Page 2 The Skanner November 1, 2017
®
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
PCC is a Wise Investment That Benefits our Region
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
A
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Melanie Sevcenko
Reporter
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2017
MERIT
AWARD
WINNER
The Skanner Newspaper, es-
tablished in October 1975, is a
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every Wednesday by IMM Publi-
cations Inc.
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s we, the Portland metro
region, consider what
we hope to be in the fu-
ture, it includes a thriv-
ing community where all can
succeed; a vibrant economy
with a highly skilled and ed-
ucated workforce. Communi-
ty colleges play a vital role in
this vision and PCC, Oregon’s
largest college, is a central
part of this equation.
Right now, PCC has a bond
measure #26-196 on the bal-
lot. This measure (www.pcc.
edu/bond) seeks to improve
workforce
training
pro-
grams through modernized
facilities; expand training
for health professions and
STEAM (Science, Technol-
ogy, Engineering, Arts and
Mathematics) disciplines; and
meet needs for safety, secu-
rity, building longevity and
disability access throughout
the college. This is a renewal
bond, so there is no addition-
al cost to the taxpayer, but the
return on investment is sig-
nificant.
For more than 75,000 stu-
dents in the metro region, PCC
is changing lives. By 2020, two-
thirds of all jobs will require
some level of postsecondary
instruction or specialized
training. The bond measure,
if passed, would undergird
lege but it is also a vital com-
dollar invested in PCC yields a
Kali Thorne ponent of Oregon’s economic $12.50 return. That’s the ROI
engine. It serves as a critical we need.
Ladd
PCC Board
of Directors
Chair
PCC’s ability to educate Ore-
gon’s future workforce with
up-to-date equipment and
technology, helping students
to land recession-resistant,
family wage jobs with career
advancement potential. Our
students benefit and so does
the community at large: An
educated community and
skilled workforce benefit all.
PCC’s bond program also
benefits
the
community
through construction jobs,
sustainable
construction
practices, partnerships with
local business owners, and
the ongoing betterment of
neighborhoods. Specific to
construction, our board of
directors has a 20 percent
goal for MWESB participa-
tion, and we are happy to say
that through the last bond
program we’ve exceeded this
goal. This kind of collabora-
tion is what makes our com-
munity stronger and our col-
lege more successful.
PCC is your community col-
catalyst for the region’s edu-
cational, government, busi-
ness, industry, community
and philanthropic partners.
Its diverse alumni are those
who make our community
work: the small business own-
ers, technicians, teachers,
manufacturers, emergency
“
If passed,
PCC’s bond
measure is
estimated
to maintain
current tax
rates for local
homeowners
service providers and nurs-
es who keep our economy
strong and thriving.
PCC creates pathways for
students to reach their ac-
ademic goals and complete
their certificates and degrees.
In turn, our graduates can
land work enabling them to
contribute to, and partici-
pate and share equitably in, a
thriving local economy. Every
With your help and sup-
port, PCC can rebuild Ore-
gon’s middle class through
education, skills training and
workforce development. So,
come Nov. 7, we ask that you
vote “yes” on the PCC bond.
Our region’s long-term eco-
nomic health and vitality de-
pends on it. Thank you.
If passed, PCC’s bond mea-
sure is estimated to maintain
current tax rates for local
homeowners, with the total
principal amount of bonds
authorized not to exceed $185
million. This is estimated to
maintain the tax rate of $0.40
per $1,000 of assessed proper-
ty value, for 16 years.
About the author: Kali
Thorne Ladd is chair of the PCC
Board of Directors and rep-
resents Zone 2, which includes
Multnomah and Columbia
Counties. She has served on
PCC’s Board since 2012. Thorne
Ladd holds a master’s degree in
Education Policy and Manage-
ment from Harvard University.
She is a co-founder of KairosP-
DX, a non-profit organization
focused on access to quality
early learning opportunities
for historically underserved
children.
Are You Subsidizing Rich NFL Owners?
www.TheSkanner.com
in y o u r c o m m u n
Opinion
T
he tax-free municipal
market faces a rough
road under President
Donald Trump. Presi-
dent Trump’s threat to “end
use of municipal bonds” for
building and/or renovating
National Football League
(NFL) stadiums escalates the
battle with protesting pro
football players and prompts
examination
regarding
Blacks’ governance. Trump’s
theme is that “billions of tax-
payer dollars” subsidized
construction of profession-
al sports stadiums. Trump’s
move also exposes the gull-
ibility of Black and urban gov-
ernments over three decades
of financing and underwrit-
ing rich stadium owners.
