Willy Myers, executive secretary-treasurer of the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, has been appointed to the Portland Development Commission (PDC) by Mayor Charlie Hales. He will succeed John Mohlis, head of the Oregon State BCTC, whose PDC term expired June 30.
The PDC is Portland’s economic development and urban renewal agency. About 70 employees there are members of AFSCME Local 3769.
Hales nominated both Myers and Gustavo J. Cruz Jr. to the five-member board. Cruz, a senior counsel at the law firm Ater Wynne, will succeed Charles A. Wilhoite, whose term also expired at the end of June.
Both nominees still must be approved by the City Council. A vote is expected later this month.
Other members of the PDC are Chair Tom Kelly, president of Neil Kelly Company; Vice Chair Aneshka Dickson, chief financial officer of Colas Construction, Inc.; and Commissioner Mark Edlen, CEO of Gerding Edlen Development.
Myers, 47, is in his second term heading the Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council. The Council is an umbrella organization of 25 unions that represent some 20,000 construction workers employed by more than 2,000 signatory contractors in Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, and Columbia counties. Prior to that, Myers was an organizer and later an elected business agent for Sheet Metal Workers Local 16.
Among his community activities, Myers sits on the state’s Prevailing Wage Advisory Committee and the Metropolitan Alliance for Workforce Equity.
“Portland is a model for urban growth and development,” Myers said. “The opportunity to bring a different perspective to the table is what drove my interest in serving. As a union leader, equitable job creation is of great interest to me and I am looking forward to working with others on the board to serve our city in this endeavor.”
Mohlis, 58, was first appointed to the PDC in January 2007 by former mayor Tom Potter. Prior to that, PDC had not had a representative from labor on the Commission for decades. Mohlis has served three terms, and has played a key role in PDC’s utilization of minority contracting and apprenticeship training programs.
Mayor Hales, in a press release, said the leadership that Myers and Cruz will bring to the PDC is much needed right now. “Portland is growing and that growth won’t end any time soon,” he said. “We are a richly diverse community with pockets of dire inequity. The PDC is tasked with developing our economy so that everything we love about Portland is shared by everyone in Portland.”
