WEBVTT 1 00:06:47.588 --> 00:06:49.437 Good afternoon. 2 00:06:49.617 --> 00:06:52.538 It is It is 2:02 on Tuesday, October 27th. 3 00:06:52.653 --> 00:06:56.281 I am calling to order this meeting of the City Life Committee. 4 00:06:57.230 --> 00:06:58.595 Keelan, could you please call the roll? 5 00:06:58.805 --> 00:06:59.536 Good afternoon. 6 00:06:59.617 --> 00:07:01.779 Zimmerman? 7 00:07:01.892 --> 00:07:02.966 Here. 8 00:07:03.730 --> 00:07:04.295 Avalos? 9 00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:06.608 Present. 10 00:07:07.723 --> 00:07:09.875 Ryan? 11 00:07:10.230 --> 00:07:10.846 Morillo? 12 00:07:11.767 --> 00:07:12.026 Here. 13 00:07:13.029 --> 00:07:13.358 Pirtle-Guiney? 14 00:07:13.637 --> 00:07:13.819 Here. 15 00:07:16.192 --> 00:07:18.569 Kevin, could you please read our rules of order? 16 00:07:19.550 --> 00:07:21.622 Welcome to the meeting of the City Life Committee. 17 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:34.939 To testify before this committee in person or virtually, you must sign up in advance on the committee agenda at www.portland.gov/council/agenda/city-life-committee or by calling 311. 18 00:07:35.293 --> 00:07:37.956 Information on engaging with the committee can be found at this link. 19 00:07:38.423 --> 00:07:41.956 Registration for virtual testimony closes 1 hour prior to the meeting. 20 00:07:42.252 --> 00:07:45.189 In-person testifiers must sign up before the agenda item is heard. 21 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:51.613 If public testimony will be taken on an item, individuals may testify for 3 minutes unless the chair states otherwise. 22 00:07:52.031 --> 00:07:53.925 Your microphone will be muted when your time is over. 23 00:07:54.456 --> 00:07:55.660 The chair preserves order. 24 00:07:55.821 --> 00:08:04.139 Disruptive conduct such as shouting, refusing to conclude your testimony when your time is up, or interrupting others' testimony or committee deliberations will not be allowed. 25 00:08:04.653 --> 00:08:06.660 If you cause a disruption, a warning will be given. 26 00:08:07.045 --> 00:08:09.567 Further disruption will result in ejection from the meeting. 27 00:08:09.935 --> 00:08:13.110 Anyone who fails to leave once ejected is subject to arrest for trespass. 28 00:08:13.574 --> 00:08:17.245 Additionally, the committee may take a short recess and reconvene virtually. 29 00:08:17.709 --> 00:08:19.778 Your testimony should address the matter being considered. 30 00:08:20.130 --> 00:08:22.182 When testifying, state your name for the record. 31 00:08:22.615 --> 00:08:25.341 If you are a lobbyist, identify the organization you represent. 32 00:08:25.742 --> 00:08:28.834 Virtual testifiers should unmute themselves when the clerk calls your name. 33 00:08:29.108 --> 00:08:29.411 Thank you. 34 00:08:30.855 --> 00:08:32.009 Thank you very much, colleagues. 35 00:08:32.072 --> 00:08:37.620 The first item on our agenda today is approval of our meeting minutes for our 2 September meetings. 36 00:08:37.668 --> 00:08:39.655 I'm sure everybody has read them thoroughly. 37 00:08:39.751 --> 00:08:41.547 Do I have unanimous consent to adopt the minutes? 38 00:08:43.774 --> 00:08:48.951 Not seeing any objections, we will adopt the minutes for our 2 September meetings. 39 00:08:50.090 --> 00:08:52.110 Keelan, could you please call the next item on our agenda? 40 00:08:52.991 --> 00:08:59.484 Item 2, document 2026-383, public input on City Life Committee topics. 41 00:09:00.669 --> 00:09:01.182 Thank you. 42 00:09:01.392 --> 00:09:16.576 And for folks who are listening in for the first time, every week we make sure to have time for people to talk about items that fall within the jurisdiction of the City Life Committee but that are not on our agenda, and I believe we have a few people signed up today. 43 00:09:16.655 --> 00:09:18.479 Keelan, could you please call up our first testifier? 44 00:09:21.128 --> 00:09:25.761 Uh, first up today we have Galib Bin Imhotep El. 45 00:09:28.297 --> 00:09:28.652 Welcome. 46 00:09:28.764 --> 00:09:29.620 Thank you for joining us. 47 00:09:37.351 --> 00:09:39.028 Greetings, committee members. 48 00:09:39.365 --> 00:09:51.243 Um, usually I have a speech or something to say about city life that's more pertinent or civilly, you know, progressive. 49 00:09:52.640 --> 00:10:02.826 But today I'm just going to talk about something that happened here over the past week and a half that I think solidified my position in this city as far as whether I'm going or staying. 50 00:10:04.351 --> 00:10:11.754 About, I want to say, 4, maybe 5 years ago, I can't remember exactly how long, but LeBron James somehow slipped up and became a Los Angeles Laker. 51 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:14.325 I stopped watching basketball. 52 00:10:15.626 --> 00:10:26.440 I could not bear to know that my team from birth decided to pick up a guy who I just can't look at as far as great basketball players. 53 00:10:26.615 --> 00:10:27.515 I just don't see it in him. 54 00:10:28.384 --> 00:10:30.327 Great athlete, not great basketball player. 55 00:10:30.874 --> 00:10:35.100 Anyway, he left the Lakers and I said, great, now I can watch basketball. 56 00:10:35.533 --> 00:10:38.104 Then lo and behold, he left something behind. 57 00:10:38.152 --> 00:10:38.216 What? 58 00:10:40.032 --> 00:10:41.702 His son, Bronny. 59 00:10:42.764 --> 00:10:44.434 I can't be a Laker fan, I'm sorry. 60 00:10:45.110 --> 00:10:55.520 So I made a switch, and what better switch to make than a team that I've always kind of enjoyed watching play basketball, a very gritty team, Portland Trail Blazers. 61 00:10:55.649 --> 00:10:56.918 I'm in the city, why not? 62 00:10:58.043 --> 00:11:01.595 So, um, the first game of the season happens. 