04:49 PM PST on Saturday, January 21, 2006

Compiled by kgw.com Staff

Portland Mayor Tom Potter adressed the City Club of Portland on Friday afternoon with his 2006 state of the city address entitled "The Year Ahead." Here's the full text of his remarks as provided to kgw.com by the mayor's office:

City of Portland

Mayor Tom Potter delivers his state of the city address.

"I want to thank the City Club and its members for inviting me to address you today, and giving me the opportunity to talk with you about the city we all care so much about.

When you sit down to draft your first State of the City speech, it’s often helpful to look back over the past year at the words of wisdom others have offered to you for inspiration and guidance.

So I first thought to myself – In a situation like this, what would Tim Boyle say?

Instead, I decided that what I really want to speak about with you today is what is on my heart, which is my deeply held belief that as a community and a country we must rekindle the spirit of working together for the common good.

I want to offer both a prognosis, and a prescription, for the health and well-being of our beloved city.

I first want to take a few minutes and tell you what has happened in the last 12 months, and discuss what I hope we can accomplish together in the next 12. But my real interest today is beginning a conversation about what kind of community I would like Portland to be in the future.

My first year as Portland’s 45th Mayor has been humbling, exhilarating and exhausting, filled with challenges such as learning how to count to three.

But I am lifted up every time a Portlander stops me, wanting nothing more than to share how much they love our city, and tell me their hopes for its future, and their determination that it continue to be a special place.

I came into office believing that our City government needed to become more efficient with the money taxpayers entrust to us, and more focused on serving our customers - you. We needed to become more transparent and accountable, and more welcoming to those who want to get involved in making Portland work better. Our regional neighbors wanted a City government that was seen as a partner, not something to be feared or, worse, simply indifferent to their needs.

Most important, I wanted us to reconnect government to its people by placing the community at the heart of a civic governance that ultimately shapes how our neighborhoods grow, the quality of our schools, the health of our economy and safety of our streets.

So I have spent much of my first year as Mayor requiring the City to look inward, examining what we do now and what must be done differently, and, through working with my colleagues on the Council, making changes that are sometimes difficult but ultimately necessary.

One year later, I feel these changes unfolding all around us.

We have unleashed the collective energy and creativity of the talented people in our bureaus in the most sweeping reevaluation of how our city works in more than 30 years.

We began by asking those on the front lines – our city’s workers - what they thought we could do to better serve citizens.

They were eager to help, and from this beginning came 20 Bureau Innovation Project goals, each furthering our core objectives:

•Serve the customer better

•create more cost effective ways of working together with our community partners

•and increase diversity.

The Bureau Innovation Project is changing our contracting practices to make them more fair, open and efficient, as well as more accessible to businesses owned by women and minorities. We are creating ways to measure the performance of our employees, and formalizing how we bring citizen engagement into everything we do.

It will reinvigorate citizen participation by returning our neighborhood system to the grassroots organization so prized and praised when it was created, and save money and time by creating efficiencies in our maintenance functions and streamlining bureaus.

We are recruiting a City workforce that more closely reflects the people we serve, and we are training every manager and supervisor to understand the different cultures and unique needs of our 5,300 workers.

I am working with Chief Derrick Foxworth to ensure that community policing becomes a priority for every person in the Portland Police Bureau. Despite what you see every night just before turning off the television news, crime is down 8 percent in Portland. That is always welcome news, but it is also only a start.

We will require our officers to fully engage the community, their true partners, in making our streets safer by working together and listening to the wisdom and experience in our neighborhoods.

In the next 18 months, Chief Foxworth and I will require community policing practices be a key part of the job description of every Bureau employee - and no officer will be promoted without a proven commitment to them.

Community policing will be integrated into annual, in-service training, the advanced academy and field training. We will establish an Office of Professional Standards which will not only assist officers – but hold them accountable as well.

The Chief has embarked on an accreditation process to ensure the police are using best practices and standards from around the country, and we will make the police more diverse.

And perhaps most important to our community, precincts will once again be open at night and on weekends, times when the community often needs us most. And let me scotch a rumor, again – Chief Foxworth will continue to be the Chief of Police. Period.

In the past year, how and why we spend the taxpayer’s money has been brought into the light of day. Working with commissioners, budget work groups now meet in public, with citizen advisors and community workshops playing a real role in determining Portland’s priorities.

I want to thank my fellow city commissioners for working more collaboratively in a public process, making decisions together about such critical issues as the future of our water, sewers, roads and parks – decisions that were once left to individual commission offices.

