Beaveron's all set to try "urban renewal" on a parcel of land that they and Metro own, right on the highly-successful Beaverton Round (next to light rail and the Beaverton Transit Center). The Round developers twice went bankrupt, despite massive infusions of tax subsidies. The land abutting it remains undeveloped, as the last developer to try to make a go of it also went bankrupt.
Beaverton is studying urban renewal for its downtown -- and the Round at Beaverton Central may be ground zero. Mayor Denny Doyle said he thinks the Round and the vacant Westgate Theatre site, owned by the city and regional government Metro, are prime spots to encourage private redevelopment through publicly funded infrastructure improvements.
That's the ticket! Throw yet more millions of tax dollars into the wasteland! Yes, "It makes sense," Mayor Denny Doyle says, as he tromps around the desolate area. Oddly, the "planners" uniformly tell you that light rail drives development. Yet this area's been within spitting distance of light rail since the line opened over a decade ago. You've been fed a lie, and the politicians and "planners" continue to serve it up to you. As has been the case time and again, developers stay away in droves unless sufficient tax dollars get dumped into their pockets. Light rail clearly does not drive development; only massive tax dollar subsidies do.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...the Oregon legislature plans to establish a new government agency: Oregon Health Authority.
The authority would assume many of the traditional Department of Human Services duties related to health care while also being given the task of collecting statewide data about the subject. The goal there is to reduce the cost of health care by understanding it better.
The authority eventually would manage a state health insurance exchange program, work to combine state purchasing power and oversee Oregon's health care agenda.
"It provides much more accountability and responsibility to do some work," said Rep. Mitch Greenlick, a Portland Democrat who leads the committee and helped craft the bill.
Well, sure. Leave it to Democrats to create more governmental bureaucracy in the midst of a huge recession. Government, after all, is the only sector in Oregon that is adding jobs. Hey, they told you they'd create more jobs. They just didn't mention where.