Portland City Council Regular Meeting

6:59Good morning.

7:20I am going to begin the council meeting on March 5th.

7:28It is 9:32 AM.

7:32I hope everyone's doing well this morning.

7:34We have a pretty full agenda but a lot of technical pieces to it that we should be able to move through, um, without too much delay.

7:45We are likely going to take a break a few hours in though if it starts to run pretty long, just so folks can have a few minutes, um, and we'll try to get through things in as timely a manner as we can.

7:57Rebecca, could you please call the roll?

8:01Good morning.

8:02Avalos?

8:03Present.

8:04Dunphy?

8:04Here.

8:05Smith?

8:06Kanal?

8:06Here.

8:07Ryan?

8:08Koyama Lane?

8:09Here.

8:10Morillo?

8:11Here.

8:11Novick?

8:12Here.

8:12Clark?

8:13Here.

8:14Here.

8:14Here.

8:14Zimmerman?

8:15Here.

8:16Here.

8:17Thank you.

8:19And could— Lauren, could you please go over the rules of order and decorum for us?

8:28Welcome to the Portland City Council.

8:31No, there we go.

8:33All right, welcome to the Portland City Council.

8:35To testify before council in person or virtually, you must sign up in advance on the council agenda at www.portland.gov/council/agenda.

8:44Information on engaging with the council can be found on the council clerk's webpage.

8:47Individuals may testify for 3 minutes unless the presiding officer states otherwise.

8:51Your microphone will be muted when your time is over.

8:55The presiding officer preserves order.

8:56Disruptive conduct such as shouting, refusing to conclude your testimony when your time is up, or interrupting others' testimony or council deliberations will not be allowed.

9:04If you cause a disruption, a warning will be given.

9:06Further disruption will result in ejection from the meeting.

9:09Anyone who fails to leave once ejected is subject to arrest for trespass.

9:13Additionally, council may take a short recess and reconvene virtually.

9:17Your testimony should address the matter being considered.

9:19Thank you, Councilor Smith.

9:20When testifying, state your name for the record.

9:21Your address is not necessary.

9:23If you are a lobbyist, identify the organization you represent.

9:26Virtual testifiers should unmute themselves when the council clerk calls your name.

9:30Thank you.

9:31Thank you.

9:34Thank you, Lauren.

9:36Um, are there any requests to amend or reorder the agenda, councilors?

9:48Seeing none, do we have unanimous consent to approve the agenda?

9:54Okay, without objection, we will approve the agenda and move forward.

9:59The next item on the agenda is our public communications.

10:04Rebecca, will you invite up our first, uh, commenter today, please?

10:09First, we have Craig Mossback.

10:19Welcome.

10:19Thank you for being here today.

10:22Thank you all for, uh, being here.

10:24Uh, my name is Craig Mossback, and I'm a proud resident of Portland in City Council District 3.

10:30I saw you all at the City Club event a couple weeks ago.

10:33That was great.

10:34I'm excited to be here in the first couple months of our new city government.

10:39We have 12 members on this council, each person bringing their perspectives from various neighborhoods, backgrounds, and experiences.

10:45I see Mayor Wilson here.

10:47I think I, I see your kind heart and clear vision, and I say that's very inspirational.

10:52I appreciate that.

10:54And you all are here together in this chamber to make decisions to move our city forward.

11:00I'm here today to highlight 3 projects, and when you hear about them, I hope that you say yes.

11:04Thank you.

11:05The first is the James Beard Public Market.

11:0830 years ago, the Portland Farmers Market was started by 3 friends, Ted Snyder, Rick Hagen, and myself.

11:16This was near the beginning of Portland's culinary renaissance, and you can just see where we are today with that.

11:23The next step in highlighting the bounty of Oregon's agriculture is the James Beard Public Market.

11:29The market can be an iconic symbol for Portland and Oregon's thriving food scene.

11:35Uh, this will be a benefit for residents, for visitors to our city, and for producers around the state of Oregon.

11:42When the James Beard Public Market comes to ask for your support, please say yes.

11:47Another project I'm excited about is being led by Oregon Walks.

11:51Now, this is a group that advocates for safe, attractive walking options, and this helps create thriving and more connected communities.

12:00Oregon Walks is organizing community walks in each of the new 4 city council districts.

12:06Hopefully led by you, our elected representatives.

12:09These walks are a way for you to build connections with the broader community.

12:13And so when Oregon Walks contacts your office to see if you'll participate, please say yes.

12:20Finally, the big project in the room, minimizing the negative impacts of the budget shortfall.

12:26And we can be honest that it would be more fun to govern with a budget surplus than a deficit.

12:31Thank you.

12:32But whatever the budget situation, we should bring the same approach to these decisions, valuing community input, emphasizing our core values, informed evidence-based decisions, and doing the best for our collective future.

12:46I'm optimistic that you will make informed, thoughtful decisions that lead Portland to a brighter future.

12:51Is Portland on the upswing with our best days ahead of us?

12:55Please say yes.

12:57Yes.

12:58I value your time and for listening to me today, and I really very much appreciate the hard work and dedication you're showing to our city.

13:07Thank you.

13:10Thank you so much.

13:13Next we have Thomas Karwacki.

13:17Thomas, are you in the room?

13:18Thomas Karwacki.

13:25Then we have Christine Burmeister.

13:31Welcome.

13:32Thanks.

13:32I thought I had another minute, so I'm still chewing my mint.

13:43Good morning.

13:45My name is Christine Burmeister.

13:47Uh, when I opened my diner, The Daily Feast, downtown in 2016, I loved Portland and felt we had shared values— food, nature, books, liberal politics.

13:56I remember locking up at night and feeling a deep sense of contentment.

14:00When the pandemic hit and the protests started, we worked with boards on our windows for 18 months.

14:05We handed breakfast burritos through a slot in the plexiglass to our community.

14:08We used our PPP money to keep all of our people working downtown.

14:13There were tents on every corner, and we saw bodies and prostitution and drug dealing and drug use and all the criminal elements that show up when there aren't any rules and the world is upside down.

14:22But even then, I still believed in Portland, and I was devoted.

14:24Thank you.

14:25And I was so devoted that in 2021, I opened another restaurant downtown called Taylor Street Kitchen, assuming that Portland would pull itself together now that the restrictions were lifted.

14:35Many people doubted my decision.

14:37Portland was a mess.

14:37I should open somewhere else.

14:38But I stood by the city.

14:41Now here we are in 2025, and Portland is still not well.

14:44I don't know why.

14:46Rumor has it that some people want downtown to die, to stick it to the man.

14:51Or that the city council can't work together.

14:52It's an east side, west side thing.

14:55I know there seems to be no unified strategy because when I sat in last Wednesday's joint meeting with Multnomah County, no one could even answer how much a shelter bed cost or how many were long-term or how many people were actually helped off the street.

15:07You can't manage what you can't measure.

15:10I don't know a lot, but I do know that business taxes have gone up, but the state of our city discourages people from frequenting our businesses.

15:17Councilmember I do know that our tax rate is the highest in the nation and people are leaving.

15:23And I know that I need to call the police every week, that both my restaurants and all my employees' cars have been broken into.

15:30One of our reviews said something like, the pancakes were great, but my car was stolen.

15:341 star.

15:36And I know that my soul is damaged by coming downtown to witness miserable people having the worst day of their life every day.

15:42Sad, sick, addicted, angry, traumatized, in wheelchairs, shoeless, wet, filthy, hungry, Cold, bloody, their hands cracked, swollen, toothless, confused, desperate.

15:55Portland has inadvertently found a way to keep a vulnerable population at rock bottom in perpetuity, with more people arriving every day to take advantage of this laxity.

16:07This is why our children can't come downtown.

16:11This is why people are moving their families away.

16:13Thank you.

16:14Where is our awareness of the fact that tourism and taxes pay our bills?

16:23Thank you.

16:24Thank you for being here.

16:30Next we have Richard Elmeyer, and Richard is joining us in person.

16:48While Richard is getting ready to approach the testimony table, I want to let councilors know that for the next testifier, number 5, Donna Cohen, you all have a copy of her testimony at, at your workspace.

17:01Welcome, Mr. Allmeyer.

17:03Excuse me, I'm a little out of breath, uh, trying to close the steel bridge And I was stuck on the east side for about an hour or so, so I'm a little out of breath.

17:14Thank you for still finding a way to make it here on time, and I'm sorry that happened.

17:18Well, uh, apparently there's a signal problem, but there's going to be chaos in transportation today, so you might find that with other people who are trying to take public transportation.

17:36My name is Richard Elmeyer.

17:38I first came into this building as the chair of the North Community Action Council in 1975 to meet with Mayor Goldschmidt and his staff.

17:47I've been doing business with elected leaders and their staffs in City Hall ever since.

17:54Commissioner Eric Sten pronounced with great triumphalism a 10-year plan to end homelessness.

18:02Nan Roman, a leading national voice on the issue of homelessness, spoke before the City Club of Portland.

18:09She ended her talk by saying that Portland could end homelessness.

18:15No member of the Portland City Council ever talked to her.

18:20An excellent example of hubris and self-inflicted ignorance.

18:25The Joint Office of Homeless Services has repeatedly failed to deliver.

18:30It is neither transparent nor accountable.

18:37The Metro regional government declared housing a regional matter under its control.

18:42Voters agreed and gave Metro more than $1 billion to establish a publicly vetted regional housing policy and a plan to execute that policy.

18:53To date, Metro has failed to fulfill the voters' legitimate expectations.

19:00The authority over all housing policy in Oregon is the Land Conservation and Development Commission's Goal 10, which was recently revised to include instructions that Metro shall provide a regional housing policy and plan.

19:17That plan must address the disparities in public housing units in the counties under Metro's jurisdiction, where Clackamas has 3%, Washington 5%, and Multnomah County 11%.

19:31Excuse me.

19:35You cannot fix nor even have a meaningful conversation about housing if you don't understand the language and the process of how housing development works.

19:46The term affordable housing is meaningless and deceptive.

19:50Unless it is accompanied by for whom.

19:55The terms public housing and affordable housing are not the same and are not interchangeable.

20:01When you use these terms incorrectly, you are deliberately misusing language to feel good about yourself, not to communicate.

20:10It is no different than the mountains of information, misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies that overwhelms our political discourse from congressional Republicans and the White House.

20:23Most public housing is not affordable housing.

20:27Misusing the term affordable housing for public housing is the easiest, most fundamental way to assure no personal accountability.

20:37I look forward to meeting and discussing housing policy with every member of this council.

20:42Thank you and good luck.

20:43Thank you.

20:44Thank you for your time this morning.

20:46Thank you.

20:52Donna Cohen.

20:57Good morning, Council.

20:59Uh, apologies for not sending my slides ahead of time and for giving you a kind of a poor print copy here.

21:07Um, Donna Cohen from St. Johns, District 2.

21:10Uh, I want to point out, if you look at the sheet, what we use most of the time for Yes.

21:15Our income is from HUD, and we use that to determine housing eligibility.

21:22It's part of our housing needs analysis, and it was part of how you— your salaries were determined.

21:30But there's a problem with the HUD data, and that is that it's for the metropolitan area, for the metro area.

21:36It is not for Portland.

21:38And if you look on the next page, you see what the census data says.

21:42Our median incomes for Portland, they're considerably less.

21:46So we have these 2 estimates from census, $86,000, $88,000.

21:51This is from 2023.

21:54So $25,000 to $30,000 less is the median income for Portlanders.

22:00And I think we need to be using these figures because they will change much of what we do in our, in our housing reports and other reports.

22:10And they reflect Portlanders, not—.

22:12Portlanders.

22:13The metro area.

22:15So 50% of Portland households have incomes below, obviously, the median of $88,000.

22:2125% Of Portland households, according to Portland's housing needs analysis, are below 25% or below 50% of median income.

22:34So under $44,000.

22:35That's 1 out of 4 households live on 1 out of, on under $44,000, which is considerably lower than your salaries.

22:44Just point out, I hope you don't let your salaries get to your head and forget how many Portlanders are, are living at these levels.

22:52Another topic, the earthquake.

22:55Um, if you look on the sheet that has the map, so everybody's going to, you know, be in trouble then, but there are 30,000 of us, both residents and workers, in the North Peninsula.

23:08That are going to be particularly at risk.

23:10You see where we are across from the CEI hub.

23:13The orange are the liquefaction areas that surround 3 sides of the North Peninsula.

23:19And then you see the, the 4 stars that line up are 4 little bridges over the railroad cut, which is a 100-foot deep ditch that the railroad runs on.

23:30It bisects the peninsula.

23:32All those bridges are going to collapse in the earthquake, if not before, according to PBOT.

23:37We will be trapped.

23:40We will be cut off.

23:41Please, um, please, we want testimony when House Bill 2749, which will supply money to PBOT so we can apply for a grant for a study for at least Columbia and get that moving.

23:55So definitely thanks, Alana, for being in Salem last week, and hope to see you when this bill comes up later this month.

24:03Thank you.

24:03Okay, and I will send these to you.

24:06So I think that's it, right?

24:08Oh, right on time.

24:11Thank you.

24:12Thank you for being here with us today.

24:19The next item on our agenda is the consent agenda.

24:23Councilors, there were 2 items on the posted consent agenda.

24:28Uh, item number 3.

24:30The first of those was removed from the consent agenda, and the, uh, mayor's office actually asked to pull that back.

24:38Council President?

24:39Excuse me, I'm sorry, it's item number 4.

24:40Item 4.

24:41I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you're right.

24:43Thank you.

24:45Um, item number 4 was pulled off the consent agenda.

24:48Apologies for the confusion.

24:50And the mayor's office actually asked to pull that back from the agenda today.

24:54They'll be bringing it forward another time.

24:56So the consent agenda has one item on it.

24:59Item number 3 is still on the consent agenda.

25:02Uh, Rebecca, could you call the roll for the consent agenda, please?

25:08Avalos?

25:10Aye.

25:11Dunphy?

25:12Aye.

25:12Smith?

25:13Aye.

25:14Kanal?

25:15Aye.

25:15Koyama Lane?

25:16Aye.

25:17Murillo?

25:19Aye.

25:20Aye.

25:20Aye.

25:21Clark?

25:22Aye.

25:22Aye.

25:23Aye.

25:23Zimmerman?

25:24Aye.

25:25Aye.

25:26Thank you.

25:27Consent agenda passes.

25:30Moving to our regular agenda, uh, we are going to hear items 5 and 6 on the agenda together.

25:41They're related items.

25:42Um, and Rebecca, could you please call the titles for these agenda items?

25:49Item 5, adopt the budget calendar for FY 2025-26 Item 6, adopt schedule for specific council meetings to implement budget calendar.

26:00Thank you very much.

26:01And these are the agenda items that will set our budget calendar and let the public know what our work will look like as we move forward in the, the council's work on considering about and eventually adopting our budget for next year.

26:19Councilor Zimmerman, this came out of your committee.

26:21Would you like to speak to the agenda items?

26:23Yeah, thank you, uh, Madam President.

26:25So colleagues, uh, generally this type of action will take place at the end of our calendar years in, in the years moving forward.

26:33Um, and so this is one of those actions that we as a budget committee have to take to set an agenda, to be transparent with our public about our process leading up to the end of this fiscal year, which is June 30th.

26:45And so the Finance Committee, uh, a couple weeks ago heard this item.

26:50Uh, it was a presentation from our CFO's office and our, and our city budget office.

26:56Out of it, what you'll find in your exhibits are an amended, or strikethrough I think is the term we're using, strikethrough, uh, calendar of events that, uh, you'll see actually started on January 24th and goes through until June 18th.

27:15And that lays out a number of work sessions for this, for this budget committee, a number of community sessions, and a number of second— first and second readings of certain, I'll say, administrative requirements, things like utility rates, so that we're really clear with everybody.

27:33What I would like to come off the page to you is that we as the Finance Committee added additional budget work sessions.

27:41Yes.

27:42To this, given the nature of a new government, the nature of a first time where the executive budget is presented to a group who doesn't have that executive sitting on its board, and the fact that we are all only 7 weeks into a new role.

27:59And so I've added those.

28:01The Finance Committee heard those and, and, um, and approved that amendment.

28:06And so that's why the strikethrough calendar is provided.

28:09That's the one we'll be voting to approve today.

28:13It also— there is, um, a whereas that we added that— well, you'll see all the whereases, but I want to be clear.

28:22This document also gives the variety of policy committees that we have the encouragement to engage in bureau-level, uh, budget conversations at your specified committees with your specified expertise and that's the whereas that you see, uh, striked through toward the bottom of that document.

28:44And then the other item, as the council president— I'm getting a little bit of feedback from somewhere.

28:49I am.

28:51Um, but the other item that council president mentioned, item number 6, as you may or may not be aware, uh, our code for some reason actually dictates the time that council meetings take place.

29:05And so just to simply move the time of a meeting, uh, and to adjust the schedule to meet our budget passing requirements, we've got an ordinance changing that for a specified date on May 21st.

29:18Uh, instead of an evening meeting, we'll use the, the daytime in order to maximize any time we need to finalize this budget.

29:26So with that, uh, we have the CFO's office here, and— but my other Finance Committee members and I can always answer questions.

29:35And I would appreciate this and the next item both to be passed.

29:40Any questions?

29:41There are a number of questions in the queue.

29:44I just want to check before we move on to questions.

29:47Rebecca, do we have any public testimony signed up for either Agenda Item 5 or Agenda Item 6?

29:53We do not.

29:54Okay, and let's move into council discussion.

29:58Councilor Smith.

30:00Thank you, Madam President.

30:01Um, I just wanted to let the clerk know that I am here, and, um, and if someone from the clerk's office can put up the, uh, the schedule on the screen.

30:14Are we able to show this on the screen so that everybody can see it?

30:21It's the amended Exhibit A.

30:23Strike.

30:24Um, can—.

30:26Yeah, someone—.

30:31Councilor Smith, while staff works on that, did you have other questions, comments, or remarks?

30:37No, Madam President.

30:38Thank you.

30:39Okay, while we work on getting that up, Councilor Murillo, go ahead.

30:44Thank you, Madam President.

30:45Um, first I just want to say thank you all so much for the work that you put into doing this.

30:48I think that focusing on the budget in the next few months is going to be absolutely critical.

30:52So I'm really grateful that we're going to have more built-in time to do this because it's easy for time to get away from us and for us to get stuck in other meetings.

31:00And this is going to be such a critical thing to look into.

31:03I am wondering if a few things— so from what I'm seeing here, it looks like the only community feedback portion is going to be in the district listening sessions where we're going to have each one district listening session.

31:19Obviously, people can testify in committee meetings and things like that, but This is very thorough, but I'm not seeing a ton of community engagement.

31:26That concerns me a little bit given the really drastic and brutal cuts that all the districts are going to face at this time.

31:34And I'm wondering if there are sections where people can publicly testify, like in some of the committee meetings, if that can be adjusted in the document just so people can see where they're able to testify in case I missed any.

31:46Councilor I guess that's more of a comment and kind of a question, if we can adjust that somehow.

31:52Councilor Zimmerman, would you like to speak to the, the conversations that the committee had?

31:57Yeah, uh, that's a great question.

31:59It's one of the, the, I think, the bigger tasks that we tackled in terms of how do we incorporate community feedback opportunities.

32:07Um, and so I, I do want to highlight the district listening sessions as a first time for this organization in this city to do.

32:13So that, that's important.

32:15And those, um, I think will get a lot of attention.

32:18And, uh, I'm looking forward to not just the district folks, but all, all councilors attending those as they, as they find them valuable.

32:26Um, I think you bring up a great point though, right?

32:28There is the, the public comment that can happen at the policy committees.

32:34Um, that I expect will be where the detailed comments come from public when it, when it when it references a specific program or specific need, because that idea is where those bureaus will be talking.

32:49One thing I didn't say in my initial introduction of this is that the work sessions that you see lined out here are the ones that are intended for this body when we meet as the Budget Committee.

33:03And the Council President's office and I are still working out exactly which service area will present at which time and trying to put together a calendar of topics as well.

33:16And I think that any of the meetings where we are taking an action is a time when the council president could have public comment.

33:27And I think it is worth noting this request and kind of seeing where we might be able to fit in those different opportunities for public comment, and particularly in some of the extra work sessions.

33:37It's unusual, but it's not out of the realm of possibilities to have comment during a work session.

33:44Um, but we didn't build it in here specifically.

33:48And I want to note, the Finance Committee is— um, it's important to note the Finance Committee is not the Budget Committee.

33:55And so a lot of this, a lot of this calendar and this action is to help the council president, who will be the presiding officer over our Budget Committee.

34:02Thank you.

34:03To see what I would say is the bare minimum it's going to take to get enough feedback and enough information to all 12 of us and have an opportunity to work with each other and the city bureaus and service areas to pass this budget.

34:17That being said, I have heard from a number of members on this body that they have interest in some one-on-one type of town halls about stuff, things about their own district in addition to the district-based.

34:29Thank you.

34:30It— this document, I think, presents the bare minimum in what is scheduled.

34:35And sanctioned is the wrong term, but like, it's something we're going to organize around and hold and do the cost for.

34:42And I know many are going to hold their own comment sections with people.

34:47And I would say each of those committees offers at least one, if not several, additional opportunities.

34:53So I hear you.

34:54I think the council president and I are both open to if there's something in here that you think we should highlight as this is an opportunity for public comment.

35:01Uh, we should do that, and we can do that post-passage today, I think.

35:12Councilor Smith, are you able to see what's up on the screen?

35:15Is that working?

