Union leaders wary about public water district in Portland
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
A prospective ballot initiative would
take control of Portland’s water and
sewer system away from the city gov-
ernment and give it to a newly created
public utility board.
The initiative was filed July 26, and
received a ballot title Aug. 8. Once the
initiative is approved for signature-
gathering, backers would have until
Jan. 21, 2014, to gather 29,786 valid
signatures from registered Portland vot-
ers in order for the initiative to appear
on the May 17, 2014 ballot.
The initiative’s chief petitioners are
Kent Craford and Floy Jones. Craford
— a former campaign manager for
2010 Republican candidate for gover-
nor Chris Dudley — is a lobbyist for a
group of large commercial water users.
Jones is one of the founders of the
group Friends of the Reservoirs, which
has fought the City of Portland’s efforts
to comply with federal mandates to
safeguard drinking water.
Elected leaders of the unions whose
members would be most directly af-
fected by the initiatives say they
haven’t had time to look closely at the
26-page measure, but they have con-
cerns. Portland Water Bureau employ-
ees are represented by AFSCME Local
189, and Bureau of Environmental
Services employees (who operate and
maintain the sewer system and sewage
treatment facilities) are represented by
Laborers Local 483.
The proposed initiative would di-
vide Portland into seven geographic
districts, each of which would elect one
representative to the Portland Public
Water District board. But the initiative
contains extensive restrictions on who
could serve on the board: no one who
was a City of Portland employee, water
district employee, or employee of a wa-
ter or sewer contractor in the previous
six years would be allowed to run for
election to the board, nor even any cit-
izen volunteers who served on the wa-
ter or sewer budget advisory commit-
tees in the previous three years. The
new water district is also barred from
employing any attorneys or account-
ants who worked for firms that pro-
vided legal or accounting services to
the City of Portland. Board members
would serve three-year terms and
would not be compensated.
The initiative also contains lan-
guage saying the new district may not
regionalize or privatize the water sys-
tem, may not weaken water quality
protections in the Bull Run Water-
shed where the City draws its water,
and may not commingle Bull Run
water with other sources, like the
Willamette River.
At a press conference announcing
the initiative, Craford said it was mo-
tivated by concerns about waste,
fraud and abuse, such as money that
was spent on public toilets and to
construct a model water-saving
home.
Backers of the initiative include
the presidents of Portland Bottling
Co. and American Property Manage-
ment, and corporate lobbyist John
DiLorenzo, an attorney with the cor-
porate law firm Davis Wright
Tremaine who is representing a group
of businesses suing the City of Port-
land over alleged improper expendi-
tures of water and sewer funds.
Local 189 President Mark Gipson
said his union is still gathering data, but
that he has serious concerns about the
initiative from a labor standpoint and as
a citizen of Portland.
Meanwhile, Local 483 Business
Manager Richard Beetle said he likes
the concept of citizen control, and
shares citizen concerns about current
use of funds — Beetle worked as a
wastewater treatment operator at the
City for three decades, and has been a
frequent critic of City management.
But he said initiative backers haven’t
approached the union, and creating a
brand-new board raises a whole bunch
of questions, like who would be run-
ning for the board and what their
agenda would be.
It wouldn’t be Beetle or Gipson.
The two labor leaders would be
barred from running for the Water
Board — despite in-depth familiarity
with operational and budget issues —
because they serve as appointed
members of the budget advisory
committees for the existing water and
sewer bureaus.
It’s not clear that such restrictions
are even lawful, said Portland City
Commissioner Nick Fish, who was
put in charge of the Water Bureau and
the Bureau of Environmental Serv-
ices in June. Under the initiative, Fish
said, no union member who worked
for the city would be allowed to run.
On the other hand, Fish said, the only
big local law firm that wouldn’t be
barred from working for the new dis-
trict would be DiLorenzo’s firm.
Initiative sponsor Craford chuck-
led at that suggestion, and told the
Labor Press the clause about attor-
neys and accountants was meant to
prevent conflicts of interest, since the
Water District would be a separate
entity from the City.
Fish suggested the initiative’s “big
business” funders may want to shift
system costs from business to residen-
tial ratepayers. Or they may seek to cut
costs by halting environmental remedi-
ation. Fish said DiLorenzo’s lawsuit
has been misreported in the press: It’s
not primarily about the few hundred
thousand dollars spent on non-mission-
critical work when Randy Leonard was
in charge of the Water Bureau, Fish
said. It’s about addressing the City’s
Superfund obligations for Willamette
River cleanup.
Though he had plenty to say about
City spending decisions, Craford said
initiative backers don’t have any spe-
cific agenda for saving ratepayer dol-
lars if the measure passes.
“If you put real people in as decision
makers,” Craford said, “we think
they’ll make good decisions.”
“This is about who makes decisions
about the Bull Run — a group funded
by big business, or Portland City Coun-
cil,” said Fish. “Do you want a special
district along the lines of Clackamas
Water District, with people unknown
and unaccountable to you, running
your utilities?”
IRS PROBLEMS?
• Haven’t filed for ... years?
• Lost records?
• Liens - Levies - Garnishments?
• Negotiate settlements.
• Prepare offer in Compromise.
Call Nancy D. Anderson
Enrolled Agent
NPTI Fellow/America’s Tax Expert
LTC-1807
www.nancydanderson.com
503-244-2577
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon
as a voice of the labor movement.
4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150,
Portland, Ore. 97213
Telephone: (503) 288-3311
Editor: Michael Gutwig
Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice
Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of
each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-
profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the
Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore-
gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union
members.
Group rates available to trade union organizations.
PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID
AT PORTLAND, OREGON.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a
change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old
and new addresses and the name and number of your local union.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150,
PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150
AUGUST 16, 2013
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 3