Informational Tour or Political Grandstanding in Harrisburg?; Oregon City Reconsiders Its Light Rail Ban
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
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Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Seattle developer ups the ante on arena project; New Mexico's spending gap; D.C. wants to rebrand.
PHOTO OP? | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Mayor Eric Papenfuse accused state economic development officials of political grandstanding Tuesday, after the officials toured a city block afflicted by sinkholes. “These residents have been through a lot and should not be viewed as backdrop for a photo op," the mayor said in a statement. Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin during the tour announced $8.5 million in federal disaster relief funds for projects across Pennsylvania, including sinkhole repairs in Harrisburg. A mayoral election is on the horizon in the city next year. [PennLive]
INFRASTRUCTURE | Voters in Tigard, Oregon are about to decide whether the city should end its formal opposition to light rail and support an extension of Metropolitan Area Express, or MAX, service from nearby Portland. If they vote against the ballot measure, it could sink a proposal for what’s known as the “Southwest Corridor” project, which would create a light rail connection between Portland and Tualatin. [OregonLive / The Oregonian]
ARENA | A developer in Seattle on Tuesday offered to pay for a roughly $500 million sports arena project with entirely private money, thickening the plot that surrounds the longstanding proposal for the facility. The move would mean forgoing up to $200 million in municipal bond financing that had previously on the table. [The Seattle Times]
SPENDING GAP | Despite the fact New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez enacted special solvency measures this week, the state still has $103 million more in planned expenses than revenues. [The Associated Press via KUNM]
MINIMUM WAGE | A federal judge will hear arguments Wednesday in the NAACP and Birmingham workers’ case against Alabama for blocking the city’s minimum wage increase. [WVTM 13]
DISCIPLINE | Pittsburgh City Council continues to debate whether its members should be punished with up to $500 in fines for divulging certain information on the body’s closed-door meetings and who should dole out the discipline, a policy transparency advocates are likening to a “gag order.” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
REBRANDING | A group of civic leaders launched the Branding Greater Washington Task Force on Wednesday to promote “regional swagger” and make it easier for the D.C. area to attract businesses and talent, while rebuffing the city’s image as dysfunctional and even corrupt. [The Washington Post]
MINIMUM WAGE II | Legislation calling for a $13 hourly minimum wage is expected win approval on Wednesday from the Board of Commissioners in Cook County, Chicago. The wage would gradually rise to that level by July 2020. Chicago is already moving to phase in a similar increase. The state minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25 an hour. [Chicago Tribune]
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