35:17Yes, ma'am, and I do have a question when you get to my name.

35:21Okay, Councilor Clark, go right ahead.

35:24Thank you, Madam President.

35:25So just to add on to what, uh, Councilor Morillo was saying, thank you for the whereas, uh, thank you for changing the times.

35:33I really appreciate that.

35:35But also, as chair of a policy committee, um, I'm really interested in getting more direction from Finance Committee about, um, how you want us to conduct our, um, meetings with our bureaus.

35:47It would be nice, I think, if we had a standardized approach across all of the policy committees.

35:52Thank you.

35:53So I'm waiting for your committee to offer something to us.

35:58And I've also, just to confirm, I've gotten requests from District 4, our district, to have additional budget hearings.

36:06So again, if you— if the Finance Committee would like to offer us some guidance on how to conduct those, it would be— I would be very grateful for that so that we have some sort of a standard approach across all of us.

36:19I know we're all different.

36:20We do things differently.

36:21Thank you.

36:21But I think some guidance would be greatly appreciated.

36:25Just wanted to say that.

36:26Thank you.

36:26Thanks, Councilor.

36:28Thanks, Councilor.

36:28I, um, I want to share with you just what's going to happen this week if this passes as it's presented, that on Thursday, um, the staff and I and Council President's office are basically going to look at all the calendar dates, all of the committee timelines, the— this calendar, and start penciling in what we think is a good schedule in terms of the topic to take up by committee or by service area on what meeting.

36:57And we're working on— I'm going to call it a one-pager, but I make no promise that it'll just be a single page— of that kind of initial guidance for how to engage in the work, the basis for questions or priorities, knowing full well that each committee is going to have its own flavor.

37:15But we're working to get that out by the end of next week as well.

37:19Great.

37:20Just one more question.

37:22I appreciate that.

37:22That will be really, really helpful.

37:25And I think digging in a little bit deeper as to how we collectively process the mayor's budget, some direction on how we're going to conduct those hearings or work sessions, whichever we choose, would also be helpful.

37:45Thank you, Councilor.

37:48Councilor Green.

37:50Thank you, Madam President.

37:51I don't have too much more to add that Councilor Zimmerman didn't already lay out, but I just wanted to reinforce this idea that when we talked about it in committee, in the Finance Committee, the whereas clause that really sort of explicitly encourages policy committees to also engage on this, I think is a really important thing to flag because we are not the Budget committee yet, and, and we shouldn't be waiting for that official budget committee to happen to have these conversations, which are quite deep, involving significant trade-offs.

38:21And so, um, the way that I see it, just sort of philosophically here with this calendar, is that we are already in the public comment period that started on Friday, uh, when the city administrator released preliminary proposals.

38:33And so my intention, and I would encourage all of us With our gavels and our various different forms of leadership in the community to do that to the best of our ability now and look for every opportunity.

38:46I know in the Arts and Economy Committee, we're going to be holding space in each committee meeting to take up budget hearing questions, budget process questions.

38:55And so it's a new form of government, but I really appreciate Councilor Zimmerman's leadership on making sure that we act pretty swiftly to put this formally in the process.

39:03Thank you.

39:07Councilor, uh, Councilor Smith, because we hear from everybody once first if they're in the queue, I'm going to go to Councilor Kanal and then come back to you.

39:15Thank you.

39:16Councilor Kanal, go right ahead.

39:18Thank you, Madam President.

39:19I have 4 clarification questions.

39:21So, uh, the first is a legal one.

39:24Um, the May 21st meeting, if it were to move to the morning as this document, uh, proposes Would we be able to recess that to the evening, or, um, this is more of a process question, evening or May 22nd afternoon?

39:37Does that remain an option for us?

39:40My intention whenever we've moved evenings to mornings on this list is to allow time for us to do our budget work through the day and still take on any regular items that would be on our council agenda for that week at the regularly scheduled time.

39:56So yes, We would recess and still have that evening meeting.

39:59Please continue to hold your evenings for those times.

40:03But if we were to start the budget process at 6 o'clock at night, we would be here until 2 in the morning.

40:09Right.

40:09Um, my understanding— second question— is that the district listening sessions were scheduled both the weeks of March 17th and March 31st.

40:16Can—.

40:16Did that change, or can someone speak to that?

40:19Because the document, the exhibit, only has that first week.

40:23Yeah, I'll just say those are being currently worked out by Civic Life and the City Administrator's Office.

40:30I don't have the exact dates to give to you.

40:31I am going to glance softly at the staff to get a nod that I don't have anything new to present right now.

40:37That's the nod I'm getting.

40:38Okay, um, we're close to that and we're going to get it out as quickly as possible.

40:44And I just want to, if I may expand on that question, I know you have 2 more.

40:48I really hope that the public is seeing those and knowing that they can go to any of the district ones, not just the one that's held in their district, and that they should expect more than just their own district councilors to come to the district one.

41:02I plan to do my best to attend all 4.

41:06This is the old school high school gymnasium.

41:09Lots of people make sure that we are for the first time holding something in district so that we can hear from everyday Portlanders.

41:17I'm looking forward to it, and I think it's one of those that will only get better as we go through it for the first time and then the next time, etc., etc.

41:26But I hope that you all in your own social media newsletters will highlight those 4 opportunities and not just the one in your district, because I think they're going to be important for us.

41:35Thanks for letting me expand a little bit.

41:36Yeah, thank you.

41:37Councilor, I'll note on that the reason that it is those 2 weeks is we skipping the week of PPS's spring break to make sure that folks aren't out of town and do have the opportunity to come to those meetings.

41:49Thank you for expanding on that too.

41:51Um, on third question, on May 7th, would the proposed budget work session be a replacement for or in addition to the regular morning council meeting?

42:01Um, that May count— that May 7th date, um, we will be hearing from the mayor about his proposed budget.

42:11So that will be the bulk of our council meeting.

42:14If there are other items that we absolutely need to take up that day, we will figure out the calendar to make sure that we can do that.

42:23But I am planning for the bulk of our agenda to be hearing from the mayor and having a discussion about what is in his proposed budget.

42:32Thanks.

42:32And then finally, on that whereas, which I'm very supportive of, Uh, I just want to make sure that, that, that would be not only encouraged but, uh, allowed, um, because I want to make sure there's time for that.

42:44And I can speak to at least the Community and Public Safety Committee docket being very, very full and trying to create more opportunities.

42:54In other words, the committee meeting would not become a budget work session, but rather there would be an additional Gap of additional amount of time for that budget work session.

43:06Um, this is a great conflict, right?

43:09It's a, it's a rub here, right?

43:10And just in terms of time and, um, what, what we can get done.

43:14So a couple of things that are really important to get on the record is that when a policy committee meets about and they're talking about budget, they are not convening as the budget committee.

43:25That is this body When we gavel in as the Budget Committee.

43:30I look at those committee meetings as opportunities for, uh, more in-depth conversation at a smaller scale in a smaller part of the budget.

43:40And so, um, in the guidance that we're going to provide, we will also address kind of types of questions that— and, and commentary that could or should happen in Committee versus types that should and could happen in the full convening of the Budget Committee.

43:59I think that'll be important.

44:00But I think the rub here, Councilor, is that, um, I think the committees and the chairs of each of the committees is, is going to have a lot to balance.

44:09Um, I know that I've said previously on the record, I think that committees— we've got our assigned sessions, but potentially meeting more frequently is something I'm in favor of.

44:20That balance and that management of that time is something I think between the clerk's office, the chair, and the president's office.

44:26That's, that's part of your leadership scope, um, as to how to fit it all in.

44:30Um, I'm not— from the, from the chair I'm sitting in and from this document, we are attempting to provide a direction and an opportunity, but not saying what can't happen.

44:45I think it's a negotiation between you and all the things that go into putting a committee together.

44:48Thank you.

44:49But if you have— this is me speaking from a person who's done many of these in other governments— if you have things that are part of the regular course of business for your committee and it can be just as accomplished post the budget season, I hope you're taking a look at postponing that until post-budget season.

45:09And speaking personally in my own, my own tactics and how I've always approached these seasons is that come March, come April, May, if it's not budget related, I'm generally not putting a lot of time toward it because I've, I have, um, lassoed this animal enough times in my career.

45:25I just know how sucked up into this topic we can get.

45:28And so that would just be my advice, is that if you can push something, it'd be wise to do it, or you may not do things at the highest caliber that you want to just because you're going to be pulled in a lot of directions.

45:38Councilor, I Let me turn my microphone on.

45:43Um, I want to acknowledge that Councilor Zimmerman's suggestion that things that are not budget-related get pushed comes right at the time when our committees are starting to dig into their work.

45:54And because we didn't have the runway, right, because we don't have the tail behind us as this council, we're still in that crunch time of getting our work up and running in a way that I think will be less of a conflict in future years.

46:12And as you know, and I've had a conversation with many of our colleagues about the fact that we have, I believe, 5 different, uh, bureaus or groups of people who support our work as council and each of your work as committees.

46:29And to put more time on the calendar for committees requires negotiations with each of those groups, and some of those groups don't have the staff right now, frankly, to support us adding much more time.

46:41So I am hearing loud and clear your request for more time, and I'm, I'm saying it out loud so that we can start the conversation about what we need to do to make sure that all of the groups that support us have the resources to be able to support the caliber of work that I know each of you as committee chairs want to do.

47:04Um, as we are in this in-between time without the tail behind us, without the runway to get the work started, um, without all of the groups that support us really being resourced to support us in the way that we need, um, we have some crunches, we have some rub spots, and I don't know that we can fix all of those to the extent that we may want them fixed until we actually get through this budget, which is where we have the ability to provide those additional resources so that we can do our work in an effective way moving forward.

47:40So I, I can't say to you sitting here today, yes, we can add more committee meetings, but I hear that request.

47:49And in making sure that we talk about it thoroughly, I know that the folks who support us are also hearing that.

47:55And, um, we'll need to have continued conversations about how we create that balance that Councilor Zimmerman spoke to.

48:03Thank you.

48:03That concludes my questions.

48:06Thank you, Madam President.

48:09Uh, Chairman Zimmerman, I'm trying to figure out how to ask this question, whether it's to you or to Madam President.

48:17The budget that was released last week by the city administrator, for me It was incomplete and inadequate.

48:24And in terms of us being able to have a conversation that's meaningful with the public and with ourselves, I don't know who should ask him to complete that budget so that we can have a full picture.

48:40We only have one-third, and we were given decision packages to, to cut.

48:47Councilwoman Smith, And I just wanted the public to know that we have the ability to cut the entire $8.2 billion.

48:55And so to be directed to cut a few packages, I think is unfair.

49:02And for us, I just think that it's not, um, it's not going to be productive if we're having these work sessions and it's going to be limited information, and then the mayor is going to come out with something in May.

49:13Thank you.

49:14It's going to be totally different.

