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BRENDAN FINN TO JOIN MULTNOMAH COUNTY: Gresham City Councilor Vince Jones-Dixon, who won the Multnomah County Commissioner District 4 seat representing east county in the May primary, has scored a coup with the hiring of his chief of staff. Jones-Dixon tells WW he’s hired Brendan Finn, urban mobility and major projects director for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Finn is currently ODOT’s point man for the agency’s Rose Quarter expansion project. Prior to that, he served as transportation adviser to Gov. Kate Brown and, before that, worked at City Hall for nearly 20 years, most recently as chief of staff to Commissioner Dan Saltzman. In that role, he helped establish the Joint Office of Homeless Services. Finn brings a wealth of experience and high-level contacts to a county headquarters desperately in need of help. Finn will continue in his current position until January. That’s when Jones-Dixon succeeds County Commissioner Lori Stegmann, who was term-limited from running for reelection. “I’m deeply honored to welcome Brendan as my chief of staff,” Jones-Dixon said. “His extensive experience across every level of government will be a tremendous asset to Multnomah County and District 4.” Finn says leaving ODOT for the county is “bittersweet,” adding “I’m grateful for the challenging and rewarding work.”
NEW STUDY RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT I-5 BRIDGE PROJECT: A new study produced for critics of the proposed Interstate Bridge replacement questions the traffic assumptions underlying the long-planned project. The study released by the Just Crossing Alliance, which is critical of the freeway portion of the project, says the traffic bottleneck is not the bridge but areas of congestion south of it. Therefore, the group argues, replacing the span would not accomplish the stated goal of congestion relief. Norman Marshall of Smart Mobility Inc., a Vermont consulting firm, criticized the traffic modeling used to justify the $5 billion to $7.5 billion project, finding that it consistently overestimates traffic flows. “The model used to predict future traffic cannot even accurately predict current traffic levels,” he wrote, concluding that tolling and better management of freeway ramps would be the optimal solution. IBR program director Greg Johnson defended the analysis in the project’s draft supplemental environmental impact statement, saying it “used industry best practices for predicting future travel and to plan for regional infrastructure needs.” The program is taking public comment on the draft supplemental EIS through Nov. 18.
DRAFT TIGHTENS PHONE POLICY FOR ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS: The newest draft of Portland Public Schools’ phone policy would strengthen “off and away” restrictions for elementary and middle schoolers. While high schoolers would still have access to their phones during lunch, the new draft requires younger students to stash away their devices all day, unless used for academic activities. PPS chief of schools Dr. Jon Franco, however, recommends allowing high schoolers access to their phones during passing periods, too. “Depending on the method used for ensuring phones are ‘off and away,’ there may be significant logistical challenges to enforcing the restrictions in between classes,” he wrote in a Nov. 12 memo to the committee considering the phone policy. Like the previous policy draft, individual schools may implement additional restrictions. Policy committee board chair Julia Brim-Edwards has made her stance on enforcement clear: She wants to leave it up to the schools. The other change in the draft concerns equity: PPS would be required to equitably distribute funds to schools to implement the policy. The equity modification would make enforcement with controversial Yondr pouches expensive: At $30 a unit, it would cost $725,700 to buy enough for every middle and high schooler in the district.
HOUSE MINORITY LEADER BLASTS GOP CAUCUS DRAMA: House Minority Leader Jeff Helfrich (R-Hood River) sent out a generic announcement Nov. 11 that he was stepping down as leader of the House Republican caucus, citing his father’s recent death as a reason for wanting to spend more time with his family. But in a letter to his GOP colleagues obtained by WW, he strongly defended his performance—holding on to all 25 GOP seats, including four in districts where Democrats have more registered voters—while blasting caucus dynamics. Helfrich told colleagues he was “prepared for long days and nights away from home. What I was not prepared for, however, was the endless drama within the caucus.” And he cited, without naming, the enemy within. “I went into the job expecting tough fights with Democratic leadership. Instead, the toughest fights were with the caucus and party,” Helfrich wrote. “I thought of our caucus as a team and I was its captain. Instead, I found myself playing a solo in the band and my own teammates heckling me along the way.” Helfrich didn’t respond to a request for further comment.