Negotiate a fair deal benefiting Portlanders

We love the Blazers and support fair public-private investments like the Moda Center renovation, but have serious concerns about the deal state, county, and city officials are making with taxpayer dollars to renovate the Moda Center.

A fair deal means:

1. No Clean Energy Funds: Passed in 2018 with 65% voter support, the Portland Clean Energy Fund invests in green energy projects to help low-income residents and people of color to reduce energy usage in homes and small businesses. PCEF is not a slush fund for projects unrelated to the original intent voters overwhelmingly supported.

2. Taxpayers should only fund the $164 million in necessary repairs and maintenance. In 2024, the City hired an arena expert to assess the cost of renovating Moda Center to meet NBA standards. The report estimated that repairs would cost $253 million in today's dollars and $505 million over 20 years. We are being asked to pay $600 million. The report also reveals that most of the costs are for revenue-generating upgrades to enrich the Blazers’ owner. Edan Krolewicz of Rip City Not Off analyzed the arena renovation report and found that approximately $164 million is needed to repair and maintain the publicly owned building. The remaining $341 million is for upgrades such as premium suites, clubs, bars, retail, and fan tech, which will help generate revenue for the Blazers' ownership.

3. Billionaire Blazers owner, Tom Dundon, should pay his fair share. Dundon just spent $100,000 on lobbying to pass Oregon Senate Bill 1501, committing $365M to the Moda renovation, which is the only arena deal to date in which a billionaire ownership group contributes nothing and the public gets nothing back. Across seven NBA arena renovation projects in the last decade, team owners' share of renovation costs averaged 20%. Elected officials must negotiate owner financial participation.

4. Execute a fair agreement for workers and the surrounding neighbors. The City and County should setup a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the Blazers to ensure the investments in the Moda Center yield tangible benefits for the workers and the surrounding community including: union labor on the renovation project, allowing Moda Center employee unionization, a 30-year lease, payments in lieu of property taxes, naming rights participation, and ensuring the surrounding Albina neighborhood benefits from this investment.

For more context about similar arena renovations visit at Rip City, Not Rip Off.