After 14 months of work group meetings with citizens and public hearings to determine how to best use taxpayers’ dollars to pay for a backlog of city street work, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales announced Thursday that he and the City Council would instead look to the state for money.

“During the passionate conversations we have had in Portland regarding transportation funding, many options were discussed, none of which were popular,” Hales said in a news release. Some options were put forward by Portlanders that we do not have the authority to enact. As your mayor, I will go to Salem to seek that authority.”

At a Jan. 8 hearing, Hales, Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick and the rest of the city council heard public testimony on funding options. They also asked at the hearing for suggestions from citizens for funding options and announced that they would seek an “advisory vote” from the offered options on the May ballot. In an advisory vote, citizens would choose their favorites among three to six options. The council said it would choose several of the more popular options for adoption.

Many citizens at the hearing suggested requiring anyone parking downtown to purchase and display a sticker on their car indicating they had paid a parking fee separate from the usual pay-to-park fees. The council explained that state laws prohibit cities from assessing a “registration fee” for cars, which is what the councilors believed the sticker system would equate to.

Hales said in the news release that Gov. John Kitzhaber and House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, both assured him that “a statewide transportation package is a top priority” for the Oregon Legislature in the session that begins in February.

“We are pleased to know that the Legislature is very interested in a transportation funding discussion this year,” Novick said. “We have said all along that the street fund we have proposed will not address all our needs and that we are counting on the state and federal governments to step up.”

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As an industry, we have a lot to be thankful for this year. We are beginning to see the light at the end of this recession marked by a slow yet steady uptick in construction work.

We are also looking ahead to another long legislative session in Salem and are seeing progress on a key industry initiative to restore funding support for vocational education, known today as career technical education (CTE).

On Monday, Dec. 1, the governor released his proposed budget for the 2015-2017 biennium – nearly $65.5 million of which is designated for CTE at secondary and post-secondary levels. By refilling and growing existing grant programs, as well as making a significant formula funding change, the governor is creating the ability to permanently fund CTE programs across the state.

This critical funding comes at a time when construction companies are facing more retirements and a greater skilled worker shortage than ever before. When you combine the aging of the baby boomers that make up a majority of Oregon’s construction workforce with the need to add more skilled workers, our state alone will need to add more than 23,000 skilled workers by the year 2020.

We as contractors know that quality, comprehensive craft training is fundamental to the development of a skilled workforce. In turn, a skilled workforce is essential to a productive and sustainable construction industry as it climbs its way out of recession. With nearly 60 percent of construction firms in our state reporting difficulty in finding enough skilled workers to fill key professional and craft positions, it is evident that the so-called skills gap – the idea that the skills of the workforce may not be up to snuff for the needs of the workplace – has manifested itself here in Oregon. That gap can be the product of any number of factors, from the rapid pace of technological change to economic uncertainty, but one stands out more than any other: education.

The crippling of the education pipeline for construction can be seen in many educational trends, including the dismantling of public vocational and technical education programs. Over the years and during the recent economic recession, over 600 (50 percent) of Oregon’s secondary CTE programs were eliminated, reducing school districts’ connections to their local and regional workforce and educational leaders.

Similarly, the correlation between Oregon’s dropout rate and the decline in vocational/CTE education is staggering. With a nearly 50 percent reduction in CTE programs, Oregon’s public high school graduation rate fell to only 68 percent as of 2012, a full 12 percentage points below the national average. Oregon’s low graduation rates can be associated with nearly $400 million in costs to the state.

These figures demonstrate that a fundamental change is needed within public high schools to keep students motivated and interested. These are capable, intelligent young people, but they do not perform well within the traditional education environment. If left unaddressed, low graduation rates will continue to plague Oregon’s workforce and economy.

As industry members and leaders, it is our duty to stress that there are alternative paths forward. Apprenticeships and other programs under the CTE umbrella that focus on the development of technical, in-demand skills are examples of these other paths forward.

The CTE of today looks nothing like the vocational education classes of the past. Today’s CTE instruction and work experiences incorporate the integration of academic, technical and employability skills; leverage business and industry resources; and encourage the attainment of meaningful industry credentials and degrees. Oregon organizes CTE programs around six major career cluster areas and 120 career-focused pathways, all of which help students move on from the classroom to high-wage and high-demand careers with meaningful work.

