to shows alongside their grandparents. But what drew us back here was not a single building. It was a whole performing arts network. And I write about performing arts across the country for the new york times and the new yorker. And what we find in every city that creates a center that truly transforms a neighborhood that truly galvanizes a city, is that it's never a standalone structure. It's always a partnership between commercial theater, universities, city government, private philanthropy, local arts organizations, and the business community. That's what can uplift a whole city, and that's what can change the story around Portland. And I think we all know we need a new story for Portland. When national arts editors asked me to write about the Portland arts scene, it's almost always to answer the question, what went wrong? And I can understand the impulse to kind of hobble along with the status quo, or to have a fantasy that the keller could be redeemed. Even though every study has showed that it's physically impossible in its current space. But I think we don't want to pass up the opportunity to change the narrative. If we can lift up students, if we can lift up arts organizations, we can lift up arts organizations. This is our chance for our kids to tell the story of how we got it right. Thank you.
216 Thank you very much.
217 I'm linda mckim bell, a PSU alum, neighbor and volunteer advisory council chair for the senior adult learning center at Portland state. I urge you to approve the PSU performing arts center auditorium complex to keep our beloved city on an upward trajectory, and to make a bold statement that will empower our urban renaissance. I live at terwilliger plaza in retirement community, a stone's throw from the proposed project for me and many portlanders, the wounds of a massive and ill advised urban renewal project are still palpable. The PSU performing arts center complex would breathe new life into the area. We seniors living in the forest of high rises and retirement communities near their need, places to meet, places to enjoy the arts, and gathering spots to get together. Right now, it's just a wasteland and it's time for Portland to think big. Remember in the past when city. Okay.
218 You got 30 more seconds. Don't stop.
219 Okay. When city fathers invited frederick law olmsted here to plat out the parks, they were thinking big. A little town on the river, inviting people from new york to come out and fix our parks up. And wow, what a treasure for us. This will be your treasure for the future.
220 Thank you very much.
221 Good afternoon, president Dunphy and members of the city council. For the record, my name is amy donahue. I am an architect and a partner with boora architecture and interiors. Thank you for this opportunity to testify on behalf of this important resolution, which I wholeheartedly support. 40 years ago, civic and arts leaders brought an audacious vision to life the Portland center for the performing arts, boosting the creative scene and exposing the community to a broad set of art forms. Today, we have the chance to make another bold step forward. The pac will increase access to the arts for our entire population. It will be an economic driver in the downtown core and beyond. It will be a resilient facility that can safely accommodate audiences and the back of house operations required to stage a wide variety of productions. My career has been focused on design for the performing arts. While our Portland block size makes for a really wonderful pedestrian experience. A 200 by 200 block cannot accommodate a 3000 seat hall and its programmatic needs. The PSU property will offer a gracious welcome to the community. Performers will have adequate dressing and support spaces. Production crews will have easy load in as well as storage capacity. A venue with these capabilities will attract more productions for a Portland community that is really hungry for the arts and for a new story. We have the opportunity. You all have the opportunity tonight to do something remarkable for our city, like our new airport and east county flagship library. This project can be a civic triumph, a place that draws audiences from near and far to visit our dear city and be part of its exciting revitalization. Thank you.
222 Thank you.
223 Good afternoon, president Dunphy, members of the council. For the record, my name is doctor chuck dillard, and I am proud to be the director of the school of music and theater at Portland state university. I strongly support advancing the pac because I see daily how our current facilities limit our students and our ability to serve Portland. Our students study, rehearse and perform in a converted high school, not a purpose built arts facility. Our award winning choral program rehearses in a lecture hall because we have no suitable space. Our three bands rehearse in a room so small that it is an actual osha violation for hearing safety. And yet, as fall term approaches, our classes in our popular sonic arts and music production program and in theater arts are beyond capacity, and I am forced to turn students away while other areas struggle on campus with declining enrollment. The college of the arts is experiencing growth and vitality. What is happening in the arts at PSU is clearly on the right track, but our facilities cannot keep pace with our successes. The pac could change that, preparing portland's next generation of performers, educators, and arts leaders. Su's motto is let knowledge serve the city. Let me offer an amendment. Let art serve the city, too, because the creatives, thespians, scholars, artists, and musicians who will study at the pac are exactly who will keep portland's weird spirit alive. Thank you.
224 Very much.
225 Next up we have carol morris, charlene, hannibal, mark raggett, christine vernier, helen. Ying.
226 Your first seated. You get to go first.
227 Okay, good. Hello, councilors.
228 My name is christine vernier. My husband, david and I co-founded vernier science education, and for many years we've been proud supporters of education, the arts and organizations that strengthen our community. First of all, I have to thank you so much for voting to approve the albina vision trust resolution that's transformative for our city, and I really feel that the performing arts. Center and culture at Portland state is transformative for our city. We appreciate the thoughtful work that has brought us to this point. After years of study, advisory, committee work and community input, the recommendation has been consistent. The performing arts and culture center Portland state is the strongest path forward. What excites us about this project is that it's much more than a broadway theater. It is an opportunity to support students, artists, and arts organizations while contributing to the economic and cultural vitality of downtown Portland. This is an opportunity that Portland cannot afford to pass by today's vote, since an important signal to philanthropists, private partners and other funders that Portland is serious about realizing the vision of this resolution. I encourage you to approve this resolution. I thank you for your time and consideration and for all that you do for our city.
229 Thank you very much.
230 Good afternoon, council president Dunphy, vice president Clark. My name is mark raggett. I'm with associate principal architects. Our office is in downtown Portland. We strongly support this resolution as it will advance the new performing arts and culture center at Portland state university. At a time when our city needs new attractions. Adopting this resolution will allow the current auditorium to continue operating, bringing the signature broadway plays and musical events to downtown as it has done for years. While the planning, design and engineering can continue on a next generation mixed use facility just a few blocks to the south. We support investments that will bring more activity, energy and vibrancy back to downtown. We recognize that Portland continues to lag behind other American cities in its recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic, and that what is needed are more reasons for more people to come visit and stay longer in downtown. This resolution will enable city staff to continue to do the work necessary to ensure that this project meets the city's expectations for successful new regional and cultural attraction in Portland. We are also excited about the potential of the new performing arts and culture center to catalyze new development in downtown. Our firm has a long history designing and developing some of the largest development projects in and around Portland, each each of which is anchored by cultural, institutional and or employment center, including the brewery blocks hustle and slabtown and multiple blocks in south waterfront. We see potential for the creation of a compelling new district around the PSU center, and believe that the facility can serve as a new anchor in downtown, creating demand and attracting outside investments for new housing near Portland state university, south park and the Willamette river. In conclusion, we strongly support and encourage Portland city council to support this resolution moving the significant project for Portland forward. Thank you for your time and consideration.