49:16So I don't know if you can ask the administrator to do that, or if the president should ask him to release something that's complete so that we can have a full conversation in March and April.

49:31Because other than that, there's— I mean, we're just talking theoretically.

49:36We, we don't have anything to talk about, really.

49:39Councilor Great question.

49:41I think that both the council president and the Finance Committee can ask for that information.

49:47And I will just highlight for all members is that we are, we are in the period that qualifies— in no other words, it's the gray area of budget season until we see the executive budget proposed by, by the mayor.

50:02And you'll see how much of our calendar happens before that date.

50:06Thank you.

50:08So things that, things that I'll be asking the staff to make sure that they're providing all of the councilors, right?

50:14Um, in what was, what was released on the 28th, I keep referring to the only valuable page to me was page 12.

50:22And if we had that for every, uh, bureau and every program offer and every line item, that gives us a picture that is workable.

50:30And I think that gets to the heart of your question, Councilor.

50:32It's what you and I are used to from our previous Uh, that is necessary, Councilor.

50:38That is the document that's necessary.

50:39That kind of details what's necessary to have these conversations and be informed about them.

50:45And when the public testimony happens, to know what people are specifically talking about.

50:50Otherwise, it's just large numbers on top of other large numbers that is not meaningful.

50:55So I am not taking what was released on the 28th of February, the preliminary budget, as anything more than I think that's an indication of where the city administrator's mind is going, which is always dangerous to read minds, but I think that we are owed a full document.

51:12And the city council work sessions that are in April, and toward the top of this document you'll see them, this is an area where council president and I are spending some time to understand what will we get how will we use those to be effective when we don't yet know the executive budget?

51:34And so I don't want to lessen those sessions, but I think it's an opportunity for us to get an idea of the direction.

51:41It's an opportunity for us to share our priorities to inform that executive budget as much as possible.

51:50Council President, I think it might be worth a microphone moment for the mayor or city administrator on this answer.

51:54Yes.

51:55But I look at those as our opportunity to share some priorities back prior to the executive budget.

52:01And when that executive budget comes out, the way I will approach that, and I would encourage all of us to approach that, is that is the meat and potatoes of what we are reviewing at our committees to make sure that that makes sense and that we see that picture and that our priorities are captured in that executive budget.

52:16And Mr. Chairman, could you also ask the question, could they include if this money is in ongoing money or restricted money, if we could have the previous 2 years, if it was funded and what it was funded with.

52:31Because at that point, we can make some decisions on if this is a new program, if this is an old program, if this is an ongoing program that was put in one time only.

52:42Um, that would make a difference in how we make decisions.

52:45So it would be great if you could ask him that question as well.

52:50Yes, ma'am.

52:52And Councilor, I, I will just add, I think Councilor Zimmerman answered most of those questions quite well.

53:00Um, not only do I think we have the, um, the power to look beyond the recommendations and make decisions about every part of the budget, I think we have— I think it is a necessity I would expect that the work we are doing both in committees and in the meeting of this body as the Budget Committee, and before we meet as Budget Committee when we're just holding conversations about what we've seen from the city administrator and what we hope to see from the mayor, it is, I think, imperative that we look even more deeply than the suggestions the city administrator gave us to make sure that we're building the best budget we can.

53:41Thank you.

53:42Budget possible.

53:43Thank you, Madam President, because I think it's going to be a shock, uh, when we see the mayor's budget and it doesn't have anything— it doesn't look anything like, um, the city administrator's budget.

53:53And so people are going to be so confused.

53:56And we can start to set those expectations here today and what we say to the public.

54:00Um, Mr. Mayor, uh, City Administrator Jordan, do either of you have any comments on, on this question that you'd like to make?

54:12Appreciate the discussion today.

54:14Um, I think everything that's been said is relevant and important for us to take into consideration.

54:20This was a first time that we've ever done this prior to a mayor's proposed, and so I fully expect us to have some pretty intense dialogue about what kind of information can be provided to council so that your opportunities before mayor's proposed, April 2nd, April 16th, at least those can be productive sessions for you.

54:46And so happy to work with the council president and the chair on how we can frame information.

54:52If it's, if it's another manifestation of page 12 for, for a number of different parts of the budget, great.

55:00And we'll, we'll do whatever we can.

55:03I know the council knows this, but for the public, The documents released last Friday weren't meant to be a budget.

55:15However, they— in that released document, there is the entire budget document.

55:22There are all of the program descriptions in the entire budget.

55:27So I realize that's a huge volume of information and really difficult to process.

55:31I think it's important to note that the council so we'll work with, with leadership to see if we can figure out how can we make particularly April 2nd and 16th productive sessions, because they will be before the mayor's proposed.

55:43Thank you, um, Mr. Jordan.

55:46I appreciate that first stab at it, but a description is not really what I need.

55:52I need numbers.

55:53I need an Excel spreadsheet with numbers, um, and I need to know what budget was approved prior to this year.

56:02I need to know what you're suggesting going forward, what you're suggesting to cut in one basic document.

56:12It's great to, to read a bedtime story, but I just want to read an Excel spreadsheet with numbers.

56:23Mr. Mayor, anything to add, or should we move on?

56:26No, just, just a quick comment.

56:28You know, I understand where the city administrator is coming from.

56:33It's such a fluid situation, and we've had ongoing conversations, and I think this is a great conversation just to daylight for the city writ large.

56:43But it's not just about cut packages we're talking about.

56:47It's also about add packages, and that's what all of us know we've been actively looking at to really how do we, you know, raise up that revenue through other multi-jurisdictional relationships that we have and ongoing negotiations that I've really been daylighting with all of you.

57:01So it's, it's a, it's a twin approach.

57:04It's very flexible, and it's going to continue to be flexible up until that final budget, of which all you're aware of.

57:09But, um, thank you for the conversations, and we've got a lot of conversations ahead.

57:14Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

57:16It is about cut packages because we're in deficit and we can't add anything until we cut something.

57:24And until we get people into the practice, if they're going to bring something to the budget that's not already there, they need to cut that amount out of the previous budget and they need to make the case why that is more important than what you're getting ready to add.

57:39We just can't do add packages and you don't know where the money's coming from.

57:46That's the discussion.

57:47It's, uh, Councilor, I appreciate what you're saying, but there are opportunities in the city, and it is my responsibility to make sure we investigate those opportunities to lessen the burden on our community writ large.

57:58That is so good, and I, I appreciate all the work that you've been doing around homelessness, and I just want to make sure that people know that we're not the Regional Homeless Authority.

58:07We're the City of Portland.

58:09We do infrastructure.

58:10We need to make sure that the body of work and the scope of work that we do is our book of business.

58:16And our book of business is infrastructure.

58:17It's streets, it's potholes, it's water, it's BS, it's parks, it's streetlights.

58:23That's what we do.

58:25And to put— add packages in without taking something out is irresponsible.

58:32We will certainly be having more of that conversation as we move forward and we talk about priorities of of all of the councilors up here.

58:41The mayor will show us his priorities in the balanced budget that he releases, which will have to be balanced, and we'll then have to look at how that, um, reflects the priorities that we've heard from Portlanders and what changes, if any, we want to make based on the priorities that we are all bringing to the table on behalf of our constituents.

59:03Councilor Avalos.

59:07All right, thank you.

59:09I have a string of comments and questions.

59:11I'm going to try to put them together in a reasonable way.

59:15First, I'll say I share Councilor Murillo's thoughts around increasing community engagement.

59:19We talked about that on the committee, um, and I plan to keep an eye on that.

59:24As it relates though to adding more to the agendas, I, I also share, um, Councilor Kanal's concern for to what extent each policy committee should be making space for finance discussions.

59:40And to be clear, we— my committee, the Homelessness and Housing Committee, our next agenda, we're going to be talking about the budget.

59:46So on Tuesday, we have an hour dedicated to have staff from each of the different areas that touch housing and homelessness to come talk through, just give us very high-level look at the budget, but so we can just start to get a sense for where certain things are living.

1:00:02And so I know that there's some guidance coming.

1:00:05I, I'll follow up with you just to make sure that we're on the same page and that we're following that guidance ahead of the Tuesday meeting.

1:00:13Um, but I think largely the larger point for me here is, I guess I'm curious when we're going to have discussions about increasing capacity of the council clerk.

1:00:25Like, are we expected to wait until the next fiscal year?

1:00:27Because I think, you know, for example, I had made a recommendation that on the 5th week, because there's no council committees or council since we do 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, um, and was told that's just too much, there's no capacity for that.

1:00:42Again, I understand that.

1:00:43I'm not arguing that that's an, uh, that that's incorrect.

1:00:47I think I'm just concerned that I don't see what is the timeline or path for us to have that discussion.

1:00:52And if that timeline isn't until after the budget, then we're going to be missing several months, in my opinion, of opportunities to have more discussions.

1:01:01For example, in April, there is a 5-week month, and I was planning on using that 3rd meeting for my committee to do more budget discussion.

1:01:09So I guess I'm just feeling a little under-resourced and not sure how we're supposed to meet what I'm hearing is the expectation and what our capacity is.

1:01:19And I'm curious who has an answer to what we think is the timeline for those discussions about increasing capacity.

1:01:26Councilor, I've heard specific concerns from a few of the groups that support our work, and I have a sense of what they would need to be able to expand capacity.

1:01:35But why don't I get a specific proposal from each of the groups that support us of what they would need, both in increased capacity for the rest of this fiscal year and also in increased budgets moving forward, um, starting next fiscal year?

1:01:50So that we can look at it as a potential— I'll call it, for lack of a better term, an add package.

1:01:56If we wanted to add that capacity for folks supporting us this fiscal year, we would need to have a conversation about pulling funds out of reserves or cutting other programs for the rest of the year to be able to do that.

1:02:07It's a conversation we've had before here.

1:02:09It's one that I know folks were hoping not to have again this fiscal year.

1:02:13But why don't I get an official proposal for us of what that would look like across all of the Thank you.

1:02:20I appreciate it.

1:02:20I think it is timely, and I'd like us to expedite that because I just, again, feel that there's too many— that's too many months to wait to increase our ability to talk to the public.

1:02:31Uh, lastly, I'll just say, in, um, you know, yes, we have kind of this new process, right?

1:02:37We've got the city administrator budget that dropped.

1:02:39That's a new thing.

1:02:41Um, we have the typical timeline of when the mayor will propose his budget.

1:02:44Their budget.

1:02:45But compared to the old form of government when the mayor was proposing the budget, they had a lot more leeway in the budget.

1:02:51They had a lot, you know, a stronger grasp of overseeing that process.

1:02:55That's not the case anymore.

1:02:56So let's be clear, it is our responsibility to approve the budget.

1:03:00So I know for now and for this year, we are just— we're tight on time, and I understand the constraints we have.

1:03:07I guess I'm signaling either whether this year we could build in some more checkpoints.

1:03:13I don't know what that would look like.

1:03:13I think that's a great idea.