In the 2012–2014 biennium, the CTE Revitalization Grant incentive program (funded by the past two Oregon legislatures) invested a total of $12 million in CTE across the state. As of today, more than 40 CTE Revitalization Grants have been awarded, positively impacting over 160 high schools and middle schools. Of that $12 million, approximately $9.8 million funded grants with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) embedded in the CTE projects, and $9.1 million funded grants that had career and technical student organizations embedded in the CTE projects. This is a wonderful beginning, but greater investment is needed to elevate CTE programs to an economically impactful level.

CTE is reactive to the demands of an ever-changing economy. With the governor’s allocation of the proposed 2015–2017 CTE-specific funds, he continues to recognize what we in the industry already know: CTE holds untapped potential as an economic and education strategy in strengthening our workforce and Oregon’s economy by preparing students for both college and careers.

As it appears now, the governor’s proposed 2015–2017 biennium budget for CTE-specific funds breaks down as:

• $11 million from the K-12 CTE funding formula change

• $30 million post-secondary investment for CTE support and/or strategic initiatives to reverse the decline of CTE and improve student opportunities and state economic vitality

• $12 million for local CTE Revitalization Grants (grades 9–14) and career and technical education student leadership organizations

• $5 million for regional CTE Pathway Grants (grades 9-14 and middle school as appropriate), and

• $7.5 million for CTE youth engagement summer programs.

Together, these funds total nearly $65.5 million.

While the governor’s proposed budget is only the first step in the biennial budget process, it typically sets the tone for the upcoming legislative session when state lawmakers will vote on the overall spending plan. AGC, along with a coalition of industry and business partners, will continue to work toward greater recognition and funding for career and technical education.

For now, we applaud the governor’s work on this critical issue as a means to improve both the construction industry and Oregon’s overall economic well-being. We hope the Legislature will see the wisdom in and the need to support this request as the 2015 session progresses.

Mike Salsgiver is the executive director of Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter. Contact him at 503-685-8305 or mikes@agc-oregon.org.

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With demolition work completed, crews on Friday began building the $150 million office tower project for Daimler Trucks North America on Swan Island.

The event drew local and state dignitaries, including Gov. John Kitzhaber, and signaled the start of underground work that will precede erection of a nine-story, 265,000-square-foot tower and four-story parking garage, along with other site improvements.

Crews from Hoffman Construction Co., the project’s general contractor, and its subcontractors demolished a sprawling, 1970s-era former shopping mall that had served as office space on the 10-acre site.

The tower will take up considerably less acreage, said Josh Palmer, Daimler’s project director.

“By going up, we’re going to open up a lot of this site around the building,” he said. “It will be much more aesthetically pleasing and usable for the public and employees.”

Foundation work, on a previously dredged site, will require several months and use steel piles to stabilize the soil, Palmer said. Stone columns along the river will prevent movement of the earth in an earthquake. A stone column foundation will be built for the parking garage, he said.

A Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum rating will be sought for the project, which will feature a number of highly energy efficient elements, Palmer said. Some are photovoltaic systems, low-consumption water fixtures and an efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

“It will be one of the top 1 percent of all office buildings in the country,” he said.

The project also will enhance a one-mile portion of the Greenway Trail, providing greater riverfront access for the public, Palmer said.

At the project’s peak, more than 400 craft workers are expected to be on site, according to Hoffman Construction. Approximately 1,200 positions will be filled throughout construction.

Ankrom Moisan Architects is providing design services and Inici Group is serving as the project manager. The project is expected to finish in the first quarter of 2016.

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One material will stand out in the new Western Oregon University College of Education building: wood.

Its designer, Mahlum Architects, has been tasked by Gov. John Kitzhaber to highlight innovative uses of wood. The project is designated as a demonstration project under the governor’s ; it calls for state agencies to identify nonresidential capital construction projects that can showcase wood products in high-performance buildings.