231 Good timing.
232 President Dunphy and members of the Portland city council. My name is helen jung. I'm a former educator, Portland state university alumni, longtime community leader, and a neighbor of the site where the proposed pac would be located in 2024. I testified because I believe accessible arts and cultural spaces strengthen individuals, families, and neighborhoods. Since then, serving on the city's first steering committee in a technical role, reviewing data and evaluating options has further affirmed my support for su's pac. Today, I speak as a committee member who understands what this means for portlanders. This resolution is good for PSU, good for Portland, and good for the community. For PSU, the new venue strengthens its mission as an urban serving university and creates meaningful opportunities for students, faculty, and families. It also builds on significant state and philanthropic philanthropic commitments already secured for Portland. This approach protects the economic activity generated by touring productions, supports downtown recovery, and activates a helping sequence year round, while allowing the city to reimagine the killer without shutting down a large scale performing arts ecosystem. And for the community, this plan expands access for artists of color, community based arts groups, and young people who struggle to find affordable venues. It supports small businesses and reflects portlanders values, inclusion, accessibility, creativity, and cultural vibrancy. I respectfully urge you to adopt this resolution.
233 Thank you very much.
234 Good afternoon. My name is charlene hannibal. I'm a fourth generation portlander former Oregon ballet theater dancer and PSU student and co-founder of open space, a nonprofit professional dance company and school. I grew up in local public schools at obt and in many ways at the keller auditorium. My generation had opportunities to perform throughout our city at the schnitz, newmark and lincoln hall. We weren't just learning to dance. We were participating in the civic life of Portland. Those experiences told us that these theaters and the city belonged to us. I love the keller. From the color coded dressing room floors to the smell of the Green room, to those red velvet seats. I know it by heart. That stage holds an outsized place in my life and in the cultural memory of this city. But it's time for a change. The performing arts and culture center, alongside a reimagined keller, is a once in a generation investment in portland's performing arts ecosystem. For organizations like open space, the proposed smaller community theater at PSU is essential. Portlanders need affordable and accessible spaces where local companies and schools can perform again. Children become students, students become artists, artists become teachers and arts leaders. I had the privilege to grow up in these theaters. I chose to come home and invest in the city. Please give the next generation that same opportunity. Thank you.
235 Thank you very much.
236 Hi.
237 I'm carol morrison. I reside in district four. I'm the retired president of the pge foundation, and I've been active in arts advocacy, fundraising and grant making for 25 years in this city. Portland is ripe for a state of the art performing arts center. Our city now has a cutting edge airport, an art museum, and soon a renovated major sports arena for our beloved trailblazers. The performing arts deserves the same attention. I have been impressed with wsu's track record of fundraising and building major facilities through public private partnerships, on time and on budget. The proposed performing arts center at PSU already has $250 million in commitments through state bonds and PSU philanthropy, with more in the pipeline. Once city council gives PSU the go ahead to proceed, this project would be transformative for arts and culture in the region. Don't pass it up. Please vote yes today so the city of Portland and PSU can officially begin to determine the costs and timeline of the performing arts and culture center at PSU. Thank you.
238 Thank you very much. Thank you all.
239 Next up we have earl blumenauer. Jenn hartmann. Luck. Carl. Abbott. Nancy courtney. Jean-pierre. Veillette.
240 Come on down, folks. Who wants to go first? Jump on in. Congressman.
241 Ex congressman. Former congressman.
242 Well deserved former. Yeah.
243 My heart almost stopped. Thank you very much, mr. President. And members of the council. I've had great fun listening to the testimony here before and watching what's happening with the momentum here for. I would like to begin, if I could, by just acknowledging I appreciated councilor Clark's reference to gloria steinem. I'd like to reference judith ramaley, who is a transformative president of Portland state who just passed away and was a trustee until she passed. I'm delighted to work with ann cud, the right president, for the right time. I helped start the fight against the mount hood freeway in southeast Portland. I was today with the metropolitan study and leading a tour of the waterfront and a plan to revitalize it. I am excited about the prospect here to showcase the work that we can do going forward. The arts and education are going to lead the revitalization of our city. I'd like to dedicate my testimony today to the memory of bill nadeau. I think I've given all of you a copy of his biography. And it wasn't just that he convinced me to wear a bow tie. Bill nadeau involved that notion of how to deal with creativity and get things done, and I have a feeling I'd know how bill would respond to the challenge that you're facing today. He'd say, do both. Build the center at Portland state and think creatively about what to do with that marvelous space that is going to be available next month. You're going to be invited to Portland state university for the opening of our new art center, a mass timber structure that is an example of why Portland state has been the major developer since 2010 in downtown Portland, over $1 billion. Well, I don't think we have to make false choices or be competing against one another. I think there is the vision, the resources, the opportunity to take advantage of this. I'm let me just say, I would volunteer at any point to give you the rest of the story. If you would give me that. But thank you for your courtesy and what you are doing. Thank you very much.
244 Thank you sir.
245 I got to follow that. Okay, great. Good afternoon, council president and councilors. My name is jean pierre viette. I was born here. I went to the schools here. I paid the taxes. I've done business in Portland for over 40 years. I have one, and I have lost in the cycles of portland's economy. I have traveled with the chamber on best practice trips. I've served as a trustee on boards, sat on many public committees, sponsored scholarships, run youth sports, and taught classes at the art school, all while raising a family. I say all that so you understand I'm not a bystander. I have skin in the city's future, and I am asking you to invest in the performing arts and culture center because I have seen with my own eyes what this city can become when we choose culture over decline. I am here because my mentors were the people who built this culture out of almost nothing. Michelle russo and sally haley came to Portland not long after the war that had taken so much from this country. They didn't arrive in a city with galleries and stages waiting for them. They arrived to very little and they built it. Russo taught at the museum art school right as returning soldiers on the g.I. Bill filed filled its classrooms. He spent his life fighting for artists to be treated as professionals in this city. Advocacy that helped lay the foundation for the public art now woven into portland's identity. The museum art school took people broken by war and gave them purpose and strength when they needed it. I'm going to skip through. We have inherited a legacy and. And right now the schnitz is selling out its shows, and there is a real appetite to grow what broadway means for the city. That driving force of what we inherited did not disappear. It is telling us something if we are willing to listen. Culture is how a city remembers who it is. It is how Portland made these investments before and benefited greatly when it mattered then. And it matters now. The performing arts and culture center is our turn to do the work. It is not a luxury project. It is a kind of investment that grows the whole pie. I am asking you to support this project.