1:03:14Uh, Mr. Mayor, but I feel like there needs to be a couple more checkpoints ahead of a May, you know, mayor budget, because I'm feeling like that's going to— we're going to be in a time crunch to get to the rest of, you know, to get to approval, right?

1:03:29Um, and I am concerned that we're going to— we got the city administrator budget, we're going to get a mayor budget.

1:03:34I have no idea how similar that's going to be to the city administrator budget, and then therefore we have to put our budget together.

1:03:40So that's 3 different kinds of budgets.

1:03:41That's already really confusing to the public.

1:03:43So I'm also trying to figure out how to minimize what we're communicating out, because if we're like sending out, oh, here's the— this person's budget and there's this person's budget, I, I think as a public that, that would be confusing to me.

1:03:55It is confusing to me, actually.

1:03:57Um, and so I think we should assess what are some good— how we're communicating those different steps in this process.

1:04:04Um, but yeah, I'd like to— I can follow up, um, of course with the chair and with the mayor's office, but I feel like we might want to look at building in some other kind of checkpoint, um, ahead of the mayor's release.

1:04:18So wanted to put that on the record too.

1:04:21That's all.

1:04:22Thank you, Councilor.

1:04:23And I, I'll say this now for anyone listening, especially on the online stream, the city administrator proposes essentially what is a direction for where they think we should head based on what they're hearing from all of the mayor then puts together a proposal of the direction that the mayor thinks we should be going with the budget, what the mayor thinks the budget should look like to be able to run those bureaus in the way that, as the, the head of the executive branch of our city, the mayor gets to do.

1:04:56And council, as the policy body, legislative body, representatives of the people, put together the final budget that's adopted.

1:05:03So, Councilor Smith, so we take essentially those suggestions, hopes, and dreams from the city administrator and then the mayor, the city administrator in more of a general way, the mayor in a formal balanced budget.

1:05:17And we run that through the lens of what we are hearing from our constituents, the values of the city are, and make changes as needed.

1:05:24So it is 3 steps, but it's 3 important steps to make sure that we're hearing what bureaus are telling the mayor that they need and what the mayor believes he needs to run the city in the way that he's hoping to.

1:05:35Thank you.

1:05:36But we ultimately need to make that decision on behalf of our constituents.

1:05:41One more quick comment to say agree.

1:05:43And also, I think then we should be talking— I know when we were on charter, we talked a lot about this, this, um, date by which the mayor needs to provide the budget.

1:05:52There was a lot of discussion around that, and we ended up on what it is.

1:05:56It's still a little too late, you know, uh, in my opinion.

1:05:59Um, so I think we should also discuss what we need to fix in code or maybe charter to make the process start earlier in the future.

1:06:09And I think that for me is a question to the city administrator and the bureaus about what pace could they start to, you know, at what point in the fiscal year makes sense for them to start projecting forward.

1:06:23Because I get that you can't, you know, at some point you got to wait until part of the fiscal year passes to be able to understand what the next one will look like.

1:06:30But I imagine that it can be much sooner than May, much sooner maybe even than February.

1:06:34So I think So I just want to flag that I'll bring this up as someone that's on the Finance Committee, but I'm just processing out loud what I'm seeing are things on our to-do list to fix for the next process while we kind of get through this, you know, patch year.

1:06:50Thanks.

1:06:50Can I respond quickly?

1:06:51I think I want to use that prompt of that question as an ask to all councilors and to the Deputy City Administrators is that capturing what worked and what didn't in this year's process will be fundamental for the Finance Committee to make a better set of recommendations moving forward.

1:07:11And so, yes, I agree.

1:07:12In fact, I think I've said I think that the mayor's budget executive release can be earlier.

1:07:17We did that last year at the county.

1:07:20There are flexibilities built in, but there are going to be a number of learnings that work for any number of us up here.

1:07:26Thank you.

1:07:27Please capture those, right?

1:07:29When you're having a point of deep rub and frustration, if we can't fix it in the moment this year, this spring, capture that so that we can reflect on it in the summer as we prepare for next year's process.

1:07:42Thank you, Councilor.

1:07:44Councilor Novick.

1:07:46I just wanted to say that I'm glad that the administrator did not give us a list of recommendations adding up to the total deficit.

1:07:54He gave us a list of recommendations that added up to a chunk of the total deficit and then basically told us the rest is up to you.

1:08:00And I think that if he'd given us a list of recommendations that added up to the total deficit, it would have been easy for us to be lazy and say, all right, I guess that's what we'll do.

1:08:09He didn't do that.

1:08:10So that to me means that we all have to, as committees and individually, dig further into the budgets of the individual bureaus, hear information about what various cut scenarios might look like.

1:08:23For example, if you were going to cut the police, and I'm not saying we're going to do that, like, What would a scenario look like that took most of the cuts from patrol as opposed to a scenario that took most of the cuts from specialty units and the crime reduction plan?

1:08:38So it's unfortunate that we have so little time, but I think that the fact that we weren't given anything approaching a balanced budget puts the onus on us and gives us, you know, maybe feel like we have more power to dig in and shape the budget ourselves and tell the mayor.

1:08:55Thank you.

1:08:56What our priorities are, including, uh, Councilor Smith, um, tell— telling him your $28 million for, um, for more beds comes at the expense of X, Y, and Z.

1:09:08So I wish it wasn't so, um, compressed, but compared to what I saw 10 years ago when it was, to a great extent, we looked at our own bureau's budget, then waited for the mayor to come out with his budget, and then we reacted.

1:09:21I think it's better for us to have a process we're all sort of forced to be more deeply engaged.

1:09:26That's my cheery way of looking at things this morning.

1:09:29Thank you so much for that positive spin, Councilor Novick.

1:09:34Uh, Councilor Kanal, we are going to come back to you after we get to councilors who haven't spoken yet.

1:09:40Councilor Koyama Lane.

1:09:42Thank you for this work.

1:09:43It's helpful to see this laid out.

1:09:45I agree with Councilor Clark that Um, it is important that we know in the different committees how to engage in this process.

1:09:53And, um, just want to share that in governance, we're doing some of that work, trying to figure out a way to standardize it.

1:10:01And, um, my vice chair, Vice Chair Ryan, is working directly with, uh, Councilor Zimmerman to come up with a plan to make sure that every committee is engaged.

1:10:14And I— it also just makes me think about how we can be thinking about our comms around the budget, how we can do some of that all together.

1:10:23Um, just like how Councilor Zimmerman talked about putting stuff in our newsletter, maybe we can lean on our comms team to think about ways that we are making sure we're pushing out some of the same stuff for engagement.

1:10:33And for me, um, I think this is for the mayor and Mr. Jordan, something that would be helpful for me, someone that is new to this— I mean, we're all new to being up here— is as we're looking at past budgets, uh, to see specifically what the add packages from the last 2 budgets have been and supplemental budgets.

1:10:54I think that would be helpful for me to see kind of things that were added in there.

1:11:01I see the city administrator making notes.

1:11:04Hopefully it's about that ask.

1:11:07Councilor Kanal, go right ahead.

1:11:09Just one question on the ordinance, which is about the emergency clause.

1:11:17And I recognize the need to— this is a process question exclusively.

1:11:24I recognize the need to give as much community information as possible.

1:11:31Is there a a practical effect to waiting, um, and doing this through a regular ordinance that would prevent us from, from doing it that way, um, in terms of the implementation portion of it?

1:11:44That there's, uh, providing notice I know we'd be able to do, but the, the implementation side of it on the ordinance specifically, which is May 21st and June 11th.

1:11:55There is enough time for this to go into effect without the emergency clause.

1:11:59Given that the dates that it affects are not until May.

1:12:03The reason that this came with an emergency clause, frankly, was so that these 2 items could move together.

1:12:08Otherwise, we would be passing the resolution that changed dates without the ordinance— or the resolution that listed dates without the ordinance that actually makes the changes to allow us to post those dates and those timelines.

1:12:25And we would have a little bit of a gray period there of saying, yes, we will be meeting at these times, but we haven't actually approved ourselves meeting at those times yet.

1:12:34So this was brought as an emergency ordinance to provide clarity and make sure that there wasn't any confusion for the public around whether that was actually going to happen or not.

1:12:44I understand that.

1:12:45I agree with it.

1:12:45I don't personally think that that constitutes an emergency, but thank you for, for answering the question.

1:12:54Thank you, Madam President.

1:12:56I wanted to say to Chairman Zimmerman, I think that the, uh, budget process is a year-round process, and because we came in half the year, we're trying to get up to speed at to where we are.

1:13:07But I want to make something really clear, um, the administrator's budget and the mayor's budget and their thinking should be aligned.

1:13:15They should not be dropping 2 separate budgets.

1:13:18They are one.

1:13:19They're, they're on the executive side, so they can't have it both ways.

1:13:23They can't test the waters with the administrator's budget and see if people push back and then wait for the mayor's budget.

1:13:31They have to make a decision.

1:13:33They have to be deliberate, and they have to be intentional in wanting to give us the information that we need to be able to make a, uh, to do a balanced budget.

1:13:43So In the future, I would like— I mean, I don't know if you have to put this in code.

1:13:49I don't want us to look at 2 different budgets.

1:13:52When the administrator drops something, it is on behalf of the mayor, not of himself.

1:13:57And so I think this is where, you know, Chairwoman Avalos is talking about, that it's— we're in a state of confusion right now.

1:14:08And because there are so few people who have done a local budget before, that That's why we're having all these questions, and we'll, we'll get into our rhythm once June— July 1st starts.

1:14:21But I think we need to understand that this is not going to just be after in '26, that we're going to begin the process of the budget all over again starting July 1st.

1:14:30It's a whole year process.

1:14:31So I'd like to see that implemented so we're not, you know, behind the 8-ball next year.

1:14:37Thank you.

1:14:40Councilor Morillo.

1:14:42I'll keep this pretty brief.

1:14:43Um, I think, uh, first of all, for City Administrator Michael Jordan, um, you have very clearly laid out that this was a recommendation and not a mandate in the media, in the emails you sent us, in the documents.

1:14:56So I never took it as you overstepping on your power personally.

1:15:01It was very clear that we as council have the budget authority.

1:15:05We have it frankly, over the mayor and over whatever recommendations you make as well.

1:15:09So I felt that that was very clear, and I appreciated how you gave this to us as a recommendation and as something that we could build on.

1:15:17So I don't want you to get beat up too badly here on that because I think you were very clear.

1:15:24And I do think I want to emphasize what Councilor Smith has brought up before, which is that having some line item details for all of the bureaus is going to be really helpful.

1:15:33So like, for example, with the police bureau, if we're talking about patrols or robot dogs or cars or whatever, I need to see line items of every bureau of what those expenses are.

1:15:45Personnel patrol versus other staff, stuff like that is going to be absolutely critical because we're going to have to look at every single little bit of the budget.

