The latest step in the Business Liscence Fee/Business Income Tax reform came about last week as Council voted to support administering the fee as an "after-the-fact" charge rather than the current "before-the-fact" payment.  The BLF/BIT reform effort seeks to ease the tax burden on small businesses and to improve the economic competitiveness of our city and county.

Last week Sam and Mayor Potter co-sponsored a resolution to join suit with Freightliner against the Attorney General of Oregon. Council took this action in order to support a major local employer against an unwarranted application of the law.  Sam is concerned the AG's action - based on a suit that originated in Europe and was settled there - could seriously harm local employees and our regional economy.

2008 Stormwater Management ManualThe City of Portland has revised its Stormwater Management Manual. While the intent of the manual has stayed the same, it has been reorganized to make it easier to read and use.

A few highlights of the changes include an explanation of the manual's hierarchy for managing stormwater, new design details, all new forms and guidelines, and a new Presumptive Approach Calculator (PAC) to help determine the appropriate size for vegetated facilities.

Bike & Swale

 Take a ride through the Brooklyn Creek Basin on Saturday, September 6, 2008.  Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services and Office of Transportation will lead a southeast Portland bicycle tour of sustainable stormwater management facilities, new bike boulevards, and related art projects.

Analee Fuentes

Layers of Latino Culture

"Scott has a distinguished history of providing successful leadership on complex issues that matter to Portlanders," said Mayor-Elect Adams. "Scott's experience and knowledge of development finance, market dynamics, and commercial real estate will bring to the City's development agency a skill set that it has not had in more than a decade. Additionally, his integrity, commitment and interest in economic development for the public good will be invaluable assets in advancing PDC's mission and work."

By JAN HOFFMAN

Hiroko Masuike for the New York TimesIt seemed like a good idea at the time.

Save gas money, be environmentally correct, lose weight - just by biking to work. And so after two decades, Dan Cooley, 41, saddled up a silver 21-speed Raleigh in April to make the daily two-mile commute to his nursing job at a senior citizen center in Louisville, Ky. In four months, he lost 15 pounds. Way to go, Dan!

Renaming a street is inherently controversial. A name that may seem irrelevant to some can be profoundly important to others. Pragmatic concerns arise as well. A street name change can impact businesses that established their identities in relation to the street upon which they are located. And in a world that pulses at an ever increasing pace, many of us take comfort in the things that remain consistent, like the lane we live on or the arterial we travel en route to work.

City of Portland's Freight Master Plan identifies development of street design guidelines for trucks as one of the implementing actions for maintaining community livability and enhancing economic vitality by recognizing the role of goods delivery in supporting healthy and vibrant industrial districts and mixed-use centers through safe and effective street design.

What should the mayor know? What should the mayor do? Those are the questions, the challenge that was originally given to me for the program today.

My first instinct was to do a random poll, asking different citizens what the mayor should know and do. I received answers from; put Portland Development Commision Districts back on the tax rolls and save the schools, to advice from a Neighborhood Developer from the Pearl, "focus Sam, focus". I also received some very good advice from long time friends, specifically Mike Lindberg and David Kish. Well, I sat down to start writing and out came some history and what followed was the formation of "community" both in and out of City Hall.