We are working more closely with the Portland Development Commission and clarifying roles.

I want to thank the City Club for their thorough analysis of PDC. The commission has implemented a number of your recommendations, such as more clearly delineating the distinct roles of planning and implementation when developing economic strategies. Projects such as the Burnside Bridgehead have been instructive, and in November the PDC adopted its first public participation policy, and has hired 3 outreach coordinators.

Since becoming Mayor, I have appointed 3 new PDC commissioners and helped select a new Executive Director. They join a commission that shares my unwavering commitment to accountability, inclusion, and transparency.

They also share my desire to have a PDC that will be more focused on helping start and grow our small businesses – especially those owned by minority and women entrepreneurs. That is why we announced two new loan programs this year, aimed at providing these entrepreneurs not only funding, but, just as important, the technical assistance they need to succeed.

PDC understands, as I do, that our City can only be truly healthy when every neighborhood is economically vibrant, and every Portlander has an equal opportunity to create their own version of the American Dream. Toward that end, I will be working with Commissioner Erik Sten and the PDC this year on a Minority Homeownership Campaign. In Portland, only a third of minorities own their own homes, compared with six in 10 whites. That’s not acceptable, and we will be working with the community to find ways to end this disparity.

We also have reached out to our neighbors in the region, knowing that the days when Portland could go its own way are gone forever. On one of my first days in office, I drove to Vancouver to talk with Mayor Royce Pollard. As I remember, I took him a Starbucks coffee mug - I’m not sure what he did with it.

I have continued to meet with other mayors in their towns around the region and across the state, talking about their concerns and how we can work together.

I believe the only way we can succeed is by collaborating as leaders of a strong region, not as competitors fighting over the same opportunities. I know what is good for Intel in Hillsboro is good for business in Portland. I cannot for a moment pretend that we have rebuilt every bridge.

For instance, one reason I believe the City’s attempt to buy PGE failed was the distrust of our neighbors, who simply wondered what Portland was really up to. But I also believe the first seeds of trust have been planted, and our future working together looks bright.

In October, I spent 5 days on the road taking this collaborative message to Eastern Oregon, finding not only great people, but people who share so many issues with us – how to fund our schools, the devastating effects of meth, and how best to build healthy economies and healthy families. I am going to continue to travel the state, with a goal of forging a coalition of Oregon mayors who will demand change in Salem, a place that has been more successful at dividing Oregonians than making us stronger.

Obviously, some events did divide our community. It has been 9 months since Portland Police officers were pulled from the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force. In that time, I have asked and have been given no concrete indication that our community’s safety has been compromised in any way.

And I remain concerned that Enron’s failure to negotiate in good faith for the purchase of PGE leaves our ratepayers and our businesses vulnerable to outside takeover specialists who have no interest other than making a fast buck at Oregon’s expense.

Now, at the end of this first year, I believe we are in a position to build on this beginning and turn our gaze outward, more fully engaging our citizens in the work ahead.

Most pressing for me today is finding the money to save our schools from the failure of our Legislature to do its constitutionally mandated job. Although the final form is unclear, it is obvious to me that we will need a temporary tax to save our schools. I know the polls echo the concerns of Portlanders worried about any new taxes. But when I consider the choices, I also know that an investment in our children is not only the right thing to do, it is in our common interest.

For me, doing nothing is not an option. It would be irresponsible of us to gamble away the future of the next generation just to teach our legislators that it is their responsibility to adequately fund our schools. We can’t afford to play with the lives of our children that way, or to gamble with Portland’s economic security and future.

Ultimately, business, political and community leaders across our state must come together and demand real change in Salem. But in the meantime, I believe we must do whatever is necessary to keep Portland school doors open for our children.

Saving our schools is also an important part of a smart business agenda, and especially critical as our regional economy, currently the nation’s 10th fastest growing, gains momentum. In the year ahead, we need to do a better job of celebrating this vitality, and building on it. Companies like KinderCare and Keene Footwear, HABA cosmetics and Coaxis software and IKEA are not only excited about being our new neighbors, they are bringing hundreds of jobs with them.

Macy’s is spending millions to transform the old Meier & Frank department store and, just as important, keeping it in a downtown that remains the envy of most American cities. By the way, I agree with Gerry Frank that the block that Macy’s will sit on should be called Meier & Frank Square. And I am working to make that happen!

How to nurture our current businesses and recruiting new ones are topics of my monthly meetings with the Governor, Metro Chairman David Bragdon and Bill Wyatt of the Port of Portland, and I spend time each month in the offices of local companies, learning their needs and offering our help.

