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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, January 24, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 26, 2004 Medford�s library is surrounded by sidewalks, street trees and new street lights, all built by the Medford Urban Renewal Agency. The agency also has buried utility lines, built parking lots and helped renovate the Craterian Ginger RogersTheater. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Michaels: Let Medford run MURA Councilman says the urban renewal agency would run better under city management, but MURA board member Bill Dames says the agency’s independence keeps it healthy By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune A city councilman has proposed that the city seize control of Medford’s Urban Renewal Agency, citing frustration over how the independent agency spends its millions in taxes. Appointed by the council in 2000 to an indefinite term on MURA’s board, John Michaels left at the end of 2003 and reflects on his time there with disappointment. "I left it out of frustration," Michaels said during Thursday’s noon council meeting. "It seemed like a train going down the track and anybody with any ... fiscal common sense wouldn’t have made the decisions that I saw being made there." Michaels wants the agency to include residential areas, so the benefit extends beyond downtown business owners. He said he voiced his concerns to the board for several years with no effect. Michaels wants the agency to take a more active role in getting Liberty Park built; it’s within the agency’s taxing district. He would like to see new sidewalks and lamps around McLoughlin Middle School, also in the district. Advertisement State law governing urban renewal agencies would allow the city to take over MURA. All the council needs to do is pass an ordinance transferring authority over the agency to another "governing body" in the city, which could even include the council itself, according to Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 457. MURA board member Bill Dames defends the agency’s format, and says its independence keeps it healthy. "I think it goes against what the council originally contemplated ... which is to create a separate body that’s one step removed from politics," said Dames, former board chairman. MURA Director Kurt Olsen said the Liberty Park project is in the city’s hands. The park would help a blighted area around Beatty and Manzanita streets north of downtown. The city is considering a land swap with the Salvation Army for land in the Liberty Park area. "We’re just sitting here ready for the city to decide what kind of project to have and then we’re ready to assist," he said. Another concern Michaels cited in comments to the council is proposed wage increases for MURA staff. A $20 million draft budget reviewed earlier this month includes $486,910 in salaries for six staff members. Included is $88,730 plus benefits for Olsen, up 10.2 percent; $61,560 plus benefits for senior planner Eric Iversen, up 7.5 percent; and $46,800 plus benefits for Don Burt, the former director who was hired back as a part-time senior planner. Michaels also said the council needs more input in agency decisions. "... The city of Medford had very little say-so in a lot of what was going on (with) the urban renewal board for buildings and structures that we’re going to inherit in eight years," the councilman said. "I think it’s time to bring the urban renewal ... in under the city." The council decided Thursday to table Michaels’ idea until a future goal-setting retreat, for which a date hasn’t been set. "If he’s talking about more input from City Council — sheesh, I’m all for that," said Olsen. Olsen said the agency’s intent has never been to make decisions in a vacuum. "MURA isn’t a sovereign nation in the middle of Medford. MURA is a tool," he said. Councilman James Kuntz wants MURA to help renovate historic homes so it’s not just about business and industrial projects. Kuntz, who works for the Jackson County Housing Authority, said a revolving fund could provide low-interest loans for home renovation projects. "That’s my big concern, that historical structures will decline," he said. If bringing the agency under the council is what it takes to pursue that, then Kuntz said he would support Michaels’ proposal. "I’m real optimistic about Kurt Olsen coming in and seeing things fresh," he said of MURA’s new director. "But I think we need just a little money going into the neighborhoods." But Mayor Lindsay Berryman, who had been one of the founding board members, disagrees about putting agency funds into neighborhoods. "The MURA board is focused on strengthening the downtown core," she said. "If we disperse the funds all over (Medford) we have a fractured program," she said. "I’m very pleased with what urban renewal is doing," she said. MURA board member Dames said making the agency a city department is not the way to prepare for the future. The agency’s staff and board have the time to develop the expertise and knowledge to put together an urban renewal plan, he said. "I don’t think it makes sense to all of a sudden have the council jump in and try to learn all of the background of what’s happened with urban renewal plus all their council duties," said Dames. Olsen said that, as director of the Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency, the city council was the urban renewal board, but that only worked because it was a small town. He said a city the size of Medford needs to have its own agency board because the council already has a full plate. And as far as staff salaries, Dames deferred comment on proposed MURA salary increases because the board hasn’t met to review staff performance. Dames said MURA meets regularly with the mayor and council, and turning properties and projects over to the city is part of their ongoing discussion. Dames agrees with Councilman Kuntz that MURA could work in blighted residential areas. He cited the newly formed Liberty Park project team as a good way for MURA to take on special projects in neighborhoods. The team formed in April to create the neighborhood park, and includes council members, city staff, Salvation Army staff and board, MURA and west Medford residents. From the council to the Heart of Medford Association to building owners, the agency works with many community groups, he said. "I think it’s really just making sure that we’re always getting input from everyone," he said. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] MURA was originally created to control urban blight Medford Urban Renewal Agency is one of many such agencies in the valley and throughout the state. In the late 1970s, the Oregon Legislature granted cities and counties the power to create the agencies to help eliminate blight and stimulate economic development. Seven MURA board members are appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council; they can serve for the life of the agency. MURA was created in 1988 and will dissolve in 2013. The board hires the director; Don Burt was the agency’s first director until he resigned, and Kurt Olsen was hired in November. Councilmen Jason Anderson and Skip Knight serve as council liaisons. MURA is funded through tax-increment financing. Any taxes collected on growth since 1988 in the assessed value of properties within MURA’s boundaries goes to the agency; thus, the amount available for agency projects has grown steadily over the years. MURA’s boundaries are roughly McAndrews Road to 10th Street, and Bear Creek to Oakdale Avenue, with a long arm that goes out to the South Gateway Center, according to Olsen. "It’s been described to me as looking like the starship Enterprise," he said. The agency thus far has been a catalyst for projects ranging from new street lamps and street trees and more downtown parking, to restoring the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater and several fa�ade improvement projects for downtown buildings, including one going on now at Sixth Street and Central Avenue. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers