Two years ago, as projected costs to the most expensive municipal project in Portland history ballooned by another $300 million, the city’s top elected leader insisted that an external watchdog was needed for the new Bull Run water filtration plant.
A “rigorous independent analysis and oversight of this project at every step going forward” would benefit both the city and the public, then-Mayor Ted Wheeler told senior Water Bureau officials at an April 2024 City Council meeting.
Commissioner Mingus Mapps, who at the time oversaw the agency, agreed and publicly pledged that afternoon to launch the watchdog entity. Bureau officials said they were on board…