63 00:11:05.596 --> 00:11:08.032 I get to see 21 points scored. 64 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:17.868 Ja Morant and Damian Lillard get hot and get on fire before anything else happens in the NBA. 65 00:11:18.807 --> 00:11:21.004 What a welcome as a fan. 66 00:11:23.342 --> 00:11:27.735 I'd like to go on public record to tell the Portland Trail Blazers, thank you for such a great welcome package. 67 00:11:27.927 --> 00:11:34.086 The best opening game in the history of the Portland Trail Blazers was this season's opening game. 68 00:11:34.136 --> 00:11:34.254 Thank you. 69 00:11:34.894 --> 00:11:37.004 They won by, I think it was 42 points. 70 00:11:37.778 --> 00:11:38.679 It was outlandish. 71 00:11:38.825 --> 00:11:45.657 I, I watched it from probably the 5th minute of the first quarter to the end, and I smiled the entire time. 72 00:11:46.111 --> 00:11:46.924 They never let up. 73 00:11:47.655 --> 00:11:50.288 They look like they're going to do great things this year. 74 00:11:51.897 --> 00:11:56.730 I can easily see in 5 years a team of this nature making it a long way. 75 00:11:58.422 --> 00:12:03.530 Hopefully they make it another 2 decades and 5 years in this same city. 76 00:12:05.041 --> 00:12:12.703 I just wanted to let you guys know that I love the Portland Trail Blazers, I love the city of Portland, and I love you all unconditionally. 77 00:12:13.009 --> 00:12:13.865 Thank you. 78 00:12:14.947 --> 00:12:19.418 Thank you for being here and for the recounting of that fantastic game. 79 00:12:21.384 --> 00:12:24.106 Next up, we have Anita Davidson joining us online. 80 00:12:25.653 --> 00:12:26.571 Welcome, Ms. Davidson. 81 00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:27.424 Thank you for being here. 82 00:12:28.432 --> 00:12:28.928 Thank you. 83 00:12:29.474 --> 00:12:33.511 Yes, my name is Anita Davidson, and I own a condominium downtown in District 4. 84 00:12:34.201 --> 00:12:39.618 I'm here to give you a ratepayer's report card on Clean and Safe and to introduce a couple of new concerns. 85 00:12:40.291 --> 00:12:52.903 Unfortunately, from our perspective, and I speak for more than myself, almost nothing has improved since the city auditor reported recommendations in late 2020, and the consultant hired by the city echoed those in 2024. 86 00:12:53.672 --> 00:12:55.322 The first category was governance. 87 00:12:55.754 --> 00:12:59.489 The ESDs were to become more representative, transparent, and accountable. 88 00:13:00.403 --> 00:13:07.085 Ratepayer representation at Clean and Safe has not increased, however, and directors are still bound by nondisclosure agreements. 89 00:13:07.630 --> 00:13:13.716 Ratepayers still have no access to meetings, minutes, budgets, agendas, resolutions, or reports. 90 00:13:14.456 --> 00:13:17.587 The program measures Clean and Safe reports also need updating. 91 00:13:18.937 --> 00:13:21.201 The second recommendation had to do with oversight. 92 00:13:21.346 --> 00:13:26.548 The city established an ESD coordinator position, and the job has become one of liaison and advocacy. 93 00:13:26.741 --> 00:13:27.751 That has its purpose. 94 00:13:28.345 --> 00:13:31.086 Unfortunately, those are incompatible with oversight. 95 00:13:31.873 --> 00:13:34.886 A good cop, bad cop can rarely be done by one person. 96 00:13:35.640 --> 00:13:46.513 The 3rd recommendation had to do with creating guidelines, which was done in 2024 in a draft ESD handbook and draft ESD petition packet when Clean and Safe lobbied for expansion. 97 00:13:47.892 --> 00:13:56.297 However, the documents were flawed, were public— never publicly vetted, never run through City Council for approval, or approved as administrative rules. 98 00:13:56.907 --> 00:14:02.397 Essentially, the ESDs are running on procedures created by the ESD coordinator, and they remain flawed. 99 00:14:02.975 --> 00:14:11.980 In 2024, we raised multiple issues about those specifically related to insufficient notification and lack of criteria for the repair support required. 100 00:14:12.623 --> 00:14:18.048 The guidelines were rolled out anyway, and, and then the flaws have been caught by these new neighborhoods now considering ESDs. 101 00:14:18.802 --> 00:14:29.110 This committee itself has before it the tabled ordinance for— proposed ordinance for Parkrose with similar objections, and St. Johns and Pearl neighborhoods have withdrawn. 102 00:14:30.024 --> 00:14:34.991 So I consider this, this area of guidelines also to be a failure so far. 103 00:14:35.873 --> 00:14:40.119 But now I have my 2 new concerns because I've done additional research since. 104 00:14:40.504 --> 00:14:45.855 Actually, the days of enhanced services are gone, and I'd like the City Life Committee to consider this. 105 00:14:46.351 --> 00:14:57.719 Everything Clean and Safe does offers is now a basic service funded and provided more efficiently and more cost-effectively by our government than through Clean and Safe with its 20% overhead. 106 00:14:58.296 --> 00:15:16.767 The city's realized that— realized this, that we need this for revitalization, and now provides its own sidewalk cleaning, graffiti removal, extra security, extra lighting, year-round holiday lighting, PBOT pays TriMet to clean and secure the transit mall. 107 00:15:17.297 --> 00:15:24.880 The state has paid Clean and Safe to provide extra security downtown, and parks now are using Clean and Safe to run the extra parks. 108 00:15:25.346 --> 00:15:30.456 But why are we ratepayers required to pay for these as enhanced services? 109 00:15:31.355 --> 00:15:37.413 Finally, I'd just like to say that there is a better picture, a better model, and that is in Seattle. 110 00:15:37.557 --> 00:15:40.578 The links and so forth are in my written testimony. 111 00:15:41.092 --> 00:15:42.860 Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. 