Lee- We're working to get a life-cycle cost figure and will post it as soon as we do.

Steve- We wanted to share the information we had in front of us with the public and then hear what they thought about it. Circumstances demand that we make decisions, so we are, and they have to be based on something... We wanted to share with folks what we were doing and why and remained (and still remain) open to pursuasive arguments for a contrary course of action.

Mmarvel- I definitely respect the construction workers putting the tram together, but at least from my point of view, that is a vantage point that cannot really take into account a wider reality of private and public investments and long-term economic benefits. No doubt they have a particuarly lucid window into the problems we're facing with cost overruns... and that is a valid issue. It is not, however, the only issue and extrapolating from that particular issue to the project as a whole without taking into account other information is probably not the best way to get a clear picture of the multi-faceted and complex project.

Concerned Neo-Conservative-

Our analysis up to this point has shown that it would cost the city a lot more to stop the project than to continue, and that stopping would entail more legal risk which could lead to even greater costs.

And here in our office, we have learned a few lessons that we are looking to codify into city code with some new ordinances. This includes measures to ensure that city staff give Council accurate numbers and what those numbers are based on, preventing city staff from private sector employment on projects they've been involved in, and requiring non-profits like PATI to report to Council as a whole regularly, which didn't happen before.

I should also say that within the bureaus that Sam has in his portfolio, we are taking oversight responsibility very seriously, though Sam has really always done so.

Finally, we can't just go back and renegotiate the terms of the previous contracts we've signed ... that said, we are committed to making sure that the cost overruns (which were not anticipated in the original agreements) are distributed fairly and that the private sector foots most of the bill. It's important to remember that the city is only covernig 9% of the tram costs so far, even though we are estimating that 15% of the ridership will be public, non-OHSU people.

Sam still believes that while the tram has not been well managed, the overall South Waterfront development -which ensures that OHSU (the largest employer in the city) expands within the city of Portland and which increases the future tax base for the city substantially - will be worth the city investment up to this point.

J-

Thanks for your post; we remain committed to being responsible stewards regardless of the political efficacy that entails.