Trail Blazers, Portland Waste Little Time After Crucial Moda Center Vote

The Portland Trail Blazers and City of Portland finally have their opening framework. They're not wasting much time figuring out what comes next. Just two days after Portland City Council approved its term sheet for a long-term Moda Center agreement, new details are emerging about how aggressively the two sides plan to negotiate from here. City and Trail Blazers representatives will meet twice per week, and more frequently when necessary, as they attempt to turn Wednesday's framework into an actual long-term agreement, according to KATU's Wright Gazaway. The meetings themselves aren't necessarily new. A city spokesperson told KATU that representatives from both sides have been meeting for several months. But Portland expects those discussions to make more progress now that City Council has formally established its negotiating position. And there's plenty left to negotiate. As we covered following Wednesday's vote, the council-approved term sheet isn't a completed agreement with the Blazers. It's Portland's opening position. None of its provisions have been negotiated with the organization yet. That includes the city's request for approximately $3.17 million in annual rent and another $3 million yearly payment intended to offset property taxes on the publicly owned Moda Center. Both payments would increase annually under Portland's proposal. The Blazers would also be responsible for cost overruns associated with the arena renovation. Those details now become part of the "push and pull" lead negotiator Carl Hirsh warned about before Wednesday's vote. And we now know who will be doing much of that pushing. Portland's negotiating team includes Deputy City Administrator Donnie Oliveira, Senior Deputy City Attorney Ken McGair, Spectator Venues Program Manager Karl Lisle and Hirsh, whom the city contracted through Stafford Sports. The Blazers will be represented by President of Business Operations Dewayne Hankins, general counsel Zandria Conyers and chief financial officer Joe Loomis. One notable name isn't on that list. Controlling owner Tom Dundon's eventual involvement in formal negotiations remains unclear, with a city spokesperson telling KATU it doesn't know when Dundon will personally participate. KATU said it reached out to the Blazers for clarification and was awaiting a response. That shouldn't necessarily be interpreted as anything more than what it is at this stage. The negotiating teams have work to do first. And Wednesday's 8-4 vote gave them considerably more direction in doing it. "This initial term agreement ... allows us to begin the hard negotiation work needed to secure a fair deal that benefits the City of Portland, the Trail Blazers, and our community," Mayor Keith Wilson said following the vote. The emphasis belongs on begin. Wednesday represented a significant step toward securing the Blazers' long-term future in Portland, but it didn't secure anything by itself. The city established its opening position. Now, with representatives from both sides expected to sit across from one another at least twice every week, Portland's Moda Center saga has officially entered the stage that will determine whether that framework can become a deal.