The tricky part is figuring out the best way to do so, said Kurt Haapala, principal in charge of Mahlum Architects’ Portland office.

“(Kitzhaber) wants wood,” he said. “He’s smart to be thinking about a traditional market that has sustained and grown the state of Oregon (and) that needs to evolve. We have to demonstrate the power and beauty of wood in all its forms.”

The firm is in the early stages of design for the $18.6 million project at the WOU campus in Monmouth. The team is investigating innovative ways that wood can be incorporated into the proposed 50,000- to 57,000-square-foot building – within budget restrictions. Other challenges include navigation of the city permitting process and the lack of familiarity among builders of work with products like (CLT).

Mahlum staffers hope to include CLT in the design, Haapala said. Panels are manufactured with lumber glued in opposing directions to form a solid slab that can be used for walls, floors or ceilings. The product has gained popularity in Europe and Canada over the past 20 years, but it’s still relatively unused in the U.S.

“The city of Monmouth has not seen this before,” Haapala said. “The good news is the city of Portland has dealt with it. There are some code implications we have to work through … We would need to prove it works.”

That is one reason why Mahlum has teamed up with Lake Oswego-based Equilibrium Engineers for the project. The structural engineering firm worked on the only CLT project approved in Portland – a small, single-story structure that was designed by SRG Partnership and now is under construction at the Oregon Zoo.

For that 2,000-square-foot zoo building, extra calculations for load capacity were required to gain city approval for use of CLT on the roof, Equilibrium Engineers associate JoMarie Farrell said. She expects a similar process for the WOU project because Monmouth, like Portland, has no code language that addresses cross-laminated timber.

The project is a great opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of CLT and convince Oregon manufacturers to produce it, Farrell said. Because it comes in prefabricated panels, the product can be installed quickly, she noted.

“I would like to use this product a lot more often; it’s really a matter of finding the right fit,” she said. “I think it pays for itself in so many ways.”

That is the precise reason for projects like the WOU College of Education building, said Rachel Wray, the governor’s press secretary.

“A project like this can demonstrate these products exist – they’re available and they work,” she said. “This project, it really met the criteria for being a great demonstration for the range and uses of Oregon’s wood products.”

WOU officials recognized that innovative wood use in the College of Education building project would be a way to gain state funding, said Brad Huggins, WOU’s construction manager.

“We felt that it was a reasonable project for it,” he said. “We recognized that the governor had an interest in sustainable products, and we were happy to work with them.”

Earlier this year, federal officials joined Kitzhaber in pushing for more wood construction and use of products like cross-laminated timber. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in an effort to support the nation’s timber industry, announced a partnership with the Wood Products Council‘s initiative WoodWorks to inform architects, engineers and contractors of the benefits of CLT.

Mahlum staffers are working with WoodWorks to learn more about the possibilities for CLT in the WOU College of Education, Haapala said. One idea is to include CLT treads on the building’s main staircase. Also, CLT in the floor and the roof could be left exposed.

“It’s using a pretty high-grade wood, so it’s beautiful,” Haapala said. “Why put a ceiling on?”

The project appealed to Mahlum Architects because the firm has a long history of working with wood, particularly for tribal projects, Haapala said. The firm recently won a WoodWorks National Wood Design Award for the Muckleshoot Smokehouse in Auburn, Wash. The structure was designed in traditional longhouse style for the Muckleshoot tribe.

“There is a craft to working with wood that’s still very much alive in the industry, and I think we should celebrate that,” Haapala said. “How do we get that emotional connection to wood? That’s what we’re after.”

Western Oregon University has not yet selected a contractor for the project. Construction is scheduled to start next spring and wrap up in time for the building to open in fall 2016.

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Daimler Trucks North America on Wednesday moved closer to building its $152 million corporate headquarters on Swan Island when the Portland Development Commission‘s board of commissioners unanimously approved an $8 million forgivable loan.

The company is planning to build a 265,000-square-foot facility along the island’s southern banks of the Willamette River. Construction is expected to ignite short-term and long-term economic activity.

Daimler’s role in Portland revitalization was not always so certain.

