Sho Dozono delinquent on $22,000 in rent to the city
Last night, KGW reported that mayoral candidate Sho Dozono is months behind in rent payments to the City of Portland for his restaurant, Bush Garden. He says it's a sound business decision.
Sho Dozono promises voters he'd bring fiscal responsibility to city hall if elected mayor. But when his restaurant downtown falls behind in rent payments to the city, what's a voter to think?Don't worry, he says. It’s part of doing business. ...
“I'd love to keep (the restaurant) open but not under the current circumstances,” he said, explaining why he has been withholding rent at the space on the bottom floor of the city-owned parking garage.
Dozono says Bush Garden’s business is currently choked off by construction and a lack of parking.
The unpaid rent money, he says, is his leverage in talks with the city. ...
The city is playing by the books. The mayoral candidate says he's behaving like a successful businessman.
“I hope the viewers will see this as a business decision not a delinquent, deadbeat business person trying to become mayor of the city,” said Dozono.
City finance workers say they'll need back payment by the end of the week or they'll have to bring the matter to the city attorney's office for potential legal action.
Read the rest and watch the video at KGW. Discuss.
|
April 29, 2008
Posted in in the news. |
More Recent Posts | |
Albert Kaufman |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
Kari Chisholm |
Final pre-census estimate: Oregon's getting a sixth congressional seat |
Albert Kaufman |
Polluted by Money - How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America |
Guest Column |
|
Albert Kaufman |
Our Democrat Representatives in Action - What's on your wish list? |
Kari Chisholm |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
connect with blueoregon
Apr 29, '08
Maybe if he becomes Mayor he can forgive the debt...now there's a sound business decision.
Apr 29, '08
How much deeper of a hole can Dozono dig for himself?
What a great mayoral race: Sam Adams, who never met a glitzy expenditure he didn't like, especially if it panders to the downtown and NW Portland set, vs. Dozono, who touts his business acumen, yet has repeatedly shown himself to have questionable business ethics, not to mention the dynamic vision (sic) of Tom Potter. I guess I'm writing in my dog's name again.
9:35 a.m.
Apr 29, '08
He owns the Bush Garden restaurant? I love that place!! Not enough to vote for him if I were a Portland resident. But it really is a great restaurant in my experience.
9:42 a.m.
Apr 29, '08
Whoops!
Apr 29, '08
WOW. I work there. Talk about being floored. Now I have to decide whether or not to change jobs. Not to mention who to vote for.
Apr 29, '08
So Sho said: “I hope the viewers will see this as a business decision not a delinquent, deadbeat business person trying to become mayor of the city."
A business decision to not pay your rent? Too late. Now I definitely believe you are a deadbeat business person trying to become mayor of the city.
Apr 29, '08
Hey Sho! If you don't pony up, there won't be any money left for Sam Adams to buy aerial trams and other useless multi-million dollar eyesores! :(
Haha... nah, seriously, I'm voting for Sam... but this has actually moved me a little closer to undecided. Over THIS issue the hardcore Adams supporters are choosing to be fiscal watchdogs? Classic.
Apr 29, '08
Over THIS issue the hardcore Adams supporters are choosing to be fiscal watchdogs? Classic.
I think Portland is a city that spends money on public works. Was Sam even on the council when the vote for the tram happened? Anyway there is a big difference in a guy who wants to spend public money on infrastructure and things that make a city go and a guy who won't pay his rent. Does Sho know that lounge he has in the back of Bush Garden is a little coke den?
12:28 p.m.
Apr 29, '08
I've never been in there. When I hear "Bush Garden" I think of a theme park in Virginia that I never wanted to go to either.
Apr 29, '08
"...withholding rent at the space on the bottom floor of the city-owned parking garage.
Dozono says Bush Garden’s business is currently choked off by construction and a lack of parking."
2:17 p.m.
Apr 29, '08
Garrett:
Yes he was
http://www.blueoregon.com/2006/04/portland_aerial.html
If you have factual evidence that there is a coke den in the Bush Garden, lay it out.
Apr 29, '08
Paul,
Other than being at shows in the lounge and knowing several of the people involved in doing coke in the bathroom and selling it in the booths I guess I can't "prove" that it's a coke den. I'm just surprised Sho owns the place. You could call a lot of places in Portland coke den's I suppose. That's just what I remember about the place in the 5 or so times I've been there...and they pour a pretty stiff cocktail.
2:28 p.m.
Apr 29, '08
When he files for personal bankruptcy, I'll view him as a lowlife deadbeat.
2:31 p.m.
Apr 29, '08
Heh... There's the understatement of the year. The strongest (by far!!) Long Island Ice Tea I've ever had was served there.
2:39 p.m.
Apr 29, '08
Refusing to pay what you owe the City may be a sound business decision, but it makes you personally look like a deadbeat. Does he expect construction never to happen near him? When they tear up my street to put in sewer lines for someone else, do I get to withhold my real estate tax because friends can't find parking when they come over?
His success with Azumano in a terribly positioned industry these days, impressed me. Now I wonder how it is he is having that success...more "leverage" with other people's money?
Apr 29, '08
When he files for personal bankruptcy, I'll view him as a lowlife deadbeat.
Oh look Jack took a personal shot at Sam. That's a real big surprise isn't it. Apparently Jack's never had to go without health insurance because he couldn't afford it. It's not like he bought a car and spent money on electronics. How many people do you know that paid back their creditors even though they weren't required to after they filed for bankruptcy and then got back on their feet? Sam did just that. I wouldn't say he's a deadbeat.
Apr 29, '08
Ah yes Bush Garden I ruined my father's favorite tie there, spilling a bit of soup on myself on the night of a Sadie Hawkins Dance at the Masonic Temple.
