Nov 03, 2011 12:00 am

For much of his campaign, Nick Mavodones has argued that while Portland faces a host of challenges, it remains on the right track.

He reiterated that point yesterday in a press conference aimed at opponents who have argued for months that the city’s leadership has hindered development.

Mavodones called those and other claims “politically-motivated potshots that are rooted somewhere other than reality.”

“The biggest falsehood I hear is that Portland is not attracting investment,” said Mavodones, who has served as ceremonial mayor three of the last four years. “We are here today to debunk that claim once and for all.”

Standing on a recently-completed segment of the Bayside Trail, within sight of Trader Joe’s, the Intermed tower and other recent projects on Marginal Way, Mavodones said the city has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development during the worst recession in generations.

“They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the pictures behind me and to my side, coupled with the buildings surrounding us and the investment in Portland over the last few years, is worth almost $600 million,” he said.

Projects cited by Mavodones included: the $73 million terminal expansion at the Portland Jetport, the $15 million Hampton Inn project on Middle Street and the $12 million conversion of the Cumberland Cold Storage building into offices for Pierce Atwood. (That project was assisted by tax breaks Mavodones supported in the city council).

Mavodones said other key projects, including the proposed $100 million Forefront development at Thompson’s Point and a large mixed-use project proposed on vacant land in Bayside, were also moving forward. (In June, the city council approved tax breaks for the Forefront project that Mavodones also supported).

New for-profit development creates new tax revenues, which either offset increases elsewhere in the city budget or result in lower property taxes. But nonprofit and public buildings are usually tax-exempt, and development in these sectors has far outpaced private development in recent years.

In the past four years, the city has experienced $169 million in public-sector developments, $261 million in nonprofit developlments and $153 million in private sector projects, according to data provided by Mavodones.

Ethan Strimling, who has repeatedly cited the State Pier redevelopment snafu while campaigning for mayor, admits the city is “doing well” but said there are “some scary signs that are not being addressed.”

“The vacancy rate downtown is very high and property taxes keep going up,” Strimling said. “It’s not like nothing is happening, but the path we are walking is not enough. Portland can be a lot better and it has to be a lot better.”

Michael Brennan didn't disagree that Portland has experienced new development in recent years. But he said the city needs to focus that development on attracting high-paying jobs. One way to do that, Brennan said, was by improving K-12 education to develop a skilled workforce.

“The city is doing well on several fronts, and Nick has been a good leader over his tenure; however, new leadership is what voters asked for last year and it's what's required to develop new solutions to ongoing problems and to seize new economic opportunities in the coming decade,” Jed Rathband said in a statement.

Because of the way city government currently functions, with a ceremonial mayor, city council and city manager, Mavodones admitted no single person bears responsibility for anything good or bad that’s happened locally.

But, he suggested, it was no coincidence that so much development occured while he was mayor.

“Next Tuesday, voters have a choice,” he said. “They can elect a mayor who has the vision, leadership and experience to keep these kinds of investment flowing into our city. Or we can put our momentum at risk by electing one of the fourteen candidates offering a vague notion of change, backed by few specific and no certainly of the outcome.”