“I think this commitment that we’re on the cusp of making to Portland really signals our clear intention to be here for the long term,” said Josh Palmer, Daimler’s director of Project Nova, the code name given to the effort. “That was somewhat in doubt a few years ago … We have looked at other opportunities in other states.”

Several years ago Daimler announced it would shutter its Portland factory; then, in 2009, it turned about-face and said it would expand instead. The company has faced layoffs as recently as this year, and fears began to surface when white-collar workers were transferred to other headquarters in places like South Carolina. Daimler employs about 2,800 people locally, and 21,000 globally.

That anxiety was squashed in September when Daimler president and CEO Martin Daum, along with Gov. John Kitzhaber, announced plans to make Portland its official corporate headquarters, and build the new office facility. The project was contingent upon several sources of public funding: a $7 million enterprise tax zone abatement from the city, more than $3 million in state loans and grants, and the PDC loan.

“We are prepared to make a 20-year-plus commitment to stay in Portland, and we’re committed to bringing new jobs here in Portland,” Palmer told PDC commissioners on Wednesday. “We wouldn’t be here, and our management wouldn’t have made the decision to move forward, without the state and local support – a part of which you are being asked to approve here today.”

The PDC’s loan will be forgiven if Daimler invests at least $135 million, and adds at least 400 long-term jobs. If only a fraction of the job creation takes place, the PDC will reduce the loan amount by that fraction.

The PDC estimates that its loan leverages $17.29 for every $1 of its investment. In addition to the projected 400 new jobs (which are expected to provide an average salary of $80,000), Daimler’s investment is expected to support the retention of 1,574 additional family-wage jobs. The PDC also estimates that over the next 15 years Daimler will pay approximately $38 million in property taxes on the new building.

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Nike is preparing for a massive expansion project, and Gov. John Kitzhaber wants to make sure it happens in Oregon.

At a press conference in Salem on Monday, Kitzhaber announced that he will convene a special legislative session on Friday to discuss a new piece of legislation designed, essentially, to entice the Beaverton-based sportswear company to expand within the state.

The Economic Impact Investment Act would let the governor prevent future corporate tax laws from affecting companies that commit to creating 500 jobs and investing at least $150 million in capital investment over five years. The impetus for the act is that Nike is pursuing an expansion that could generate more than $2 billion a year and 12,000 jobs by 2020.

During discussions with Nike, Kitzhaber learned that it is considering other states for the expansion. The act would assure Nike that Oregon’s tax laws would hold steady for a set period of time.

“Nike is a global company with a long history in Oregon,” Chief Financial Officer Don Blair said. “We support this proposed legislation as a way to help us continue to grow in Oregon.”

Nike said if the legislation were to pass, it would commit to the 500-job and $150 million investment minimums. Kitzhaber did not have any details on the expansion, but said construction would create 2,900 jobs and pump approximately $440 million into the local economy.

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” he said. “This is a very important company to Oregon. It is expanding rapidly and they have to make this move as soon as possible for a number of business reasons … they just want to make sure that the tax policy that is making it favorable for them to operate here does not change on them somewhere midstream.”

Kitzhaber said Nike did not divulge which other states it was considering, but added that officials informed him that if the state could provide it with certainty, it would stay.

“For me, that’s enough,” Kitzhaber said.

Nike employs more than 8,000 people in Washington County – a number that has grown nearly 60 percent since 2007. The average Nike income, at $100,000, is roughly twice as much as regional and state averages.

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Gov. John Kitzhaber this morning released , which will reconfigure the way the state regulates and produces energy over the next decade. Now the process opens up to comments from the general public for 60 days.

The plan focuses on three fundamental strategies – maximizing energy efficiency and conservation, enhancing clean energy infrastructure and accelerating the adoption of cleaner modes of transportation.

The current draft is the upshot of nearly 200 recommendations submitted in March by a task force comprised of some of the state’s energy experts.

The energy plan comes at a difficult time. In the face of an extremely tight budget, the state has cut funding to incentive programs and essentially defunded the hefty Business Energy Tax Credit program.

In an open letter that begins the draft plan, Gov. Kitzhaber says the 10-Year Energy Action Plan will begin with a focus on specific initiatives that “move the dial in the short term and can be scaled up over time.”

