The West Columbia Gorge Chamber of Commerce goes political

I attended the West Columbia Gorge Chamber of Commerce board meeting on Monday, August 15^th.  I saw candidate Tamie Tlustos–Arnold appear to do the bidding of a few key people who are financially supporting her election bid for state senate over what I would consider to be the best interests of the residents and business community of Troutdale. Along with candidate John Wilson who is seeking reelection to the Troutdale City Council, and Matt Wand, who is the general counsel for Eastwinds Development LLC and Eastwinds key negotiator for Troutdale urban renewal, they were encouraging the creation of a Government Affairs Committee that amongst other duties will suggest candidate endorsements for the upcoming general election. If confirmed by the chamber board, then a PAC of a similar name made up of some of the same people including Matt Wand and former Troutdale City Councilor Eric Anderson may fund the endorsed candidates.

Earlier, when like-minded people controlled the city council, Councilors Larry Morgan, John Wilson, Eric Anderson, and Mayor Doug Daoust passed a letter of intent for a future deal involving the sale of 12 city-owned commercial acres east of the factory outlet mall with a northern portion along the Sandy River. The adjacent outlet mall recently sold for over $28 million, but the deal considers the city property to only be worth $1.5 million even though it was appraised for $6 million, according to the Gresham Outlook article titled “Troutdale gives Eastwind the green light” dated February 19^th, 2016. This deal has a contingency for a condemnation of private property and a road through the middle of the outlet mall at an unknown expense to the city somewhere in the millions.

We don’t know at this time what will be expected of the city, nor do we know what the developer is willing to commit to. In short, we don’t know what the future deal is, but urban renewal supporters want us to go ahead, anyway. What you may have been told is very different from an actual agreement with the city. In the meantime the city has spent well over a million dollars to date. What we have so far appears to me to be for the primary benefit of Eastwinds Development LLC with what I consider to be insufficient protections or benefits for Troutdale and its residents. I have no doubt that urban renewal can be a good thing if done properly. The Troutdale City Council has been supportive of the idea. It just has to be a fair and open process for Troutdale and its citizens and that is what some of us are hoping for.

We shouldn’t be so surprised by the letter of intent, it was negotiated by Matt Wand for Eastwinds Development LLC and former Troutdale City Councilor Eric Anderson. If you consider that the state statutes in play here don’t have the same protections against unethical behavior in the area of urban renewal that other types of development have, then you should realize that the Troutdale City Council is the only check and balance there is.

If the people behind urban renewal manage to replace the councilors who ask questions and watch out for the public’s best interests, then many millions of dollars more than the voters ever intended to spend may be spent anyway. Troutdale is a town of about 16,000 people. Such a fiscal obligation to private enterprise could financially strap the city for decades to come, and require the city to raise more from residents and businesses in order to survive.

It saddens me to see this happening in our town. The chamber should support the best interests of all businesses, and not do the bidding of one developer with pending business before the city. It is very important for businesses to operate in an environment of trust and good will. This kind of behavior can only hurt those that do a fair and honest business in our community. I don’t believe the chamber members would want to be associated with the chamber’s new political direction.

(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Northwest Connection.)