Rainmaker Rankings August 9-15, 2026
Executive Summary
Still scoring this week.
Weekly Scoring Table
| Rank | Leader / Organization | This Week | Overall | Articles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ron Wyden | +2 | +4 | 1 |
| 1 | Curry County Board of Commissioners | +2 | +2 | 1 |
| 1 | Providence Health | +2 | +2 | 1 |
| 4 | Oregon State University | +1 | +7 | 1 |
| 4 | Dan Rayfield | +1 | +4 | 1 |
| 4 | Meghan Moyer | +1 | +3 | 1 |
| 4 | Angelita Morillo | +1 | +2 | 1 |
| 4 | Mitch Green | +1 | +2 | 1 |
| 4 | Tiffany Koyama Lane | +1 | +2 | 1 |
| 4 | Hermiston City Council | +1 | +1 | 1 |
| 4 | Maxine Dexter | +1 | +1 | 1 |
| 4 | OpConnect | +1 | +1 | 1 |
| 4 | Oregon Department of Justice | +1 | +1 | 1 |
| 4 | Quanta Services | +1 | +1 | 1 |
| 4 | Urban League of Portland | +1 | +1 | 1 |
| 4 | Candace Avalos | +1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Clackamas County Board of Commissioners | +1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | City of Portland | +1 | -3 | 1 |
| 4 | Portland Permitting & Development | +1 | -4 | 1 |
| 20 | Jessica Vega Pederson | -1 | -1 | 1 |
| 20 | Robert F. Kennedy | -1 | -1 | 1 |
| 20 | U.S. Treasury Department | -1 | -1 | 1 |
| 20 | Oregon Health Authority | -1 | -2 | 1 |
| 20 | Multnomah County | -1 | -5 | 1 |
| 25 | Trump Administration | -2 | -13 | 2 |
| 26 | John Ward | -3 | -3 | 1 |
Articles Scored This Week
Sen. Wyden’s wildfire tax relief bill passes just before Congress recesses, goes to White House
Date: August 10, 2026
Leader / Organization: Ron Wyden
Score: +2
Score Headline: Passed a bill that could help wildfire survivors pay less taxes
Score Explanation: Senator Ron Wyden helped pass a bill that would protect wildfire survivors from paying federal income taxes on qualifying wildfire settlement money and make it easier to deduct uninsured disaster losses from their federal taxes. This is a significant accomplishment with Republicans controlling both the House and Senate. The bill still requires President Trump’s signature, but it would provide real financial relief to wildfire victims.
After pushing Black families out of North Portland, effort to welcome them back continues
Date: August 11, 2026
Leader / Organization: Urban League of Portland
Score: +1
Score Headline: Helped create 62 affordable homes for Portland seniors
Score Explanation: The Urban League of Portland helped create M Carter Commons, a 62-unit affordable housing project for seniors in North Portland. A third of the apartments are for very low-income residents, with some rents around $700 a month. The project also gives preference to people displaced by past urban-renewal policies. Creating affordable housing for seniors, including people coming out of homelessness, is a positive.
EV charging company OpConnect opens Portland HQ, production facility
Date: August 11, 2026
Leader / Organization: OpConnect
Score: +1
Score Headline: Expanded EV manufacturing in Portland instead of leaving Oregon
Score Explanation: Portland-based OpConnect is tripling the size of its headquarters and production space, moving into a 30,000-square-foot facility in the Central Eastside with room to hire and expand into manufacturing DC fast chargers. The company considered relocating to Arizona but chose to remain in Portland, citing its connections to the Northwest clean-tech industry as well as support from Business Oregon and Prosper Portland.
Oregon, nine other states sue Trump admin to protect interest payments to homeowners
Date: August 11, 2026
Leader / Organization: Dan Rayfield; Oregon Department of Justice
Score: +1
Score Headline: Suing to protect interest payments owed to Oregon homeowners
Score Explanation: Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and New York Attorney General Letitia James are leading a 10-state lawsuit against federal rules that would let some banks stop paying homeowners interest on mortgage escrow accounts. Oregon says those payments are worth about $200–$300 a year on average. The states argue the federal agency went beyond its legal authority and are trying to keep Oregon’s consumer protection in place.
