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Portland City Council members will soon be asked to make one of the most consequential decisions in the Trail Blazers' arena saga.
At least one councilor is concerned they won't have much of a choice.
During a Saturday town hall at Alberta Abbey, District 2 councilor Sameer Kanal expressed frustration over being excluded from negotiations between Mayor Keith Wilson's office and the Blazers ahead of an Aug. 12 deadline to approve the city's proposed funding package.
Kanal said he worries that by the time the council reviews the draft term sheet, the decision could feel "gun-to-head," according to The Oregonian/OregonLive's Quinn Postman.
That's quite the description for a vote involving at least $120 million in city funding.
It's also the latest indication that the divide surrounding the proposed Moda Center renovation doesn't exist solely between Portland and the Blazers.
The City Council itself remains split over how Portland should finance its contribution, what protections should accompany the agreement and whether members will receive enough time to evaluate the terms before voting.
Kanal said Wilson has been negotiating without councilors "in the room."
Yet those same councilors will be responsible for deciding whether to approve the city's portion of a package intended to secure a new 20-year lease and prevent the Blazers from leaving the Moda Center after their current agreement expires in 2030.
That isn't much of a runway.
The city owns the 31-year-old arena after Paul Allen's estate sold it to Portland for $1 in 2024. Renovating the building is expected to cost approximately $600 million.
Wilson has pledged $120 million from the city, while Oregon lawmakers have committed $365 million in taxpayer-backed bonds. Multnomah County previously offered another $100 million before requesting a "reset" in negotiations.
One component of Wilson's proposal has created another source of controversy.
The mayor wants to use $75 million from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, which was established to support climate and clean-energy projects, toward the renovation.
City Administrator Raymond Lee argued Saturday that updating the Moda Center would produce fewer carbon emissions than replacing it with an entirely new arena, allowing the project to remain consistent with the fund's purpose.
Whether the City Council accepts that reasoning remains unclear.
So does what exactly councilors will be voting to advance.
Lee described the city's nonbinding term sheet as "the first signal" to the NBA that Portland is committed to keeping the franchise.
The Blazers have interpreted it quite differently.
A top team official recently told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the two sides remain "very far apart" and warned that the proposed agreement "gets worse with time."
Ownership has also rejected several of the city's requested conditions while maintaining that Tom Dundon will not contribute private money toward the estimated $600 million renovation.
That leaves councilors confronting an uncomfortable calculation.
Rejecting or delaying the proposal could further endanger the most developed path toward securing the Blazers' future in Portland. Approving it could commit substantial public resources to a framework ownership has already criticized, potentially without giving councilors enough time or involvement to negotiate meaningful changes.
Neither sounds particularly appealing.
And that's what makes Kanal's concern so important.
The Aug. 12 vote was already a significant checkpoint in the arena negotiations. It now threatens to become a pressure test for a City Council being asked to endorse an agreement some of its own members didn't help construct.
Portland still has until Dec. 31 to preserve the state's $365 million commitment.
But reaching that deadline will require more than pressuring councilors into approving whatever lands in front of them.
The city, county and Blazers need an agreement capable of surviving public scrutiny and an eventual vote.
Right now, they don't appear particularly close to either.
Continue reading...
At least one councilor is concerned they won't have much of a choice.
During a Saturday town hall at Alberta Abbey, District 2 councilor Sameer Kanal expressed frustration over being excluded from negotiations between Mayor Keith Wilson's office and the Blazers ahead of an Aug. 12 deadline to approve the city's proposed funding package.
Kanal said he worries that by the time the council reviews the draft term sheet, the decision could feel "gun-to-head," according to The Oregonian/OregonLive's Quinn Postman.
That's quite the description for a vote involving at least $120 million in city funding.
It's also the latest indication that the divide surrounding the proposed Moda Center renovation doesn't exist solely between Portland and the Blazers.
The City Council itself remains split over how Portland should finance its contribution, what protections should accompany the agreement and whether members will receive enough time to evaluate the terms before voting.
Kanal said Wilson has been negotiating without councilors "in the room."
Yet those same councilors will be responsible for deciding whether to approve the city's portion of a package intended to secure a new 20-year lease and prevent the Blazers from leaving the Moda Center after their current agreement expires in 2030.
That isn't much of a runway.
The city owns the 31-year-old arena after Paul Allen's estate sold it to Portland for $1 in 2024. Renovating the building is expected to cost approximately $600 million.
Wilson has pledged $120 million from the city, while Oregon lawmakers have committed $365 million in taxpayer-backed bonds. Multnomah County previously offered another $100 million before requesting a "reset" in negotiations.
One component of Wilson's proposal has created another source of controversy.
The mayor wants to use $75 million from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, which was established to support climate and clean-energy projects, toward the renovation.
City Administrator Raymond Lee argued Saturday that updating the Moda Center would produce fewer carbon emissions than replacing it with an entirely new arena, allowing the project to remain consistent with the fund's purpose.
Whether the City Council accepts that reasoning remains unclear.
So does what exactly councilors will be voting to advance.
Lee described the city's nonbinding term sheet as "the first signal" to the NBA that Portland is committed to keeping the franchise.
The Blazers have interpreted it quite differently.
A top team official recently told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the two sides remain "very far apart" and warned that the proposed agreement "gets worse with time."
Ownership has also rejected several of the city's requested conditions while maintaining that Tom Dundon will not contribute private money toward the estimated $600 million renovation.
That leaves councilors confronting an uncomfortable calculation.
Rejecting or delaying the proposal could further endanger the most developed path toward securing the Blazers' future in Portland. Approving it could commit substantial public resources to a framework ownership has already criticized, potentially without giving councilors enough time or involvement to negotiate meaningful changes.
Neither sounds particularly appealing.
And that's what makes Kanal's concern so important.
The Aug. 12 vote was already a significant checkpoint in the arena negotiations. It now threatens to become a pressure test for a City Council being asked to endorse an agreement some of its own members didn't help construct.
Portland still has until Dec. 31 to preserve the state's $365 million commitment.
But reaching that deadline will require more than pressuring councilors into approving whatever lands in front of them.
The city, county and Blazers need an agreement capable of surviving public scrutiny and an eventual vote.
Right now, they don't appear particularly close to either.
Continue reading...