The ensuing public process will likely be a lively one, as many energy stakeholders throughout the state will get their first peek at the draft plan today.

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Edwin Harnden, managing partner of Barran Liebman LLP, has been appointed by Gov. John Kitzhaber to serve on the Oregon Public Officials Compensation Commission. The appointment was unanimously confirmed by the Oregon Senate.

Harnden is a past president of the Oregon State Bar and has been named a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is a past recipient of the Judge Learned Hand Lifetime Humanitarian Achievement Award. In 2011, he was the recipient of The Henry H. Hewitt Access to Justice Award handed out by The Lawyers’ Campaign for Justice and was named Legal Leader of the Year by the Daily Journal of Commerce.

Harden began a litigation practice in 1972 and since 1974 has focused on employment dispute resolution, arbitration and litigation.

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(Editor’s note: This piece originally ran in the May 26, 2011, issue of the Briefly Legal PDX e-newsletter)

Liani Reeves wasn’t always sure she would become a lawyer, but she was certain she wanted to dedicate her career to public service. The North Bend native considers herself fortunate that her profession allows her to do both.

With bachelor’s and law degrees from Willamette University, Reeves has worked for the Oregon Department of Justice and served as a staff attorney for the National Crime Victim Law Institute. In January, Gov. John Kitzhaber appointed her as his general counsel.

A longtime co-chair of the Oregon Minority Lawyers Association, Reeves received Willamette University’s Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for her commitment to civil and human rights. She has co-taught Lewis & Clark Law School’s Crime Victim Litigation Clinic. In addition, Reeves mentors law students and has been named Mentor of the Year by both Willamette University and Lewis & Clark College.

Reeves recently shared the highlights and difficulties of her profession and what it’s like to serve as the Governor’s general counsel. Her responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Briefly Legal: What made you decide to become an attorney?

Liani Reeves: Law has always been interesting to me in the sense that it impacts everything that we do, from the way we drive and interact in the workplace to the trademarks and patents on our toothpaste. Having a law degree seemed like it would be both interesting and empowering because of the law’s impacts on our day-to-day lives and how it can be used to make change in a meaningful way.

BL: What do you enjoy most about it?

Reeves: The way I can directly impact people or state policies. I have great respect for our public employees. Sometimes there are a few who make a bad name for all of us, but my experience is that most people in public service are trying to do the right thing.

BL: What are some of the challenges?

Reeves: The challenge is the resource issue. With the substantial budget shortfall, sacrifices must be made. Working in the public sector allows you to see both the impact on state agencies and on public services. Trying to find the appropriate balance is challenging but rewarding.

BL: What have you learned through your years of co-chairing OMLA?

Reeves: The OMLA has provided a great network of people who have supported me throughout my career. As a new practicing attorney of color, I found myself feeling isolated in Oregon’s legal community. And as a woman, I had chosen a career that was still male dominated (litigation), so I felt isolated in that regard. I was looking for a support network to help me grow as an attorney and a place where I felt at home in the legal community. OMLA provided that.

BL: What do you do as the Governor’s general counsel?

Reeves: There are three main areas of work: day-to-day legal advice, programmatic areas assigned to the General Counsel’s office and policy work. The day-to-day legal advice includes things like public records, employment and government ethics matters, reviewing authority of boards and commissions, monitoring litigation involving the state or the Governor’s office, and reviewing bills for legal sufficiency.

As far as programmatic areas, the General Counsel’s office is in charge of processing extradition warrants and clemency applications, filling vacancies of Oregon’s judges and district attorneys, and negotiating gaming compacts with Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribal governments. The General Counsel’s office is also assigned policy portfolios relating to public safety and tribal issues.

BL: What has that experience been like so far?

Reeves: It’s been great. Most of the legal work is unique to the Governor’s office. For example, extradition and clemency matters and tribal gaming compacts are discrete areas of law; there aren’t very many places besides the Governor’s office where you would learn or be able to practice those areas of law or make that type of impact. That has made the transition intellectually challenging because of all the new areas of law to learn, but it has been interesting and rewarding. I also started in the middle of the legislative session, so diving into that process has been hectic but fun.

