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Two long-time board members of the Portland Development Commission have stepped down, and now are offering advice gleaned from their experiences for their replacements.

John Mohlis and Charles Wilhoite left their posts on Jun 24.

Their replacements, Gustavo Cruz and William Myers, were appointed by Mayor Charlie Hales and will each serve a three-year term.

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE AND A FEW REGRETS

Mohlis, who spent more than eight years on the PDC board, is preparing to retire as executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council. That meant he wouldn鈥檛 be able to complete another three-year term.

Mohlis said that by far the most difficult part of his tenure on the board was laying off about 200 people, including early retirees, from the PDC over a two year period. The PDC now employees about 95 people.

鈥淭hose were very difficult to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 do them because we wanted to. Some people were not ready to retire; and every single person affected that way likely had a family, mortgage or rent, and bills to pay 鈥� and for that you鈥檝e got to have a job.鈥�

He also wishes he and the board had put more pressure on the mayor and city commissioners to expand blue collar jobs in Portland.

鈥淲e see some good white collar jobs and lots of service jobs,鈥� Mohlis said. 鈥淏ut where we come up short 鈥� and where I wish we had done better — is sending out the message that industrial and construction and blue collar jobs that don鈥檛 necessarily require a college degree are important to people in Portland.鈥�

That notion is in keeping with a new five year action plan the PDC approved last month that emphasizes 鈥減rosperity for all,鈥� he said.

鈥淣ot everybody has the good fortune or the means to go to college,鈥� he said. 鈥淎re we going to turn our back and become another San Francisco or will we mindfully create blue collar jobs so people have an opportunity to work their way up to provide for their families? I wish we had given more emphasis to that.鈥�

Those few regrets aside, Mohlis said he has great hope for the future of the PDC if the agency can overcome a few hurdles.

Now that urban renewal areas are approaching sunset, Mohlis thinks the biggest problem the PDC will face in the future is funding.

鈥淎ll of the commissioners are going to have to dig in, and one of their top priorities will be how the agency can be restructured,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in an era of declining budgets with the URAs winding down. There have to be new funding sources if we鈥檙e going to be a viable entity 20 or 25 years from now.鈥�

His advice for his replacement: work closely with fellow commissioners and staff and continue to build relationships with community. He also believes a continued focus on providing affordable housing for low-income Portlanders is crucial.

ON ALIGNING LONG-TERM GOALS

After completing three terms, Wilhoite said he felt it was time to let someone else serve on the board. When asked what advice he would give new board members, Wilhoite said he thinks it鈥檚 important that they consider each project from different angles and do what鈥檚 best for the community.

鈥淓very project that comes to PDC has its backers, and for that reason, you have to look at each project uniquely,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you instinctively make decision-making the greatest benefit to the largest number of people, you will make good decisions more times than you won鈥檛.鈥�

Wilhoite, managing director of Willamette Management Associates, said one thing he wishes had been done differently during his time on the board was the way that the housing department was pulled out of the Portland Development Commission to form the Portland Housing Bureau in 2009.

Moving housing out of the PDC 鈥減robably made sense at the time,鈥� Wilhoite said, but while the PDC does works closely with the housing bureau, sometimes it can get complicated.

鈥淭hat separation requires a little more coordinating and interaction than before 鈥� when it was all under (one) roof and everyone was in the same organization,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut housing does what housing does and the PDC does what it does, and sometimes that presents challenges.鈥�

If he could have done anything differently during his tenure, Wilhoite said, it would have been to move faster on several projects, including acquiring the downtown property of the U.S. Post Office for development and reaching a decision on what to do about Memorial Coliseum.

鈥淚t would have been nice to see more momentum, but we had an economic crisis and a lot got put on hold,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would also like to see a lot more development out in the community away from central downtown.鈥�

Wilhoite said his biggest surprise while on the PDC board was learning that although the agency is considered quasi-independent, it is intricately entwined with city government, particularly because the city controls PDC鈥檚 budget.

鈥淵ou are pursuing limited resources, and you鈥檙e never really independent when you鈥檙e quasi-anything,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he challenge is that the dollars that PDC is investing is the public鈥檚 money. People have different perspectives, and you have to take all that into consideration when making decisions.鈥�

But giving equal weight to those different perspectives can sometimes make the job difficult.

鈥淚 have often found myself in conversations about directions and projects and there was not always agreement,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I would smile and say the PDC is Portland development and it鈥檚 not always a decision that pleases everyone, but we hope it鈥檚 in the best interests of our city. The city鈥檚 long-term goal has to remain the long-term goal of the PDC.鈥