The Real Story – A Column
In a move that local advocates are calling a “masterclass in bureaucratic stalling,”Mayor Beach Pace has officially denied the City Councilors’ request to hold an emergency meeting regarding the recent flood of data center Enterprise Zone tax breaks that have just been signed by Hillsboro’s economic development Director.
By pushing the conversation to a June 2nd work session, just four days before a state-mandated moratorium. The Mayor is effectively ensuring that 18 pending Enterprise Zone applications will become legally binding before the public or the Council has a chance to intervene.
The Mayor’s refusal to convene the Council isn’t about “gathering data,” as she claims. It is about the calendar. She is executing a strategy of delay and silence. Under ORS 285C.160, Enterprise Zone agreements are legally ineffective until 21 days after the public notice is posted. By refusing the call for an emergency session from Councilors Kipperlyn Sinclair and Olivia Alcaire , the Mayor is protecting that 21-day window. For the “Fire Sale” applications submitted in late April and early May, the clock is ticking toward a “point of no return” where the City can no longer legally void the agreements. Pace may say there is room for review, but data centers are owned by the world’s wealthiest firms, and dealing with their legal teams will likely prove futile.
In her official statement, Mayor Pace claimed she could not hold the meeting because a “majority” of the Council did not support it. This is a staggering misrepresentation of her own power and is another misstatement of reality. Under the Hillsboro City Charter, the Mayor possesses the unilateral authority to call a special or emergency meeting at any time. Mayor Pace isn’t blocked by the Council; she is choosing to use her “slate” of candidates she ran with into City Hall, including Cristian Salgado , Elizabeth Case , and Saba Anvery, as a human shield to avoid a public meeting in which the actions of Economic Development Director Dan Dias and City Manager Robby Hammond would be laid out in the open. Beach is using an excuse to not hold an emergency meeting, which is a false narrative. There will not be an emergency meeting because she does not want one. On the other side of the coin are the residents of Hillsboro, who are uniting around the belief that the City of Hillsboro did something terribly wrong by agreeing to these long-term data center tax giveaways.
The Hillsboro Herald has prepared a MAP OF THE DEALS– Below you will see how many Enterprise Zone Property Tax Exemption deals the City of Hillsboro economic development staff have approved in the last month, allowing some of the world’s largest Data Center Companies to gain years and years of Property tax Waivers
It looked hopeful early this week that appointed Councilor Cristian Salgado would stand up with Alcaire and Sinclair. However, that changed when he took to social media and said he would not support an Emergency meeting. Salgado played a key role in the delay, telling constituents on social media that he needed to “socialize” the request with City staff. Salgado, whose professional career includes positions at PGE, INTEL, and Washington County, is now a key player blocking an emergency meeting where an audit of the data center deals could be conducted, the community informed, and possible pre-“21-day-deadline” deals could be stopped…