Trump urges shift in childhood vaccine recommendations, calls for splitting up MMR vaccine
Date: August 11, 2026
Leader / Organization: Trump Administration; Robert F. Kennedy
Score: -1
Score Headline: Pushes unsupported changes to vaccine schedule
Score Explanation: The Trump administration changed federal childhood vaccine recommendations to encourage greater spacing of vaccines and eventually splitting the combined MMR vaccine into separate shots. Requiring additional visits creates more opportunities for children to miss vaccinations.
Oregon has now reported 45 measles cases in 2026, more than during its 2024 outbreak, and the U.S. is at risk of losing its measles elimination status.
The administration directed federal agencies to promote the new approach. The change does not prohibit doctors from using the traditional vaccine schedule or the combined MMR vaccine, and states such as Oregon can continue following other medical guidance.
Above the Law. What happens when the most powerful law enforcement officer in a rural county goes rogue?
Date: August 12, 2026
Leader / Organization: John Ward
Score: -3
Score Headline:
Leader / Organization: Curry County Board of Commissioners
Score: +2
Score Headline:
Score Explanation: An elected law-enforcement official appears to have created a profound accountability and governance breakdown, resisted oversight, failed to properly account for assets connected to his office, and is now the subject of certification and federal investigations.
Council Approves Moda Center Term Sheet to Kick Off Negotiations With Blazers
Date: August 12, 2026
Leader / Organization: Angelita Morillo; Candace Avalos; Mitch Green; Tiffany Koyama Lane
Score: +1
Score Headline: Demanded a better Moda deal for taxpayers
Score Explanation: Four Portland city councilors were among the only elected officials publicly pushing back on committing hundreds of millions in public resources to the Moda Center renovation without demanding substantially more from the Trail Blazers and billionaire owner Tom Dundon. State and county leaders had already committed major public funding while Dundon continued to signal that the team itself would contribute nothing toward the renovation. The threat that the Blazers could leave should not mean capitualation. Relocating an NBA franchise requires league approval and requires a relocation fee of around $1 billion, and Dundon is notoriously cheap. Public officials should negotiate harder on behalf of the taxpayers they represent, especially when those taxpayers are already under significant financial pressure.
Hermiston approves $26 million plan to rid drinking water of forever chemicals
Date: August 12, 2026
Leader / Organization: Hermiston City Council
Score: +1
Score Headline: Approved a $26 million plan to remove forever chemicals from its drinking water
Score Explanation: Hermiston approved a plan to address PFAS contamination in its drinking water by closing two wells, adding filtration to another and relying more on a cleaner regional water source. The city also applied for state financing to help cover the $26 million cost. Hermiston had previously taken a wait-and-see approach, so moving forward with a concrete plan to protect drinking water earns a positive score.
Multnomah County chair doubles down on hiring former Blazers executive as Moda Center negotiator
Date: August 12, 2026
Leader / Organization: Jessica Vega Pederson; Multnomah County
Score: -1
Score Headline: Poor judgment and transparency in selecting the county’s Moda negotiator.
Leader / Organization: Meghan Moyer
Score: +1
Score Headline: Demanded greater scrutiny of the negotiator and taxpayer subsidy.
Score Explanation: Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson hired former Blazers executive Chris Oxley to help negotiate the county’s Moda Center deal while Oxley also serves as board president of Sport Oregon, an organization lobbying for the taxpayer-funded renovation. The county says there is no legal conflict, but Vega Pederson did not clearly explain what competitive selection process or conflict review produced the hire before commissioners learned about it during debate over a $100 million county contribution. Commissioner Meghan Moyer immediately challenged the arrangement and was the only commissioner to vote against the $100 million commitment.
Oregon State Hospital superintendent ousted after resignation of health authority leader
Date: August 12, 2026
Leader / Organization: Oregon Health Authority
Score: -1
Score Headline: Added more instability to an already struggling state hospital
Score Explanation: Oregon Health Authority removed State Hospital Superintendent Sean Murphy only one month after he started the job and has not explained why. The hospital is already struggling with staffing, patient safety and repeated leadership turnover. Murphy says he wanted faster changes, and the hospital union says he was taking staffing concerns seriously. OHA may have had good reasons to remove him, but another sudden leadership change adds more instability to a hospital that needs consistent management.
