Stop North Plains Sprawl... Again: Petition & 2 Events
Happy Mother’s Day! It has been a minute since we’ve reached out, so we’re emailing today with an important petition to remove North Plains’ City Manager, and 2 opportunities to testify in opposition to another massive urban expansion this Tuesday, May 12, at 6pm and next Monday May 18, at 7pm. See more below!
As a reminder, Friends of North Plains Smart Growth* was started to prevent the City of North Plains from more than doubling in size for data centers, warehouses, and expensive housing. The City was trying to expand even though it couldn’t pay for the hundreds of millions in infrastructure costs, and these financial problems would have compounded over time due to the low tax rates for these industries. The sprawl was a massive give-away to land speculators, developers, international corporations, and the City of Hillsboro, and 855 acres of excellent farmland would have been destroyed in the bargain.
Together, we achieved great things in the past three years. We challenged North Plains’ proposal to double in size with public testimony, in the courts, and even at the ballot box, where you voted down the expansion 71-to-29. We defended your vote in the courts after the former City Council lobbied to pass an unconstitutional bill that would have stopped voters from challenging Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) expansions. And you elected four members to your City Council who pledged that the City would only grow as needed and with public engagement.
These new City Councilors are working hard, but they entered a mine field left behind for them by the prior City Council, who wanted to turn North Plains into North Hillsboro-style data centers and warehouses. After the former City Councilors lost the election but before they left office, they:
Installed the architect of the massive expansion proposal, Bill Reid, as the new City Manager.
Put a golden parachute of half his salary ($75,000) in his employment contract that he’d receive if he was fired without cause.
Passed new rules that gave the new City Manager sweeping power over council agendas, meetings, and councilor communications.
Continued to use your tax dollars on a lawsuit to defend the City’s use of outdated population projections in their housing plan - they want to grandfather in inflated and no-longer-accurate population growth so they could require the city to overbuild housing.
All of this and more were attempts to stifle the new City Councilors you elected from fulfilling the job you directed them to do: increasing government transparency and only approving growth if it’s needed, desired, and within the City’s means.
Your current City Council has good and responsible members. But the legacy of the former councilors’ sprawl agenda is systemic and extremely difficult to overcome.
At the heart of it is North Plains' City Manager, Bill Reid.
Mr. Reid has failed to complete a City audit since 2021 or an Urban Renewal Area audit since 2019. As a result the last two City budgets have been built without a starting balance, and we do not know how the City is using its funds.
There has been no accounting of how the City paid for the estimated $866,000 in direct costs of planning for an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) expansion that the residents overwhelmingly oppose.
Mr. Reid has continued to push and plan for a massive UGB expansion, despite the public’s very clear direction not to do so. He held minimal public meetings and the ones he held resulted in public opposition to massive growth. He has stymied attempts to undo the ordinances that underlie the last UGB expansion proposal. Ultimately, his process seems engineered to justify a 500+ acre land grab to the southeast of the City.
It also appears that Mr. Reid may be inappropriately using North Plains’ Urban Renewal Area (URA) and Transportation and Growth Management (TGM) grants to plan for the city’s expansion. It is difficult to know for sure because the URA has not been audited.
The lack of audits and (if our suspicions are correct) questionable expenditures of URA and TGM grants can jeopardize the City’s ability to qualify for other grants in the future and could create liability for the City.
It seems that these plans for unnecessary expansion are now coming to a head with Mr. Reid at the helm of the City. He is taking another massive UGB expansion proposal to the Planning Commission this Tuesday, and seems to be attempting to pass another excessive expansion before the end of the year.
That’s why we’re reaching outnow to let you know how you can engage for the future of North Plains. Here are ways to help:
Sign this petition asking the City Council to terminate Mr. Reid from his position. There are very sound reasons to do so, and the time is now, since he is undergoing his annual review and contract renewal. Let them know that you support this important decision.
Show up and try to testify this Tuesday, May 12 from 6 - 8pm at Jessie Mays Community Park or virtually at the Zoom link below, at the upcoming Urban Growth Boundary Concept Plan Project Advisory Committee meeting. Public comment does not seem to be on the agenda, but come anyway. Be sure to submit your comments and ask to testify by emailing planning@northplains.gov. Comments can be brief! Tell the City that you do not support its proposal to grow beyond its means for data centers and expensive homes and that you have not been meaningfully engaged.
Join on Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86197504408?pwd=eUy2pRlCbwnnVu62yzo8iDekb8bha6.1 Meeting ID: 861 9750 4408, Passcode: 394753
On the phone at: 1-253-215-8782, Meeting ID: 861 9750 4408, Passcode: 394753
Show up and testify on Monday, May 18, at 7pm at Jessie Mays Community Park or virtually at the Zoom link below, at the City Council meeting. Send written comments ASAP to info@northplains.gov. To register for spoken comment, you must email info@northplains.gov before 3:00 pm on Monday, 5/18, and provide your name, address, email, phone, and a general topic, or you attend in person and fill out a yellow card. Comments can respectfully ask the city to: 1) remove the legacy of the prior council, 2) remove Bill and hire a City Manager who cares about the will of the people and understands and cares about good planning and city finances, and 3) stop using city funds to plan for sprawl that the City voted resoundingly against and can’t afford.
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81572897204?pwd=AdDUI3UGvOJDjUgy4LybYbK51TMDou.1 Meeting ID: 815 7289 7204, Passcode: 058780
On the phone at: 1-253-215-8782, Meeting ID: 815 7289 7204, Passcode: 058780
We stopped this wasteful sprawl before and we'll do it again. But we’ll have to keep coming back as long as Mr. Reid helms this ship. Your help at this time will make all the difference for the future of North Plains.
In partnership
Aaron Nichols, Nellie McAdams & all of us at Friends of Smart Growth
* Friends of Smart Growth North Plains has merged with our parent group Friends of Smart Growth, which is working to elect 6 candidates this May 19 who will protect Washington County from irresponsible sprawl and who will safeguard government accountability. Read about them here.