246 Thank you very much.
247 Hello, my name is jen hartmann luck, the producing artistic director of the newly unpaused Oregon children's theater. And when I was in eighth grade, I saw my first professional musical at gammage auditorium at arizona state university. It was phantom of the opera. I was in the back row of the third balcony, and that night I became an arts person. Gammage became an anchor in my life. I went on to major in theater at arizona state. I worked in that venue, performed there. I got my diploma on that stage. That building helped launch my career. For me, there was no arizona state without gammage auditorium. Years later, as a graduate student at the university of texas at austin, another building came into my life to become an anchor bass concert hall. That building shaped me as an educator and an arts leader. And then something else happened. I became a patron, a season subscriber, a donor. That is the power of a performing arts center on a university campus. It can take that kid in the back row and turn them into a student, an artist, an educator, a donor, and a nonprofit leader. I'm here today as I begin my fourth season in Portland as producing artistic director of Oregon children's theater, and I am here advocating for the performing arts and culture center at Portland state university. A yes vote is investment in the infrastructure that helps a city attract and retain students, artists, educators, families, businesses, and cultural organizations like Oregon children's theater. The pac will become an anchor for local arts orgs for the generations of PSU students, and it will invite young people to imagine a future here in downtown Portland. Thank you.
248 Thank you very much.
249 Carl.
250 Afternoon. I'm carl abbott, a retired educator and historian. In my life. Before retirement, I taught a course on downtown development for urban planning students. We explored the factors that make downtowns vital and viable and pack ticks the boxes. Now, rather than go through that familiar list, I decided want to point to something similar in the city of birmingham, england. That city combined a new symphony hall with a conference center, connected them with a concourse in the city core to a historic Kanal network. It's been a smashing success. Spillover effects on the urban center. Of course, they spell it funny over there. If they can do it in britain, we can do it here. Portland has sometimes settled for small or convenient half measures at a time when we want the arts and education to help revitalize downtown, we need to invest in purpose built, world class facilities. The PSU proposal, rather than beginning with compromise, advances portland's highest aspirations for the arts, their audiences and the community. I urge you to move this resolution forward. Thanks for your time.
251 Thank you very much.
252 Okay. Checking to see if nancy courtney is here. Next up, we have rose at a venitucci bob nadeau, emily horton, charlotte rich, terry goldman.
253 Hey, how are you? I'm good. How are you? You want to sit between us? Ladies first. Hi.
254 My name is rosetta venitucci. Good afternoon, president Dunphy, councilors and everyone else. Thank you for giving professional problem solvers the opportunity to weigh in. Stagehands solve problems every day, and we do it effectively and efficiently because the curtain has a time certain to go up. Iatse has worked in the building since 1917, and we are all in support of a new city building on the PSU site, with a later 1800 seat renovation at the current site, which supports your goal of resurgence and renewal. The entertainment industry has been bringing people back downtown. Today, I appeal to you with words from broadway because the sun should come out tomorrow. You can't stop the motion of the ocean or the rain from above, but you can ease on down the road and get this project started. Let's ease on down the road the halprin sequence together, because now is the time to seize the day, to stare down the odds and seize the day. It's too late for second guessing. Too late to go back to sleep. It's time to try defying gravity. Everyone deserves the chance to fly. It's a tale as old as time. True as it can be. Barely even friends. But then somebody bends unexpectedly. So let's let it go. Let's not hold back anymore. Please vote yes today. And let's ease this down the road. Thank you.
255 I'm going to sing it now.
256 President Dunphy.
257 Councilors, my name is bob nadeau. Actually, I'm bill nadeau's son, but I'm also the chair of the halprin landscape conservancy. On behalf of tens of thousands of portlanders who want to save the keller. I urge you today to reject this resolution. If PSU wants to build a new theater on their campus, they should do it on their own. The proposed location of the new theater is lousy. It's isolated from downtown and requires a new parking structure, subsidized and a subsidized hotel. With downtown struggling, don't take 400 000 people a year away from the keller, the fountain, and downtown. This plan is financially reckless and risky for both the city and PSU. And interestingly, in all the testimony up to now, nobody has talked about what it costs a total price tag of close to $1 billion, with no funding in sight, no evidence that a market exists for a reduced keller. And with $300 million in deferred maintenance for the existing five venues, and this plan offers no guarantee that the keller will ever be renovated. The keller is popular and profitable. Let's build on that. If the keller is dangerous and outdated, as some claim, why would broadway across America have just renewed their contract for seven years? But a full scale keller renovation on hold instead, approve the keller affordable fix, a five year, $15 million plan to improve and maintain portland's largest theater while supporting downtown's recovery. Let's invest in what Portland portlanders already own and has worked for more than 100 years. Thank you.
258 Thank you very much.
259 Good afternoon, council and every other hard working person in this room. My name is emily horton and I am a district one working stiff. I am not lucky enough to have name recognition or a family legacy, but I am lucky enough to be a proud union stagehand. I am a wardrobe worker and I ought to. Local 28 and I have worked in the performing arts for over 30 years. I grew up here in rockwood, taking field trips to Oregon children's theater, attending shows like the opera porgy and bess and broadway, Sunday in the park with george and, of course, the nutcracker. I graduated on stage at the keller auditorium, and now I proudly work for these companies. And while I grew up in Portland, I did not go to college here. I had to leave the state to find a university that offered a theatrical education where I could work side by side with professionals in the industry, studying university level academics while building a professional resume and earning a degree, I left the state to find a program like the one Portland state is building, a program that I know leads to success in the industry. My work study job was for an award winning regional theater, allowing me to graduate with minimal debt and a professional resume that allowed me to transition into a full time career seamlessly. My peers and I have health insurance, retirement, dignity, and most of us have safe, stable places to live. We love our jobs and have worked tirelessly for decades to excel and thrive in them. These are skills that are built over a lifetime, and there are no other jobs in Portland that require or hire workers with our skills in the number that these performances do, these are our jobs that you are voting on today. Growing up in rockwood in the 90s and going into the performing arts took intelligence, courage, investment and commitment. And I'm asking you all for the same investment, investment and commitment to the workers and children of district one today. Please vote yes on the PSU project. Thank you.
