You know it's been a busy year at Metro when a list of the Top 10 stories in regional governance has an urban growth boundary expansion at No. 6.
But 2011 was just that - a year of new faces, big decisions and even a bit of pop culture. Here's a look back at what made news at Metro in 2011.
Columbia River Crossing - Urban and rural reserves - New faces at Metro - Glendoveer - Willamette Falls - Urban growth boundary - Mark Bosworth - Put a bird on it - Show me the money - Excitement at MPAC
1. The Columbia River Crossing
Remember the story of Goldilocks and the three bears? Imagine if there were three Goldilocks, too, and they all had to agree on porridge temperature, chair size and bed comfiness before anyone ate, sat or slept.
How long would the debate rage on before one of the Goldilockses got hungry, weary or sleepy enough to give in?
That's the essence of the Columbia River Crossing debate, which worked its way through Metro in 2011. It seems like no matter where people live or how they prefer to commute, they can find something to dislike about the proposed replacement for the Interstate Bridge.
The Metro Council had two key votes on the Columbia River Crossing in 2011: Approving the land use conditions for the project, under a 1996 law called the Land Use Final Order, and signing off on the project's environmental review. The order was approved in August, and the environmental study was approved a month later.
But the council appeared to err in its passage of the land use order. Several parties appealed Metro's approval of the order, and Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals upheld the complaints on one count: Land Use Final Orders only can be used within the urban growth boundary. Metro's urban growth boundary ends at the north shore of Hayden Island, not at the Washington state line, meaning much of the proposed Columbia River Crossing bridge was ineligible for the land use process.
What's next
Metro attorneys say the council has two ideal options for the order – it can move the urban growth boundary to the Washington state line, annexing the bridge's footprint on the Columbia River, or TriMet can amend the Land Use Final Order so that the urban growth boundary is no longer the edge of the order's domain. A decision on that is expected by spring.
2011 CRC stories
(Feb. 14)
(June 1)
(June 9)
(June 9)
(July 15)
(July 28)
(Aug. 9)
(Aug. 11)
(Sept. 7)
(Sept. 8)
(Oct. 27)
2. Urban and rural reserves
After years of negotiations about setting the path for 50 years of growth in the region, the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission in late 2010 sent Metro and Washington County into extra innings to finalize urban reserves on the westside.
The agreement came in March, after a marathon joint meeting of the Washington County Commission and the Metro Council, which agreed to designate a little more land north of U.S. 26 as urban reserves to make up for the urban reserves lost by LCDC's remand. In August, LCDC met at Metro to decide whether the new proposal passed muster.
It did, and Metro was able to use urban reserves for an urban growth boundary expansion for the first time.
What's next
Appeals of the Land Conservation and Development Commission's acceptance of reserves are expected once LCDC issues its final order.
2011 reserves stories
(Feb. 18)
(March 16)
(April 19)
(Aug. 19)
3. New faces at Metro
The year brought a lot of transition in Metro's leadership – some expected, some surprising. Two new Metro councilors, Shirley Craddick and Council President Tom Hughes, took the oath of office in January. One day before the inauguration, Councilor Robert Liberty announced he was resigning to lead the Sustainable Cities Initiative at the University of Oregon; former Gov. Barbara Roberts was appointed to serve the last two years of Liberty's term.
Just as surprising was the March announcement that chief operating officer Michael Jordan would head to Salem to serve in a similar role at the state. Former Ashland City Manager Martha Bennett started Oct. 31 as Jordan's successor, concluding a months-long search for the agency's new staff director. Metro Attorney Dan Cooper was acting chief operating officer during the search.
What did the change mean? The agency didn't seem to have many dramatic changes in the first year of Hughes' presidency. His focus on economic development led to more involvement in Greater Portland Inc., a regional business recruitment effort, as well as three overseas trips for business recruitment and retention.
What's next
There are three open seats on the Metro Council, and all will likely be decided in the May primaries. Councilors Rex Burkholder (northern Portland) and Carl Hosticka (southern Washington and southwest Clackamas counties) are term-limited; Councilor Barbara Roberts (southern Portland) won't seek re-election.
