Standing at the head of a cavernous classroom in the
Pacific Northwest College of Art, white-haired Al Solheim
looked like a baffled professor.
Solheim was pitching a plan to get the 45 people in the
room--Pearl District residents, landlords and business
owners--to voluntarily tax themselves to pay for rent-a-cops
and graffiti cleanup. But when someone called for a show
of hands for those who felt the tax plan was equitable,
only one did so.
Solheim was stunned. After all, his proposal represents
a growing trend in the use of "business improvement districts."
There are 1,800 BIDs in the country, including two in
Portland--Lloyd Center and downtown. Essentially they're
taxes disguised as a "property management fee," approved
by a supermajority of landowners. "I'll be the first to
admit it's a self-tax," says Solheim.
Members of Solheim's group, which includes developer
Homer Williams, book magnate Michael Powell and Dennis
Wild of Gerding/Edlen Development, worry that the opening
of the new trolley line into Northwest Portland will import
homeless people, litterbugs and taggers. They say the
BID will allow them to hire extra security through the
Association for Portland Progress. At the June 2 meeting,
Ed May of Portland Patrol Inc., APP's security arm, told
the crowd about his troops' efforts in the downtown BID.
"We do a lot of graffiti, a lot of urinators in doorways,
sleepers in doorways," said May, a former Central Precinct
commander with the Portland Police Bureau. He said that
calls his officers make to the bureau lead to increased
patrols.
But most of the businesses the BID would help are, for
now, saying no thanks. They give several reasons.
First, they see the BID as an expensive tool (it would
cost the aveage property owner $2,900 annually) for gentrifying
a neighborhood that is already changing rapidly. "I'm
probably one of the few merchants that are in favor of
it," said Joanne Sunnarborg, a Solheim ally who is past
president of the Pearl District Merchants Association
and owner of Desperado, a Western theme store. "A lot
of these businesses are still struggling."
Second, there's a suspicion that the fees will be used
to disproportionately benefit the proponents of the BID.
In Solheim's case, critics say, added security will allow
him to command a higher price for his condos. "There's
a handful of property owners here that are going to profit
in a big way," said businesswoman Diane Humke at the meeting.
Solheim reacts angrily to the idea that he's in it for
the money. "I've had a huge role in this neighborhood
in the last 20 years," he says. "I'm not a hit-and-run,
dine-and-dash developer."
Finally, critics have taken aim at Solheim's main ally,
the Association for Portland Progress, an influential
business lobbying group that advocates for downtown redevelopment.
Some Pearl denizens feel that APP is pulling out all the
stops to get the plan through, pointing in part to the
actions of APP vice president Rob DeGraff.
On May 31, DeGraff, who also serves as chairman of the
Riverstone Condominium board of directors, sent out a
letter on the condo's letterhead with a survey form, adding
that "it is the unanimous recommendation of the board
that the Riverstone support the formation of the BID."
Some condo residents say the letter, which made no mention
of DeGraff's $80,000-a-year position with APP, was inaccurate.
According to DeGraff's fellow board member Joel Goldstein,
the only vote that took place at the condo board's May
24 meeting was a decision to survey owners before taking
a position. "I was under the impression that we were only
voting to poll the owners," he says. Phil Lowthian, an
opponent of the plan who attended the condo board's meeting,
agrees, calling DeGraff's letter a "mischaracterization."
DeGraff stands by his understanding of the vote but says,
"I could have misheard what the seven board members said."
As far as whether DeGraff should have disclosed his position
with APP, DeGraff says his reasons for supporting the
BID are pure. "I support it because I own a home in the
neighborhood. Perhaps close to half of my net worth is
tied up in that home," he says. "I think the Pearl BID
is going to be good for the neighborhood. It's going to
protect my property values...it's going to improve the
livability of my neighborhood."
But the BID would also kick $327,000 a year to DeGraff's
employer. The money would pay for the equivalent of two
full shifts of patrolling private security officers for
the district, as well as a roving worker to paint over
taggers' work.
BID money also helps APP pay its own bills, according
to public records filed by an affiliated nonprofit. Downtown
Portland Services Inc. handles much of APP's money for
the downtown BID, which covers 212 square blocks and has
an annual budget of $3.3 million. According to Portland
Downtown Services' most recent filing, APP kept more than
$1 million in 1998 to pay for "administrative services."
In any case, the stiff opposition has caused big problems
for Solheim, Sunnarborg and their allies, who need the
approval of 70 percent of the landowners. Right now they've
got only a little over half.
The plan had been to get the BID approved this summer,
but after the June 21 meeting, Solheim is looking at ways
to refine the BID proposal. He hopes that giving a discount
to owners of one-story properties will defuse much of
the opposition. He expects to meet with the merchants
one more time, as well as holding one more public meeting,
within the next month.
"I think we erred a little bit in trying to compress
(the BID campaign), so we'll open that up," he said. "My
agenda is to put something together that will meet the
needs of the community down here."