112 00:15:42.908 --> 00:15:43.068 Thank you. 113 00:15:43.663 --> 00:15:46.044 Thank you so much for raising these concerns. 114 00:15:46.721 --> 00:15:47.331 We appreciate it. 115 00:15:48.409 --> 00:15:49.986 Next up, we have Alex Stein. 116 00:15:52.543 --> 00:15:52.880 Welcome. 117 00:15:52.946 --> 00:15:53.974 Thank you for being here with us. 118 00:15:54.150 --> 00:15:56.080 Yo, yo, thank you for having me. 119 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:57.702 Yo, my name is Alex Stein. 120 00:15:57.750 --> 00:15:59.214 I came from Texas. 121 00:15:59.293 --> 00:16:10.051 I was here, uh, for a rehabilitation stint, and I'll be honest with you, Portland's got the cleanest and the best fentanyl In the world. 122 00:16:10.226 --> 00:16:14.730 And I know a lot of other people, a lot of other cities, they say, oh, our fennel's the best in Vegas. 123 00:16:15.114 --> 00:16:16.172 It's not as good. 124 00:16:16.412 --> 00:16:17.933 And that's why I love Portland. 125 00:16:18.062 --> 00:16:19.600 That's why I'm never leaving Portland. 126 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:27.323 And my great-great-great-grandmother was a slave, and my great-great-great-grandfather was a plantation owner. 127 00:16:27.388 --> 00:16:32.082 So I'm 1/32nd Black, and I see a room full of whites. 128 00:16:32.434 --> 00:16:34.052 I see like one other Black dude. 129 00:16:34.116 --> 00:16:35.335 He's talking about LeBron James. 130 00:16:35.383 --> 00:16:36.793 And I was like, that's what I'm talking about. 131 00:16:37.226 --> 00:16:40.350 But LeBron James is not on fentanyl. 132 00:16:40.462 --> 00:16:46.918 And so what I'm saying, if you thinking about coming to Portland, if you thinking about it, you need to get up on here. 133 00:16:47.081 --> 00:16:53.057 So I made y'all a little song about how much and how clean the fentanyl is up in this. 134 00:16:53.265 --> 00:16:53.684 All right? 135 00:16:53.764 --> 00:16:57.610 So this is for all, all the people curious, all the addicts out there. 136 00:16:57.691 --> 00:16:58.030 Yo. 137 00:16:59.568 --> 00:17:02.176 Yo, I love that fentanyl. 138 00:17:02.726 --> 00:17:05.371 I stick that needle in my vein. 139 00:17:05.666 --> 00:17:17.763 I mix the fentanyl with a little cocaine, Portland, this city is insane, 'cause I'm freaking, I'm freaking. 140 00:17:17.958 --> 00:17:22.982 I think that we're gonna need to, uh, we need you in the chair, or—. 141 00:17:23.819 --> 00:17:25.736 What am I doing wrong? 142 00:17:26.234 --> 00:17:27.798 We're happy to hear from you. 143 00:17:27.864 --> 00:17:28.644 What am I doing wrong? 144 00:17:29.085 --> 00:17:30.615 We're happy to hear from you, but—. 145 00:17:30.615 --> 00:17:32.470 I'll leave, but just tell me why I'm leaving. 146 00:17:32.828 --> 00:17:33.122 I never—. 147 00:17:33.153 --> 00:17:33.251 Why? 148 00:17:34.655 --> 00:17:37.236 Wait, wait, wait, wait, I have my First Amendment right to speak. 149 00:17:37.316 --> 00:17:40.488 Thank you very much for being here with us today. 150 00:17:40.568 --> 00:17:41.849 Y'all got the cleanest fentanyl. 151 00:17:42.426 --> 00:17:43.613 Y'all got the cleanest fentanyl. 152 00:17:43.805 --> 00:17:45.375 It's causing illegitimate crap lives. 153 00:17:45.951 --> 00:18:01.366 I will just add to that in the time that's left that, uh, we are not suggesting folks come here to use illegal drugs, um, but we do provide opportunity for anybody who wants to to sign up and speak. 154 00:18:05.087 --> 00:18:06.957 Keelan, do we have anybody else signed up today? 155 00:18:07.135 --> 00:18:09.020 That completes testimony for this item. 156 00:18:09.086 --> 00:18:10.174 Hey, well, there we go. 157 00:18:12.836 --> 00:18:15.519 Um, Keelan, could you please read the next thing on our agenda? 158 00:18:17.236 --> 00:18:35.663 Uh, item 3, document 2026-371, declare 2 parcels of land as surplus property and authorize the Bureau of Transportation to dispose of the property for Thank you both for being here. 159 00:18:35.727 --> 00:18:50.961 Colleagues, I'll remind you that at our last meeting, we had a conversation about broadly when and why pieces of property are sold, when the city decides that we don't want to hold on to any property any longer. 160 00:18:51.041 --> 00:18:54.808 So this is the, the next piece coming forward for us to consider. 161 00:18:54.905 --> 00:18:55.278 Councilor Dan Ryan. 162 00:18:55.392 --> 00:18:56.134 Thank you, Madam Chair. 163 00:18:59.584 --> 00:18:59.844 Thank you. 164 00:18:59.893 --> 00:19:04.176 I'm going to have a hard time topping that last act. 165 00:19:06.059 --> 00:19:13.821 As long as you don't start dancing on the table there, we are fine with you continuing with content related to council. 166 00:19:13.919 --> 00:19:14.566 We just—. 167 00:19:14.566 --> 00:19:15.865 Thank you so much. 168 00:19:16.019 --> 00:19:16.820 Don't dance on the table. 169 00:19:18.238 --> 00:19:19.682 I am David McEldowney. 170 00:19:19.877 --> 00:19:23.092 I'm the real— well, I should say good morning, councilors. 171 00:19:23.287 --> 00:19:23.661 I'm David McEldowney. 172 00:19:24.406 --> 00:19:26.192 I'm the Real Property Services Division Manager for Piedmont-Wilshire. 173 00:19:28.356 --> 00:19:32.605 I'm joined by Kevin Balak, who is supervisor in our property management section. 174 00:19:34.116 --> 00:19:36.236 And we've got the presentation up. 175 00:19:36.316 --> 00:19:36.575 Great. 176 00:19:38.257 --> 00:19:49.574 Yes, as you mentioned, we were here 2 weeks ago to talk about a broader conversation on the city's surplus property process, and these properties will look familiar. 177 00:19:50.586 --> 00:19:51.181 Kevin, go ahead. 178 00:19:52.945 --> 00:20:05.980 As a reminder, these these properties or these parcels are located at the east end of the Foster-Woodstock couplet, which is about 2 blocks east of I-205 in District 1. 