2011 transitions stories
(Jan. 3)
(Jan. 4)
(Feb. 9)
(June 20)
(Aug. 31)
(Nov. 3)
4. Glendoveer
It's a gem in East Portland – and it needs some work. The Glendoveer Golf Course has a leaking irrigation system, sometimes-water-logged tennis courts, a clubhouse that still reeks of stale cigarette smoke and a trail that is occasionally loved to death. It also has a management contract that's up for renewal next year.
At a Metro Council work session about Glendoveer in June, Councilor Rex Burkholder suggested a brainstorming session, wondering whether all or part of the facility should be used for something other than golf.
The mere mention of thinking about downsizing golf at Glendoveer was enough to set off alarm bells in East Portland, a community that is notoriously skeptical of any ideas coming out of the city center. At an Aug. 1 open house, hundreds of people, many angry, turned out to protest even the thought of adding a park to the Glendoveer site.
Burkholder's brainstorming bubble was quickly popped, and golf is likely to remain the main attraction at Glendoveer.
What's next
Metro's contract with operator Glisan Street Recreation ends in 2012, and the agency is expected to put management of the course out to bid this year.
2011 Glendoveer stories
(June 10)
(July 19)
(Aug. 17)
5. Willamette Falls
The Blue Heron mill site in Oregon City has the potential to be one of the marquis attractions of the Portland region, with one of the world's highest-volume waterfalls attracting tourists, residents and businesses. But it's also a 170-year-old industrial site built on a riverbed, hugging a cliff, with a railroad running through it and a historic hydro power plant on the grounds.
With Blue Heron in bankruptcy and its assets controlled by a court-appointed trustee, Metro, along with Clackamas County, Oregon City and the state, started working on a plan to open up Willamette Falls to public access. Metro could use some of its natural areas bond measure money to purchase the site, if the price was right and the risks were low.
There wasn't enough time to assess the risks before the trustee's December deadline for bids, and Metro submitted a letter of interest on Willamette Falls rather than submitting a formal proposal.
What's next
Talks with the trustee will continue into 2012, with Metro and the partners trying to get a better feel for the site's stability and environmental conditions.
2011 Willamette Falls stories
(Sept. 22)
(Oct. 4)
(Dec. 15)
6. The urban growth boundary
The fact that the urban growth boundary is this low on the list says something about the 2011 review cycle. The Metro Council's urban growth boundary review had very little drama to it, in large part because a lot of the region's energy for land use battles went into the designation of urban and rural reserves (see above). Adding South Hillsboro, South Cooper Mountain and some land north of Hillsboro, all already in urban reserves, to the urban growth boundary was a unanimous Metro Council vote that caused little drama.
So what ruffled feathers? The Metro Policy Advisory Committee suggested adding industrial sites near Forest Grove and Tualatin to the boundary; the Metro Council didn't vote on either recommendation; nor did it take up Portland Mayor Sam Adams' suggestion, also endorsed by MPAC, to require new housing developments in UGB expansion areas to have 20 housing units per acre, making them denser than most Portland neighborhoods.
What's next
The next urban growth boundary review is scheduled to begin in 2014; the state is reviewing the 2011 boundary expansion, with a decision expected in May.
2011 urban growth boundary stories
(May 24)
(July 29)
(Aug. 5)
(Aug. 12)
(Sept. 15)
(Sept. 29)
(Oct. 4)
(Oct. 5)
(Oct. 19)
(Oct. 20)
(Dec. 22)
7. Mark Bosworth
On Sept. 16, Metro GIS analyst Mark Bosworth was at a campsite for Cycle Oregon volunteers in the Douglas County town of Riddle. That night, he vanished.
In the weeks that followed, hundreds of volunteers, including many Metro employees, scoured the Douglas County countryside, searching for any sign of Bosworth, a 54-year-old married father of two. National media reported on Bosworth's disappearance.
Despite the efforts, Bosworth seemed to vanish without a trace. Complicating the search was a belief that Bosworth's cancer, which had twice gone into remission, could have relapsed, maybe to the point of causing disorientation or amnesia.
