More cities are offering an opinion on Metro Council redistricting, a process that's expected to wrap up this month.
Earlier in the process, Wilsonville lobbied for a redistricting proposal that would keep that city in District 3, together with Tigard, Tualatin and Sherwood, instead of District 2, the central Clackamas County district.
Now, tiny Maywood Park (population 752) is pushing to stay in District 1, the east metro district represented by Councilor Shirley Craddick. The leading proposal for redistricting, Option 3, would move Maywood Park into District 5, at present represented by Councilor Rex Burkholder.
"Metro states that part of redistricting takes into consideration school districts, established neighborhood associations, neighborhood planning organizations… and other similar groups," wrote Maywood Park Mayor Mark Hardie in an email to Metro staff. "I would assume that consideration is given to communities with similar needs, demographics and geographical (sic) location."
He said the two redistricting proposals that put Maywood Park in District 5 "miss the mark completely," ignoring Maywood Park's ties to the other east Multnomah County cities along the Interstate 84 corridor.
"Options 2 and 3 would separate us from the groups that we have in the past and will continue to interact with," he said. "Such a plan is ridiculous, short-sighted and contrary to fostering good community relationships."
Hardie's wife left a voice mail with a reporter saying the mayor would be out of the country for a couple of weeks, and thus would be unavailable to comment further on his email.
City Councilor Dave Snodgrass also wrote to Metro staff on redistricting, with similar concerns.
"The needs and demographic of our residents more closely mirror those of east county residents and municipalities," Snodgrass wrote. "As such, extending the boundaries of representation with those communities to include ours is most in keeping with the goals of Metro and Maywood Park."
Craddick said she believes the east county cities should work together on common issues, but said she's had a hard time reaching out to Maywood Park officials, even going back to her initial 2010 Metro Council campaign.
"This delighted staff to receive his (Hardie's) email, and I'm going to have to get a call into him," she said. "I would like to meet with him and really learn more about his wants and needs."
More cities, particularly from Washington County, were expected to submit thoughts on redistricting before the first public hearing on the issue, scheduled for May 12.
Council gets a look at industrial lot inventory draft
Councilors got more details on a proposed large lot industrial replenishment system this week, learning about some of the categories that will be used to decide if the region has an adequate supply of land for major employers.
A key part of the plan is having an inventory of what is available in the region, not only so planners can know if more large lot employment sites need to be brought into the urban growth boundary, but so business recruiters can find places for potential employers to set up shop.
At Tuesday's worksession, councilors got a glimpse of what a replenishment matrix could look like. The sample inventory, presented by Metro planner Ted Reid, included a 14-column matrix showing a theoretical industrial inventory for the region. Categories listed on the matrix include the availability of infrastructure, freight access, concept planning status and, perhaps most importantly, what actions are needed to get the site shovel-ready.
"This is exactly what a lot of our communities need," said Councilor Carlotta Collette. "I'm trying not to have this be a sheet of paper, and I'm visualizing it as a database that can have as many columns as necessary."
She suggested one of the categories in the database could be political readiness.
"Is the community ready? Have they identified this as part of their economic development plan?" Collette said. "In some ways, one of the best roles we can play in the region is to help with that readiness piece – help communities identify these sites and what they need."
The creation of an industrial replenishment system wouldn't get a vote at the Metro Council until later this year.
Wagner will join Jordan in state government
Another Metro senior staffer is headed to Salem.
Reed Wagner, the staff director of the Metro Council office, will join former Metro Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan in state government later this month. In March, Jordan began work as the state's Chief Operating Officer, a new position created by Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Wagner was hired as Deputy Chief Operating Officer, focusing primarily on legislative affairs, communications, long-range budgeting and leadership development.
"There are great challenges at the state, and I'm really drawn to a challenge," Wagner said. "This hasn't been an easy decision, because I really do feel like part of an extremely strong team… That makes it difficult to leave."
Wagner joined the agency in 2004, and has worked in the council office since 2005.