260 Thank you very much.
261 Good afternoon.
262 Council president and council vice president and councilors. My name is terry goldman, and I am the general manager of the porter hotel, located one block from colorado tourism, a frequent patron of events at keller and a parent of a professional musical theater actor. I'm here as someone who has who sees firsthand the economic impact that keller has on its current in the businesses surrounding it. When there's a show at keller, the restaurants in my hotel are busy, the bars are busy, and our hotel rooms fill up. Guests make a night of it, they dine downtown, stay overnight, and support the businesses that have invested in this part of the city. The keller isn't just a theater, it's an anchor that brings people downtown and creates activity that benefits hotels, restaurants, retailers, and the people who work in those businesses, including the employees who work at keller in a variety of different roles. Like many portlanders, I recognize that keller needs investment. It's an older facility, and it deserves attention. But there's a big difference between improving something that works and spending an extraordinary amount of money that we don't have to build something entirely new. As a business leader, I look at this through a practical lens. If I have a profitable asset that is attracting customers and generating economic activity, I would invest in maintaining and improving it. I would not spend hundreds of millions of dollars to relocate it and hope that the same success follows. I respectfully ask you to focus on preserving and improving portland's broadway theater, the keller, instead of investing in a new project at this time. Thank you for your time and consideration.
263 Thank you very much. Thank you all.
264 Charlotte rich. Next up we have terry goldman, diana stewart, lejeune, thorsen, tom reichert, john russell.
265 You called me twice. I already went to terry.
266 Thank you. And then cynthia hampton.
267 Welcome folks. Jump right in.
268 Good afternoon council. My name is diana stewart. You have heard a myriad of reasons to vote no on this resolution. The unknown cost, the lack of a clear plan, countless unknown unmet competing city needs, including the albina district projects that you voted on just now. If city money goes to the PSU projects, which programs, which city employees, and which nonprofits will be sacrificed in exchange. But there's one issue that no one has addressed. Last week, the city posted an RFP seeking a qualified p five management entity to replace metro, who will be turning over management of the five venues on June 31st, 2027. This will be one of the biggest determinants for future success of arts organizations in Portland. The city already has responses by a number of qualified firms to last year's rfi, which tell a consistent story. For example, atg entertainment, the third largest broadway theater operator in the country, states plainly in their rfi response, the keller's, portland's only broadway capable venue and touring broadway is the primary venue driver for the entire p5 portfolio. In fact, four of the five national firms who responded are telling you the same thing. P5's financial sustainability depends on broadway staying at the keller, approving a competing 3000 seat venue at PSU before you've even chosen a p5 manager, risks pulling the foundation out from underneath the arts systems you're attempting to preserve. Please vote no. Thank you.
269 I'd just like to very quickly note the RFP has not actually been released yet.
270 I think the RFP went out last week.
271 No, it was.
272 Oh, it was held back.
273 So the RFP from last year was was a more narrow scope. But the RFP has not been released yet.
274 Soon we were told it would be last Tuesday. So that's what I was relying on.
275 Thank you government. Yeah.
276 Hi.
277 I'm lejune thorson, president of the downtown neighborhood association. We're asking you to vote no before taking on another expensive project. Let's take stock of what we already own. Let's figure out whether the city needs a new venue. Let's look at all our current venues and the improvements and maintenance each needs. Let's develop a maintenance strategy, and let's find ways to improve the revenue potential of each venue through new management of p5. Only then should we even contemplate building a new performing arts center. There are other reasons why this is a bad idea. First, the city's loss of decision making autonomy in the commercial condominium financial structure. Compare that with the control the city has by virtue of owning the keller and the land outright. If you don't know what this is about, you should do some research about the vanport building. Second, the real possibility that the keller will become another subsidized venue instead of the profit generator it is now. And third, the financial losses to the hotels, garages, restaurants, bars, coffee shops these are real businesses and real jobs. This is real money we're talking about with real trade offs. We're cutting basic city services. Let's not be distracted by the state money. That's real money to support the affordable fix, make the necessary improvements at the color without a shutdown, and the color will serve us for many more years. Taxpayers are paying attention and seeing the real costs and trade offs of this commitment. Show us the taxpayers. You can be good stewards of our money. Vote no. Support the affordable fix. Thank you.
278 Good afternoon.
279 I'm cynthia.
280 Hampton, members of council president Dunphy and community.
281 I am.
282 A third generation portlander. I am a community activist. I've served on symphony board and others here for many years. I am a believer in community and responsible partnership. I'm privileged to be on the halprin landscape conservancy. So it's our collective responsibility to work together to ensure municipal coherency and careful urban planning. The keller is truly downtown in an existing neighborhood with more than enough parking, hotel rooms, and residences. The waterfront project is right there. The keller plan includes a public plaza that extends from the entrance to the renowned, cherished halprin fountain revivifying the fountain district. This is all done as a brand new building, totally redoing the keller. More seating backstage fix, no trucks in the street and half the cost of the PSU. Please consider voting no. Please be responsible with our monies and restore our trust in our public government by voting no on this issue.
283 Thank you very much.
284 Go ahead.
285 Hi, I'm tom reichert, and I have the great fortune of living in one of the harvard harrison towers on harrison street. Been there for nine years. I an md, phd. I was head of biomedical engineering at carnegie mellon. So I know a lot about modeling and and about building things. I had the extraordinary good fortune to wake up and having moved, knowing nothing about Portland except that it had more friendly people than any other place I'd ever been to find that I lived at the very edge of what is probably one of the great developments in any city in the united states. And that's the halprin open sequence. I'm sure you all know the last year it was named by the American society for landscape architecture as the most successful and most wonderful redevelopment program in the 20th century in the world. So what we have is a world of world famous development that immediately borders the the keller auditorium. And it has been successful quite a long time. None of us really know the details for the proposal that you're asked to consider today. We haven't seen where the buildings are going to be. Exactly. But if you walk down there, which I hope every council member will do, if you walk down there, it's an extraordinary experience because you're right. Aside of the 405, if you take a sound meter, which I did, you find yourself in a barely tolerable. You find the sound level higher than the city of Portland will approve by ten decibels, which means more than twice as loud. So it's nothing new.
