So today, two celebrities share a birthday, whose careers are going in vastly different directions. Daniel Radcliffe, the guy who plays Harry Potter turns 20 years old, while Monica Lewinsky, the person who was at one point the most famous alumni of Lewis and Clark College here in Portland, turns 36. One of them has the world at their hands, while the other has probably spent the last few years, hoping that they'll fade further into obscurity. Well, with the price of fame being what it is now, perhaps both of them might be asking that question?
The dance of the stadium continues in Beaverton, as now, the site being looked for baseball is one of a few out west. Negotiations like this go back and forth, and so I'm not surprised that it moved forward and now back a bit, as the city of Beaverton says it's looking at a few places to put the park. What's interesting in the article is that it's mentioned that 2 other communities are interested in having the baseball stadium, yet Hillsboro, Gresham, Wilsonville and Troutdate are all saying it's not them and they aren't pursuing it. So is this now a war between Maywood Park and Wood Village?
Listening to the City Council hearings as the vote for the MLS proposal is due in about a half an hour, and the business previous has been interesting to say the least. They've been talking about park lands being purchased for the city and friends of the park taking care of it, and the discussion now is about the study of the use of force by the Portland Police department. Apparently, the use of force is down, although if you watch the news, you'd think we lived in crime zone central here. Well, I suppose if you need to incite the viewers or push them to watch, go with what works to draw attention for most viewers - violence, sex or explosions. And right now, they are talking about what exactly constitutes a use of force by the police. Apparently, grabbing and bending someone's thumb may or may not be a show of force. God, I love discussions about legalese and what means what. And apparently, Gil Frey has some competition for craziest person to testify in front of the council. While I'm sure this woman had concerns, it didn't help her case when at the time she was told she'd have 3 minutes to talk, she argued about the time allowed, then kept going after being thanked for her testimony when she felt her question wasn't being answered. And apparently, it's a county question, not a city of Portland issue.
And at 3:39 PM, the discussion has begun, three separate amendments:
1031 Authorize financial terms and conditions between the City of Portland and Peregrine LLC for improvements necessary to accommodate Major League Soccer at PGE Park (Resolution introduced by Mayor Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard)
1032 Adopt findings and authorize an exemption to the competitive bidding process for development of a Major League Soccer Stadium, pursuant to ORS 279C.330 and City Code Sections 5.34.810 and 5.34.820 (Second Reading Agenda 987)
1033 Authorize sole source acquisition and execution of a contract with Peregrine Sports, LLC for a Predevelopment Agreement and Operating Agreement for a Major League Soccer Stadium (Second Reading Agenda 988)
1032 Adopt findings and authorize an exemption to the competitive bidding process for development of a Major League Soccer Stadium, pursuant to ORS 279C.330 and City Code Sections 5.34.810 and 5.34.820 (Second Reading Agenda 987)
1033 Authorize sole source acquisition and execution of a contract with Peregrine Sports, LLC for a Predevelopment Agreement and Operating Agreement for a Major League Soccer Stadium (Second Reading Agenda 988)
So far, the discussion has been very intelligently done, as they talk about worst case scenarios, which really means how is Portland protected if things go bad. And the answers so far, have been put forth to saying that the residents are not affected unless they are actually going to the matches. Both Mayor Adams and Commissioner Leonard have been pointing out how balanced this deal is, and the minimal amount of risk. Plus, topics like the MLS franchise fee that Paulson was discussed as a cost to him, and even Portland State and their dreams of potentially moving up to D-1 football is getting some attention. Since I'm getting close to my time for me to leave and get home for the match tonight, I'll wrap things up, but at this point, it looks very good for MLS and it being passed. Go Timbers, go MLS!!
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