Potter deals with fallout from gift
Blazers' tickets - The mayor's courtside seats might violate Oregon ethics laws

Thursday, February 08, 2007
RYAN FRANK
The Oregonian
Editorial

Mayor Tom Potter and his wife sat courtside in November to watch the Portland Trail Blazers pull off a last-second win in their home opener. He wanted to show his support for the hometown team. His picture was even flashed on the jumbo screen.

If they'd been sold to the public, the pair of tickets would have run $1,000 or more, according to the Rose Garden's operators.

Potter's cost: free.

The mayor's gift from Blazers executive J. Isaac might cause him trouble with state ethics officials. Ron Bersin, executive director of the ethics commission, said public officials can't accept free entertainment worth more than $100 per event. "There sounds like there may be some violations," Bersin said.

Potter also failed to publicly report the gift as required by city rules until a sports story in The Oregonian prompted him. The mayor's new filing shows two tickets worth $34. That's the value of two 300-level seats the Blazers gave the mayor to get inside the arena.

John Doussard, the mayor's spokesman, said Potter originally tried to pay for the courtside seats, but Isaac told him they had no value. The former press row seats haven't been sold publicly because of a dispute between the Blazers and the arena's operators.

"In the mind of the Blazers, they have no value," Doussard said. ". . . We mistakenly assumed that was the end of it. We just did not understand the rules well enough."

Although the Blazers say the seats are worthless, Bersin sees it differently. "If you're looking at a courtside seat to a sporting event, there is value there," Bersin said.

Oregon ethics laws say public officials can't accept entertainment worth more than $100 per event. Each ethics violation carries a potential fine of as much as $1,000 a violation.

"I don't think we've tried to hide anything," Potter said. "If anything was done, it was certainly not done with any intent to deceive or to violate any law."

Isaac, the Blazers' senior vice president for business affairs and a board member of the city's influential Portland Business Alliance, invited Potter to the home opener Nov. 4.

At the time, the Blazers future in Portland wasn't certain.

Paul Allen, the Blazers' billionaire owner, had given up ownership of the Rose Garden through bankruptcy, and his team was hemorrhaging money.

Blazer executives and Allen's representatives had closed-door meetings with Potter and his staff to try to build a public-private partnership to stem the team's financial losses. "They have never asked us for anything specific except to be supportive," Doussard said.

When it came time for the Blazers to open their 2006-07 season, Isaac sought out Potter to make an appearance, Doussard said. Isaac didn't return a phone message Wednesday. A spokesman said he was out of town at a conference.

Isaac told the mayor's office then that he couldn't pay for the seats; they had no value because they'd never been sold. Until this season, the media had used the seats, and no one could sell them until the team and the arena operators sorted out their dispute. In the meantime, the Blazers handed out the tickets for free to local dignitaries, such as Potter and Miss Oregon.

The mayor's trip to the Rose Garden, a rarity for him, went without much notice until a Jan. 28 newspaper column. After reading the story, Doussard said he realized the tickets hadn't been reported to the city auditor as is usually required for gifts worth more than $25.

On Tuesday, Potter filed a new lobbying report to claim the $34 300-level tickets. But his new filing doesn't mention the value of two courtside seats.

Mike Scanlon, general manager of the Rose Garden, says the former press row tickets Potter and his wife used would sell for $500 to $700. Across the court from where Potter sat, fans now pay $500 a game for front row seats.

"The test is not what the provider paid for the ticket," Bersin said.

The standard is if a public official paid for the courtside seat, what would it cost?

"That's where it fails to meet the test, I believe," Bersin said.

In a meeting with Potter, Doussard said, the city's attorney, Linda Meng, said the mayor should report the 300-level tickets to the city auditor. About the state ethics laws, Meng said: "This could be a problem," Doussard recalled.

Asked whether other politicians sat in press row for free, Blazers spokesman Art Sasse said, "I'm sure we've had them." He couldn't recall any names.

Columnist John Canzano contributed. Ryan Frank: 503-221-8564; ryanfrank@news.oregonian.com

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