179 00:20:06.878 --> 00:20:13.275 And the parcels themselves are remnants left over from the construction of that project. 180 00:20:14.092 --> 00:20:18.676 And combined, they total about 3,500 square feet. 181 00:20:19.398 --> 00:20:36.135 They are zoned are considered a standalone building site, meaning that, you know, they're capable of housing and without being assembled to another property. 182 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:39.611 Kevin, you want to go to the next slide? 183 00:20:40.967 --> 00:20:41.795 Some key points. 184 00:20:42.104 --> 00:20:46.146 This is what we talked about 2 weeks ago about a Category 3 property. 185 00:20:47.137 --> 00:20:54.823 So the Category 3 properties are the the highest level or most scrutiny is received by the review by the bureaus. 186 00:20:56.395 --> 00:21:06.893 During that review, PBOT determined that we needed to review or retain 3 feet or a strip of property along Woodstock for future widening of the sidewalk there. 187 00:21:08.086 --> 00:21:12.968 No other city bureaus nor outside agencies expressed any interest in these parcels. 188 00:21:14.721 --> 00:21:19.835 As a Category 3, that also receives a public comment period. 189 00:21:20.238 --> 00:21:36.440 During the public comment period, we did receive comments along the lines of, you know, yes, please develop that property, take care of this property, and folks who were just interested in buying it to develop it because they saw the signs that were posted out there. 190 00:21:37.059 --> 00:21:40.823 Signs were also— or the information was also posted on the city's website. 191 00:21:42.842 --> 00:21:47.928 As a reminder too, There's holding costs to this property. 192 00:21:49.228 --> 00:21:57.288 Last year, the Impact Reduction Program manager reported that there were more than 300 campsite complaints here. 193 00:21:58.718 --> 00:22:10.904 There were 60 risk assessments made by the city's contractor, resulting in 24 camp removals that totaled $45,000, or that was the estimate for last year. 194 00:22:11.926 --> 00:22:14.798 And with that, I will conclude our presentation. 195 00:22:14.846 --> 00:22:17.003 Happy to answer any questions that you may have. 196 00:22:18.575 --> 00:22:18.867 Thank you. 197 00:22:18.949 --> 00:22:20.299 Colleagues, questions? 198 00:22:25.963 --> 00:22:27.193 Councilor Morillo, go right ahead. 199 00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:29.914 Yeah, thank you so much for this presentation. 200 00:22:31.872 --> 00:22:39.189 I was wondering if PHB considered this land for land banking in making this decision, or if it was, you know, not chosen for that for a certain reason. 201 00:22:39.915 --> 00:22:43.104 Yes, they are definitely part of that process. 202 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:44.529 We always reach out to them. 203 00:22:45.058 --> 00:22:50.473 The response back we receive from PHB is they're not really interested in onesies, twosies. 204 00:22:51.211 --> 00:22:53.837 They need the economy of scale of larger land. 205 00:22:54.111 --> 00:23:00.406 And so tomorrow you'll— the full council will hear about the ODOT trade we're doing. 206 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:03.275 Those larger parcels, that's what they're interested in. 207 00:23:03.563 --> 00:23:09.843 It just doesn't pencil out trying to get the private capital for smaller parcels like this. 208 00:23:10.761 --> 00:23:11.068 Gotcha. 209 00:23:11.230 --> 00:23:12.541 Okay, that makes a lot of sense. 210 00:23:12.606 --> 00:23:16.460 And so I take it no one has been considering this specific land 'cause it's just too small? 211 00:23:17.317 --> 00:23:17.932 Correct, yeah. 212 00:23:18.046 --> 00:23:18.613 Okay, great. 213 00:23:18.692 --> 00:23:19.049 Thanks so much. 214 00:23:21.339 --> 00:23:22.103 Thank you, Councilor. 215 00:23:23.077 --> 00:23:24.751 Question along a similar line. 216 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:41.579 Have we— I know there was some, when you gave the presentation 2 weeks ago, there were some properties that were specifically offered to certain types of housing development from PHB, if I remember correctly. 217 00:23:43.855 --> 00:24:03.923 Do we have a process whereby with a piece of land like this that is available for development for residential units, we check in with entities that develop the onesies-twosies for affordable housing to see if any of our providers of affordable housing opportunities were interested before we make it available on the open market? 218 00:24:05.906 --> 00:24:06.902 Not that I'm aware of. 219 00:24:07.094 --> 00:24:13.673 I'm not sure what PHB's process is when they get notified of these parcels, if they do something similar to that. 220 00:24:14.395 --> 00:24:22.050 Um, typically what would happen is if council, the full council approved this as surplus, we would put it out on the open market. 221 00:24:22.115 --> 00:24:30.636 If somebody was interested in that, they would have the same priority as any other purchaser, but I'm not aware of a specific process for that. 222 00:24:31.815 --> 00:24:42.907 Okay, I'd like to learn more about whether there is a process that we could be using there, and if we don't have something developed, whether we might consider developing something. 223 00:24:43.747 --> 00:25:17.009 We have a number of entities in the city who are trying to develop affordable homeownership opportunities through land banking outside of the city, and I, I recognize that perhaps the economies of scale are not there for land banking and development by the city, but we do have partners that do that work outside of the city, and it— I think we should consider, if affordable homeownership opportunities are a priority, a parcel like this for, for those partners. 