It's easy for folks in the ivory tower of planning to talk about issues that cross city lines, to use buzzwords to describe regional problems that need answers.
But what do the leaders on the ground, mayors responsible for their communities' prosperity, think about the issues that come to them from around the region – and issues that should come no closer than the city limits?
In the last two months, Metro News interviewed eight mayors and one county chair about politics and community goals. This week, we're taking a deeper look at what's on the minds of the region's leaders.
What's holding Hillsboro back from redeveloping its downtown? How can Fairview attract more businesses? What's the one thing Portland wants to see the suburbs have a bigger role in managing?
Regional Reset
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Regional reset provides opportunity to look at local priorities
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Why now? Two reasons. First, the Community Investment Initiative Leadership Council, a regional think tank first proposed by former Metro chief operating officer Michael Jordan, is researching many of these issues, and is expected to release recommendations on ways to improve the Portland region sometime next spring.
We also wanted to see what the region's elected leaders thought before the Leadership Council released its recommendations.
Beyond the Initiative, though, it's simply an important time in Portland regional politics. For the first time since 2008, the ongoing discussions about adding land to the urban growth boundary have come to a close. The urban and rural reserves process that ended in 2010, and the boundary expansion decision of 2011, dominated conversations about regional politics and investments.
With those books closed, it seems like the region could be approaching a reset of priorities. We were curious what those priorities might look like.
Nearly four hours of interviews took place in October and November, and we attempted to get a good geographic sampling of the region's mayors. We talked to Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle, Fairview Mayor Mike Weatherby, Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey, Lake Oswego Mayor Jack Hoffman, Oregon City Mayor Doug Neeley, Portland Mayor Sam Adams, Tualatin Mayor Lou Ogden and Washington County Chair Andy Duyck. Happy Valley Mayor Lori DeRemer also answered questions via e-mail.
We also made several attempts to schedule interviews with the mayors of Gresham and Milwaukie. Through a spokesman, Clackamas County Chair Charlotte Lehan declined to be interviewed.