Wednesday

07-02-2025 Vol 2009

Portland City Council Seeks Consulting Support for Governance Improvement

Just five months into their tenure, Portland’s newly expanded 12-member City Council is proactively seeking external assistance to refine their operations and enhance collaboration.

On Monday, the city’s procurement services division issued a request for bids from consultants to craft a ‘government reset plan’ tailored for the council.

The proposal outlines three pivotal questions that aim to guide the consulting efforts: ‘How does council build trust as a body? What is the role of council? How do councilors work together optimally, and how does council fix what could be getting in the way of councilors working together optimally?’

Since taking office in January, the councilors have contended with these questions alongside numerous additional challenges, marking the inaugural phase of governance under the city’s new structure approved by voters in 2022.

Alongside their policymaking responsibilities, councilors have had to establish new council rules, initiate a committee structure, and navigate various governance issues that have occasionally led to prolonged public meetings and intense disagreements.

Last month, responding to a call from Tiffany Koyama Lane, vice president of the council and chair of its governance committee, councilors participated in a two-hour work session with the New York City-based firm HR&A Associates.

HR&A, which specializes in aiding local governments to promote inclusivity, proposed its services at no charge to the city, according to Mary Li, Koyama Lane’s chief of staff.

However, some councilors expressed hesitation about proceeding without exploring additional proposals during the May 12 meeting.

Consequently, Koyama Lane and Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney requested that the city initiate a formal bidding process to evaluate potential consultants further.

Li explained their rationale, stating, “We’re really just trying to make sure we’re doing our due diligence and that there’s sort of a sniff test.”

Yet, she humorously noted the challenge in finding a competing proposal that could match HR&A’s no-cost offer.

“If there were to be another organization that wants to come in and could meet our price — which is zero — we would consider that,” she remarked.

The selected consultant will be responsible for conducting surveys among the council’s 12 members to assess their perspectives on the council’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Following the survey, the consultant will host two retreats aimed at helping the councilors ‘reset’ and foster trust within the group, as well as aligning on current challenges and identifying shared objectives.

Part of the consultant’s task includes pinpointing ‘quick fixes’ to ease some of the tension that has surfaced on the council, addressing issues such as the function and frequency of meetings, the dynamics between the council and other city entities like the mayor’s office, and improving methods of communication among council members.

This move to seek external help is not unprecedented for Portland’s City Council; in 2015, the council employed a consultant for $7,500 to facilitate a team-building session lasting one day.

The deadline for submitting bids in this latest process is June 23.

image source from:https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/06/portlands-brand-new-city-council-considers-bringing-in-outside-consultant-to-create-government-reset-plan.html

Benjamin Clarke