286 We are at time. We're over time there. Thank you for your testimony. Thanks.
287 Good afternoon, members of council, john russell. For the record, I asked my friend jt flowers to read my remarks, but he had to leave. I hope you know that several years ago, the city and metro each contributed 200,000 to redevelop the keller. And what was what came out of that was a dream team, an international dream team. And I can say that having developed pacwest center across the street with hugh stubbins, the fourth winner of the annual award, there was 100 given sense. It was michael curry, undoubtedly the best artist in this city. And stu fish of london. All they do are performance buildings, but I think there seem to be three obstacles to council approval for renovating the killer the way those those geniuses have done. One, the head of broadway across America took us to dinner and said what I needed was a staggered construction so that it doesn't doesn't interrupt my 8 or 9 month season. We said, we think we can do it. We talked to hoffman, and hoffman said, yes, we can. Secondly, we were told by the city staff when that work was done to invite, we weren't told to invite the stagehands. When the issue came up, I talked to my friend tim nesbit, who, as you may know, was head of the Oregon afl-cio. He said, the solution is simple, john. You put them on unemployment and you support that, and you may have to supplement it. But that basically. And three, PSU is head over. Head has had short of damocles, the deadline on the state funding. Everybody I talked to says there's no doubt that that funding would get extended. So here's my summary. No urgency, half the cost, lots of critical unknowns. Please don't commit taxpayer dollars until you know the facts.
288 Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you all.
289 Next up, we have donna bauer, jane taylor, julie bunker, dean barnett, louise roman.
290 Halfway there. We're a little bit more than half done. Do I begin? Yeah.
291 Okay. My name is donna bauer. I just asked the gentleman who just spoke if I could concede my time to him, and he said he didn't think so because he seemed to be somebody who was knowledgeable in this. And it seems like there's a lot of people speaking today who have no idea about the keller, how it's run. I've been a volunteer for 20 years, and it was just two weeks ago that I got to put input into this. And three days ago, where I was asked to sign up and speak today. And one night last night I was told instead of three minutes, I'd have 90s, which I no longer have time to say, read my speech. But I want you to know, I beg you to vote no on this 20 years of volunteering. The person who spoke about Oregon children's theater. We're the people, 250 of us who went in the snow and kept it going. We're the people. During the recession, remember when symphonies were being lost, the Oregon symphony, we kept it. We kept it because of volunteers, because of the business community, because everybody worked together. Now Portland state is coming in. It's like a competition. They already have a name for it. And did I hear they're breaking ground on it in a week, I mean, so real fast it won't work because of the location. You can't have 40 busses, school busses on broadway and 405 coming and going to drop them off load in 20 minutes, take them out and get the next group in 40 busses, 3000 people on that road cost. The gentleman went over it and the need. We have five theaters now. We do not need six people are struggling to keep their theaters open now. Thank you for listening to me.
292 Thank you very much. Thank you.
293 Good afternoon. My name is jane taylor and I'm a downtown resident, an actor, a singer and a director. The best way to revitalize downtown is to significantly lessen homelessness and drug addiction. If we can succeed at that, besides that being the right thing to do and the place for our budget dollars, if we can succeed at that, people will come downtown. If they aren't worried about crime and open air drug dealing, they'll come to our restaurants and our vibrant performing arts spaces. And that includes the keller. And renovating that not only helps make the keller a better venue, but also continues to support and provide money to Portland. Five building a facility at PSU not only threatens the vibrancy of our other performing arts venues, but it simply won't revitalize our beautiful existing downtown. It will cost far too much and take precious resources away from actual solutions to our city's most pressing problems. Please do not approve this resolution. Thank you.
294 Thank you very much.
295 Thank you.
296 My name is julie bunker and I'm a certified venue executive, currently working as a spectator venue consultant. I was director of operations for Portland five from 2017 until 2020, and I participated in the keller seismic study and early keller remodel planning. I am testifying against this resolution. While I'm grateful for all the hard work of the committees that all the hard work that went into the resolution of particular concern for me is page two of the city life committee document dated 811. It states clearly states that the proposed venue is not part of the p five centers for the arts portfolio, a 3000 seat venue designed specifically for commercial events, if not included in that portfolio, will cause a significant loss of revenue, have a negative negative effect on maintaining p five existing venues and harm local arts groups that rely on subsidized nonprofit rates. Removing commercial revenue from the p five portfolio makes a management agreement less attractive for potential operators. The management agreement should be of the current venue should be the number one priority, with potential operators deserve the opportunity to make suggestions regarding the revenue impact. If the new venue is not part of the portfolio. Psu is part of the national trend of colleges planning event venues to offset enrollment drops. Lewis and Clark is working on a new performing arts center themselves who will own the building, how it is operated and funded, and what PSU expects out of it are questions that need to be answered.
297 Thank you.
298 Sir.
299 Yeah go ahead. I'll you.
300 Yeah.
301 I am dean martin. Dean barnett. I hear as a very interested taxpayer and what I would like to do is summarize what I can't cover here. And much of it has been. But what I would like to summarize it with is that apparently in 25, there was a survey of clientele at the keller. And that was used to characterize the direction that the various parts. And that's a third of them are from the south, and roughly 20% from each of the other directions. And you look at all that, and you can generate the numbers on how many cars, how many people, and you can get kind of a modeling that has been used to do a lot of things. And it has generated the no fatal flaws thing that we have all heard from. But what I would like to talk about is the less than fatal flaws of the two offerings. The worst of those is traffic related. And for the port, the PSU offering, it requires a what is called a high level traffic study because it increases traffic on lincoln by more than 100 cars. Actually several hundred at the time of a performance that.
302 Sorry, we're 30s over already, so I got to stop you there.
303 So what I end up with is all of these were generated in 2025. That requires a traffic study, and there has been no request for it yet. They're not serious.
304 Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you all.