Trump admin ditches small business reporting mandate
Date: August 12, 2026
Leader / Organization: Trump Administration; U.S. Treasury Department
Score: -1
Score Headline: Scrapped a transparency rule designed to expose shell companies and money laundering
Score Explanation: The Treasury Department ended a rule requiring U.S. companies to report who owns them. Congress created the rule to help law enforcement track shell companies, money laundering and other financial crimes. Removing it makes it easier to hide who is behind a company and may also go beyond Treasury’s legal authority.
Another local government in Oregon moves toward moratorium on data centers
Date: August 13, 2026
Leader / Organization: Clackamas County Board of Commissioners
Score: +1
Score Headline: Began process to pause data centers
Score Explanation: The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to begin the process of imposing a moratorium on new data center applications while the county studies potential safeguards. Before commissioners can hold the hearing to adopt the moratorium, the county must provide the state at least 45 days’ notice. If that notice was submitted shortly after the Aug. 11 vote, the moratorium could take effect in late September at the earliest, but we don't know if it was submitted or not.
Crews building transmission line use equipment to help fight wildfires near Oregon-Idaho order
Date: August 13, 2026
Leader / Organization: Quanta Services
Score: +1
Score Headline: Redirected their crews and heavy equipment to fight Oregon-border wildfires
Score Explanation: Quanta Services redirected its construction crews, heavy equipment, water trucks and aircraft from the Boardman-to-Hemingway transmission line project to help firefighters create access roads and firebreaks during a period when public firefighting resources were stretched thin. The assistance reportedly helped protect an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 acres, and there is no indication Quanta was paid for the work.
James Beard Public Market secures building permit for downtown space
Date: August 13, 2026
Leader / Organization: City of Portland; Portland Permitting & Development
Score: +1
Score Headline: Approved building permits unusually quickly
Score Explanation: Portland approved permits for the 38,000-square-foot James Beard Public Market unusually quickly, allowing construction to move forward toward a 2027 opening. The project architect called it the fastest permitting turnaround he had seen in 30 years of doing projects in Portland and credited strong coordination across city bureaus. Efficient permitting makes it easier to invest and build in Portland, though one successful project does not erase the city’s broader permitting problems.
Oregon State University lands $5M in SBA grants for small manufacturer training programs
Date: August 13, 2026
Leader / Organization: Oregon State University
Score: +1
Score Headline: Won $5 million to train workers for Oregon manufacturers
Score Explanation: Oregon State University received a $5 million federal grant to help small manufacturers train workers in machining, robotics, welding, smart manufacturing and other technical skills. The program will work through OSU’s College of Engineering and community college partners across Oregon. Helping small manufacturers build a stronger workforce and become more competitive earns a positive score.
Providence Portland adds beds in $76M expansion
Date: August 13, 2026
Leader / Organization: Providence Health
Score: +2
Score Headline: Invested $76 million to add 96 badly needed hospital beds
Score Explanation: Providence Portland is adding 96 hospital beds in a $76 million expansion, with the first new rooms opening in September. Oregon has one of the lowest rates of hospital beds per person in the country, and the added capacity should help reduce patients waiting in emergency departments for an inpatient bed. Providence is also hiring more caregivers to staff the expansion. A major investment that directly expands health care capacity in Oregon earns a strong positive score.
Oregon politician makes unannounced visit to ICE detention center in Tacoma. Here’s what she learned
Date: August 15, 2026
Leader / Organization: Maxine Dexter
Score: +1
Score Headline: Made an unannounced ICE detention center visit, pressing for answers
Score Explanation: Dexter made an unannounced oversight visit to the Tacoma immigration detention center after reports of a hunger strike and poor conditions. She challenged officials when they initially tried to require advance notice, spoke directly with detainees, and identified conflicting accounts about the reported hunger strike and medical care. The visit increased scrutiny and accountability, but it did not yet result in a confirmed investigation, policy change, or improvement in conditions.
