The Trustees Of The Portland Art Museum

[July 5th, 2006] The trustees of the Portland Art Museum earn this week's Rogue honors for offenses that include dereliction of duty and more than a bit of insincerity.

The roguishness begins with the $12 million cost overrun at the Portland Art Museum's new $45 million Mark wing, first reported by The Oregonian last week. The Mark wing was completed last October, so trustees—who include Portland Tribune owner Robert Pamplin Jr. and Oregonian publisher Fred Stickel—must not have tipped their newsrooms to the cost overruns for at least eight months.

And the board handled the overruns by suing only Boston-based Ann Beha Architects (the dispute is currently in mediation) instead of also suing general contractor Hoffman Construction, whose co-chairman, Eric Hoffman, sits on the board. One of the museum's wings is named after Hoffman's family.

Joe Voboril, who served as the board's vice chairman, says he pushed for transparency and scrutiny of Hoffman's nearly three-dozen change orders.

"It was important to me that there be full disclosure and that the museum pay a fair price for the work," says Voboril, who resigned in February.

Some might argue the inner workings of a private nonprofit like PAM are nobody's business. But, in fact, the museum operates as a public trust, has gotten taxpayer money, and sells memberships and tickets to tens of thousands of Portlanders.

Finally, there's a good deal of irony here. There are few bigger critics of City Hall's budgetary foibles than developer Pete Mark, for whom the new museum wing is named. And several board members have ties to institutions—including The Oregonian, the Tribune and the Portland Business Alliance—which hammer the city for its cost overruns on the OHSU aerial tram.

Board chairman Marty Brantley says the board has always acted in the best interest of the museum and the public, but acknowledges there have been "a lot of difficult challenges" recently. Ya think?