Portland – Just one day after filing to run, former State Sen. Margaret Carter is said to be dropping out of the race for Ted Wheeler’s soon-to-be-vacated position as Chair of the Multnomah County Commission.
Lisa Naito stated that Carter’s decision to drop her bid was because she would have to resign her current high-level position [...]

BY SARAH ROSS
DAMASCUS- Election returns came back negative for supporters of the four initiatives put on the special election ballots in Damascus Tuesday night.
The initiatives, put forth by the Ask Damascus organization, included the prohibition of public mass transit rail in the city limits, which failed by 51%, and the requirement of written testimony from [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
PORTLAND - In an Oregon Politico effort to obtain city records, a city staffer revealed that the highest paid staff is usually the one fulfilling the low-level records requests.
Public records requests are requests made by citizens to their government for information. In Oregon, the citizen is charged for the staff time to make [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
Portland – On Saturday morning, the Portland Public Schools (PPS) approved a labor contract with the Portland Association of Teachers.
The agreement has yet to be published online but Oregon Politico has obtained a copy and posted it for the public to examine.
When Oregon Politico asked PPS last week when the board would vote [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
PORTLAND- Portland Public Schools (PPS) and the Portland Association of Teachers union have come to a tentative collective bargaining agreement (CBA), but the public will not be allowed to see it until it is approved by both the district and the union.
This agreement will run for three years, retroactive to July 2009. Among [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
SALEM- An Oregon Politico investigation has revealed that state agencies and local governments are claiming their unclaimed property.
The Unclaimed Property office is a division of the Department of State Lands. This division’s goal is to “reunite as many people as possible with their money or possessions.” Often this brings to mind only individuals [...]

BY JACOB SZETO
PORTLAND- In his 2010 State of the City Address on Friday, Portland Mayor Sam Adams focused on jobs and sustainability as both his short- and long-term goals for Portland.
“This year, of all my many years of public service, has been unique for its singularity; for the first time, almost everyone shares the primary [...]

BY JACOB SZETO

TIGARD- In a 4-1 vote the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) board changed how employer contribution rates will adjust for the next scheduled change in July 2011.

To fund public employee pensions, employers (schools, state agencies and local governments) are required to contribute to a trust fund that is used to pay for [...]

BY SARAH ROSS
EUGENE- What could bring over 100 people to the Eugene Water and Electricity Board Building on a Tuesday evening? That would be Eugene’s Climate and Energy Action Plan public forum. This “feel-good” event, focused primarily on land use and transportation, is one in a series of forums designed to gain public input and [...]