{"id":645706,"date":"2026-05-16T00:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/645706\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T00:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:33:08","slug":"should-climate-money-renovate-moda-center-portland-leaders-weigh-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/645706\/","title":{"rendered":"Should climate money renovate Moda Center? Portland leaders weigh in"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) \u2014 Portland City Council members are weighing in on whether or not to use climate fund dollars to renovate the Moda Center. Several councilors tell KATU that voters intended the money to address climate issues, not subsidize an arena that not all residents use.<\/p>\n

The debate comes as Portland is the home of one of the newest Women\u2019s National Basketball Association (WNBA) teams, the Portland Fire, and will host the NCAA Women\u2019s Final Four in 2030. City leaders are weighing how to pay for renovations to the city-owned arena.<\/p>\n

According to a new poll from The Oregonian,<\/a> 55% of voters oppose using money from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, which was created to address climate instability, for arena renovations.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO | Portland City Council divided over $400M Moda Center overhaul tied to Blazers\u2019 future<\/a><\/p>\n

\"{p}Portland<\/p>\n

Portland City Council members are weighing in on whether or not to use climate fund dollars to renovate the Moda Center. Several councilors tell KATU that voters intended the money to address climate issues, not subsidize an arena that not all residents use. (KATU)<\/p>\n

On Friday, council members shared where they stand on the proposal. <\/p>\n

Councilor Candace Avalos said she opposes using the climate fund for the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree with the 55% of Portlanders that said ‘No.’ We don\u2019t think that\u2019s a good investment,\u201d Avalos said.<\/p>\n

Councilor Steve Novick also questioned whether public dollars should be used for the renovations. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the billionaire owners could put something into renovation of the Moda Center,\u201d Novick said. <\/p>\n

Councilor Mitch Green said he was not surprised by the poll results and does not support using climate fund dollars for the arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019m not surprised to see that polling,\u201d Green said. \u201cI\u2019ve been hearing that from my constituents the whole time. I do not support using climate energy fund dollars for renovating that arena.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ ALSO | Gov. Kotek backs $365M Moda Center renovation plan as Blazers\u2019 future questioned<\/a><\/p>\n

Other council members, like Angelita Morillo, tell KATU they are against this move. Morillo’s office sent over a statement to KATU, saying, “Councilor Morillo opposes using taxpayer dollars to acquiesce to the whims of a billionaire without strong community benefits. If PCEF dollars are to be used, we need guarantees that the Albina neighborhood would be electrified, a portion of the ticket sales would go towards public transit infrastructure, and the Moda would have a labor peace agreement.”<\/p>\n

Other council members remain divided on the proposal, with some opposing the move outright and others expressing support with conditions.<\/p>\n

City Councilor Eric Zimmerman sent KATU the following statement: <\/p>\n

“I\u2019m all in on Moda and keeping the Blazers here. Keeping them here without raising any taxes on Portlanders is key to me. I\u2019ll seriously consider any package the Mayor brings forward to the City Council.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) \u2014 Portland City Council members are weighing in on whether or not to use climate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-645706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}