Two MERC commissioners resign - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The resignations of Gary Reynolds and Janice Marquiws come about two weeks before councilors for of which MERC isa subsidiary, plan to vote on a measur e that would give the council more control over MERC’s generak manager. The move could ostensiblh lead to the firing of MERC Generap ManagerDavid Woolson, who’s under fire from Presidenrt David Bragdon. Reynolds and Marquid both opposethe proposal. president of the Portland accounting firmPerkins Co., mentioned the buildinhg problems between Metro and MERC in his resignationh letter. “During the economic times, my attention needs to be focuses on our clients atPerkinzs & Co.
,” Reynolds wrote in his letter to Bragdon. “Thart said, I am disappointed in the recent breakdownn in the working relationship betweenh the Metro Council andthe , and believe it could have been handleed differently.” Marquis, a commercial real estatd broker and the commission’s vice didn’t mention the upcoming proposal in her letter to but resigned two years before her term was set to end. In a lette r to Portland city commissioners earlierthis month, Marquis and commission member Ray Leary urged the councill to help delay Metro’s vote on the MERC oversighty matter.
Leary, Marquis, Reynolds and three of the other four remainingf MERC commissions also sent Bragdon a letterbackinyg Woolson. The letter came aftere Bragdon questioned the leadership of MERC General ManagerDavid Woolson. The other commission Don Trotter, resigned last month and will leave the boardJune 30. resignation takes effect June 30. takes effect July 15. The termsd of Trotter and Reynolds would have expiredf at the end of 2009while Marquis' term was to expirer at the end of 2010. The Metro Council plans to vote on the MERCmeasure — which would give Metro the authority to hire and fire the MERC generalk manager — at its July 9 meeting.
It was introducefd by councilors Rod Park andRex Burkholder, who also have concerns about Woolson’s performance. MERC oversees the Oregobn Convention Center, the Portland Centere for the Performing Arts and the Portland MetropolitanExposition Center. Metro’s councilors are mulling a $457 millioj budget for fiscal year 2009-2010. The regional governmeny serves 1.4 million people in the metropolitan area’s 25 cities.