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After an Office of Management & Finance report stating that the Portland Municipal Services Building could need structural repairs costing upwards of $95 million reached the media last week, the spokesman for Mayor Charlie Hales had a simple message for the office: Get in line.

Approximately 300 projects are expected to go before City Council in the upcoming budget session, said Dana Haynes, Hales’ spokesman. Media attention does not improve a project’s chances to gain funding, Haynes said.

“It’s not one bit more of a priority than it was a week ago,” he said. “If they came to the mayor and said, ‘We have a dire need,’ then of course we’re going to take it very seriously. But if they leak it to the media, it doesn’t get you ahead of the other bureaus.”

The report was not shared with the mayor directly, but a summary of it was shared orally with his chief of staff, Gail Shibley, along with the chief of staff for Commissioner Nick Fish, said Bryant Enge, director of the internal business services division – a division of the Office of Management & Finance. Additionally, three commissioners – Amanda Fritz, Steve Novick and Dan Saltzman – have seen the report, Enge said.

“We’re still very preliminary in the information gathering process,” he said. “We have recommendations from the architect and engineering firm on how to fix this building.”

Also, preliminary discussions have taken place about potentially partnering with Multnomah County, which is in the early stages of replacing its courthouse, Enge said. Further discussions, along with presentations to City Council in the upcoming budget process, will likely stretch the process out beyond the next budget year, he said.

Fixing the Portland Building, improving the police training center and developing the west-side emergency center are top priorities for the agency, Enge said.

The report from the Office of Management & Finance included concerns about how the building would perform during an earthquake. The building houses about 1,300 employees, including several bureau directors and support staffers who would be involved in emergency response efforts during an earthquake.

“What we have been told is that people would be able to get out of the building,” Enge said. “The concern is that they would not be able to re-enter because it would be dangerous.”

When the city’s 27 bureaus submit their early budget proposals in early February, they will for the first time in at least five years not face the prospect of cuts, Haynes said. Roughly $5 million in additional funding will be available for projects that meet the mayor’s goals of completing a neighborhood, addressing homelessness and emergency preparedness, he said.

“(The mayor) is well aware the building is not in good shape,” he said. “It is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It has always been known that there are problems in the building, but it would take three votes out of five to get any budget changes come June.”

According to Haynes, the mayor would not support taking the issue to voters via a bond measure.

“The mayor is not going to be championing that,” he said. “If somebody said we don’t have enough money to pay for roads or parks – those two things are looming. There’s no way he’s going to be a champion for another bond measure.”

Saltzman was more optimistic about the possibility of either repairing or replacing the Portland Building, which was built in 1982.

“I think it’s a priority in that we have about (1,300) people working in that building,” he said. “We want to make sure they have a safe and good working environment.”

But Saltzman would like to see the replacement option explored further. Additionally, a public-private partnership with Multnomah County would be a viable option, he said.

A financial plan, however, would take at least a year to create and could not start for at least six months. While not likely to happen in the next budget cycle, the project is on the council’s radar, he said.

“I’m very concerned and the council’s very concerned,” he said. “It has a big price tag and we don’t have a way to pay for it at this point.”