1:15:55And so having that line item out in as much detail as possible in an Excel sheet would be fantastic.

1:16:01And I say that as someone who deeply, profoundly hates Excel.

1:16:04So thank you.

1:16:06That was just the last feedback I wanted moving forward, but I appreciate you guys working with all of us as we're making adjustments together.

1:16:13Councilor Zimmerman, would you like to close this out?

1:16:15Yeah, thanks.

1:16:16I have a full page of notes from these questions.

1:16:19So colleagues, I have— I've taken those.

1:16:21I know other Finance Committee members have, so I appreciate it.

1:16:23I think in 5 years' time, this item will come up and we won't even have comments on it because we'll be so used to the regular order of business.

1:16:30So this has been very helpful.

1:16:32I do want to highlight, I'm looking at this as a positive calendar, right?

1:16:36I think it builds into our calendar the flexibility that we're going to need.

1:16:43And for any of us who've been through a budget before, there are days when you think you're going to have a 3-hour meeting and it turns into a 6, and there are days when you think you're going to have a 3-hour meeting and it turns into 20 minutes.

1:16:53And that is the nature of budgets.

1:16:54Thank you.

1:16:55And so we've laid out a bunch here.

1:16:57My hope was so that all councilors can clear their calendars at least to a minimum of what you see on this calendar, and you will be happy when Council President gives you time back on your calendar at some point versus how you'll feel if she says tomorrow you have to meet as a budget.

1:17:12So that, that's really the positive highlight.

1:17:15We wanted to carve out more time than we saw.

1:17:17Community has some time in here to reach us.

1:17:19Thank you.

1:17:20Committees are encouraged, uh, and there's more to come.

1:17:23But, um, I don't want to overcomplicate the calendar, but I did want to be transparent with all of you and also, um, so that the council president has all the tools she needs to lead us through this.

1:17:38Thank you all for all of that conversation.

1:17:40And just highlighting a few things that you were told are coming Yes.

1:17:46Still, details on each of these agenda items will be coming out.

1:17:51Um, we can add listening sessions to some of those work sessions, and we'll have details on that as we move forward.

1:17:59Um, we hope that you all will continue to have conversations in your own districts about this, and there will be guidance coming to each of you, um, for work in your committees about how to have budget conversations, um, in a way that complies with our local budget laws.

1:18:16Additionally, uh, my office is having conversations with the executive branch about getting a budget analyst that we can all work with through this budget season so that we have somebody to help us work through all of those details that we're given.

1:18:31So more to come on all of those pieces.

1:18:34Uh, Rebecca, could you call the roll?

1:18:46Aye.

1:18:46Aye.

1:18:49Aye.

1:18:50Aye.

1:18:51Thank you, Madam President.

1:18:52Thank you, Finance Committee.

1:18:53Appreciate the red line or blue line form on this.

1:18:56I, I did want to make one comment, which is I want to make sure that we're not applying the same broad brush to all bureaus or committees.

1:19:01On the subject of engagement with bureaus, there's both broad idea in terms of different bureaus do different work but also the general fund versus non-general fund aspect of it.

1:19:10And on the subject of committees, the work of all committees is important.

1:19:13However, the urgency is not necessarily the same, and the urgency of the work on some, including the Community and Public Safety Committee, is different from some of the other committees.

1:19:21In other words, it's harder to push back legislation that's not directly budget related to July because some of that legislation would affect things now.

1:19:28And I also want to note that I share Councilor Murillo's views about the need for community engagement to be prioritized and commit to the public to continuing to hold town halls, my own as well as Civic Life's, to continue to hear from Portlanders.

1:19:39I vote yes.

1:19:41Ryan?

1:19:42Aye.

1:19:42Koyama Lane?

1:19:44Aye.

1:19:45Murillo?

1:19:46Aye.

1:19:46Novick?

1:19:47Aye.

1:19:48Clark?

1:19:49Aye.

1:19:49Green?

1:19:50Aye.

1:19:51Zimmerman?

1:19:52Aye.

1:19:52Pirtle-Guiney?

1:19:53Aye.

1:19:54And the resolution is adopted as amended with 12 aye votes.

1:20:00Item Aye.

1:20:07No.

1:20:08I just want to daylight— I'm uncomfortable with the use of the emergency clause here.

1:20:14I think a preferable process in the future would be to hold the resolution till the second reading, daylight it here so that the timing lines up.

1:20:21And so I'd ask my colleagues to please be more sparing on this in the future.

1:20:24Uh, as this is the first time it's come up, I'm not going to stand against this specific document today on that basis, but I just want to be very transparent that I may in the future, and I also want to commit to working with all of you and supporting you so that we don't overuse emergent— overuse emergency ordinance clauses.

1:20:38I vote aye.

1:20:39Ryan?

1:20:40Aye.

1:20:40Koyama Lane?

1:20:41Aye.

1:20:42Maria?

1:20:44Aye.

1:20:45Novick?

1:20:45Sorry.

1:20:46Aye.

1:20:47Clark?

1:20:48Aye.

1:20:49Green?

1:20:49Aye.

1:20:50Zimmerman?

1:20:50Aye.

1:20:51Pirtle-Guiney?

1:20:52Aye.

1:20:53And the ordinance has passed with 12 aye votes.

1:20:56Thank you very much.

1:20:58Uh, the next item on our agenda is an appointment item.

1:21:02Rebecca, could you call that agenda item please?

1:21:05Item 7, appoint Anna Allen and Laura Suarez to the Steering and Oversight Committee for the Homelessness Response System Intergovernmental Agreement.

1:21:14And councilors, generally, as we've discussed previously, appointments will go through the committee process first.

1:21:20Governance has been having a robust Yes.

1:21:21We've had a robust conversation about whether those go through policy committees or the governance committee.

1:21:26This item is coming to you not having been through a committee.

1:21:29This is part of that tale of us not having our committees up and running until a month ago, and we have had a request to move this forward as quickly as possible because the Steering and Oversight Committee is waiting for these 2 members of the public to thank you.

1:21:49So it has bypassed our normal process.

1:21:52I just want to be clear that it is my intent that moving forward that not happen again and that things do run through committees and that we make sure we get those requests in time for them to run through committees moving forward.

1:22:04But we wanted to respect the time of these individuals who are here today and make sure that we moved forward with the need um, that the Steering and Oversight Committee has to have their appointments as quickly as possible.

1:22:20With that, I will turn it over to the mayor to introduce your appointment recommendations.

1:22:28Thank you, Madam Chair.

1:22:28Thank you, council colleagues, for this opportunity.

1:22:32I'm honored to appoint 2 eminently qualified individuals to serve with me and Councilor Zimmerman on the Steering and Oversight Committee for the Homeless Response.

1:22:41System.

1:22:42Chair Vega Peterson and I appreciate all who applied for these positions and asked to serve their communities.

1:22:49Anna and Laura not only meet the qualifications for these positions but have also spent their careers serving the public and gaining valuable expertise in their respective fields.

1:22:59We are grateful you both are willing to serve and share your insights at this important governance table for our city and for our county.

1:23:06Thank you, Council President, Council Vice President, And commissioners, for your consideration of these appointments, I now invite Skylar Brock-Knapp and Jillian Shone to share a bit about these candidates.

1:23:18Thank you.

1:23:19So I just— I'll start by just, uh, with a big thank you.

1:23:23I'm sorry, could you introduce yourself?

1:23:25Thank you.

1:23:25Thank you.

1:23:26For the record, my name is Jillian Shone.

1:23:28I'm the director of the Homelessness Response System, and I just want to start out with a big thank you because we identified these individuals Yes.

1:23:35In the last quarter of 2024, and they have been patiently waiting for this day.

1:23:40Uh, my feeling is that delay was largely because of the previous City Council wanting to make sure that we had all of the transition-related items on the council agenda and done by December 31st, which of course was something I fully supported in my previous role.

1:23:55So I'm just grateful to be here today that we are getting this done so that they can join the second SOC meeting of the year, which is next week, and rounding out the perspectives we need on that body.

1:24:07So thank you again, Council President, and your staff for getting this on the agenda.

1:24:12Thank you.

1:24:13For the record, Skylar Brocker-Knapp, Director, Portland Solutions.

1:24:16Madam President and councilors, Anna Allen, who is here with us today, has been nominated by the mayor to serve as the Steering and Oversight Committee Supportive Housing Services taxpayer representative.

1:24:26Anna completed an interest application and participated in a series of interviews with myself myself and Robin Johnson of the Homelessness Response System.

1:24:34It is my pleasure to introduce you to her.

1:24:36Anna is a resident of Troutdale and is the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission's first Regional Government Affairs Director.

1:24:43Anna brings more than a decade of experience working collaboratively across tribal governments, local public agencies, and community-based organizations to create equitable pathways for community members to help shape programs, policy decisions, and funding priorities.

1:24:55Thank you.

1:24:56For many of her young years, her family was forced to become adept in navigating government-funded social services, correctional facilities, and shelter systems.

1:25:05We are honored to recommend Anna Allen for your consideration today and pleased that she's willing to serve.

1:25:11Anna.

1:25:12Good morning, Council, Mayor, Council President, and Councilors.

1:25:16Again, my name is Anna Allen, and I'm here— I'm a member of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes, and I currently serve as the Regional Government Affairs Director for CRITFIC.

1:25:26I know some of you have recently been engaging with CRITFIC on a number of policy issues, and I'm really honored to be here for consideration and appointment to the SOC.

1:25:37You know, my background, as Sky mentioned, I think is nuanced.

1:25:41It comes from the nonprofit, from the public sector, from even corporate sector and tribal government sectors, and it runs across a gamut of political issues and policy issues.

1:25:53You know, during my time as the Equity Inclusion Director with the City of Bend, I worked closely with the Human Rights and Equity Commission on their time, place, and manner ordinance and ensuring that there were voices from currently and previously houseless individuals that were included in that process, and that highly difficult policy that there were very differing opinions on in community and across politicians and jurisdictions in Central Oregon.

1:26:21I also have worked regionally and locally within the public sectors as well, but also really building off of my background in nonprofit work and as a youth advocate.

1:26:32But really the path that brought me to be in front of you today starts long before my professional career that you have read in my resume or that Sky has shared a little bit about.

1:26:46Um, you know, I was recently watching the movie, the Disney movie Outside In, with my 4-year-old daughter, and I was reflecting as she was giggling about, you know, when Sadness, that character, touches a core memory and it turns sad, and those— thinking about that joy, those joyful core memories as well.

1:27:04And I I was reflecting on my own core memories at her age and as a child.

1:27:08And I think that's, you know, when asked why I want to serve in this position as a thought partner with you all and with the county as well, I think about that and I think about how grateful I am that my daughter will not have those same core memories.

1:27:22And I want that for others that are currently and have been and will live outside within the city of Portland and Multnomah County.

1:27:30Those experiences, you know, I want that joy.