305 Checking to see if louise roman is here. Next up we have erica thompson, chris fink, jesse wolf, kate dixon, joel thorson.
306 Whoever wants to go first, jump on in.
307 Go ahead.
308 Joel, I'm joel thorson and I'm here testifying in favor of saving the keller. Turning down the PSU request. I'm testifying on my own behalf, incidentally, and I there are two major concerns. Very. Both of them very urgent, that are not very evident to the naked eye. I'd like to call them attention to city administrator lee, and I think his staffer is still here. Is that right?
309 No. Donnie oliveira.
310 That's donnie oliveira.
311 Okay. I'm sorry. Yeah. So he's not here, but I hope that he and his staff will take a good, hard look at my written testimony because it deals with my two main concerns. One is the potentially serious risk, financial risk to the city of this project. Two of the categories of risk borrowing cost increases due to surging bond rates in the bond market right now, and construction cost increases due to the absence of 20 or more percent of the foreign born labor force are enough to almost ensure that this project will cost the city a lot more than its estimated, at a mere $448 million. And I hope that. And the other issue is governance. And I think the city administrator needs to exercise full due diligence in looking over all the documents presented from the the the cooperation document to all of the foundation documents of the governing body and and not sign any of them until they ensure Portland city of getting a good deal.
312 Thank you very much.
313 Good afternoon, council president, vice president and councilors. My name is chris finks, and I am a board member of the halprin landscape conservancy. I've also professionally been a man who's dedicated himself to urban vitality through destination marketing for nearly 30 years, including Portland. So this is near and dear to my heart. My position is, no, I don't think we should advance this proposal until the financial, economic and civic case has been fully demonstrated, which it has not. It's fiscally irresponsible to advance. Now, the city does not have a complete capital stack, a clearly defined contribution, identified funding sources, long term operating obligations, or a full assessment of taxpayer exposure. The timing is troubling to me. Suze is under great financial distress, falling enrollment, and Portland, the city of Portland, similar issues with with budget issues. We know where we are facing the. Keller already works. It's a proven cultural and economic asset that brings hundreds of thousands of people every year into downtown restaurants, hotels and surrounding businesses. Location matters moving the primary broadway venue away between the I 405 and a major transit hub is troubling to me. It's basically an island credible renovation alternative already exists. The work has been done by private sector. We had talked about some of the renovation, and that has been vetted and done over the last several years. Big one for me is protect property values and tax base, and I think the impact would be pretty dramatic around those areas there. We already have had declining property values and then in turn tax revenues. So the question is simple. We're advancing. We I think don't advance. I say no.
314 Thank you very much. Thank you.
315 All right. Good afternoon, city councilors. My name is erica thompson and I'm a Portland resident and principal architect at henneberry eddy architects. I've also served on the planning commission for more than five years. I am not here on the commission's behalf today, but through that work, I deeply understand the city's efforts to revitalize downtown. Downtown's strongest asset is its public realm the civic rooms, parks, and Green spaces that together make a uniquely beautiful and livable city. I fear the PSU proposal threatens the vitality of these spaces. Authorize $44 million now, and we trap ourselves in a sunk cost we cannot escape. Given how little detail the plan offers, the real cost will probably be higher than what you've been shown. It's unrealistic to believe the the PSU project gets built, and that any funding or will. To make the keller something meaningful remains. I'm usually an optimist, but picture what happens if the keller goes dark. The businesses that depend on it struggle. Vacancy rises, property values fall. The revitalized tom mccall waterfront bowl and its new venue are undermined because the blocks beside it go lifeless. Now, the alternative, through more modest investment, the keller stays open, drawing steady crowds to what is already one of the largest broadway touring venues in the country. It creates real synergy with the re-imagined waterfront venue just three blocks to the east. Together, they deliver activation support for local businesses and investment in the arts. Vision does not have to cost $1 billion. We need a vision that sees our city clearly, and by leveraging the assets we already have, delivers a tremendous return at a price we can afford. Please vote no.
316 Thank you. Thank you very much.
317 Hi there. I'm jessie wolf. I'm a partner with cromwell engineering, and I'm here to speak to the keller structure. In 2019, we were hired to perform a seismic evaluation, the keller auditorium. We reviewed historic documents, performed seismic analysis, oversaw material testing of structural components, and reviewed a previously incomplete report. We followed the procedures of asc 41, a deficiency based evaluation procedure for existing buildings. We compared the keller auditorium to the performance objective of a new building. What we found was a highly resilient structure with few deficiencies. In 1966, the original 1916 building underwent a structural overhaul with an intentional focus on seismic lateral upgrades, heavily reinforced concrete foundations, walls and floors were installed in the building. The remaining structure was tied to the new lateral system. After initial review, findings were confirmed by a peer review from another structural firm, and through meetings with senior city engineers. We then joined a design team tasked with developing a plan to upgrade the keller to meet the standards of a high performance art center, the likes of broadway. We devised a plan to upgrade the seating, a new access stage, enlargements and enhanced loading with minimal impacts to the existing structure. The remaining deficiencies to meet the performance objective largely involve bracing. As part of the architectural facelift, a new skin was proposed to the building. This would involve removal of the existing precast cladding, which has unnecessary seismic mass and is exhibiting signs. Deterioration. The key to the upgrade is that the new cladding would double as a seismic bracing to resolve the seismic deficiencies. I guess in short, given our findings, we find that the fiscally responsible thing to do is to upgrade the keller.
318 Thank you very much.
319 Good afternoon. I'm kate dixon and I live in beautiful downtown Portland. And I want to begin by thanking you for taking the time and making the effort to listen to all of us today. We believe in what we're saying, as you know, and we care very much about the future of our city. Today, I am here to implore you to vote no on the resolution. Before you start with what we have as, as as what we you have and we have as taxpayers. The keller is not a failing building. Thank you very much for your testimony. In a recent year, it hosted 178 performances, and it presented for nearly 400 000 people in our downtown. It is time to invest and restore the keller. It is not the time for a PSU concept performing arts project, which is a $450 million theater with no answer for who pays for construction, operations management or long term maintenance. At this time, when the arts sector is struggling to stay solvent and the city budget is shrinking, the. This resolution sets the stage for the largest, riskiest art investment the city has known. You are the stewards of our city assets. Renovating the. Keller keeps a city owned building under your control and supports our existing downtown infrastructure. My simple ask is vote no on this premature resolution. Fix and invest in what we already own.
