May 2014

City staff gave David Donaldson a nice send-off for his new job as Vice President for Human
Resources at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.

I've been contacted by colleagues from around the state, interested in the position. This speaks well of the desirability of Lake Oswego as a place to work. Over the past nine months, I have relied heavily on David's knowledge of the organization and community, and for me, his ideal replacement would be an individual with a similar knowledge and insight. For this reason, and to provide a promotional opportunity for our highly-qualified staff, I plan to do an in-house recruitment for the position.

Nick Bunick has made an offer to purchase the West End Building for $20 million. He has stated his willingness to allow city staff and facilities to remain in the building even after he (or his nonprofit organization) purchases it. We're still working on the details of a purchase & sale agreement, and the whole thing is contingent on his ability to secure financing. We'll keep you posted...

The Evergreen Development Group is still back at the drawing board, working on modifications to their design for the Wizer (Block 137) development. We expect they will have something ready for the Design Review Commission soon. 

It will be a busy summer for construction projects, and an obstacle course for LO residents (and city staff) trying to get around town. See the construction schedule and construction schedule and map.

As I write, the Budget Committee is still meeting and deliberating on the 2014-15 budget. The proposed operating budget is a "hold-the-line" budget. Most of the interesting decisions center on the capital improvement plan (how to finance the upgrade to the Operations Center, long term funding of street improvements, etc.). The budget preparation process gave departments more authority and responsibility over their own budgets (see the "budget process and philosophy").  While they do tend to be fiscally conservative, several of the appointed members of the budget committee have managed large organizations themselves, and understand the reasons for this approach. We expect the committee work to wrap up on May 8.

The planning staff have made significant progress on a replacement for our current "sensitive lands" regulations. A full package of proposed changes will be reviewed by the City Council in a work session on June 10.