1:27:31I want that comfort of knowing that, that you're disrupting an ongoing cycle that might be happening for yourself or with your family and that there is a different path forward.

1:27:40And I watched my mother navigate those systems, you know, in services that, that the city and county provides and funds.

1:27:48And from that, she became a pillar of the community and has served.

1:27:53I was reflecting You know, after she was incarcerated and returned to us, her children, her 3 children navigating those systems with us alongside of her.

1:28:05You know, she— I was thinking about all the numerous committees that she served on, and there were, I believe, 8 city committees over her years once she was able to change the outcome of her future.

1:28:16And, you know, she served on the Public Involvement Advisory Committee, the Human Rights Commission, the Community Police Relations Committee, and among many others that I won't name, with the City of Portland throughout her career.

1:28:29And there was—.

1:28:29I will tell you, there was an expectation when she left in 2018.

1:28:35She left us, and she was very clear with me that I was— there was an expectation from her to utilize the grit that she had given me and that I had acquired along the way, along with my professional and lived experience to continue that work, to serve in positions like this, and to utilize all of those skills and information that I've gathered over the years to benefit others.

1:28:59And so with that clear expectation, you know, I, I have served in many capacities.

1:29:05I understand the nuances of serving in these really highly difficult and political roles as a thought partner to the voting members on the committee.

1:29:15But I will, I will stop there and just, and just share gratitude and appreciation and hope to move forward in this process and looking forward to the next meeting as well.

1:29:25Thank you.

1:29:25Thank you.

1:29:27Thank you very much.

1:29:30So next up, also excited to have Laura Suarez before you today.

1:29:34She is filling our behavioral health position.

1:29:37Laura currently is a clinical social worker with a drug and alcohol certification.

1:29:42Currently employed by OHSU.

1:29:45She is also the program manager for OHSU's Transitional Care Program, which focuses on both in-reach and outreach activities on houseless and housing insecure patients.

1:29:57She is very well aware and shares our problem-solving approach to what is an incredibly complex population to serve and how important it is that our health and housing systems be integrated.

1:30:09Her professional expertise will be an invaluable contribution to the Steering and Oversight Committee.

1:30:13Thank you.

1:30:14And with that, I will hand it over to Laura to say a few words, who's joining us online today.

1:30:19Yeah, thank you so much.

1:30:20I'm so sorry I couldn't be there with you guys in person today.

1:30:23Thank you, Mayor Wilson, Council President, and city councilors.

1:30:27Again, for the record, my name is Laura Suarez.

1:30:29I use she/her pronouns.

1:30:31I am a licensed clinical social worker here in the state of Oregon and the state of Washington, and as stated, I also have a drug and alcohol certification too.

1:30:39I'm currently employed here in Multnomah County as the Social Work Department Manager for the Division of Care Management at OHSU.

1:30:46I reside in Washington County.

1:30:48I've spent most of my career serving within the tri-county area.

1:30:53As it was also stated, I also support and manage OHSU's transitional care teams, which are comprised of registered nurses and licensed clinical social workers who provide hospital in-reach and outreach to our houseless and housing insecure population.

1:31:08That is also a team that I started on here at OHSU.

1:31:10So it's a core, again, component of the work I've done, and I continue to support that work as a leader.

1:31:17I Let's see, I'm excited.

1:31:19I'm really excited to share my 10 years' worth of experience working within the tri-county area, serving marginalized and underserved patients with chronic psychosocial and medical needs.

1:31:30My practice values include a collaborative, person-centered approach to case management and care coordination for mental health, substance use, and physical health across the continuum.

1:31:39My professional interests include improving systems through programmatic and policy development aimed at health.

1:31:44Equity and access and patient outcomes.

1:31:47And I'm really, really looking forward to sharing my professional experience and collaboration with the city and county and our key jurisdictional partners, including our neighboring counties, to find really meaningful solutions for our community through participation in the CO— in the SOC.

1:32:03So thank you all so much for having me.

1:32:05I look forward to working together with you all.

1:32:08Thank you.

1:32:10Madam President, thank you.

1:32:12Thank you both so much for being here today, um, and thank you to Skyler and Jillian for helping to introduce the agenda item.

1:32:20Uh, do we have any public testimony signed up today?

1:32:25We do not.

1:32:27Okay, councilors, um, we are open for discussion.

1:32:31Councilor Smith, would you like to kick us off?

1:32:34President, thank you so much.

1:32:36I was really excited when I saw that Anna's name was on the list as an appointee, but Thank you.

1:32:43She's really someone who is a collaborator.

1:32:45She understands community, and that is in her background.

1:32:48I first met her when she was working for NEA, and then I had the great opportunity to see how she moved in a professional sense when she got hired by Deborah Kafori to be one of her, um, her senior policy advisors.

1:33:04And so she really understands, um, people and how to work collaboratively, and I appreciate that about her.

1:33:13So I'm really excited to see that you're going to be in this new role and watching you grow from nonprofit into, into the chair's office and understanding about housing and homelessness.

1:33:24So I wish you well, and I thank you for even considering doing this.

1:33:28Thank you.

1:33:30Councilor Ryan.

1:33:32Yes, thank you, Madam President.

1:33:34Good morning.

1:33:34And first of all, I think both of the people who are willing to serve in this capacity seem like outstanding human beings with great professional backgrounds and, more importantly, life experience.

1:33:45I'll probably be directing some of my questions to you, Jillian, and you, Sky.

1:33:49As you know, as you both know, the rest of you might not, we had a pretty robust conversation about this, and I was, I'd say, the leading advocate for wanting the oversight system to have more independence than it previously has.

1:34:05I was a part of a brief little window when there was some independence, which allowed us to actually pass the policy to have Built for Zero work for us.

1:34:12That was being resisted upon by the culture at the joint office and by the houseless industry.

1:34:19And so my point is, I think everyone can agree that we have a lot of work to do.

1:34:24I think hopefully everyone can agree that we've had challenges being I think we've been in denial about some of the factors that have led to the humanitarian crisis that exists.

1:34:36So knowing that you both have backgrounds in behavioral health does please me immensely.

1:34:42The dialogue was about having people that weren't connected to the actual system because most of our checks and balances were quite limited.

1:34:51The accountability structure was mostly with people that were getting money from the SHS tax.

1:34:57And so we were having— in my opinion, we were having trouble seeing those checks and balances that are often necessary.

1:35:04I, I would often say in private meetings, and now I get to say in this one, I just wish we could have a fraction of the accountability we have for police oversight for the houseless system that we're building.

1:35:14And so I think what I want to know is that, are both of you willing to be those independent thinkers that will challenge the status which I think continues to need to be challenged, and feel comfortable in that role as advocates?

1:35:29I'm happy to respond.

1:35:31Thank you, Councilor, for, for really naming that and also for posing that question.

1:35:37And I think, you know, time will tell, and I can prove that to you over time.

1:35:41But I'm very— I will say for myself, I feel very comfortable in navigating those conversations.

1:35:47There's a way to disagree with respect and not making it personal and making it about the mission, about the policy decision, and being able to come back together afterwards.

1:35:56And that's something that I've had a lot of changemakers throughout my life, in my career, and really just heavyweights in many different facets of life when it comes to policy, but also community engagement, equity work, dismantling institutions.

1:36:12Institutional racism within a system like the county when I was there, and within nonprofits and NGOs as well.

1:36:20I work for 4 tribal governments.

1:36:21I work on behalf of them.

1:36:23There are often really difficult— and those policy issues reach from a federal, state, and regional level, and they're very nuanced and difficult conversations to have.

1:36:33There have been tears shed, there have been hugs after, and also not hugs after.

1:36:38Right.

1:36:38That's part of the work.

1:36:41I'm used to that.

1:36:42You know, I've spent over a decade of my career engaging in those conversations throughout different levels of bureaucracy, and I'm always willing to lean in from a space of respect and understanding and a willingness to learn and grow as well.

1:36:57So I'm— I would say I'm comfortable in that.

1:37:03I'm happy to I can speak up and chime in as well.

1:37:06One moment, if I could just do a follow-up, Laura, with—.

1:37:08On a—.

1:37:08Sorry, I didn't have my light on.

1:37:12I really appreciate that response.

1:37:14It was refreshing to listen to.

1:37:17My next question, maybe this then could be— you could think about this as to Laura.

1:37:22A lot of my— what I have witnessed since being thrown into the deep end to work on this back in 2013, 2020, but the end of 2020, was that we were using a document that— a plan, the Housing First plan, which has a lot of merits, but it was also written over a decade ago.

1:37:42I think it's much more than that now.

1:37:44And it was pre the new meth, it was pre-fentanyl.

1:37:49And I was always frustrated that we weren't adapting to that reality on the ground here in Portland, Oregon, especially what we were dealing with after Measure 110 passed and the, the open-air drug markets became just more obvious to everybody.

1:38:02And so you will all— I think what I experienced was your average voter, your average taxpayer was much more, um, they were noticing that and they were just asking us to please respond to it, and they were frustrated that wasn't happening.

1:38:17So I had to listen to small businesses that would say they had trouble.

1:38:22They were compassionate, but they still wanted to open up their storefronts, and they were losing business and such.

1:38:27And I hope that you will listen to those small businesses that are compassionate, to the taxpayer that is paying this, that does care, but would like to know that we're actually measuring results and that we're in one year's time making some progress.

1:38:42So my point, I guess, is, are you comfortable then also talking to that sector Thank you, Councilor Ryan.

1:38:54I appreciate that question very much.

1:38:57You know, what I will say is my brother is a small business owner in Portland.

1:39:01My older brother is, and my younger brother is also an artist in Portland and Vancouver area, and he is a vendor of many small businesses as well with his artwork.

1:39:13My neighbors, my friends, my families, my family members, many of them are small business owners.

1:39:18And I, throughout my career doing community engagement work as well, a lot of time was spent with those businesses that, you know, I live in Troutdale and even doing construction land use work, right, on the culverts, those replacement projects out there, those have real impacts on the businesses around them.

1:39:36How do you engage with them and identify what the core issues are and what their needs and desires are.

1:39:41This isn't just about the needs of the folks who are currently sleeping and living outside, but it's also about the needs of our business owners and about others who are impacted by this crisis every day, whether that be professionally, personally, seeing it in their neighborhoods, walking their children to the park, right?

1:39:58I hear all of that.

1:40:00I know all of that and I feel it.

1:40:02And how to identify those workarounds and address those needs as well.

1:40:05Because again, it's very nuanced.

1:40:07It's not just about certain needs of a certain population.

1:40:10It's really identi— it's a very— there's a lot of intersectionality to this issue.

1:40:14And I, and I promise you, I intend to bring that perspective to this work moving forward.

1:40:19Thank you.

1:40:19Um, you're already bringing that grit from East County in this dialogue, and I appreciate that.

1:40:24Your mother would be super proud.

1:40:26Thank you so much.

1:40:27Yeah, sorry, uh, Laura, I, I wanted to make sure I finished that conversation.