Flash forward 10 years (but still in the past) I know the bartender and he is treating me royally, I have so much sake I can barely move. Suddenly it is closing time and a bunch of the bartender's friends show up; we appropriate the karioki machine to watch that classic "Barfly" on the wide screen. Were there drugs? Yes there were. Everything except H. Of course I would never partake in an illegal substance.
Hey what else does Sho own beside Azumano, Broadway Cab and Coke Garden? Has must have done a full disclosure no?
As for his leverage I guess his more business friendly city would let leaseholders have space in city owned property for free.
4:53 p.m.
Apr 29, '08
Health care costs have for some time been one of the major reasons why people file for bankruptcy. It's one of the few times where something completely out of your hands can happen and in a matter of minutes you can rack up tens of thousands of dollars in debt. About the only people who can afford a bill like that are those who are most likely to have the best health care coverage possible.
When I first moved to Oregon, I worked at a place that was helping with a study about health care costs and bankruptcy. I went down to the office where all the records were in downtown Portland (the BoA building) and went through all the filings. Almost every single time, medical bills were the reason why the person had to file.
You don't choose to get cancer, get in a car accident, have a child with major medical or developmental issues, a chronic illness, etc. It just happens. And many times when these things happen to you, it can be difficult to work enough hours to have health insurance coverage and to make enough to make ends meet. Which then makes it all the more difficult to pay those medical bills.
5:06 p.m.
Apr 29, '08
According to The Oregonian, it's $18,404.25 and includes property taxes and "common-area fees."
http://tinyurl.com/5dsq7y
Apr 29, '08
I wonder if people who gave him $5 are embarrassed to have given it... does he actually think we will perceive ripping off the taxpayer as a shrewd business move?
Apr 29, '08
Say it ain't Sho, say it ain't Sho.
Apr 29, '08
Yeah, that's bad. I understand his position about the effect of city projects on his business, but there are lawful means to deal with that. I was leaning toward Sho, but now I am less so. Point to Sam Adams.
...But maybe we would have a higher caliber of other candidates if the local media didn't suffocate any campaigns that didn't pass the local celebrity test.
Could you imagine how much free publicity Tonya Harding, Darius Miles, or Art Alexakis would get if they ran for mayor? Yep, that's the problem.
Apr 29, '08
What about renter rights? Has anyone really researched the rental agreement that Sho has with the city? Maybe there is a clause that so many parking spaces are to be provided. Or that access to the premises must always be accessible, or that heat is provided, no water infiltration from the roof (car parking) above is permissible, or that construction noise is not to exceed so many decibels.
There are many rental rights that we all expect and the law enforces. Where is the liberalism on this blog? Sho is a liberal, where's the understanding, or at least the research? Could this be politics?
Apr 29, '08
What about renter rights? Has anyone really researched the rental agreement that Sho has with the city? Maybe there is a clause that so many parking spaces are to be provided. Or that access to the premises must always be accessible, or that heat is provided, no water infiltration from the roof (car parking) above is permissible, or that construction noise is not to exceed so many decibels.
There are many rental rights that we all expect and the law enforces. Where is the liberalism on this blog? Sho is a liberal, where's the understanding, or at least the research? Could this be politics?
Apr 29, '08
This shows that Sho doesn't have the ethics or common sense to be Mayor. On ethics, you don't stop paying your rent just because you're unhappy about something. Can you imagine a tenant who stops paying rent because the landlord is having work done on the apartment building? To say it's a "business decision" means that Sho thinks it's okay to break a legally binding contract whenever he wants to gain "leverage" over someone else. Appalling.
As to common sense, who runs for Mayor without checking things like this first? He started running in December -- which seems like about the same time he stopped paying rent. If he makes this kind of oversight as Mayor, the consequences could be a lot more serious.
Apr 30, '08
Maybe there is a clause that so many parking spaces are to be provided.
What you mean like renting a space underneath a CITY OWNED PARKING STRUCTURE? There was some construction on my street last week...I wonder if that gives me the right to not pay rent because I had trouble parking my car. Duh! Sho is an idiot...a mumbling idiot.
Apr 30, '08
If folks want to make this an issue, then I think it's completely fair to talk about Sam Adams' personal bankruptcy.
7:37 a.m.
Apr 30, '08
I think it's fine to talk about Sam's finances, but it's Sho who's arguing from the perspective that he is the guy with the right head for business. Thus are his counterfactuals more notable, IMO.
Apr 30, '08
My cat is running for mayor. I guarantee he is well-behaved, pays his rent, does not take money from lobbyists, and has no interest in wasting money on streetcars and trams.
Fluffy for Mayor!!
Apr 30, '08
My cat is running for mayor. I guarantee he is well-behaved, pays his rent, does not take money from lobbyists, and has no interest in wasting money on streetcars and trams.
Fluffy for Mayor!!
Apr 30, '08
If folks want to make this an issue, then I think it's completely fair to talk about Sam Adams' personal bankruptcy.
It's absolutely fair. Feel free to submit a guest post about it. But it has absolutely nothing to do with Sho's freeloading off of the taxpayers by failing to pay his rent. Raising Sam's bankruptcy in this context shows that you're flailing, trying to defend your anti-Sam candidate even though he is absolutely unfit to be Mayor. His behavior is unexcusable.
11:50 a.m.
Apr 30, '08
We need an IP check, Kari. I think we got some sock puppets in here. I wonder if any city offices will pop up?
May 1, '08
redcellpolitical wrote: "Hey what else does Sho own beside Azumano, Broadway Cab . . ."
<h2>Did anyone hear that Broadway Cab will be the 1st taxi company in Portland to have hybrid taxis? I didn't know Sho owned the company. This is the kind of progressive leadership we need in this city. Not $100+ million projects, but simple sound solutions that can make a difference.</h2>