224 00:25:17.749 --> 00:25:20.894 I would be happy to connect with PHB following this meeting. 225 00:25:21.441 --> 00:25:22.517 Thank you, I'd appreciate that. 226 00:25:23.528 --> 00:25:25.535 Colleagues, any other questions or comments? 227 00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:32.198 Okay, um, if the committee is interested in moving this forward to full council—. 228 00:25:32.198 --> 00:25:32.743 Sorry, sorry. 229 00:25:32.856 --> 00:25:33.788 Oh, do we have testimony? 230 00:25:34.045 --> 00:25:34.286 We do. 231 00:25:34.461 --> 00:25:37.271 I am sorry, I didn't think we had anybody signed up. 232 00:25:37.432 --> 00:25:38.444 I apologize. 233 00:25:38.701 --> 00:25:40.259 Uh, let's move to public testimony. 234 00:25:40.708 --> 00:25:41.142 Great, thanks. 235 00:25:41.205 --> 00:25:43.260 We have one person signed up, John Carmen. 236 00:26:01.791 --> 00:26:02.422 John Carmen. 237 00:26:05.040 --> 00:26:06.496 Okay, that completes testimony. 238 00:26:07.146 --> 00:26:15.473 Okay, um, is there a motion to move this to full council? 239 00:26:15.749 --> 00:26:16.184 So moved. 240 00:26:16.476 --> 00:26:18.141 I assume that's with a do pass recommendation? 241 00:26:18.767 --> 00:26:18.943 Yes. 242 00:26:19.267 --> 00:26:20.557 Okay, is there a second? 243 00:26:21.025 --> 00:26:21.943 Yes, second. 244 00:26:22.250 --> 00:26:25.346 Okay, moved by Ryan, seconded by Zimmerman. 245 00:26:26.589 --> 00:26:28.134 Uh, Keelan, could you please call the vote? 246 00:26:31.614 --> 00:26:32.000 Zimmerman? 247 00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:32.275 Aye. 248 00:26:32.532 --> 00:26:34.176 Avalos? 249 00:26:37.256 --> 00:26:37.271 Aye. 250 00:26:38.642 --> 00:26:38.853 Ryan? 251 00:26:39.598 --> 00:26:39.760 Aye. 252 00:26:41.869 --> 00:26:42.681 Thank you, Councilor. 253 00:26:42.924 --> 00:26:43.265 Murillo? 254 00:26:44.221 --> 00:26:44.270 Aye. 255 00:26:50.337 --> 00:26:50.354 Aye. 256 00:26:50.644 --> 00:26:53.230 And I'll appreciate getting that additional information before full council. 257 00:26:54.483 --> 00:27:02.398 A motion to refer the ordinance document number 2026-371 to City Council with the recommendation it be passed is approved. 258 00:27:02.721 --> 00:27:03.769 Thank you. 259 00:27:05.348 --> 00:27:05.654 Thank you. 260 00:27:09.861 --> 00:27:17.588 Colleagues, the final item on our agenda is a presentation By the— by our BPS staff. 261 00:27:17.733 --> 00:27:22.125 And we were going to take a break first, but we've moved pretty quickly. 262 00:27:22.318 --> 00:27:28.123 So if you are ready, Andrew, we can start now. 263 00:27:28.394 --> 00:27:31.713 And then if we get a significant number of questions, we'll take a break. 264 00:27:31.842 --> 00:27:33.221 And if not, we'll move through. 265 00:27:33.540 --> 00:27:34.278 Does that sound all right? 266 00:27:34.487 --> 00:27:35.144 That's great. 267 00:27:35.305 --> 00:27:35.560 Thank you. 268 00:27:35.642 --> 00:27:36.971 Okay, perfect. 269 00:27:37.854 --> 00:28:02.404 And colleagues, by way of background here, in the spring, we were given a fair amount of information about our cable regulatory environment, leading to some budget decisions around moving to regulating our cable industry ourselves as a city, as opposed to through a joint body with our neighboring cities. 270 00:28:03.144 --> 00:28:13.086 And we heard about the financial unsustainability of the programs that are currently funded through Um, our cable regulation sources. 271 00:28:13.856 --> 00:28:40.607 I had said at the time that it seemed to me that there was a need for a broader conversation about what the timeline looked like before we completely run out of funding to support the organizations that are currently supported through this funding stream, and also what the timeline looks like as more and more people within our community leave cable and receive their news and entertainment through other sources. 272 00:28:41.521 --> 00:28:47.020 There's also a piece of this around who we regulate and how we are able to regulate them. 273 00:28:47.838 --> 00:28:55.951 And so we are bringing back a presentation today— thank you, Mr. Speier— to delve into some of those broader topics. 274 00:28:56.416 --> 00:29:05.219 There is no imminent action coming for this council to take, but we wanted to make sure you had this background following the conversations we had in the spring. 275 00:29:05.282 --> 00:29:05.378 Thank you. 276 00:29:05.731 --> 00:29:17.354 Because there will be over the next few years actions that council can or eventually will have to take based on the direction that you'll see us heading in the charts that we have before us today. 277 00:29:18.715 --> 00:29:18.893 Great. 278 00:29:19.919 --> 00:29:20.511 Thank you, Chair. 279 00:29:20.881 --> 00:29:22.002 Good afternoon, council. 280 00:29:22.548 --> 00:29:27.325 My name is Andrew Spear, and I'm the Franchise Utility Program Manager here at the city within BPS. 281 00:29:28.077 --> 00:29:39.914 I'll be walking through some data and a little bit of background and also some structural information on how we administer access to right-of-way. 282 00:29:39.980 --> 00:29:42.309 This is just an overview of the items we'll cover. 283 00:29:42.390 --> 00:29:54.390 But again, we're wanting to key you in on how do we allow access to the right-of-way as a starting point, just regardless of who the actor is in the right— that has assets in the right-of-way. 284 00:29:54.875 --> 00:30:03.968 And then go into a little bit of detail on what is cable-specific and how that impacts our ability as a jurisdiction to regulate that entity. 