Kessi's hired guns

Heard on the street - Wizer Block developer, Patrick Kessi, has hired not one, not two, but three top political consultants to assist in getting his project approved.  These are no light weights - all are seasoned professionals and have been involved in state and national campaigns.  But three?   Is Kessi nervous?   I hope so!

The new faces on the Kessi team (which seems to grow with every city hearing), are Len Bergstein, Elaine Franklin and Carol Butler.  Strange bedfellows for this cause because all three were working against the Portland-to-Lake Oswego streetcar a couple of years ago.  Franklin's group, "Keep Lake Oswego Livable," even hired Bernstein to assist putting that project down.  Franklin and Butler reputedly have homes next to the train tracks.  If the Wizer Block comes in with 200+ dwelling units and other developments follow, a streetcar proposal may be back.  Will the consultants switch sides again?  Probably.  You know how people get when their homes and way of life are threatened.

So what are these high-paid hired guns supposed to do?  On the face of it, they are to determine what citizens will go for in the development proposal.  But that would seem to be apparent by now.  Kessi could sane himself a lot of money and just read the testimony from citizens from the last DRC hearing.   Three expensive consultants - in addition to a PR firm, architects and legal help - is a big obstacle for citizens to overcome.  What these professionals don't have however, is the passion and determination that comes from people who are trying to protect their city and their homes.  The developers have crossed the line and can only win by letting go of their grandiose monstrosity.

Hint to Kessi and his team:  Try changing the design instead of other people's minds - lower building, more of them, fewer units, less dense, more parking, compatible with neighbors, small village character.  If you have to ask.....

And it's not just people in the East End who care about this project.  It's a boil on the backside of everyone who cares about Lake Oswego and Lake Grove.  It just doesn't belong.

Oh yeah, while we're talking, are you planning any more developments in Lake Oswego?  You do realize that even one of these big things will tie up traffic so that congestion will meet or exceed State vehicle to capacity limits on key roads and multiple intersections downtown.  The next project (and others to come) will most likely not be able to pass muster with state and local traffic rules.  Spreading smaller developments around makes a lot more sense than one BIG-ASS Block and lots of little ones.

Or are there secret plans being hatched to bring back a council who is favorable to a streetcar and think that your problems are solved?  Traffic won't be improved -- in any case it will get worse - but you'd have another marketing tool.  That's a lot to bank on.  Have you noticed that the money and enthusiasm has run out for rail projects?   You should get out of Portland more often.