Two weeks ago, for instance, I visited Open Source Development Labs in Beaverton, to meet with CEO Stuart Cohen and learn about the work he is doing to grow Open Source Technology in our region. OSDL members are working to build a high-tech system in Oregon that creates businesses and jobs and improves government efficiency.

Later this year, Portland State University and Oregon State University will open a new Open Source research and education facility here in Portland, and national open source conventions are scheduled to meet here for the next three years.

I will be honest with you – I don’t understand half the technical jargon that these open source guys use to talk about their industry. But I do understand that the direction they are heading is what’s good for Portland and the region. They want a partner to help recruit to our area more of these creative, high tech firms and workers, and I can think of no easier sell than Portland to those young, innovative minds in Des Moines and St. Pete. So I will be working with the City Council, PDC and OSDL to grow this important part of our economy.

We must capitalize on these kinds of business opportunities, which recognize Portland’s unique qualities. The Portland Development Commission and the City’s Office of Sustainable Development, for instance, have identified more than 500 local companies working on some aspect of sustainable industry. Portland is a center of activity for the $6 billion green building products and services market; for clean, renewable energy providers, recycled products and sustainable agriculture.

Helping these businesses prosper helps the environment and the economy, and just makes sense for a city like Portland. I also know that our business community bridles under taxes they believe are unfair, and I am committed to a public discussion about those taxes. The City Council will ask our business leaders to join us this year in a conversation with the community about what we must do to give business the tools they need to create more family wage jobs. But changes will only come if business leaders and the community work as partners.

This year will also see a committee of citizens undertake the first complete examination of Portland’s Charter in more than 80 years. I am very pleased that Charles Wilhoite has agreed to lead this important task. We will be asking a great deal of this dynamic group, to look at Portland’s Commission form of government, civil service, and PDC.

Their work will join much needed reforms being proposed to the pension and disability system for our firefighters and police officers. I want to thank the City Club for the changes it proposed earlier this week.

The City Council has created a committee to study all of these ideas and work with the community to bring forward real and lasting reform. I also have launched the Community Vision Project, which I believe will be the most important thing I do as Mayor, and which can only succeed if the community joins me in owning both the process and the outcomes.

The easiest explanation for why I believe so strongly in this idea comes from one of my favorite books - called Alice in Wonderland. It’s a book I would highly recommend to anyone interested in government service. When Alice asks the Cheshire Cat which path she should take, he replies with a smile: “That depends a good deal on where you want go.”

I think the City has too often followed Alice, without a clear vision of where we want to go, or asking the community about the kind of Portland it wants. I believe the Vision Project will create a community-owned roadmap that can show us the way for the next 30 years.

Planners have a nice phrase for this – creating the “intentional city” – a purposeful and thoughtful city that grows not only from opportunity, but from people’s dreams, and what they are willing to do with government to make those dreams happen.

I know there is some skepticism – I believe that’s the nice word – about the visioning process. I know there are people who believe these kinds of efforts are always doomed to molder on a bookshelf somewhere. And when I say I want to hear the voices of at least 100,000 Portlanders in the next year, even my own staff gets a little nervous.

I don’t share their nervousness, and I don’t think the people of Portland do, either. I heard very clearly on the campaign trail, and everyday since, that we can tap our community’s energy and ideas to chart an intentional future that is far superior than a future left to chance.

And that future will be here soon. There will be 1 million more people in the Portland area in the next 20 years. We need to plan for that growth and increasing diversity, linking the choices we make today to the needs we will have tomorrow.

And we need to make sure that every segment of the community has a strong voice in the process, especially those whose voices have been too often drowned out, or ignored altogether.

Finally, while the Vision Project is important because it will link government’s actions to a destiny chosen by the community – it is close to me for another, more basic reason.

I started today by saying that what I really wanted to speak with you about what is on my heart, and what kind of community I would like Portland to be in the future.

Mayors are most often remembered for what they build, but I believe the built environment’s highest purpose is in serving the values and vision of the community. Our true legacy, to paraphrase Adlai Stevenson, is best judged by how we have taken care of our young, our elderly and those unable to care for themselves.

I know I am talking to the choir today. But I also know that you will take the message we are sharing here to the larger community. My hope is that when you do, some in your audience will feel good about the legacy they are creating, and others uncomfortable.

I also hope you will talk about some special people I want to introduce now. Their actions speak far more eloquently than I ever could about working for the common good.

