This I Do Believe

• Unfunded annual road maintenance projected over five future years has been reduced from $14.6 million to $8.4 million.
• Where can we go from here?
• This I do believe. It has been a joy to serve these past fours as a member of your City Council. I am asking for your vote to joyfully serve four more years.
• The number of employees has been reduced even as the city’s population has grown.
• Dollars have been set aside in case PERS legislation is invalidated. If the legislation stands, dollars can be used for the operations/maintenance center. If it is overturned, the city has reserves.
• The process to sell the West End Building (WEB) has begun, thereby promising to end the millions of cash draining dollars that could be used elsewhere
• Engineering/design work on the Boones Ferry Road project has begun thanks to the voter approved $5 million general obligation bond.
• Modifications to the Sensitive Lands program, acknowledged by the council and management as broken, have begun.
• The proposed streetcar between Portland and Lake Oswego has been halted.
• A city wide debt limit of $250 million, excluding voter approved general obligation bonds, has been approved.
• A Comprehensive Plan that does not encourage rezoning to higher densities in neighborhoods, has been updated.
• The unnecessary and financially risky Foothills urban renewal district has been repealed.
• A more open and inviting atmosphere for citizen comment has been created.

Where can we go from here?

• The five year projection for unfunded annual road maintenance dollars will be reduced to zero, using existing resources.
• The operations/maintenance center will be rebuilt, using existing resources.
• Police/911/LOCOM will be rebuilt, using existing resources.
• The number of employees per thousand citizens will be at the lowest level in 24 years.
• The WEB will be sold, thereby “freeing up” dollars for core infrastructure projects like road maintenance, surface water and pathways. Programs and services offered at the WEB will be provided elsewhere in the city.
• Phase 1 of the Boones Ferry road project will be well underway, if not completed, within existing resources.
• The process will be underway for conversion of the trolley line to a bike/pedestrian line.
• Modifications to the Sensitive Lands program, acknowledged as broken, will be completed.
• Total city debt will be reduced even as major projects are undertaken/completed, using existing resources.
• Work will continue to reduce the backlog of surface water capital projects.

This I do believe. It has been a joy to serve these past fours as a member of your City Council. I am asking for your vote to joyfully serve four more years.