Lesson in Politics - Part 2

Another lesson I should learn about with politics is never assume something is really dead and on the table until the obituary is done and set in stone. The ballpark idea gets another life and change in plan, courtesy of Randy Leonard, who is now asking the Portland Development Commission (PDC) to look for potential ballpark sites in the Portland area. While we've been told that Memorial Coliseum is a dead plan, it appears that by this action, Leonard admits that the Lents URAC vote probably wouldn't go in their favor, so let's find more alternatives in the area.

Leonard is committed to trying to find a suitable place in Portland, and I think there are some places that might work pretty well. Delta Park will not because it's a very busy park for the city, but it's known that Portland Meadows might be up for sale because the owners are bankrupt, and you have a large area there with parking that is near transit. Terminal 1 in the NW Portland area has been rumoured for a while as well, and while I don't know much about the site, apparently, I've heard it's a giant parcel of land. This also allows other exploration for cities in the area to step up and pitch their idea to Paulson, such as Vancouver, WA or Hillsboro, OR, both cities that have large areas of land available and have at least been rumoured to be interested. The Oregon Live story includes some more information, including the sites that will be reviewed and the fact that the Lents URAC was cancelling the vote for this week on the baseball idea.

The other big development today is that Sam Adams won't be charged by Oregon's Attorney General for misconduct in his personal life, by having sexual contact with another man who may or may not have been of legal age. The circumstances behind the relationship became public right after Adams took office, and while he's remained in his role and been assisting with many city projects, the whole situation has been a dark cloud to say the least. Apparently, the information provided by Beau Breedlove has some inconsistencies, there isn't much corroborating evidence to support some claims, and so the only thing that could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt is that Adams lied about the relationship particulars. While it's not a complete exoneration, what it does do is clear the legal avenue relating to criminal charges. There is still an ongoing recall effort that will start up in a few weeks, but at this point, Adams is still in office. Since he's been a huge proponent of MLS, this really strengthens things for soccer fans by having another supporter in the City Council.

So apparently, the idea isn't anywhere near dead, it's taking another strange turn. Politics have nothing on soap operas, apparently, and we'll keep you posted on things from here. Apparently, Wednesday is when the City Council discusses the MLS proposal and the actual decoupling of it from the overall baseball idea.

Lessons In Politics

I've been excited and frustrated by the entire MLS - Triple AAA stadium process, and nothing emphasized that more that my morning yesterday. Girl and I went to her father's house for a breakfast gathering, and he asked us about the whole effort because he wasn't quite up to date with things, and so we talked about it with him for almost an hour. It was amazing to hear the assumptions he'd reached through some of the incomplete information that had been shared in the media, but he also had some thoughts about how people were thinking that I hadn't necessarily considered.

I get that people might be scared about putting so much money into one project, and since my last post, things have gotten even more interesting in the world of Lents. Merritt Paulson has walked away from Lents, stating he doesn't want to build a stadium in an area that doesn't want it there. However, Randy Leonard, one of the city commissioners wants Paulson to wait and allow the Lents URAC (Urban Renewal Advisory Committee) to meet and vote on the idea, otherwise he is not willing to support soccer, while Dan Saltzman and Sam Adams are comfortable with the process and still want to discuss the stadium issue on Wednesday. Since the decoupling has occurred last week, soccer and baseball plans are being talked about separately, but we do know that plans for MLS must be in place by September 1st to secure the expansion team, which includes stadium plans to renovate PGE Park and other team specifics. Rumours have been floating about that Montreal is trying to secure the bid for the team if the Portland bid implodes, although I'm not convinced that's a very likely if.

Politics today is a rather nasty business, as you have to navigate some rather choppy waters to get anything done and try to remain sane in the process. Nothing seems tougher than trying to build a consensus amongst people that often times don't see eye to eye, and don't see the point of yielding in any way from their idea. I've watched passively on the debate to rename a street for Cesar Chavez, which makes the MLS situation seem tame in comparison. You have a group that wants this so badly because they feel Chavez needs to be honored, and they don't want to compromise by having a bridge or park named after him, while many of us, myself included, just can't understand why there isn't a way to compromise on the issue. I respect Chavez quite a bit, and understand his legacy, but I fail to understand his contribution to Portland so that a street should be named for him. Granted, it doesn't help things when the last renamed streets, Rosa Parks, MLK and Naito Parkway, were renamed without following the letter of the law when it comes to the process.

