I’ve been a Portland resident for 30-plus years and have voted to approve many new taxes. I lean progressive and recognize that it takes real money to deal with the challenges we face in Oregon, such as homelessness and the environment. The recent fiasco with the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund and the lack of accountability in city government (“Portland watchdog softened critical audit of clean energy program after its leaders complained of misunderstandings, racist lens,” March 23) has me seriously rethinking how many more funding bills I will support. The city seems incapable of managing its finances and seems oblivious to ensuring accountability on how they are spending money.
With revenue from the fund being significantly higher than expected, the city should be closely scrutinizing how the money is being spent and what the outcomes are. The fact that the bureau responsible for the funds forced revisions of the audit report is ludicrous. Audits can be amended and context added, but to allow the audited party to edit/filter/whitewash an audit report is unbelievable. And the fact that the commissioner responsible for this is not taking any responsibility (other than giving the former director of the bureau a ridiculously large severance package) is completely out of line.
I love Portland and have long supported many of the tax proposals, but city commissioners need to do some soul-searching around accountability and what is reasonable in terms of use of city funds. The city has not shown that it can be a proper steward of public funds.
Cormac Burke, Portland
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The Link LonkMarch 27, 2022 at 07:00PM
https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2022/03/readers-respond-city-makes-it-hard-to-support-new-taxes.html
Readers respond: City makes it hard to support new taxes - OregonLive
https://news.google.com/search?q=hard&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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