By Ryan Frank
The Oregonian
Portland’s $54 million campaign to beef up its fire stations to better withstand an earthquake, among other upgrades, has been a huge success, the city’s auditor says.
The Portland Fire Bureau and the city’s budget gurus stuck to what they promised in a 1998 bond measure approved by voters. A citizens oversight committee helped by keeping an independent eye on spending and any project that came in over budget. The panel reported directly to the City Council member in charge of the Fire Bureau.
“This is a success story,” said Drummond Kahn, director of audit services.
In 1998, Portland firefighters were in a pickle. They had a big construction problem and no money to fix it.
At the time, none of the city’s fire stations had been upgraded to meet modern earthquake standards. When the Big One hit, the city’s best-trained rescue workers and their pricey tools probably would have been stuck under a pile of bricks.
So the city asked voters whether they wanted to pay higher property taxes to renovate stations, relocate others to improve response time, make room for female firefighters and expand the 9-1-1 center.
At the time, Robert Wall was the fire chief and Tom Feely, the city’s senior business operations manager, was the political campaign treasurer, a job he did on private time.
Since 1998, the city has spent $43 million to expand the 9-1-1 center, renovate 19 fire stations and build five new ones. Three more fire station renovations are now under way.
By the time they’re done in 2010, city leaders could have as many as 31 new or renovated stations. The remaining big-ticket item is renovating Fire Station 1 in Old Town near the Saturday Market.
The repairs are expected to protect firefighters for the next 50 years.
Fire Marshal John Klum praised the work of the citizens committee, and the auditor recommended including a similar panel on future city bonds. “Their oversight was directly responsible for the successful management of the bond,” Klum said.
The audit did find space for improvement, though. In some cases, the city didn’t have the proper records to back up project changes that led to cost increases. The only questionable purchase the auditor found was a $26,000 security fence for the 9-1-1 center; the auditor suggested reimbursing it to keep the trust of voters and bondholders. City leaders say they will tap the general fund to repay the fence.
“It’s been managed well,” said Jack Graham, the Fire Bureau’s senior business operations manager. “We think we met the intent of the voters.”
For more about Portland politics, visit The Oregonian’s City Hall blog at portlandcityhall.blogs.oregonlive.com.