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A key tax credit for renewable energy production is set to expire at the end of 2012, but congressmen are already proposing an extension during an unfavorable political climate.

The federal Production Tax Credit makes wind and other renewable energy comparable in price to electricity derived from coal and natural gas by giving generators 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Dave Reichert, R-Wash., earlier this month introduced a bill to extend the PTC for four more years.

Booming and busting

The renewable energy Production Tax Credit is a per-kilowatt-hour tax credit for electricity generated by qualifying energy resources such as wind, geothermal and biomass. The PTC originated in 1992 and has been renewed several times; however, it also has expired on three occasions, resulting in a “boom-and-bust” cycle.

The PTC expired in July 1999, and later was extended through 2001. The PTC expired again, but was extended in March 2002. The PTC expired for a third time at the end of 2003 and was not renewed until October 2004, when it was extended through 2005. The credit has since been extended several times, but is set to expire at the end of 2012.

U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Dave Reichert, R-Wash., on Nov. 2 introduced the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act, or H.R. 3307, which would extend the PTC through 2016.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber last week joined a coalition of approximately two dozen governors asking Congress to extend the PTC, but the salience of renewable energy subsidies is being questioned, cash is short and even some wind advocates are becoming tired of the tax credit’s boom-and-bust nature.

The PTC was introduced in 1992, but has been extended mostly in one-, two-, or three-year increments. It has expired on three occasions, each time leading to a drop in installations – ranging from 73 percent to 93 percent – the following year, according to Derek Schlickeisen, a spokesman for Blumenauer.

“Business and labor leaders approach us all of the time to say we must have a consistent policy to create market certainty for wind manufacturing in the U.S.,” Schlickeisen said. “We’re coming out of the worst economic recession of our lifetimes, and another expiration (of the PTC) or even a delay now would cripple job growth.”

But John Chase, vice president of government relations at , says that the climate in Washington, D.C., where he is lobbying for the extension of the PTC, is hostile toward all tax credits because of the country’s larger financial woes.

“There are more concerns over increased spending overall, and all tax credits in general,” Chase said.

Most politicians this week are focused on the gridlocked “super committee” – a special 12-member group tasked with reaching agreement by Wednesday on a plan to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion.

“I worry about the overall budget climate,” Chase said.

Vestas’ North American headquarters is in Portland, and the company recently invested nearly $1 billion to open new manufacturing facilities in Colorado.

Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., earlier this month introduced a bill – the Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act – that would eliminate subsidies for renewable-energy projects altogether. Pompeo says the legislation could save up to $90 billion over the next 10 years.

Some outspoken proponents of wind energy say that because of instability caused by the Production Tax Credit, it should be abolished in favor of alternative incentives.

“The Production Tax Credit is not the only way and it is by far not the best way, but it is the way that we as Americans have done it,” said Paul Gipe, a California-based author and a wind energy advocate. “Feed-in tariffs are far more equitable and fair than the Production Tax Credit and all tax subsidy programs we have in the U.S.”

The effort to lobby for an extension of the tax credit will focus heavily on manufacturing jobs. The wind industry supports 3,000 jobs in Oregon and is worth $12 million in state property taxes, according to Schlickeisen.

A nonpartisan coalition of manufacturing, farm and business interests last week endorsed the four-year extension, saying that the looming expiration is already leading to job losses.

“The impact on jobs will be significant – there’s a lot more at stake than there has been in the past,” Chase said, adding that domestic turbine manufacture has increased from 20 percent in 2005 to 60 percent now. “The manufacturing presence is growing – not just by Vestas, but all throughout the industry.”

But Vestas executives have announced that if the PTC expires, the company will cut global capital costs and make “further adjustments” to its U.S. operations, probably at its Colorado manufacturing facilities. Vestas spokesman Andrew Longeteig said it’s too soon to tell how expiration of the tax credit would impact the company’s operations in Portland.

“We’re just focused on continuing to sell our products here in North America, and hiring carefully in accordance with our business needs as well as in relation to market demand,” he said. “That’s what we can control in our region right now.”

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