It's tough to build consensus with inconsistency, but at the same time, interests and topics change quite often, and I admire anyone that wants to get into public service and try to navigate this mess. You have to gage things as much as possible while hearing from a constituency that often times isn't informed or only sees one side of an issue and can't see the long term side of an idea. You have the anti-tax zealots, people who hate development, people who love development and can't understand why we can't just let business do what they want, the environmentalists who want everything protected, people who want kids protected under any costs, and sports fans that want the city to help them secure funds for stadiums or teams. Voters don't often spend time learning about issues as much as they should, but in all fairness, it's hard to find a nugget of truth in a saturated media that often times doesn't care about reporting truth but what will bring ratings or notoriety to their channel.

But at the same time, anyone in politics has to understand the game, and as Oregon Live's columnist Anna Griffin points out, we expect them to make the tough choices and represent our needs, no matter how fractured they might be. It's how things work around here, and that's why strong leadership is important, especially in a town like we have here where power is split between five commissioners that run various bureaus around town. Portland is unique in the sense that during the rally at Lents on Thursday, Commissioner Nick Fish was there to support the opponents as the commissioner of parks while Leonard was there in support of the plan, putting commissioners on both sides of the debate. And both sides of the argument can point to the fact that their side was represented by elected officials, which while it might be frustrating to someone like me who wants the stadium, I appreciate the fact that all sides can feel like their voice is being heard by someone with influence.

But where I get frustrated in this situation is simply that as someone who watches processes, I expect that our leaders will be strong in their conviction yet have an ability to find consensus and make tough decisions, even in the face of criticism. And that's the failing that I'm seeing of our city council right now. I appreciate the job they do, and understand that they need to follow their voice, but at the same time, it's important to work together and find ways to make the city work as smoothly as possible. Instead of bending to small interest groups or a vocal minority, it's important to stick with a plan if it makes sense for the city, and honestly, the original stadium plan to put the baseball park in the Memorial Coliseum site was the best idea out there, and it's frustrating to me to see that abandoned by a small group of architects and the Trail Blazers' influence. While I'm confident that things will find a way to work out, what I fear is that this process has exposed the dysfunction and chaos that often happen in city government. I find that I'm much more engaged in local issues, which is a good by-product if we are really looking for positives here.

I wish that politics wasn't such a messy game and that discussions could be done in a much more above board manner, and that decisions could be made quickly and efficiently. But like many good things, it makes the end result that much more satisfying, and after talking with girl's father, he seemed to understand what we were doing, and didn't seem to object nearly as much. I wished I could do this with many of the opponents of the stadium, but I suppose it's just one step or one person at a time, because that's how the city that works really works.

An Incredible Night - Minnesota Vs. Timbers, and Grand Opening of Sports Complex

It was an incredible night last night at PGE Park, although Mother Nature was trying to do her best to change up the festivities. The last home match for the Timbers against Montreal, the heavens opened up with a crazy amount of rain, wind, and other assorted craziness, so yesterday being a Timbers match at PGE Park, the rains had to come and visit again, dropping over an inch of rain on parts of the metro area around 2 to 3 pm. Things seemed to be smoother, though, as traffic on most of the busy streets was moving along OK. I wasn't going to miss this match, and with it being an 8 PM kickoff, I left our house at about 6 PM to get down there in time. The drive down had a few crazy rain moments, but by 6:30 PM, I was parked in NW Portland and walking to the Bitter End Pub to give a ticket to my friend S3K and see some folks before lining up for the match.

It was also teddy bear toss night for Doernbechers', so people had lined up with bags and bags of bears ready for chucking, but the team also had bears that they were giving out as door prizes for people to throw. I got into my seat just after 7 pm, and waited for the remaining Row N folks to show up to cheer. And we had a lot to cheer about.

I can't remember the last time we got 5 goals, it's been a while I'm sure. We had a lot of scoring chances, and on this night, we took advantage of them. We also got great defensive play from the backline, and Steve Cronin played very well and steady, even with letting in a goal in the first half. The guys picked him up, and got 3 goals in the second half, aided by 3 Minnesota red cards. Yes, Minnesota had 3 players ejected from the match, one for a rather late challenge in the box that lead to goal 3, a red for throwing a punch at Alex Nimo, and a final red for an absolutely horrendous challenge after goal number 5 that didn't need to happen. I can't blame Minnesota for being frustrated, they were being run around the pitch all night by a Portland team that didn't seem to show any ill effects from having played on Tuesday in California after being on the road all the past weekend. The Timbers looked fresh, confident, and on their game, and it probably helped when George Josten notched a goal in the 4th minute to start the bear throwing chaos.

