Mayor, council clash on Moda Center deal
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There's drama. Photo: Steph Chambers/Getty Images
The fight over funding for renovations to the Moda Center is ratcheting up.
Why it matters: City leaders were sharply divided over using public money to revamp the aging arena as their first work session on the issue began Wednesday.
The big picture: Mayor Keith Wilson supports a financing package that includes $120 million from the city, alongside $365 million from the state and $88 million from Multnomah County.
- Skeptics — including several city councilors who will need to approve the deal — have argued the city needs to bargain with the Trail Blazers and their new owner to secure the best deal for Rip City taxpayers.
- The possibility of the Blazers relocating has loomed over negotiations and intensified debate over public funding.
The latest: Councilors spent much of Wednesday's meeting laying out what they want in a deal — including financial contributions from the team's owners and penalties if they decide to move the team.
- But the meeting produced more questions than answers, with promises of more information to come at future work sessions.
Friction point: In a Tuesday newsletter, Wilson said he wants the best deal for Portlanders, but that means "figuring out the math, and keeping the public informed and empowered every step of the way, not duking it out in the media or on Instagram."
- The newsletter was a not-so-thinly-veiled shot at city councilors, who have had public fights with sports columnists, and who Wilson accused of trying to "boost re-election campaigns."
The other side: Councilor Angelita Morillo, a critic of the mayor's plan, rebuked Wilson's newsletter in social media posts.
- "Putting this out ahead of the Moda Work Session is an attempt to frame the Councilors asking hard questions as bad faith, vain actors rather than stewards of millions of taxpayer dollars," Morillo wrote.
What's next: More work sessions are scheduled in the coming months, with a vote on a term sheet slated for later this summer.