Hillsboro City Council Showcased A City In Trouble As Public Outcry Rises, Transparency & Public Information Sheilded By Huge Fees

The 7-7-26 Hillsboro City Council meeting was something to behold.  For the 1st time in 6 weeks, Mayor Beach Pace returned to the dais.  The meeting was filled with action items and emotions and included one audience member being tossed out at the start.  Another was threatened to be tossed out by the Mayor before it was clarified she only received 2 warnings.  Emotions were once again running high, and the meeting was full of important matters.  We have captured snippets of the crucial details in the video below and have completed an analysis as well.  Have a look, folks; this is wild stuff.

This video is a portion of the City Council meeting to capture the essence of what was happening – see the full video at the City YouTube Channel right here.

Hillsboro City Council 7-7-26 – Hillsboro Herald Photo – Mayor Beach Pace, Councilor Elizabeth Case, and Rob Harris watch public testimony

Public Records Fees & Appeal Hearing Formats

Big shout-out to Councilor Dr. Olivia Alcaire and Kipperlyn Sinclair, who fought hard for the no-cost release of public records to citizens fighting the approval of huge private jet hangars at the Hillsboro Airport site.  Residents who have tried to get public information are met with huge cost estimates and are not allowed to access Public Records unless they pay.  The Hillsboro Herald is regularly held up from doing journalistic work because we simply can not pay for public documents – often we are quoted thousands of dollars for a single request.  The real issue is that this leaves us with the impression that information is being hidden or protected, and that Public Records are only accessible to the wealthy.  Sinclair and Alcaire both want this to change.  Councilor Salgado, censured and speaking from home, also agreed.  Once again, the Mayor’s panel more or less stonewalled this move but took it under advisement with staff.  This is Hillsboro today, folks- no transparency, hidden public records, and a pay-to-play system.  This is absolutely horrible for great citizens like Miki Barnes of Oregon Air Watch, who is fighting to stop these hangers and needs information to have a chance of winning over very wealthy developers.

• The Debate: Councilwoman Dr. Olivia Alcaire objects to the steep financial barriers and procedural burdens placed on community members trying to obtain public records or participate in appeals.
• Hearing Types (De novo vs. On-the-Record): Staff (via City Manager Robby Hammond and Economic & Community Development Director Dan Dias) explains that a de novo hearing is recommended for two concurrent appeals involving Skye Harbor. A de novo framework allows the public to introduce new arguments and evidence, whereas an on-the-record hearing strictly limits the council to what was previously presented to the Planning Commission.
• The Paperwork Bottleneck: City Attorney Chad Jacobs and staff detail the complexity of email restoration public records requests. Broad search terms trigger thousands of emails requiring multi-layered staff and legal reviews, driving up cost estimates.
• Outcome: Councilors Kipperlyn Sinclair, Harris, and Case direct staff to coordinate directly with the appellant (The Barnes Group) to narrow the search scope, attempt to lower costs, and bring a refined estimate back before the formal appeal hearing in August. A blanket fee waiver is rejected.

 

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Infrastructure & Land-Use Definitions (Data Centers & BESS)

Finally, and of course too late to stop the next wave of data centers, we are seeing the start of some policymaking on Data Storage and energy facilities; we are beginning to see staff working on new rules for “Data Storage” facilities.  Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair raised a major concern regarding this agenda item.  Data Storage is a limited term and does not cover what the industry is doing- changing the name to AI Computing, AI  Compute, AI Factories, etc.  As this work moves ahead, Council President Harris says all of the goals and initiatives of the council offered up the last few months, when no emergency session was agreed to, will find their way into this process.

• Zoning Definition Overhauls: Councilor Sinclair notes that during the preliminary steps of an active municipal code amendment, they submitted formal documentation requesting that new land-use definitions for data centers and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) be based on technical metrics—specifically, megawatt density and cooling processes—rather than broad building descriptions.
• Localized Grid Footprints: Sinclair presses staff to ensure the updated framework accurately captures localized environmental and utility footprints for massive battery storage facilities. 
• Next Steps: City Manager Robby Hammond confirms that a formal council work session is scheduled for July 21, 2026, to deliberate these details, manage water/electricity utilization concerns, and align staff recommendations with council research before statutory timelines progress.