285 00:30:04.548 --> 00:30:14.538 And then there's some other nuance related to cable around certain fees that we assess cable providers that are unique from other providers in the right-of-way. 286 00:30:15.121 --> 00:30:23.377 And then lastly, got— I have a little bit of questions I think to pose or just engage in conversation with you all on, on what does the future look like. 287 00:30:25.796 --> 00:30:27.439 Uh, first up is the right-of-way access. 288 00:30:27.502 --> 00:30:30.757 So how do we administer access to the right-of-way? 289 00:30:31.352 --> 00:30:45.384 Uh, when I joined the city in 2023, we were working on an effort to replace franchise agreements and instead go to a code-based system, and so that we'd avoid the need to negotiate franchise agreements into the future. 290 00:30:45.689 --> 00:30:53.463 We still have franchise agreements that are— our last one expires in 2037, with the exception of Comcast. 291 00:30:54.122 --> 00:31:01.880 But as those franchise agreements expire, they'll be coming onto the right-of-way code, which is Chapter 12.15. 292 00:31:01.992 --> 00:31:07.180 And then on the right-hand side of the slide here, you have the different yes. 293 00:31:07.180 --> 00:31:11.220 So those are the entities that are registered either under right-of-way code or have a franchise agreement. 294 00:31:11.859 --> 00:31:23.470 Just for reference point, the core utilities listed there— PGE, Pacific Power, and Northwest Natural— they make up about 60% of the fees we recover from access to the right-of-way. 295 00:31:26.380 --> 00:31:33.720 I wanted to demonstrate a little bit of what the benefits have been and were when we were proposing right-of-way code. 296 00:31:33.720 --> 00:31:36.759 Namely, we don't have to negotiate franchise agreements. 297 00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:36.859 Franchise agreements are one-to-one contracts. 298 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:41.616 Contracts between an entity and the jurisdiction. 299 00:31:41.681 --> 00:31:46.930 And so they can include a lot of different provisions that may not relate to the right-of-way. 300 00:31:47.363 --> 00:31:55.823 And so they can be one-off things that are just items that need to be negotiated that don't pertain to infrastructure that's in the right-of-way. 301 00:31:55.903 --> 00:32:01.393 Maybe it's related to permitting or some other item that doesn't relate to the fees. 302 00:32:01.905 --> 00:32:19.473 But we also, through the right-of-way code, are able to have one universal code that that creates a level playing field for users of the right-of-way, which I think has a lot of benefits because we're not arguing with one company over— that's a different argument from Company B. 303 00:32:19.683 --> 00:32:26.253 And so there's some economies of scale on how we can administer and ensure compliance. 304 00:32:29.884 --> 00:32:36.469 Wanted to give you a little overview about who are the bureaus across the city that interact or engage with the right-of-way. 305 00:32:37.693 --> 00:32:44.714 So we as BPS, we provide the legal access to the right-of-way via our code and then franchise agreements. 306 00:32:45.374 --> 00:32:49.454 And then PBOT operates and maintains the asset, the physical asset itself. 307 00:32:50.675 --> 00:32:56.605 BTS has infrastructure in the right-of-way that they pay fees on, namely fiber. 308 00:32:57.409 --> 00:33:03.722 And then the Revenue Bureau, they are the entity that we work with to process our payments. 309 00:33:04.076 --> 00:33:11.958 Just for reference point, again, we bring in about just over $100 million a year, and we're the 3rd largest contributor to the city's general fund. 310 00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:22.753 And then the Water Bureau, via water and sewer, pay into the fund also as part of their fees with their assets in the right-of-way. 311 00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:31.517 So earlier this year, we brought forward the items related to the Mt. 312 00:33:31.566 --> 00:33:32.990 Hood Cable Regulatory Commission dissolution. 313 00:33:33.055 --> 00:33:43.718 So I just wanted to level set with you all about what the commission performed on behalf of the jurisdictions, and then that'll kind of give some context to the rest of the presentation. 314 00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:52.002 So the Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission provided this list of duties on behalf of jurisdictions. 315 00:33:52.260 --> 00:33:55.993 I'd like to highlight the first bullet, which is negotiate the franchise agreement. 316 00:33:56.057 --> 00:34:12.307 So the franchise agreement was negotiated on behalf of all member jurisdictions, so all 6 member jurisdictions, and then— Uh, we also applied compliance of the franchise agreement, uh, across all jurisdictions as well. 317 00:34:12.387 --> 00:34:20.467 So there were some instances where we would, you know, call out, uh, certain violations and then resolve that with Comcast. 318 00:34:20.884 --> 00:34:27.693 Many times it wasn't— didn't result in a fine, but, uh, there were instances where a fine was working towards being assessed. 319 00:34:28.496 --> 00:34:37.849 Um, also did a lot of work on the the advocacy front, right, tracking and maintaining awareness on FCC and federal legislation. 320 00:34:38.938 --> 00:34:45.065 That was critical, I think, mostly in the '80s, the early part of the commission's formation. 321 00:34:45.753 --> 00:34:58.228 But I'll get to some stuff later here in these slides that will show some other angles of federal legislation that are trying to take away jurisdictional authority to administer it right away. 322 00:34:58.822 --> 00:34:59.271 Access. 323 00:35:00.425 --> 00:35:07.510 And then we also did the contracting for— the commission rather did contracting for the community media centers. 