Members of the Metro Policy Advisory Committee said last week that they'd like to see some local control of the Community Investment Initiative's Regional Infrastructure Enterprise.
The Enterprise is a plan to re-think infrastructure funding in the Portland region, with an emphasis on working with the private sector to focus financing on projects likely to produce the most jobs.
That concept came from the Initiative, a group of public- and private-sector leaders who have been studying infrastructure funding in the Portland region since 2011. The Initiative's preliminary work has primarily been funded by Metro with some funding from the Port of Portland.
"This is an effort to get land ready to grow jobs," said Metro Councilor Bob Stacey. "It's something I'm very supportive of. We have an opportunity to get this region more shovel-ready."
But, Stacey said, Metro wanted input from the regional leaders on MPAC before devoting more staff resources and some money from the regional government's Transit-Oriented Development Program toward the Regional Infrastructure Enterprise's test phase.
Much of the conversation at Wednesday's MPAC meeting was devoted to the Enterprise's proposed governance structure.
Community Investment Initiative Leadership Council co-chair Tom Imeson, presenting on behalf of the Initiative's Leadership Council, offered a PowerPoint slide showing a proposed governance model with Metro, the Port, the state, Greater Portland Inc. and "other" appointing directors to a board overseeing the Regional Infrastructure Enterprise.
The elected officials at the table – notably Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey – wanted to ensure that local governments would be represented in that "other" field.
Willey said he didn't think "there is enough mayor-elected representation on that." He added that he didn't want the Enterprise to become politicized, but "we need to have some pretty direct feedback on that."
Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz agreed that elected officials should play a part in Enterprise oversight, given the public sector's role in financing infrastructure projects.
"If we're hoping some private entity's going to come in and build our stuff for us, that's not what happened with light rail to the airport," Fritz said. "We need to recognize that it's going to be governments in charge of that."
Oregon City Mayor Doug Neeley stressed the importance of the Enterprise's board having some regional equity.
"Clackamas County is kind of the poster child of what we don't have in terms of infrastructure, and from Oregon City's standpoint, Metro's been a great partner," Neeley said. "Some degree of regional equity, I think it has to be there."
But Willey warned that involvement from too many public officials might hurt the public's ability to trust the Enterprise.
"Maybe a little too much public emphasis would kill the deal," he said. "What's going to drive the funding and the regional citizenry's acceptance of funding … there's going to have to be a huge trust factor."
But pollster Adam Davis, who was facilitating the discussion, warned that a governance structure could grow too cumbersome for the voters of the region to understand down the line.
"Does this group want something like a JPACT, which I look at as a citizen and I scratch my head?" Davis asked, referring to the 17-member Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation, which manages transportation funding in the region. "We're looking for something that's going to be effective moving this region forward, correct? This region is faced with a lot of problems, and the voters know it."