First, let me introduce Roy Pittman to you. Roy, could you stand up?

Roy has run the Peninsula Park Wrestling Program for over 30 years and his young people have won hundreds of international, national, and regional championships. But Roy doesn’t just teach young men and women how to wrestle, he teaches them how to be the best person they can be.

Youth leaving his program believe in themselves and others, have a strong sense of responsibility to their community, and are taught to never accept the obstacles that life has placed in their way. Through Roy, thousands of Portland children are achieving their true potential.

Polly Bangs owns Pasta Bangs Restaurant on North Mississippi. Working with New Avenues for Youth, Outside In, the Native American Youth Association, and Open Meadows Alternative High School, Polly hires and trains homeless youth who learn basic business skills by working in her kitchen and dining room. Polly calls this “Social Entrepreneurship,” and she tutors these young people on resume-building and job-hunting skills. Polly also trains the permanent staff at Pasta Bangs, teaching them the importance of being positive adult role models. This partnership has trained 45 young people, and given everyone involved the special opportunity to work and build positive relationships.

Kilong Ung is president of the Cambodian American Community Organization. Kilong is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge and founder of KU Consulting. But his community is his first passion. He not only helps preserve Cambodian heritage, culture and language for each new generation, but is teaching Cambodian-American youth how to become the next generation of leaders. Kilong and the Cambodian American Community Organization have helped hundreds of refugees and immigrants toward self-sufficiency, while honoring and preserving their culture.

Nathan Corser is an ex-New Yorker whose family came to Portland 10 years ago looking for a smaller community with a strong commitment to public schools and a community life no more than a bicycle ride away. They did just that in Irvington, where 10-year-old Owen and 7-yearold Eleanor attend Irvington Elementary.

They also found a school that needed help. Yes, Nathan and his wife, Kristen Minor, were there for the spaghetti dinner fundraisers and the PTA meetings. But maintenance at the school was an early casualty of budget cuts, so on his own Nathan started taking his broom to the playground on Sundays and cleaning up.

He raked leaves and spread wood chips, cleaned up broken glass and fixed water fountains.

Neighbors noticed and stopped to talk about schools, about their community, about helping.

Now, Nathan is joined on many Sundays by a small group that tackles whatever job they see, interested only in making their school a better place for kids to learn.

Thank you all.

In the last 12 months I have witnessed many other acts of selflessness like those epitomized by Roy and Polly, Kilong and Nathan. Our community rallied around 1,000 strangers sent to us by Hurricane Katrina, offering them blankets and shelter and hope.

Just three days ago, hundreds of volunteers showed up for Project Homeless Connect at Memorial Coliseum. They not only helped those most in need of our help, they also reminded us that our community is better off when all of us are cared for.

But while these are wonderful examples, I believe we are allowing a few dedicated people to stand in as proxies for the rest. Too many think that it is someone else’s job, someone else’s responsibility to step up and change what they know in their heart needs changing.

There is simply no other way to explain how we as a community can let one in five children go to bed hungry every night in Oregon, or allow 20,000 kids in this county to not have adequate health care, or live with the fact that 40% of our homeless are families, often working families and single moms stuck in jobs that don’t provide living wages, or seniors who are tucked away, out of sight, in nursing homes.

That is why I believe that reigniting in each of us that sense of working together for the Common Good is the real challenge our city faces in 2006 and beyond.

We live in a world where there are more problems than there are resources for government alone to fix. But our problems, no matter how seemingly intractable, can be made better by a community that truly cares about each other, and believes it can work together to solve anything.

But to get there, we must start by acknowledging that the solution begins inside each of us. Not government. Not someone else. But each of us.

The old model where citizens make up their individual wish lists and elected officials decide whose wishes will be granted is not only broken, it is bankrupt. But a community that dreams together will share not only an optimism about the future, but the determination and means to create it.

I believe when that happens, Portland will become a city where people won’t ask why there’s a problem, but rather what can we do together to fix it?

What can we do together to drive meth from our neighborhoods?

What can we do together to create the best schools possible for our children?

What can we do together to help every family find an affordable home and living wage jobs?

What can we do together to be a city that dreams big, and has the will to make those dreams come true?

That is the message that is in my heart today. Am I being a Pollyanna to think this is possible?

No! After living most of my life in Portland, I truly believe all of this is within our reach.

Can we do it? To answer that question requires us to only imagine what will happen if we don’t.

Can we do it? Yes, if we take care of each other, strive for justice, and remember that anything noteworthy we have done with our lives could only be done because of others.

Thank you."