324 00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:13.827 So we had the 2 community media centers within the Cable Regulatory Commission, which was Open Signal and Metro East. 325 00:35:14.228 --> 00:35:30.577 So those contracts were through the commission, and then we also through the commission provided the funds out to the community media centers, which were PEG funds, the public education and government PEG funds for assets that purchased on behalf of PEG programming. 326 00:35:31.572 --> 00:35:44.856 And then lastly, the key item which I think really impacted community greatly was the grants program that the commission administered, which created original programming and content that would be aired on the cable channels. 327 00:35:48.416 --> 00:35:54.998 These next slides will show some of the trends we've been seeing both to revenue and customers over time. 328 00:35:55.903 --> 00:35:58.619 And I think we'll give some context to the remainder of the presentation. 329 00:36:00.416 --> 00:36:05.976 This first graph provides a look at the cable subscriber trend, right? 330 00:36:06.057 --> 00:36:10.664 The cutting the cord has been around for some time now, maybe 2 decades. 331 00:36:10.728 --> 00:36:19.036 But here we can kind of see the impact of it with 2016 being the peak of our cable subscribers here Uh, in the city. 332 00:36:20.181 --> 00:36:22.873 And you see the 2025 amount. 333 00:36:23.003 --> 00:36:32.217 We don't yet have the '26 amount, but I would expect that we are another $15,000 or more less than this '25 amount when we end this calendar year. 334 00:36:33.739 --> 00:36:36.594 So how does that impact our revenues? 335 00:36:37.498 --> 00:36:55.163 Uh, this slide, uh, the upper line, which is the blue line, is a representation of the franchise fees and just for reference point, the franchise fee is a standard assessment of a fee, which is 5% of gross revenues earned within the City of Portland. 336 00:36:56.014 --> 00:36:57.121 So that's the upper line. 337 00:36:57.233 --> 00:37:02.867 And then the lower line that's in orange is a representation of the PEG revenue. 338 00:37:02.932 --> 00:37:10.284 So the public education and government revenue that is only allowable for capital purchases related to PEG programming. 339 00:37:10.943 --> 00:37:18.882 That is assessed also on gross percentage of gross revenues, but but for the most of this line, it was at a 3% rate. 340 00:37:20.639 --> 00:37:26.360 And so I just wanted to also key you in on the start date in 2026. 341 00:37:26.536 --> 00:37:32.407 Earlier this year is when we renewed the franchise agreement with Comcast, which was a 10-year agreement. 342 00:37:32.891 --> 00:37:35.693 And then our end date is 2036. 343 00:37:35.871 --> 00:37:42.539 I wasn't able to get 36 on the graph for some reason, so apologies, but the end date is there in red text. 344 00:37:42.637 --> 00:37:42.818 Thank you. 345 00:37:44.557 --> 00:37:55.934 So you can see by the time we get out towards the last 2 or 3 years of the franchise agreement, we start to get well under $2 million for franchise fees. 346 00:37:56.192 --> 00:38:03.503 And then PEG, we're near— we're under $500,000, probably closer to $350,000 or $200,000. 347 00:38:04.016 --> 00:38:13.047 So that really doesn't allow for us to accommodate for either inflation or any other, right, cost trends. 348 00:38:13.159 --> 00:38:23.481 And so how do we then look at this going forward is, I think, the biggest question as a city for whether or not we have a franchise agreement going into the future for cable. 349 00:38:26.204 --> 00:38:31.172 This next slide is keying in on some legal frameworks that impact cable uniquely. 350 00:38:31.510 --> 00:38:33.268 And so I'll just walk through those. 351 00:38:34.822 --> 00:38:41.766 The Cable Act is the federal legislation which governs how cable operates across the country. 352 00:38:42.344 --> 00:38:47.702 It's what formed the PEG, Public Education and Government dollars and the use thereof. 353 00:38:48.295 --> 00:38:58.929 It also sets out the requirement to— for jurisdictions to have a franchise agreement, meaning we can't have cable or Comcast be under the right-of-way code. 354 00:38:59.121 --> 00:39:10.550 We need to have a franchise agreement in order for them to operate On the right-hand side is an FCC regulation that I wanted to make you aware of. 355 00:39:10.679 --> 00:39:17.230 And I think we've talked briefly in a couple other contexts in other presentations on this mixed-use rule. 356 00:39:17.342 --> 00:39:30.476 But in short, the mixed-use rule was passed in 2019 by the FCC, and it prevents jurisdictions from assigning fees for other services who are cable operators. 357 00:39:30.748 --> 00:39:32.081 So what does that mean? 358 00:39:33.061 --> 00:39:34.280 Think of Comcast as a cable operator. 359 00:39:34.329 --> 00:39:34.425 Right. 360 00:39:34.826 --> 00:39:46.106 Cable operator and an ISP, an internet service provider, we can only assess fees on the cable portion of their revenues earned within the city. 361 00:39:46.780 --> 00:39:52.516 The internet that they earn— internet revenues associated with internet service, we cannot assess fees on. 362 00:39:52.612 --> 00:40:00.768 And so that's, uh, as you go forward through time, right, their, their customer base and growth is in the internet side and the decline is in the cable side. 363 00:40:00.833 --> 00:40:00.945 Thank you. 364 00:40:06.501 --> 00:40:14.166 Um, couple threats just to think of more globally when it comes to federal, uh, legislation and/or the FCC. 365 00:40:14.634 --> 00:40:20.851 So over the past 2 and a half, 3 years, there's been an effort by Congress to propose some legislation. 