Censure of Councilor Cristian Salgado

After the complete meltdown of Councilor Cristian Salgado a few weeks back, which lit up all of the news channels, the City Council took definitive legal action.  They voted after some debate and effectively put the Councilor in an iron cage.

• The Accusation: Item 8.3 on the agenda addressed Resolution No. 2927, seeking a formal public censure and remedial actions against Councilor Salgado, stemming from an escalation at the June 16, 2026 meeting. The notice claims Salgado violated decorum rules by recording with a cell phone and allegedly instigating members of the public during a recess.
• The Procedural Defense: Councilor Salgado made a formal statement disputing the findings. He pointed out that the presiding officer (Councilor Harris) stated that the June 16 meeting was adjourned, not recessed, at around the 40- to 50-second mark of the official YouTube video. Salgado argued that council rules apply only when a meeting is legally active, meaning that post-adjournment conduct cannot technically violate council session decorum.
• Legal Interpretation: City Attorney Chad Jacobs advises that a presiding officer does not have unilateral authority to adjourn a meeting before the agenda is complete. Because Harris corrected the error moments later, stating it was a 10-minute recess, the procedural mistake did not negate the disruptive actions that ultimately blocked the meeting from restarting.
• Outcome: The motion to adopt the censure resolution, moved by Alcaire and seconded by Case, passed with a 5-1 roll call vote (Alcaire, Casease, Anmery, Sinclair, and Harris voting “Aye”; Salgado voting “Nay”). The Outcome-
  • • Councilor Salgado is hereby removed from all internal and external committee
      assignments;
    •  Councilor Salgado’s stipend is decreased by fifty percent;
    • Councilor Salgado is not authorized to represent the City at events where the City pays for
      or sends elected officials to attend in an official capacity;
• The City is likely to have him work remotely for the rest of his term this year.

 

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Emergency Services Staffing (Hillsboro Fire & Rescue)

• Firefighter Pipeline: City Manager Robby Hammond highlighted a new collaborative paramedic education scholarship with Portland Community College, which awarded its first grants to local high school graduates from the Liberty Fire Science program to build a local pipeline of highly sought-after paramedics.
• Emergency Fleet Acceleration: Councilor Case requests that City Manager Hammond analyze immediate funding options to accelerate the deployment and staffing of a second ladder truck (Truck 9) at Station 9 in South Hillsboro.
• The Urgency: Case notes that while the acquisition is slated for the next biennium, the recent closure and relocation of the backup Aloha station leaves South Hillsboro with a dangerous 15-to-20-minute ladder response time. The current ladder company handles all vehicle extrications citywide, leaving the city vulnerable during simultaneous multi-story or industrial fire incidents.

Enterprise Zones vs. Strategic Investment Program (SIP) Loopholes

• Closing the Tax Loophole: Councilor Harris noted progress since April 17, 2026, on the 11-month moratorium imposed on data center applications seeking Enterprise Zone tax abatements. However, Harris warned of an overlooked loophole: multinational developers can bypass the Enterprise Zone pause by pursuing tax benefits through the state’s Strategic Investment Program (SIP).
• Proposed Resolution: To prevent large-scale corporate data center projects from undermining the city’s current regulatory overhaul, Harris proposed introducing a resolution at the next meeting to enact a renewable, six-month moratorium on all data center SIP agreements in Hillsboro.  This was a very important catch. 
• Tracking Active Developments: Councilwoman Alcaire expresses confusion about the exact number of data center applications currently active or approved. Hammond pointed out that the written City Manager Report has been updated to include three public transparency sections that track local ICE activity, semiconductor manufacturing Enterprise Zone filings, and hyperlinks to the two newest data center development agreements submitted in the last two weeks.
• Harris told the Herald that Jody Wiser at Tax Fairness Oregon had brought the SIPS loophole to the City Council’s attention.  Great job by Jody!

That was a busy meeting, and this was only part of what was covered at the 7-7-26 Hillsboro City Council Meeting.