Murmurs: Secretary of State Says Audit Is Clean

SECRETARY OF STATE SAYS AUDIT IS CLEAN: Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade released a determination Nov. 20 that a state audit of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, which was embroiled in the moonlighting scandal that brought down former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan earlier this year, wasn’t sullied by the scandal and remains above reproach. The audit was the subject of scrutiny after WW reported that Fagan had pressed state auditors repeatedly to talk to a prominent campaign donor of Fagan’s, La Mota dispensary chain co-founder Rosa Cazares, about the scope of the audit. Fagan only recused herself after the audit was essentially complete; she then went to work for Cazares as a $10,000-a-month consultant to research cannabis laws in other states. She would resign just days after WW reported on the contract. Griffin-Valade’s determination to keep the audit posted on the state’s website flies in the face of a recommendation by a California consulting firm hired by the Oregon Department of Justice this spring that the SOS take the audit down because of Fagan’s involvement. “It’s worth noting,” Griffin-Valade wrote, “that after reading pages and pages of media reports on the audit, I can’t find one instance where a fact in the report’s findings is convincingly questioned.”

J.K. GILL BUILDING SELLS FOR CREDIT BID: Another downtown building was auctioned on the Multnomah County Courthouse steps last week—and, once again, no one showed up to buy it. Owners of the J.K. Gill Building at Southwest 5th Avenue and Harvey Milk Street failed to repay a $27 million construction loan when it was due in December. At the request of the lender, First Interstate Bank of Montana, a judge put the building into receivership in March. It went up for auction last week and drew no offers, leaving First Interstate to bid $5.8 million using the debt it already holds on the building, which totals about $20 million, according to court filings. Banks often make so-called credit bids when there are no buyers for foreclosed properties. Jackson Tower at Pioneer Courthouse Square suffered the same fate in August. Both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, making them more expensive to renovate. The J.K. Gill Building is named for a retailer that began as a stationery and book store in 1872. Business boomed and the company erected the eight-story flagship store in 1923. Urban Renaissance Group, the Seattle firm that owns Lloyd Center Mall, and Gaw Capital of Hong Kong bought the building from Multnomah County for $9.9 million in 2018, when downtown Portland was attracting tech firms from the San Francisco Bay Area with cheaper space and hipster amenities. That bubble burst with the pandemic and the George Floyd protests. The J.K. Gill Building suffered more than most because it’s bordered on two sides by Washington Center, the vacant office-retail complex owned by Menashe Properties that became an open-air fentanyl market before being boarded up earlier this year.

MEDFORD CASINO BATTLE HEATS UP: The long-running quest of the Coquille Tribe to open a second casino, in Medford, appears near resolution. (The tribe operates another casino in North Bend.) The Coquille first bought land in Medford, about 160 miles from their reservation, in 2012. The tribe has pushed for federal approval of a casino there ever since, adding more real estate in the meantime. Over the past week, a series of opponents has weighed in. A coalition of more than 50 California tribes issued a statement Nov. 15; three tribal leaders wrote a Newsweek op-ed Nov. 16; and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) chimed in on X on Nov. 17, urging the Biden administration to spike the Coquille proposal, adding that “the misguided policy at the root of the Medford casino proposal is harming tribes across the country.” The policy Wyden deplores allows tribes to bring off-reservation lands into trust for casino development. Most of Oregon’s congressional delegation and Gov. Tina Kotek oppose the Medford casino, preferring to preserve the state’s one-casino-per-tribe policy. A Coquille spokesperson said in a statement the critics are off-base. “The Coquille Tribe has been waiting over a decade to complete an extensive review process that is required before Tribes can have lands taken into trust,” the statement said. “As of this date, a decision to publish the final Environmental Impact Study (EIS) has not been made by the federal government. Hoping to capitalize on that lack of action, a growing collaboration of special interests have decided that opposing a small tribe’s ambitions to achieve self-sufficiency will somehow advance their political or economic self-interest.”

ICONIC PORTLAND RESERVOIR TO BE REFILLED THIS WINTER: The Portland Water Bureau plans to soon refill Mount Tabor’s Reservoir 6, which was drained in 2021 after the city found “voids” underneath its concrete bottom. It’s been empty since due to concerns that the earthen dams holding up the reservoir may be damaged. Signs explaining why the once picturesque reservoir is now an ugly concrete hole are posted on the surrounding wrought-iron fence. The reservoir is perched above neighboring homes and a failure of the dams would be catastrophic. But the city has recently allayed those concerns. In August, an engineering firm used radar and cameras to inspect the voids and determined they pose a minimal threat. “No voids have been identified which could contribute to a failure of the earthen berm dam,” the report, obtained by WW, reads. It recommends replacing sections of the reservoir’s floor, at a cost of $42,000, after which the reservoir can safely be refilled. The city plans to do so this winter, according to an update posted on the Water Bureau’s website. “We are excited to be close to a plan and expect that construction will start in December,” bureau spokesman Brandon Zero says. The reservoirs were built in the early 20th century to supply the city’s drinking water, but were disconnected from the system in 2015, replaced by underground tanks on Powell Butte. The city is spending $4 million on an ongoing project to restore them.