366 00:40:20.898 --> 00:40:37.226 It was first started as House Bill, uh, 3557, which, you know, without going into too much detail, it provided a pathway that restricted the jurisdictions, the local jurisdiction's ability to govern its right-of-way. 367 00:40:37.369 --> 00:40:51.985 And so the best analogy that there is, uh, with wireless, um, the FCC has been able to institute rulemaking that, you know, prevents us as jurisdictions from siting a location in the right-of-way. 368 00:40:52.048 --> 00:41:05.452 For example, if, if AT&T or Verizon says, I want it here, there's uh, any way for us to prevent that location so long as it meets, you know, reasonable land use standards and safety requirements. 369 00:41:05.918 --> 00:41:14.713 So that 3557 legislation that's popped up twice now in 2 different Congresses is getting at that at a more global stage. 370 00:41:14.842 --> 00:41:48.623 And so across industries and would impact, you know, mostly in the telecom— telecommunications sector and prevent jurisdictions from, you know, not siting or similarly, with the FCC rulemaking, we've just seen a trend with wanting the FCC engaging in open dockets to explore other rulemaking that would prevent autonomy of the jurisdiction, namely in the space of shot clocks or siting of facilities again. 371 00:41:52.889 --> 00:41:53.425 Community media and PEGs. 372 00:41:53.523 --> 00:42:07.025 So the community media centers, and for us here in Portland, that's Open Signal, are a critical part of the public communications and then PEG being the public education and government revenues, which was the orange line that we saw on the graph with the revenue slide. 373 00:42:10.384 --> 00:42:11.541 Public education and government. 374 00:42:11.590 --> 00:42:15.847 So there's 2 different modes that cities and jurisdictions will take. 375 00:42:16.266 --> 00:42:22.338 Some do in-house airing and recording of their public meetings. 376 00:42:22.449 --> 00:42:28.811 So most, you know, relatable to us is Seattle has all that in-house for their city. 377 00:42:29.813 --> 00:42:35.335 We have the model of using a community media center, which is Open Signal, and we contract with them. 378 00:42:36.047 --> 00:42:49.659 As part of the dissolution, we just created a citywide procurement contract that any bureau that has public meetings can access and get Open Signal services for recording and airing that meeting. 379 00:42:51.385 --> 00:42:55.918 They also interface with Comcast for the— there's encoders that transfer the signal from—. 380 00:42:55.918 --> 00:42:56.208 The internet. 381 00:42:58.396 --> 00:43:01.784 The recording that Open Signal provides onto the cable network. 382 00:43:01.882 --> 00:43:07.661 And so they have those encoders and do that transfer of the signal onto the cable network. 383 00:43:08.208 --> 00:43:25.784 And then we also, as a city, provide— so we have their fee for service via the procurement contract, and then we also issue them PEG revenues for their capital needs related to airing the the content onto the cable network. 384 00:43:26.123 --> 00:43:33.436 And then we also provide them through BPS a grant for their digital equity work that they do in the community as well. 385 00:43:37.264 --> 00:43:44.469 So I'll start to get into some just questions, I think mostly, but I'll have some commentary on those questions as we go. 386 00:43:46.931 --> 00:43:54.643 I think the largest question in my mind is the first bullet, which is you know, is a cable franchise needed? 387 00:43:54.851 --> 00:43:59.184 And what does that look like through time as we look at the revenues? 388 00:43:59.360 --> 00:44:04.842 And then we think about the growth of ISP service or needs. 389 00:44:05.846 --> 00:44:11.195 And what are the— what's the opportunity costs that we're looking at from a revenue perspective? 390 00:44:11.259 --> 00:44:24.016 And then I think we need to be vigilant on the areas My previous slides that were calling out those federal and legislative threats, being able to monitor those, advocate. 391 00:44:24.161 --> 00:44:32.606 We do through my program's work, we also advocate with the FCC and provide responses to their dockets. 392 00:44:32.702 --> 00:44:33.746 So we're doing that work. 393 00:44:33.827 --> 00:44:47.346 And then we're also a member of an organization called NTOA, which we collaborate and advocate on behalf of local jurisdictional needs around right-of-way and cable and access and telecommunication issues. 394 00:44:49.528 --> 00:44:54.503 On the PEG piece, you know, what is the— you saw the decline of PEG or the forecast decline. 395 00:44:55.164 --> 00:45:05.047 What does that look like and how does that meet the needs or not meet the needs of our current situation with Open Signal and their future capital needs over time? 396 00:45:06.561 --> 00:45:13.753 And how do we— what are the needs of our service for recording as public meetings through time as well? 397 00:45:17.563 --> 00:45:31.630 This is my last content slide here, but when I think of our program's work and what it does on behalf of residents in the city, it's really ensuring that we recover fair compensation for use of the right-of-way. 398 00:45:31.693 --> 00:45:48.268 And so with that in mind, I reference back to that previous bullet on the first slide, on the last slide of you know, how do we ensure that Comcast is paying its share appropriately for the revenues it earns within the jurisdiction? 399 00:45:48.364 --> 00:46:01.771 And so that's, you know, again, just both how I approach this work and then wanting to ensure that we're recovering the appropriate fees for the use of these companies with their assets in the right-of-way. 400 00:46:02.876 --> 00:46:11.222 And then, you know, how do we think about and deal with that that decline of revenues with Open Signal and their capital needs. 401 00:46:13.550 --> 00:46:25.539