Goals for the night - Josten, Suzuki, Hayes (PK), Keita and S. Thompson. Josten's goal was a nice give and go from a great pass from Farber, while Suzuki got a great angle from the wide side of the box to get the second goal. Hayes knocked in the PK after Minnesota's first red card, while Keita got his goal during a bit of a scrum near the box. Scot took a great pass from Hayes off a corner and knocked it in for number 5.

Key Observations:

• Gavin really did a great job of substituting last night, bringing in Danso at the half, then Nimo, McLauglin and Poltl late for some fresh legs. I did like how Steven Keel played in the first half at points, but he also had a couple of tough touches that really caused some dicey moments in back.
• I don't fault Cronin for the goal he let in. It was after a questionable foul, and he did catch the free kick but it bounced a bit funny and it spun in. But, he was very decisive on his lines, and made some quality saves, plus his goal kicks were spot on all night.
• Johan Claesson has really become a great playmaker in the middle, and he got a lot of great help from Taka Suzuki last night. Between Farber, Suzuki and Claesson, they controlled the midfield quite nicely all night, and never really let Minnesota get any offense going while they literally had their choice of offensive options most of the night. Minnesota really didn't offer much defensive resistance, and we took advantage of it all night.
• The rest of the team looked a little flat and tired in the first half, but played with a lot of urgency in the second half. Apparently, Gavin lit into them pretty good at the half, and the results showed per the O-Live match report.
• I really didn't see how the official couldn't award red on the three different challenges that caused Minnesota to lose players. The first takedown was a pretty obvious call in the box, while Nimo was hit by 3 different players before he finally hit back. I don't mind him getting a yellow in that spot at all, you have to defend yourself. I've seen one red card, and yes even two, but never three red cards leaving Minnesota playing 11 versus 8 while already down 4 goals.
• Nick Platter was left on an island most of the night, and he tried to do his best to keep things civilized, but even he couldn't stop the bleeding.
• I can imagine the Thunder won't forget this game one bit, and have a bit of revenge on their mind for July 4th in their place.

Links for match information:

Allison's great match report from Soccer City USA, along with pictures.

I got some pictures myself that I posted to Flickr, and I got some video of the PK and Keita's goal (thanks Timberista for catching that update, I thought it was goal 5, but it's goal 4), along with a few other shots. The video quality is Ok, but I got some great noise from the TA, who was in good form last night.

The Oregon Live match report, with some decent information and rather useless comments.

I didn't get much chance to celebrate the win late, though. I had to be up early, for I was volunteering at Gradin Sports Park in Gresham for their grand opening. My company got a request from the city for volunteers to help with the grand opening, and the Timbers would be practicing and offering a clinic later in the day, so I said why not? My company pays us to volunteer, but at the same point, what's not to like about seeing the boys a day after their big win. So, yes, I couldn't go to the TIFO party, but I had a good reason.

The U-23 and first team were both there to work out, and they seemed awfully embarrased when me and my mother in law clapped and cheered for them as they ran by doing warmups. I got a chance to chat with Gavin a few times, plus Timber Joey and Lucky Beaver also showed up, while I also got to say hi to Scot and said nice goal. He said thanks, but it was luck, and I said, no, it was 5!! After the practice, many of the players stayed around to talk to fans, sign cards, and then offer help in a clinic for the kids, which I thought was great. The boys had a spring in their step and didn't seem to have any ill effects from the exceptionally physical match from the previous night.

Professional athletes get lambasted for being out of touch, making too much money or thinking too highly of themselves, and then I get to see this up close and personal. These guys were personable, charming, and I even got to see Taka with two infants and who I believe was his wife or girlfriend in one of my pictures, plus Timber Joey working the crowd. They love their job, and love what they do, and nothing was more evident in that than watching them interact with the kids during the clinic. I'm really glad that I saw another side of them outside of on the pitch during the match, because what I saw today was pure class, giving of themselves to help the community and give something back to the soccer community as a whole. Well done, boys. I do have a few pictures from the event that you can all peruse.

To all the dads out there, have a great Fathers Day, and to everyone else, RCTID!!! We're up to 11 league matches without a loss and counting!!!

Lents Gets Their Wish - UPDATE!!