320 Keep the keller. Thank you.
321 Thank you. Thank you all very much.
322 Thank you.
323 Next up we have sarah sofer, anjani banuelos, bolanos, andrew colas b masten, kyle huth.
324 Welcome. You're all welcome to whoever wants to jump in.
325 Oh, hi. My name is sarah sofer. I'm here as a member of the unite here local eight union and as a concession worker employed by levy restaurants at the p five theaters. And my stance on today's topic is please don't close the keller auditorium for a remodel. And please, whatever operating model you choose, make sure that you keep our jobs and our union contract in mind. Closing the keller for the remodel would gravely impact so many employees with good union jobs who make the p five theaters run smoothly. We depend on the broadway series, the ballet, the opera, and other shows to make ends meet. Without that, jobs would be unsustainable. The spectrum of workers affected by these choices include people with disabilities, retired folks, those who simply can't retire, people who are supplementing their income with a second job, and so on. We've developed a beautiful ecosystem of employees who make this operation something special. It's not just stand workers and bartenders, but it's stage crew and stage crew, ushers, security house managers, custodians, all of them. Collectively, we make this customer experience wonderful. So again, please consider our jobs and our union contract when making changes to the operating model because it will affect our livelihood.
326 Very much.
327 Hello councilors. My name is b masten. I'm a member of unite here local eight and an employee of levy restaurants working at the p five venues. I'm here to ask you, please do not close the keller for a remodel. Our jobs won't survive that. As you. And as you move forward with a new operator, please ensure that we are able to keep working at all the city's city owned venues and keep our pay, our benefits and our union contract. Closing the keller for remodel would be disastrous. There's no way we would be able to make it through that. And it's not just about our pay, but it's also about our health insurance. Without making the hours to qualify, we would all lose our health insurance. I want to make sure you know that the food and beverage workers at p5rp5 workers, and even if we are not directly employed by the city, 12 of our 36 current employees were employed there before COVID and came back after being laid off for 18 months. There's very little turnover. Over the years, we have fought through contract bargaining to make these really good union jobs. Our pay and benefits are much better than our levy workers at moda who are fighting to have a union. Please make sure that the progress is not erased and we can continue to build on our wins. We are here again to ask you, as you make decisions about the keller, to keep the workers in mind. Thank you very much.
328 Thank you. Okay.
329 President daphne vp Clark, administrator thank you for the moment, the time today I come back in support of the proposal that PSU has put forth. And I come forth as the group. I run cully family companies. We have a development and construction company. We were selected to be the exclusive developer of the hotel that would be adjacent to the the new performing arts and culture center. I do want to correct the record. There is no subsidy that we are requesting at this time. However, if you want to provide one, I would love one, but I need to correct that record. We went after this project because I talked about it earlier. I'm a portlander born and raised here. I love the city. And as congress, congressman blumenauer talked about it, this is about vision. This is about revisioning the way that we can have people come, the vibrancy that can partake when we reimagine what this looks like. That doesn't mean that we can't reimagine the way that keller will live and work as well. I also am here because of the people that are next to me. I've done the analysis on the construction side of the renovation, and contrary to what everybody says, it's about net neutral. But we cannot forget about these people and their employment and these jobs. We cannot. It's very important to the vibrancy of our city, our state. And I fully support this, and I recommend that you move forward in negotiating further. Thank you very much.
330 Thank you.
331 Hello.
332 My name is kyle huth. I am a PSU graduate and a proud member of the local 28. I come here to speak. In positivity of the PSU option because just five blocks south where the keller sits is an opportunity. It is a project combining private capital to a hotel and retail and public funding to realize a space that can both accommodate modern touring shows, and also a space that can be available to smaller community events which are sorely overlooked and and in cooperation with PSU, and provides exceptional access to the next generation of theater professionals in our city. It is a bold and ambitious plan, and one that comes with a century long roadmap to carry Portland brightly into the future. The PSU proposal is an investment in Portland and its culture, and also an investment in preserving the living wage jobs these venues provide. Thank you.
333 Thank you all very much. Thank you.
334 Jeanette.
335 Good evening, president and members of Portland city council. My name is anjanette banuelos bolanos and I live in district one. I am also a business representative for liuna 737. We represent approximately 2800 union members across Oregon and 178 registered apprentices, with another 100 people who are waiting to begin their first union dispatch. I urge you to support this resolution. Moving the Portland state university performing arts and culture center forward. This project is is about more than constructing a new building. It is an investment in portland's workers, students, creativity, community and downtown economy. The project would bring a modern, seismic safe, 3000 seat performance venue to downtown Portland while creating classrooms, rehearsal studios, community spaces and opportunity for local art organization. Most importantly, projects like this is this are creating family wage jobs and family supporting careers. They give apprentices the hands on experience needed to build stable futures while strengthening our local economy. Portland has the opportunity to create create something that will serve the community for generations. Please vote yes on this important project and move it forward, but do so with a strong community labor agreement and strong labor standards that protect the workers and create equitable opportunities. Ensure that this is a public investment, benefits our community and that is during construction and operation. Thank you for your time.
336 Thank you very much.
337 Next up we have andrew Smith, joyce follingstad, anthony samperio samperio. Excuse me, russell benton, ernest munch. Andrew. Go ahead.
338 Hi. Hello city councilors.
339 My name is andrew Smith. I'm a resident of district four and a principal at henneberry architects. Having led the comprehensive feasibility study for modernizing the kellar completed in 2023, I can say with confidence that every challenge currently facing the kellar has an achievable solution. It can be comparable to a new 3000 seat theater, and it can be done for far less cost. We're very quickly approaching a point in our world where building new square footage is becoming the last resort compared to adapting existing buildings. It's a simple matter of sustainability. In difficult economic times, it's more important than ever to leverage the assets that we already have. In that sense, kellar is a bird in the hand. Broadway has committed to be at the kellar for many more years, and for good reason. Instead of committing $44 million towards a new theater on wsu's campus, I urge you to invest a third of that just $15 million, into the kellar. To make things even better for audiences, performers, stagehands. Concession workers, and others for the next seven years. If you proceed with this resolution, I feel confident that we'll be back here in two years having this conversation again, with very little progress made towards what, to me seems like an unachievable new theater development. Thank you.
