Pier Park’s Missing Funds: An Injustice to Our Park and People

For Portland Parks and Recreation, the money budgeted for Pier Park maintenance and the money spent on Pier Park maintenance are entirely different. Over the past five years (2018 – 2023) almost a million dollars was allocated for maintenance at Pier Park. That would have been more than enough to have updated pipes and purchased a new pump for Pier Pool. However, the money spent was ZERO! Yes, you read that right. No money was spent on Pier Park maintenance over the past five years!

See for yourself. This is the link to City Budget Office for those who want to look at the budget by year back to 2010, or read below for the highlights.

Fiscal Year 2019 – 2020

New Loo

Specifically, check the Fiscal Year 2019 – 2020 Budget. It included:

• $750,000 for installation of the Portland Loo, something Friends of Pier Park lobbied for. Read Pier Park Restrooms Need an Upgrade posted June 29, 2015
• Removal of Pier Park at-risk assets $75,000 (demolish old restrooms and foundations)
• Resurface Tennis courts $50,000, something for which Friends of Pier Park has lobbied for years. Read Letter to Mike Abatte posted March 15, 2014.

Pier Park Tennis Court

The tennis court at Pier Park was included in the Capital Improvement Plan for 2019 – 2020 to be resurfaced for a cost of $50,000. However, this work was never done. Instead Portland Parks decommissioned the tennis court at Pier Park.

Remove At-Risk Assets

$75,000 was budgeted for removal of two decaying buildings. One was originally a restroom and the other was staffed to loan tennis rackets and balls to players. Neither has been maintained by Parks.

2015

2024

Bottom Line

The total allocated in 2019 – 2020 was $875,000. Though the Portland Lou installed near Hole 1 of the Disc Golf course, was a new installation and not maintenance.

Only the Portland Loo was installed. In the 2020 – 2021 budget it shows that only $300,000 was spent. What happened with the $350,000 left over?

At-risk assets were not removed. The tennis court was not resurfaced but decommissioned.

$350,000 + $75,000 + $50,000 = $475,000 of missing money that should have been spent on Pier Park!

Fiscal Year 2020 – 2021

The Fiscal Year Budget for 2020 – 2021 included for Pier Park:

• Removing of At-Risk Pier Park Assets for $70,000 (see pictures of assets above)
• ADA Access $85,000

Bottom Line

At-Risk Assets were not removed. ADA access was not done. $70,000 + $85,000 = $155,000 of missing money that should have been spent on Pier Park!

Fiscal Year 2021 – 2022

The Fiscal Year Budget for 2020 – 2021 included for Pier Park only one maintenance item:

• Remove Pier Park at-risk assets for 75,000 (Demolish old restrooms and a foundation)

Bottom Line

At-Risk Assets were not removed. $75,000 of missing money that should have been spent on Pier Park!

Fiscal Year 2022 – 2023

The Fiscal Year Budget for 2022 – 2023 included for Pier Park only one maintenance item:

• Remove Pier Park at-risk assets for 75,000 (Demolish old restrooms and a foundation)

Bottom Line

Again, At-Risk Assets were not removed resulting in $75,000 of missing money that should have been spent on Pier Park!

Fiscal Year 2023 – 2024

The Fiscal Year Budget for 2023 – 2024 still includes removing at-risk assets at Pier Park for $75,000. They still have not been removed.

But check out the budgeted allocations for other parks!

When you look at allocations for parks in wealthy neighborhoods the differences really begin to show:

• Tabor Trail and Bike path for $1,950,000
• Mt. Tabor Park Interpretive Project for $580,000
• Mt. Tabor Park Yard Maintenance Facility improvements, $8,200,000
• Laurelhurst Park “Oak St” for $500,000
• Sellwood ADA Access, $75,000
• George Park ADA curb ramps, $120,000

Bottom Line

Well over 10 Million for Mt. Tabor alone.

Fiscal Year 2024 – 2025

The Fiscal Year Budget for 2023 – 2024 still includes removing at-risk assets at Pier Park for $75,000.

Still Standing … just barely

It is worth noting that the collapse of the roof support on this building happened when Portland Parks felled a nearby tree.

1.5 Million for Unworkable Solutions

Ineffective and Unworkable Bureaucratic Solutions

In the Portland Parks and Recreation Adopted Budget Revenues, a 5-Year Lookback, a portion of which you will find quoted below, we found more details. There is $1,500,000 sitting in the budget (less $6,500) to explore interim solutions for North Portland aquatics interruption and a pool pass. That money, $1,493,500, could go to Pier and open it to serve a need in this community since the other items it was budgeted for are useless if there is no pool!

In this budget Parks and Recreation proposes a “North Portland Pass” to give free TriMet passes to North Portlanders to Matt Dishman Community Center. That solution is not accessible to children whose parents are are working and may still be too young to catch a bus and a transfer alone across the City to Matt Dishman. Additionally, as we learned at the Pier Pool Party, remaining pools are so overburdened that parents are unable to find available lesson times to sign up their children even if they do have cars and can drive to the lessons.

Furthermore, because the North Portland Aquatics budget shortfall is between 19 and 34 Million dollars, the dream of a North Portland Aquatics facility is just that, a dream. Already two pools have closed in North Portland, Columbia and Pier. Both were closed due to lack of maintenance! Apparently, as far as Parks is concerned, an interpretive center at Mt. Tabor Park is more important than children in North Portland learning to swim.

Read the Portland Parks and Recreation Adopted Budget document for yourself. The text below is from page seven. Then scroll to the bottom of this post to learn who to contact at the City of Portland. Please join us in making our voices heard!

Portland Parks and Recreation Adopted Budget

North Portland Aquatics Center

“Another of one-time General Fund discretionary resource allocation brought forward on the floor as an amendment from the Commissioner’s Office in the FY 2021-22 Fall BMP was a $1.5 million allocation to explore interim solutions for North Portland aquatics multi-year service interruption. To date, the bureau has expended approximately $6,500 of that allocation with expenditures expected to increase with the launch of the “North Portland Pass” that provides North Portland residents free drop-in access and Tri-Met passes to Matt Dishman Community Center in the Eliot Neighborhood of Northeast Portland. The funding will also support a new position to increase staffing of lifeguards and swim instructors as well as subsidizing free swim lessons in the PP&R pools at Pier and Peninsula Parks.

Currently, the Columbia Pool replacement has expense estimates of approximately $50 million to support this project, with the City of Portland contributing $16.7 million in SDC revenue and the State of Oregon contributing $15.0 million in State Lottery Revenue Bonds over the next three fiscal years. This effectively gives PP&R $31.7 million in “funding in hand” for a North Portland aquatics facility to replace Columbia Pool. However, depending on which design is chosen, the bureau will need between $18.3 million and $33.3 million to fully fund the project. The bureau has exploring potential funding sources, including a voter-approved ballot measure, a Parks Foundation campaign for donations, future PP&R external revenue, and/or future City of Portland General Fund discretionary allocation.”

Email the Mayor and City Administrator

You can also join us in emailing Mayor Ted Wheeler at mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov and City Administrator Michael Jordan at michael.jordan@portlandoregon.gov.

Thank you for helping us motivate the City of Portland to get Pier Pool back up and running. Every voice counts.