Merritt Paulson has decided to withdraw the plan to put a triple AAA ballpark in Lents, per this letter to the City Council and the Lents URAC. What this means is:

• The Timbers front office will focus efforts on getting the details done for MLS in time for the 2011 MLS Season, including securing financing to update PGE Park for MLS.
• The Beavers' future is cloudy at best, but probably not as bad as people might make it out to be. What this means is that the original agreement to get the Beavers a new stadium within Portland would not occur by the September 1st deadline that has been set to secure financing to update PGE Park for soccer.
• Merritt Paulson is committed to do everything he can to keep the Beavers local, but this now means that they can look at other sites within the local Portland - Vancouver WA area. The only sites that have been reviewed officially were the Memorial Coliseum and Lents Park, and now at this point, the rumored sites are Terminal 3, OMSI area, Vancouver or Beaverton. Other people mention sites like Delta Park, Portland Meadows, or the Greyhound Park in Wood Village, but those sites haven't been mentioned officially just by people on blog entries.
• Baseball has been here for over 40 years, and I'm not 100 percent about what this means for the future for the Beavers, but we've had baseball leave PGE Park on 4 different occasions, and so losing it again may be a reality again. This also opens up the possibility that other cities might jump to see if they can buy the Beavers from Paulson and move them when the lease is up in 2010.
• The Memorial Coliseum is still the best stadium site, but it will not be revisited, and Lents Park won't be reconsidered either. Right now, it appears that there might be baseball fans in the area, but they haven't stepped up enough to make their feelings noted.
• The City Council needs to step up and make some decisions soon, and next week, there will be a discussion of the MLS deal for PGE Park only on Wednesday during their regular meeting. We'll here more about the whole baseball issue as this plays out.
• In the past 4 decades, Portland has only built two major stadiums within the area within that time, the Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Garden. The Memorial Coliseum was built with minimal investment, and the Rose Garden was paid for mostly by private money from Paul Allen. The history of this city supporting stadium building has been poor at best, and there is nothing to think that it will change.

So Lents gets what they want and the URD money stays where it is, where it's sat for 11 years without minimal projects, and baseball people are having less of a leg to stand on as the attendance numbers don't seem to support Portland as a baseball area while the Timbers put up better numbers. The debate will rage on, and while the Beavers have over 100 years of history, it appears the days of baseball here might be numbered unless something dramatic happens.

Right now, I'm going to put this on the back burner and focus tonight on the Timbers - Thunder because the lads need our support tonight. As much as I'm interested in this, I'm tired of this city and some of our leaders who can't show enough leadership to make a decision and stick with it and instead we now have the possibility of baseball leaving town over the whole mess.

The boys at 955 The Game are talking about it right now, with Wheels and Strong saying the baseball plan to MC was a good idea, while Vance and Allen are upset about the chance of baseball leaving. If you get a chance to podcast it, it's a fascinating listen as it essentially boils the arguments down to what we've all been talking about for the past year.

Game Day Vs. Minnesota and Way to Stay Classy, Lents

It's game day!!! The Timbers face their rivals to the east from the land of lakes, the Minnesota Thunder!!

http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2009/06/game_day_minnesota_thunder_at.html - The O previews the game, but let's recap some specifics:

Game Time: 8 pm at PGE Park. It's a late start because of the broadcast.
Broadcast: You can listen to the match at www.portlandtimbers.com, or watch in on Fox Soccer Channel, channel 401 in the Portland area if you have digital cable.
Special Night: It's Teddy Bear Toss night, where teddy bears go flying after the first Timbers goal. Last year, it was bears ahoy after an early goal, and it's always a fun night to see things landing on the pitch for a good reason. Timber Joey also has a birthday celebration tonight at Barracuda after the match.
Overall History: The Timbers have a winning record against the Thunder with a 10 - 5 - 11 record in 26 meetings throughout the years. At home, the Timbers are 5 - 3 - 5, while on the road, they are 5 - 2 - 6 versus the Thunder.
Timbers Form: Still unbeaten in 10 league matches, a friendly and 2 Open Cup matches since losing their opener in Vancouver. They sit with 20 points at 5 - 1 - 5, and most recently, drew on the road in Carolina last Thursday 0 - 0 and in Charleston on Saturday 1 - 1. They beat Sonoma County on Tuesday 3 to 0 to advance in the Open Cup.
Timber Player Updates: At this point, we know Ryan Pore, Tony McManus and Takuro Nishimura have been dealing with injuries and visa issues. Pore and McManus have targeted the Montreal match on 6/28 for their possible return or at the very least the 7/1 Open Cup match vs. FC Puke Green. No word on Nishimura so far, but I'd like to see him return soon. Everyone else appears to be healthy and ready to play.
Timber Key Players: Mandjou Keita is on a tear lately, with 3 league goals to tie Ryan Pore for the team lead in goals, and Keita got 2 goals on Tuesday in the Open Cup match. He's playing very well lately, and his partner up front, George Josten, has also played well, getting a goal in the Open Cup match as well. Brian Farber continues his stellar play, leading the team with 2 assists, but Johan Claesson and Keith Savage have also played well in the middle by keeping thing stable and providing support in the front or back as needed. The defense continues their stellar play, giving up only 5 goals on the season so far, and Steve Cronin making some rather incredible saves and heady keeper moves. Can't say enough about the job Keel, Hayes, Scot, Cam and Danso have done in back. One guy I've been impressed with lately is Taka Suzuki, who seems to have found a place in the midfield, showing some creativity and flair that have been missing lately. He has made some nice plays and is showing some hustle, and it's good to see him showing some skills.
Upcoming Timbers Matches: They get a break for a bit, not playing again until June 28th versus Montreal, but then play 7/1 versus FC Puke Green, 7/2 in a friendly against Bayern Munich II and then head to the road to play Minnesota on 7/4
Thunder Form: Courtesy of their website, the Thunder got their first win of the 2009 USL campaign on Sunday 6/14 versus Carolina at home 2 to nil. They also beat the Chicago Fire PDL team 4 to nil in the Open Cup to advance to a meeting with the Kansas City WIzards on 6/30 at home, and their next league match in the USL after tonight is the 27th when they host Rochester. They currently sit in last place in the USL Division 1 with 7 points and a 1 - 5 - 4 record in 10 games played.
Thunder Player Updates: Per their website, the team has been playing better lately, but got off to a really rough start. They have two injuries to Kevin Friedland and Rich Costanzo, as Friedland has hamstring issues and Costanzo has a dislocated elbow. Everyone else is healthy.
Thunder Key Players: The Thunder have 3 players with 2 goals each, Brian Cvilikas, Leonel Saint-Preux, and Ricardo Sanchez, while Sanchez has 3 assists to lead the team. Long time Thunder player Melvin Tarley returns to the Rose City, along with a former Timber, Lawrence Olum, who has a goal and assist. Olum was a midfielder for the Timbers last season, and was a fan favorite with his high energy runs. Nick Platter returns as the long time Thunder net minder, a veteran of many Timber - Thunder matches.
Key Notes: Former Thunder player and coach Amos McGee is now coach with the Timbers, so he faces his old side tonight. McGee resigned from the team last year, and was replaced by Manny Lagos, who is still coach of the Thunder. The Thunder are playing a bit better after their rough start, but the Timbers are on a roll right now, not having a loss since April and they are getting a lot of contributions across the pitch.
Prediction: As much as I'd like to rely on the records here, I don't think this game will be as easy as people might think. Minnesota is a scrappy team, and they traditionally play smart soccer by trying to control the midfield and make short passes to their attacking forwards. But, the Timbers are playing very well lately, and tonight gives them a chance to keep the streak going before a much needed break after a rough road trip. I expect 3 goals from the Timbers, and the Thunder get 1 to keep it interesting, but in the end, it will be a Timbers win and they'll be bears flying all over the place.

Last night, the Lents URAC held a public open house to talk about the stadium deal for the Beavers, although some of the anticipation of the night was pulled out of the air with the earlier announcement that the soccer and baseball stadium efforts had been decoupled, and would proceed separately from each other. The baseball opponents held a rally, and when the actual meeting started up, Merritt Paulson spoke to the crowd and was greeted by jeers and boos. Apparently, Randy Leonard suffered a similar fate last night, and there was a report of something thrown at him by someone in the crowd. Also, Nick Fish, the city's self professed biggest soccer fan was there to tell the opponents he supports their efforts and won't let the city take away Lents Park.

The whole stadium thing has reached epic proportions of ineptitude, and I can pin a lot of blame on the architects and the Trail Blazers for killing the MC idea, but I can't think of any reason why people need to get so worked up that they throw things at city leaders or purposefully boo people who are there just trying to make their position known. I get that this is a passionate issue and people are entitled to their opinions, but have we all just lost whatever decorum or respect we have for each other that we have to turn public meetings into a spectacle.

I get that many of people in Lents don't like this idea, but by acting this way, you do nothing more than perpetuate the stereotypes that many residents outside the area hold of Lents - crime filled, working class, uneducated. I hold out hope that public debate and discourse can always occur in a civilized manner, but then I read about these kind of reminders of why that will never happen. It's too bad, because this will mean that some other part of the city will get a very nice ball park to enjoy and help their area while MLS comes to Portland and revitalized the area around PGE Park, and Lents will be known as the area with the big Walmart. Nice calling card there, but hey, if it's what you all want, the rest of us won't stand in your way.