Seven months into the shift to a new governance structure in Portland, city leaders are grappling with emerging challenges and considering significant changes.
In January, Portland voters approved a new government plan that expanded the city council from five to twelve members, directing councilors to concentrate on representing specific geographic districts rather than overseeing city bureaus.
As part of this restructuring, the full council meetings were reduced from weekly to biweekly, and one of those meetings is scheduled for the evening, aiming to improve accessibility for the public.
However, this new setup has quickly revealed shortcomings, particularly regarding the time allocated for public testimony during council and committee meetings.
Both councilors and community members have voiced concerns about the lack of adequate time to hear from the public. They have also noted the repetitiveness of information being presented at different meetings.
Meetings have frequently exceeded their anticipated duration, leading to frustration among the public who are required to wait longer than expected, as well as city staff who are put under pressure to work overtime.
At a recent council work session, Councilor Candace Avalos emphasized, “At the end of the day, this is the people’s house. I want to hear from the people. And so if we’re not creating enough space for that, then that’s not going to satisfy me.”
In light of these issues, councilors have commenced a series of discussions on how to enhance their meeting processes.
One of the key proposals under consideration was introduced by Councilor Sameer Kanal in May, which calls for the full council to reconvene weekly. Alongside this, Kanal’s proposal aims to limit discussions on new matters after 9 p.m. during evening meetings, thereby preventing meetings from dragging into the night.
Councilor Eric Zimmerman expressed his support for this plan, stating, “I believe firmly that every single Wednesday should be a council meeting. Weekly, predictable and steady.”
In their discussions, councilors contemplated implementing restrictions on the types of issues that would be addressed in each council meeting.
Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney suggested that significant policy issues should be discussed during evening meetings, when working individuals may be able to attend. She proposed reserving daytime meetings for routine administrative matters, such as property foreclosures or street closures that are related to sewer work.
Councilor Olivia Clark echoed the sentiment for evening meetings while cautioning, “I do see the importance around the evening meetings, for accessibility. I do think at a certain point though, we start to get a little loopy and they need to be cut off.”
Some council members proposed even more radical changes. Councilor Jamie Dunphy suggested creating separate meetings for councilor-introduced policies compared to the administrative policies presented by the executive branch.
With a restructuring plan that distanced the council from the executive branch, Dunphy asserted, “I want to make sure we are prioritizing our time as legislators to be able to legislate.”
However, his colleagues raised concerns about potential negative perceptions of the council as having an adversarial stance toward the executive branch.
Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane cautioned that such a move could mislead the public into believing that trust in the council was compromised.
Following the pushback, Dunphy decided to withdraw his proposal, allowing Kanal’s plan for weekly meetings to proceed to a council vote later in the summer.
In addition to the weekly meeting proposal, councilors are set to discuss another significant policy change in an upcoming meeting next Monday.
This new plan, also introduced by Dunphy, aims to streamline the current eight policy committees into five.
The proposed structure includes a “Committee of the Whole” where all councilors would participate in making administrative and operational decisions once a month. The other four committees would continue to meet biweekly but for a duration of up to three hours each time.
These ongoing discussions reflect the council’s efforts to adapt to the new governance model while addressing community concerns and improving the legislative process.
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