On Nov. 8, Bosworth's family sent a message thanking Metro employees for their help in the search. "The most likely scenario is that the cancer he battled successfully twice before returned in his brain, causing him to lose track of where he was and perhaps who he was, and most likely claiming his life by now," Julie Bosworth wrote. She asked employees to consider donating to Mark Bosworth's favorite causes: the Community Cycling Center, Planned Parenthood and the Friends of Outdoor School.
8. Put a bird on it
It's not too often a Metro program crosses into the realm of pop culture, but that's exactly what happened earlier this year when "Portlandia" debuted on the Independent Film Channel. In the series debut, characters played by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein go to a hippie commune in search of the origin of their dinner entrée, a chicken named Colin.
The sketch was filmed at the Wealth Underground farm, a leased parcel of a Metro natural area near Forest Park. Colin's poultry pals are alive and well at the 58-acre farm that sells community supported agriculture shares. Metro leases 580 acres of natural area properties to farmers.
What's next
Season 2 of "Portlandia" launches Jan. 6, and the series has already previewed a spoof, called "Sanitation Twins," lampooning how Portland-area residents have myriad options for disposing of waste.
2011 Portlandia story
(Feb. 1)
9. Show me the money
Metro can plan for transportation projects all day long. Without money, they'll never break ground. The agency can buy thousands of acres of natural areas for preservation; without cash, the public's access to the sites will be limited.
So where does the cash come from?
In transportation, much of the money for large projects comes from the federal government. But a Republican proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives for a new highway funding bill caused serious concerns at Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation in July. "The outlook," the committee's agenda said, "is grim."
In November, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., told the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation that the region needed to be targeted in its selection of projects to push. "The rest of the country has been inspired by your work, which means there’s more competition," he said. "It’s not clear what our regional transportation funding strategy is."
Meanwhile, Metro began looking at how to pay for maintenance of its natural areas. A bill in the 2011 Oregon Legislature would have allowed Metro to create a regional tax district so it could maintain the natural areas; that idea was spiked after opposition from Tigard. Later in the year, staff began looking at other ways to pay for maintaining the natural areas.
What's next
Congress still has not passed a highway bill. Metro is deciding how to pursue funding to maintain and open up access to its natural areas.
2011 funding stories
(March 4)
(June 27)
(July 14)
(Nov. 10)
10. MPAC – Diversity, cyclists' fair share, mayors meet
Two people arrive at a doorway at the same time. One politely yields to another.
Two drivers try to get in the same lane at the same time. One screams at the other, "Don't you ever do that to me again or I'm going to throw my banana at you!"
"Same people, different environment, acting irrationally," said Tualatin Mayor Lou Ogden. "That's kind of what happens at MPAC."
Metro Policy Advisory Committee, a group of the region's elected officials convened to advise the Metro Council, occasionally chases some of the region's political sacred cows; its meetings were perhaps the most politicized Metro-related gatherings of 2011.
There was the May meeting when Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz talked about increasing MPAC's diversity by adding more non-elected representatives, leading to pushback from some suburban mayors who already feel their voices are diluted enough. Later that month, Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey made waves by suggesting that cyclists should have to pay for infrastructure improvements.
And in September, Portland Mayor Sam Adams' suggestion that the new urban growth boundary expansion areas have 20 housing units per acre was one of the catalysts for Ogden to summon a monthly gathering of the region's mayors – not necessarily to replace MPAC, but to try and become more familiar with each others' issues.
What's next
Willey, one of MPAC's more outspoken members, gets his turn in the rotation as chair in 2012.
2011 MPAC stories
(May 16)
(May 26)
(Sept. 29)
(Nov. 29)
Honorable mention:
Metro launches Opt In and a bunch of Multnomah County Democrats sign up for it, leading to targeted outreach to suburban residents and Republicans.
Rose-Tu is pregnant at the Oregon Zoo, and, if all goes well, will deliver a baby elephant late in 2012.
Bones discovered at Blue Lake Regional Park, believed to have been moved there in excess dirt piles from some of Metro's pioneer cemeteries.
The Community Investment Initiative, supported by Metro staff, starts meeting to discuss the region's infrastructure challenges.
Bills in the Oregon Legislature to change Metro go nowhere; one would have studied merging Metro and the counties, another would take away Metro's planning authority