Several Articles Provide Insight on City Budget & Priorities

To All COLA LO Members,

This week the LO Review published several articles on the recently approved City Budget for FY 12/13.  

The first article was written by the citizens budget committee chair Kent Studebaker.    The article describes how the perceptions of what is needed in Lake Oswego differ.    The article Perceptions Seem to Differ provide some insight into the inner workings of the budget committee and the history of this latest budget process.  

In the same issue board member Dave Berg drafted an article about the recent budget decisions and what they may mean to the residents of our city.   In the article What does our city budget tell us?  Dave attempts to simplify the budget and describe what the final decisions mean to all of us.   

Both articles provide for interesting reading and some insight into the key issues regarding spending and taxes in our city...


Please notify all members, contacts, and friends...

O'Neill Announces Run for City Council

To All COLA LO Members,


This week Skip O'Neill announced he will be running for city council this fall.  

 Many COLA LO board and advisory board members were aware of his candidacy but it had not been formally announced until this week.   Details of the announcement can be found at Skip O'Neill Announces.

Mr. O'Neill is a long time resident and local business owner.   He is also a former official with the Lake Corporation.  

Please notify all members,contacts, and friends.  

City Council Approves Budget 4-3

To All COLA LO Members,

This past week the city council approved a revised budget after a second public hearing as required by Oregon Law.   

In a vote of 4-3 after deliberations the council voted to go against the Citizens Budget Committee recommended budget and increase property taxes.   

There are several articles on the decision including online comments.    They can be found at Approves Budget and Second Hearing?


Please notify all members, contacts, and friends.  

High Density Housing & The Creative Class Myth

To All COLA LO Members,

This week a number of conflicting articles came out regarding two primary tenants of the Urban renewal paradigm.    The first is a blogger article on the the fallacy of the "creative class" that was supposed to create additional economic development in Portland and other "hip" cities.  

The article can be found at:   Fall of the Creative Class.   So the younger families and residents that are supposed to move into high density housing and save urban renewal development either a myth or the trend may be over.  

At the same time an article claims that the high density demographic shift is still in full force and that older residents want to move into condos Development Follows Shift.

At some point the facts are the facts and one has to wonder.   As early as 2009 Portland was admitting that The creative class = no growth in jobs. 

Another blogger has comments on the actual drivers which seem to remain education not "creative"Creative Class Economics.

WW has made its own take on the jobs picture after a local consulting firm reported that the creative class economic development model was a failure  Future of Jobs in Portland.

Residents have to wonder how this all plays into the Foothills Development project,  the Streetcar, and all the millions in taxpayer funds spent on these projects over the past few years.  

Please notify all members, contacts, and friends.   

Blogger Hits Back at LO Housing & "Equity"

To all COLA LO Members,

This past week a local blogger hit back hard at the "spin" of the Oregonian and the ongoing effort to position LO in terms of "equity".     The article can be found at LO Apartment Bunkers for Equity.

Its an interesting perspective on the current city council's direction and the potential impact of the millions spent on foothills and streetcar.  

It seems the full spin machine has been unleashed to attempt to make LO residents feel bad that they live in a very unique community.   Never mind the value of their homes as they consider the spin on "equity".   

Please notify all friends, members, and contacts.  

More Details on LO Real Estate & Prices

To All COLA LO Members,

Zillow has published more details on the impact of council decisions and the published articles about affordability in Lake Oswego.    The latest information is available on the following link:   LO Home Values.  It appears the current policies in the city and ongoing discussions about affordable housing are having a negative impact on home values.  

Over the past year home values have declined 3.8%   Interestingly they have declined more in the 97034 zip code than the 97035 zip code (Lake Grove).  

One has to wonder if all the investment by the city in the downtown area and the ongoing efforts to promote affordable high density development are hurting the area?   Trulia provides additional information on the market Trulia LO Overview .   

All of the details provide very real insight into our community.    Please notify all members, contacts, and friends.  

Oregonian Columnist Talks "Down" Lake Oswego Real Estate with Support of Mayor Hoffman?

To All COLA LO Members,

This week Oregonian Columnist Steve Duin released an interesting article on LO and its Housing costs.    Basically saying that the only affordable housing supported by the community is for senior citizens.  

In the article he supports low income affordable housing being built in our community and obviously the lowering of real estate values.    He claims this will solve the issue of lower school enrollments.  

Duin Claims Mayor Jack Hoffman supports this conclusion and believes in placing the affordable housing in the Foothills Development project.    The ongoing battle to try to force high density low income social engineering on the Lake Oswego community continues.   

And people wonder why there is so much concern over "Portland Creep" ?  

For some time now citizens have been discussing a deep rooted concern that the current city council is focused on lowering property values in the city to expand the tax base by developing  more affordable high density housing.  This plan is combined with bringing the streetcar to make LO more like Gresham and South Waterfront.

This article can be found at LO Housing Attitude.   The thin veil of suspicion has been pulled off this backroom strategy and its not pleasant.   It begins to show the social engineering plans of the political elite toward our community and the consequence in terms of property values over time.   Resident keep wondering why home values in LO continue to decline despite a very high tax rate and cost of local services.   

Its no wonder when potential buyers believe "affordable" low income housing will be coming to town in a community.    Please notify all members, contacts, and friends.