Oregon Public Broadcasting

An audit of the "Portland Development Commission" has uncovered a string of problems.

The mission of the PDC is to bring together resources to achieve certain goals for the city in terms of housing, prosperity and employment, among other things.

The City Auditor looked at more than 2 million PDC transactions. It found that sometimes the agency made payments to businesses that weren't registered; that there were serious conflicts of interests within some deals; and that overtime payments to staff were sometimes mixed with regular salary payments.

Portland's Director of Audit Services, Drummond Kahn, says the PDC has work to do.

Drummond Kahn explained, "We found nine areas requiring further management attention, so they're not insignificant. The good news is that PDC management has already initiated action on. But some areas still require action."

In a letter responding to the audit, the PDC said it will now require all organizations it does business with to be registered; it’s revising its 'Conflict of Interest' policy; and it will record wages paid as overtime in the appropriate account.