PORTLAND, Ore. -- Based on recent science, Mayor Sam Adams says Portland is due for a huge earthquake. Without a staging area for emergency vehicles and supplies, he says the west side of the city is in peril.
"The issue is too important," explained Adams. "The lack of a west side staging area - in the event of an earthquake or other disaster- is entirely unacceptable and a disservice to folks on the west side of Portland."
Buying land to "stage" equipment, fuel and other supplies a good idea - in theory - say Adams' political opponents in the matter.
But they call it bad timing and they dispute the choice of the land in question. It's ten acres of rare, close-in Northwest Portland industrial land currently for sale.
Mayor Adams wants the parcel as a staging area for emergencies. He's leery of the kind of earthquake scientists say would resemble the one that recently devastated Chile.
He says if Portland's bridges become unusable in such an earthquake, NW and SW Portlanders would be sealed off from some emergency and restorative services.
The staging concept is designed to prevent that. Originally, the idea was to have the city's water ratepayers buy the $10 million property.
On that, Commissioner Dan Saltzman is putting his foot down.
"I don't want the Water Bureau to be turning into a lending institution," he said.
Saltzman likes the staging concept but not the timing and not this particular property.
"It's the only shovel-ready, large industrial piece of property left in Northwest Portland. We're focused on jobs."
Commissioner Amanda Fritz also questions the logic of Adams's proposal.
"In these horrible financial times do we want to buy a property for a lot of money and basically use it for storage?"
Commissioner Randy Leonard -who oversees the Water Bureau- is Adams's political partner in the land purchase idea.
Leonard says it shouldn't take a disaster to prove the need here.
"The west side of Portland deserves the same kind of response to restore water service as does the east side," said Leonard. "It's an entirely appropriate expenditure for the Water Bureau to acquire the site."
The council is divided.
But Adams insists a decision on the emergency-land purchase must happen by July.
Commissioner Nick Fish didn't signal his intentions on the land purchase issue but he did join Adams and Leonard in voting in favor of a 12 percent increase in water rates and a 6.3 percent increase in sewer rates.
Commissioner Fritz and Saltzman voted against the increases. Those two commissioners and Fish say they are especially concerned about the water rate increase and would like to see it lessened, if possible, after a deeper discussion next week.
The new revenue generated from the rate increases will buy maintenance and pay for federally mandated upgrades to Portland's water and sewer systems.