340 Thank you very much.
341 I'm joyce follingstad. Good afternoon, city councilors. I'm a nurse and a psychologist and a concerned citizen. I'm testifying to oppose the proposal for the Portland city council to finance, build and operate a new broadway theater on the south end of the PSU campus, requiring a new parking garage and other supporting infrastructure. I'm here to encourage the approval of the keller affordable fix to complete the deferred maintenance and to make improvements that would include a retrofitting and preparation for the earthquake for which we are all preparing. I have many wonderful memories of attending events at the keller auditorium and enjoying the beautiful forecourt fountain. Currently, you have authorized a seven year agreement with broadway across America to continue presenting shows at the keller until 2033. At the same time, other venues across the city have presentations that do not always fill the capacity. I do not think we need to increase theater seats, nor do I think it's wise to undertake new construction, given our city's current financial undertaking. With the moda center and the increased cost of fuel and building materials. Let us not move with haste to commit 44 million to the PSU plan. When we have no details about how the money would be used. We have no studies that a new theater is actually needed, would be financially viable, or is in the best location at fourth and lincoln. Let us invest in the keller affordable fix plan, investing just 15 million to improve this. Our beloved largest theater, which will continue to advantage downtown businesses and support the ongoing revitalization of portland's downtown. Thank you.
342 Thank you very much. Please.
343 My name is renee munch. I'm an architect, urban planner hoping to retire. Moving this venue to the edge of the core next to I, 45 would be a step back from the plate and from our needed efforts to revitalize downtown. Unique concentration of activity and investment. So step back from the private investments of like the forecourt fountain, the public investment, the parking structures, the hotels and restaurants that would have to be recreated at the PSU venue. If PSU needs these facilities that they've talked about, and I don't doubt that they do, they should build it on their site. But the keller auditorium is you've heard structurally sound, more sound than we thought it was, and it can be remodeled in stages to prevent closing. And the unemployment that the actors feel. And it would cost approximately $165 million less. And that is not including all the things that have to be recreated at the PSU site. The environment. What we're walking away from environmentally is a whole bunch of of existing building, which would have to be torn down, perhaps, or recreated. It's much better, much more sound to remodel and reuse what you have than it is to recreate and tear it down. You know that the city cannot afford to have two of these venues, so splitting apart might be good. And we have a proposal that's been priced out by head of aurora. You've heard from them, which will make it suitable for 3000 seat auditorium. Thank you very much.
344 Thank you very much.
345 Anthony.
346 Good evening, council president Dunphy, vice president Clark and members of the city council. My name is anthony samperio, and I am a political organizer with the Oregon laborers district council, representing over 4000 union members, including over 2800 with local seven, 37, who are primarily construction laborers. In addition, our state registered apprenticeship program has over 175 apprentices, with more than half being women and people of color. I'm asking that you support the agenda item before you this evening. I'm also a delegate of the columbia pacific building trades council and a board member of the metro alliance for workforce equity. Portland state university's commitment to labor standards allows for several different standards that add value to public contracting, such as state registered apprenticeship and utilization goals, local hire requirements, and advancing minority women. Veteran emerging business enterprises projects with apprenticeship utilization requirements, which can include demographic goals by race and gender, provide historically underrepresented populations in our industry with jobs that build their careers, earn family sustaining wages, contribute to their employer sponsored pensions, and secure their full family health care. Please support this proposal with strong labor standards during both building and throughout operations for the lifetime of the venue. Thank you for your time.
347 Thank you.
348 Russell.
349 Thank you. Council president Dunphy, vice president Clark and members of the council and city administrator. Thank you for your time today. For the record, my name is russell benton. I'm a regional representative for the sheet metal workers of smart local 16. We are proud to give our public support for the proposal for acre development of the Portland state university, PSU, new performing arts venue and hotel development. We are happy to announce that the PSU and columbia pacific building trades council reached an agreement to ensure that PSU owned portions of this project will have excellent labor standards, ensuring our community will reach maximum return on their investment for this project. The fact that the the project workforce development agreement with PSU, which they proactively negotiated with the columbia pacific building trades council, is indicative of an equity centered commitment to collaboratively building economic justice in downtown Portland. This project is unlike any other in the city of Portland has considered in recent years. It has the potential to increase foot traffic downtown and put cranes in the air for decades to come, all while advancing the commitment to the workforce development, business development and labor engagement through compliance pathways approach, ensuring supporting for high roads, responsible contractors, skilled trained workforce utilization and project labor agreements. Many studies have shown that plans expand local hire opportunities and to the workforce, and also to the disadvantaged folks that live in those areas. So please support the you. Please support the working families of Portland and beyond. Thank you so much.
350 Our last testifier today is dana west.
351 Dana, you don't have to run, but take your. I can see you. We'll wait for a second.
352 Mr.
353 Fire pole.
354 A fire pole. You could have a, you know, propel in with the rigging.
355 I mean, you guys do rigging. Yeah. All right, corny dad joke. No. Where does king arthur keep his armies? In his sleeves.
356 Oh.
357 Does armies in his sleeves. Nine votes to remove a president. Just y'all. I'll vote yes. I mean, honestly, let it go.
358 That's good.
359 Welcome.
360 Thank you. Good evening, council members. For the record, my name is dana west. I'm an executive board officer with local 28. I've been working as a stagehand in Portland for over 20 years, and I have been attending events at Portland, five venues for my entire life. I'm here speaking in favor of the new PSU performing arts center, followed by a renovation of the keller into a modern 1800 seat venue. This guarantees continuity for large events such as touring broadway shows and protects good paying union jobs, while also creating a valuable intermediate venue for other productions and protects our artistic legacy while opening up new artistic, economic and educational opportunities for the future. I believe that our path forward can best be summed up with these words from stephen sondheim's Sunday in the park with george. Bit by bit, putting it together. Only way to make a work of art. Every moment makes a contribution. Every little detail plays a part. Having just the visions. No solution. Everything depends on execution. Putting it together. That's what counts. Thank you all for your time.
361 Thank you very much.
362 That completes testimony.
363 Okay, colleagues, I'm always happy to keep staff late in order to hear public testimony, but I'm not willing to keep staff later to hear us argue. So with that, we are going to carry these two items over to a future council meeting, and we are adjourned.