Portland councillors looking for clarity on whether or not to help bankroll an arena renovation demanded by the Trail Blazers probably didn’t find much as they took public comment Wednesday.

During three hours of testimony, the 12-member council heard impassioned pleas from adults and children alike that the city do whatever it takes to ensure the Pacific Northwest’s only NBA team remains in Portland.

But they also heard from plenty of Portlanders who believe keeping the Blazers is not worth the roughly $400 million the city is contemplating spending on the Moda Center in coming decades — and that the team’s suggestion it could leave without all of that money is a bluff.

The only sentiment that seemed to be shared among those who’d come to City Hall? New team owner Tom Dundon is the villain of this drama.

Dundon, who is often credited by observers with the rigid and uncooperative stance the Blazers have taken toward the city, was variously referred to Wednesday as a “tyrant,” “bad person,” “extortionist” and “Mr. Predatory Lending Texas Billionaire.”

“We cannot change him,” said Victoria Lara, a Portland marketing consultant arguing for a deal. “What we can do is look out for Portland and fight for Portland.”

The meeting comes ahead of a pivotal decision for the council, which is working to finalize a term sheet the city will use as its North Star in upcoming negotiations with the Trail Blazers.

As currently drafted, the document includes a $120 million upfront payment by the city toward a renovation of the aging Moda Center, along with payments of up to $275 million for upkeep between 2027 and 2047. In exchange for that money — which would join public dollars from the state and Multnomah County — the Blazers would need to commit to remaining in Portland for 20 years.

The major question before the City Council is what else Portland should get for its money.

The draft term sheet, released by city administrators last month, includes a proposed $3 million annual fee to the Blazers, in order to make up for property taxes the team won’t pay on the city-owned facility. It also includes requirements that the team hire unionized workers for the arena project, and sign a “labor peace agreement” that smooths the way for Moda Center staff to unionize.

Appearing before the council last week, Trail Blazers executives suggested the city’s terms were unacceptable, but declined to offer any insight into what changes they would seek.

“We expected that there would be some official back and forth,” Portland City Council President Jamie Dunphy said at the outset of Wednesday’s meeting. “Had that happened, staff would be bringing council trade-offs and identifying openings. We would be having a meatier conversation about what is possible.”

If the term sheet changes ahead of a final vote Aug. 12, it appears likely to demand more of the Blazers — not less.

Several city councilors previewed amendments they plan to offer to the document that they argued would mean a better deal for the city. Among them:

• Councilor Steve Novick said he will seek to ensure Portland gets 100% of parking revenue for non-Trail Blazers events at the Moda Center. Novick also wants to increase a city surcharge on tickets for events in Portland’s Rose Quarter from 6% to 7%, and require the Blazers to agree to $2 million in annual charitable giving.
• Councilors Mitch Green and Candace Avalos have proposed removing the city’s offer to spend $275 million on arena maintenance over 20 years. Green said Wednesday that would free up the city to analyze whether the spending is worth it, rather than committing in advance.
• Councilor Angelita Morillo is proposing requiring “street pricing” that brings Moda Center concessions in line with the cost of food and beverages outside of the arena.
• Councilor Sameer Kanal wants the $3 million fee in lieu of taxes that the city is proposing for the Blazers to increase by 6% a year, compared to 5% in the current draft.

Any amendment would require seven votes to be approved, but the fate of those proposals was not up for discussion Wednesday. The council plans to meet Thursday to debate changes to the term sheet.

Councilors will have plenty to weigh when they do. Testimony from dozens of people Wednesday ranged from superfans of the Blazers and Portland Fire, to union officials urging strong labor protections, to those who were outright hostile to the idea of handing hundreds of millions of scarce public dollars to a billionaire.

“I believe that Portland is being tested,” resident Dianne Riley testified. “If we want to keep the Blazers, we’ve got to wrangle it away from a tyrant who wants to change us completely from who we really are.”

Edan Krolewicz, a Blazers fan who has led a pressure campaign urging public officials to demand more from Dundon and the Blazers, suggested the terms the city was considering sent a bad message.

“It tells the Blazers and the NBA what you won’t fight for,” Krolewicz said. “So put a true market rate proposal on the table: meaningful private investment, revenue sharing, fair rent and real economic returns.”

Then there were people more in line with middle schooler Everett Creel, who put his position plainly as he argued the city needed to make a deal happen.

“To lose the Blazers,” he said, “would be a real bummer.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/05/portland-city-council-public-testimony-moda-center-deal/