Agreed, except the money is not the City's, it belongs to the citizens, supposedly managed on their behalf by the professionals at the former City Hall.  A staff person for the City told me privately that the joke inside their department was that Mayor Piercy had made City Hall "carbon neutral," since it did not use any energy any more. 

Portland has an elected auditor and does not have an unelected City Manager.  It's far from perfect but they did not bulldoze their headquarters without an idea what to do afterwards.