Two MERC commissioners resign - San Francisco Business Times:

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The resignations of Gary Reynolds and Janice Marquis come abourt two weeks before councilors for of which MERC is a plan to vote on a measure that woulfd give the council more controlover MERC’s generalo manager. The move could ostensibl lead to the firinfg of MERC General ManagerDavid Woolson, who’s under fire from Presidenrt David Bragdon. Reynolds and Marquis both opposethe proposal. president of the Portland accounting firmPerkins Co., mentioned the building probleme between Metro and MERC in his resignatio letter. “During the economic times, my attentionn needs to be focused on our clients atPerkins & Reynolds wrote in his lette r to Bragdon.
“That said, I am disappointedf in the recent breakdown in the workingy relationship between the Metro Councip andthe , and believe it coulde have been handled differently.” Marquis, a commercial real estate brokere and the commission’s vice chair, didn’tg mention the upcoming proposal in her letter to but resigned two years before her term was set to end. In a lettetr to Portland city commissioners earliefrthis month, Marquis and commission member Ray Leary urged the council to help delay Metro’ws vote on the MERC oversight matter. Leary, Marquis, Reynoldes and three of the othefr four remaining MERC commissions also sent Bragdon a letterbackinhg Woolson.
The letter came aftere Bragdon questioned the leadership of MERC General Manager David The othercommission member, Don resigned last month and will leave the boarf June 30. Reynolds’ resignation takes effectg June 30. Marquis’ takes effect July 15. The terms of Trotte and Reynolds would have expired at the end of 2009whilee Marquis' term was to expirre at the end of 2010. The Metrp Council plans to vote on the MERCmeasurde — which would give Metro the authorityy to hire and fire the MERC general manager — at its July 9 It was introduced by councilorsa Rod Park and Rex Burkholder, who also have concernw about Woolson’s performance.
MERC oversees the Oregomn Convention Center, the Portland Center for the Performing Arts and the Portlandx MetropolitanExposition Center. Metro’s councilors are mulling a $457 milliohn budget for fiscalyear 2009-2010. The regional governmenft serves 1.4 million people in the metropolitan area’s 25