Private, professional sports
stadiums are increasingly
built with taxpayer dollars.
It’s estimated that the total
bill for stadiums is $10 to
$12 billion. There are many
forms of such deals, they in-
clude a mix of state, local, and
federal subsidies in the form
of land, infrastructure im-
provements, cash payments,
tax-free municipal bonds,
and more. Since 2000, feder-
al taxpayers have footed $3.2
billion toward private sports
stadiums through subsidies
in the form of tax-exempt mu-
nicipal bonds.
The issue shows how dif-
ferential urban governments
were to sports team owners.
The practice of building sta-
diums for rich owners was
William
Reed
Black Press
Business
accelerated during the 1970s,
1980s and 1990s heydays
of black-run governments.
Governmental entities have
long used tax-free munici-
pal bonds to finance infra-
“
Around the
league, rich
owners are
feasting at
‘the public
trough’
structure projects, including
sports stadiums. Investors
buy the bonds as a relatively
risk-free vehicle to earn in-
terest.
The irony is that the NFL
is a $14 billion-a-year busi-
ness. After Trump’s threat
affecting their money, NFL
Commissioner Roger Good-
ell released a letter saying
the league’s position is that
“Everyone should stand” for
the anthem. Cowboys’ owner
Jerry Jones stood foursquare
behind Goodell against the
players. Jones and the Dallas
Cowboys ushered in the era
of the billion-dollar stadium
with “Jerry’s World” in 2009.
Taxpayers assumed the cost
for over a quarter ($325 mil-
lion) of its $1.2 billion dollar
price tag. Around the league,
rich owners are feasting at
“the public trough.” At the
U.S. Bank Stadium, where the
Minnesota Vikings play, pub-
lic dollars account for half the
$1.06 billion bill. The Atlanta
Falcons’ new Mercedes-Benz
Stadium opened at a cost of
$1.5 billion, with the public
picking up an estimated $600
million of its tab. Twenty oth-
er NFL stadiums have opened
since 1997, at a cost of nearly
$5 billion in taxpayer funds.
In Virginia, Republican Gov-
ernor Bob McDonnell used
$4 million in taxpayers’ mon-
ey to build the Washington
Redskins a training center
in Richmond. The Redskins’
owner, Dan Snyder, has a net
worth estimated by Forbes at
3.2 billion
The furor results from Pres-
ident Donald Trump label-
ing protesting NFL players
“sons of bitches.” The next
week, more than 150 NFL
players, alongside coaches
and owners, protested the
comment. Now, Jerry Jones is
doing Trump’s bidding. Jerral
Wayne Jones Sr. has moved to
the fore probably because of
his interest in the Cowboys
and Jerry’s World or AT&T
Stadium, a retractable roof
stadium in Arlington, Texas.
AT&T stadium is also home
of the Cotton Bowl Classic
and is owned by the city of
Arlington. “Jerry’s World can
be used for activities such as
concerts, basketball games,
college and high school foot-
ball contests, soccer match-
es, and motocross and races.
Forbes reports Jones’ net
worth as $5 billion, the major-
ity of which can be accounted
for as his ownership stake in
the Cowboys, currently val-
ued to be the world’s most
valuable sports team at $4 bil-
lion.
Many municipal govern-
ments have been “taken” by
rich sports team owners. In
his 2016 budget, President
Barack Obama proposed get-
ting rid of tax-free bonds that
help finance stadiums.
Since 2000, more than 45
sports stadiums were either
built or renovated. The av-
erage cost to build or reno-
vate a stadium was $412 mil-
lion. Since the early 1960s, 91
sports stadiums have been
built with public funding, and
22 were paid for with public
funds.
The NFL was a tax-exempt
nonprofit operation until
2015. It was considered a non-
profit because it distributed
profits evenly to all 32 teams.
Each team is required to pay
taxes on their distribution.
Protesting NFL players
want people to understand
that Trump is spinning
things; and that their dissent
isn’t about the flag or “an an-
them cause.”
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