1:40:31If you'd like to answer any of my questions.

1:40:33I am sorry, guys, I'm not sure what to do with being on the virtual platform.

1:40:43I'm— thank you so much for the question, Councilor Wyrin, and I'm happy to sort of chime in and give my 2 cents.

1:40:48I, you know, this is certainly going to be a new experience for me.

1:40:52Um, I think what I lean into is not only my position as a community member, You know, I live and I work in this, in this community, and we're talking about our community members as well, right?

1:41:08Now, the folks that have been impacted by this experience, not only the experience of houselessness, but as myself as an individual in this community wanting to be able to feel like we can safely engage in our community and have access to, you know, support our local businesses and everyone feeling safe.

1:41:27And comfortable, and I do, as Anna mentioned, this is a very nuanced.

1:41:33It's a very nuanced challenge that we're facing, and I I do think that it needs to be looked at and addressed from multiple perspectives with multiple considerations, and not just at you know focusing on one individual, one community aspect of it.

1:41:47So I'm really I I am really looking forward to engaging in a really thoughtful exploration.

1:41:53Of identifying all the perspectives that we need to consider, all of the gaps, and how do we come together and really, really reunify our community in a way that fits for everyone and addresses the core of the challenges that we're facing.

1:42:08So I'm just really looking forward to being able to lend my perspective where I can, to be a listening ear, to bring my expertise and to collaborate and really explore how we can kind of Thank you, Laura, and thank you both.

1:42:30I, um, I really hope to witness the independent voice you'll bring, the courage to sometimes go against the status quo, people that we know well.

1:42:40Um, it's, uh, in this job I always find it more challenging to have some pushback to those that you've always usually been aligned with.

1:42:48I think that's what we're here for.

1:42:48And that's called being courageous to do the work that's needed for us to move forward on this humanitarian crisis.

1:42:54And so I wish you both well, and thank you.

1:43:00Councilor Zimmerman.

1:43:01Thanks.

1:43:02My first question for Jillian, can you clarify again which positions each of these nominations is filling?

1:43:07I know we've— in that new agreement, there are like specific positions.

1:43:12Can you talk about that again?

1:43:13Yeah, Laura is filling the behavioral health slot, and Anna is filling the SHS taxpayer slot, so that completes the membership.

1:43:22Okay, thanks.

1:43:24Um, I agree, both of your records— and Anna, I know you, and, and, and Laura, I don't— but your records speak for themselves.

1:43:34Um, I'm a little bit cautious about these nominations, and I am cautious from a perspective that we're nominating somebody from Washington County.

1:43:43Um, And I didn't hear that that was a Portlander.

1:43:47There are a few people in our district who are Washington County residents, but I'm cautious about that.

1:43:52And with respect to all that it took to keep the IGA alive last year and incorporating the taxpayer, Anna, I'm a little cautious that I'm not sure that negotiation intended for somebody who worked so closely with the Joint Office previously in your roles.

1:44:09And so that is that is my, my concern.

1:44:11And as a person who sits on the SOC, I'm looking forward to, I think, the independence that Councilor Ryan is talking about.

1:44:20I think it was a lot of work to keep the IGA together.

1:44:24I think the last 7 days has put that challenge in even greater risk than I thought it was, and this time it's from the county side.

1:44:32Um, and so I'm going to vote to support this nomination, and I, I could choose to just not say these things in the— to the record, but I, I am working from a perspective that I think that the SHS dollars, the IGA, in spirit are the right thing to have, and that we continually are at risk of them falling apart and not meeting the public's expectations for them.

1:44:57And so, um, I'm looking forward to working with you, Anna.

1:45:01Thank you.

1:45:01And with you, Laura, I think that we have a lot of work in front of us.

1:45:04I'm looking forward to the perspective.

1:45:07And for 2 people who have been on the county side, I think trying to see it from a non-JOHS staff perspective, a non-county policy perspective, is a challenge I also hold.

1:45:20And so I think the mayor has the right to make the nominations that he does in his role, and I'll vote to approve those today.

1:45:27But I I think it's important that we talk about what makes this awkward in terms of this system.

1:45:32And I'm feeling some awkwardness, so I'm putting it out there, and I'm looking forward to getting over it.

1:45:37All right, thanks.

1:45:38Thank you, Councilor.

1:45:39I'm just going to quickly just respond.

1:45:41I really appreciate that, Councilor Zimmerman and Councilor Ryan too, on the independent spirit.

1:45:46Had the unique opportunity to engage with the previous council and the previous mayor on these specific appointments and what they were looking for.

1:45:54So I remember those discussions really well, um, and with the new mayor and trying to determine whether that these appointments are still the right fit, um, whether these are still, um, the individuals that the chair and the new mayor wanted to bring forward.

1:46:07Um, I just want to say personally, I've had extensive conversations with Anna and other folks who had applied for this position, and they were incredible conversations, um, very nuanced.

1:46:17Um, and I'm really excited personally, um, for all the elements that Anna's bringing to this position.

1:46:23Um, I definitely remember, um, some of the caution and some of the intention behind a lot of these appointments, um, and these spaces on this committee.

1:46:32And I think Anna will, um, make you all very proud in how she, um, addresses the many, many nuanced pieces of the Steering and Oversight Committee under this system.

1:46:42Um, so I just wanted to offer that as well.

1:46:43Thanks.

1:46:43That's an important endorsement from Skylar, so thank you.

1:46:47Council President, if I may also just offer a response.

1:46:49Thank you, Councilor Zimmerman.

1:46:51It's good to see you, and congratulations on your successful campaign, and to all of our new electeds who have taken seat.

1:46:58I hear you, and don't feel awkward.

1:47:02We can have those conversations, Councilor, and that's perfectly fine.

1:47:06And quite frankly, I agree with you.

1:47:08I understand it.

1:47:10You know, now that I am working outside of Multnomah County and public systems within a tribal government, not only does that create some separation, and, you know, I had to work under those same public meetings laws, those same public ethics laws, and now I sit in a different capacity and I'm able to utilize those experiences professionally to how I advocate in spaces like this today.

1:47:35Because it's not always that you're going to agree on things, especially working with the City of Bend, I will say.

1:47:40I didn't necessarily agree personally with some of the decisions being made, but I was bound by those laws to be able to work unbiasedly across different sectors to gain community input.

1:47:52I think it's important to flag or just highlight that my role as a senior policy advisor and project manager under Chair Kefauver with Multnomah County and then moving later on into government relations as the tribal affairs advisor, my role was— I was not— my policy portfolio did not include houselessness.

1:48:10At the beginning of my career in 2015, I was the community engagement advisor, and really my role was to ensure that community input, diverse community input, was being authentically and thoughtfully gathered to inform policy decisions of Chair Cafuri and others within the county.

1:48:30And so I have not worked for the Joint Office.

1:48:32I did not work closely with the Joint Office.

1:48:35My job was really focused on what is the policy issue that we're working on, who are the voices that we need to hear from, and I'm going to go get them.

1:48:43And so that— just wanted to add that clarification and hope that that lends to, you know, ease your concerns.

1:48:49But also, I welcome any discussions in the future if you feel like there are moments where you want to clarify my perspective or again think through anything that from those meetings in the future.

1:49:01I really appreciate that.

1:49:01Thanks for that walkthrough a little bit.

1:49:03And, uh, as always, looking forward to working with you.

1:49:07I have—.

1:49:07I've appreciated that in the past as well.

1:49:10Madam President, if I may.

1:49:12Go ahead.

1:49:13For the record, my name is Robin Johnson.

1:49:15I'm a policy advisor with the Homelessness Response System team.

1:49:18Happy to be here today.

1:49:19Happy to, um, have Laura and Anna, um, ready to cross the finish line on this process of both the city and the county.

1:49:26I just wanted to bring 2 things into the, uh, into the discussion for clarification.

1:49:31One, the behavioral health seat had a requirement that the person who filled the role did not receive contracting funds from either the city or the county.

1:49:43And so to find a person that, um, lived within the city of Portland who was a behavioral health expert that did not contract with the largest behavioral health provider uh, in our region, um, was pretty— was, um, was a pretty deep, uh, haystack to find the needle in, or to find the brightest shining star that we could.

1:50:06And so I wanted to bring that part, um, into the conversation for the information of the councilors.

1:50:11Additionally, for the SHS taxpayer seat, the person was, um, required to live outside the city of Portland.

1:50:20And so I just wanted to just so that all folks, um, pardon me, all councilors were, um, aware of those 2 pieces.

1:50:28So thank you so much for allowing me to share that.

1:50:32Thank you for sharing that with us.

1:50:33I had also noted that both of the, um, nominees lived outside of the City of Portland, so it's helpful to understand some of the background there.

1:50:44Councilor Ryan, I see you back in the queue.

1:50:47Well, actually, Robin, I appreciate you saying that, and I do know there were others that also met that definition.

1:50:54I helped recruit one.

1:50:56Not attached to them picking those, but please, for the record, it must be stated that there were at least— I know of one other that did make that qualification.

1:51:04Um, so thank you.

1:51:05Just want to make sure we heard that.

1:51:07Thank you, Councilor Ryan.

1:51:08There were exactly 2.

1:51:10I must have recruited the other one then.

1:51:11Oh yeah, great.

1:51:12That was exactly right.

1:51:15Yeah, um, so first, as someone who sat on both sides of the appointment to community committees, uh, in here in this room, I just want to say thank you for going through this.

1:51:27And, uh, it, it is a little awkward, but you're— you both seem great.

1:51:31I really appreciate it.

1:51:32I do want to make the point that often the people who have been part of a system, uh, aren't able to be constructively critical of it while they're inside it.

1:51:40Given the either written or unspoken inability of employees or, or to speak on in that critical way.

1:51:47What people who've been part of the system can do is build their knowledge, and then when they are outside of it, then take that constructively critical eye.

1:51:54And I think that applies to Lauren in particular, to Anna as well.

1:51:57And that constructively critical eye is vital.

1:52:00I'll agree with my colleagues, Councilors Ryan and Zimmerman, as it relates to accountability on the dollars we spend, because they are profound.

1:52:05I'll go a step further than Councilor Ryan and say that we need more than a fraction.

1:52:09We need more accountability here than we see for police, and, uh, I believe that you both can do that.

1:52:13So thank you.

1:52:15Thank you, councilors.

1:52:18There is no one else in the queue for discussion, so Rebecca, could you please call the roll?

1:52:25And this is a vote to accept the report, which means to, um, appoint these nominees from the mayor to the Steering and Oversight Committee.

1:52:36Council President, prior to the roll, we need a motion to accept the report.

1:52:40I apologize, you're right.

1:52:43So moved.

1:52:44Thank you, Councilor.

1:52:45And I see a second from Councilor Green.

1:52:47There we go.

1:52:49Thank you.

1:52:51Sorry, Avalos?

1:52:54Aye.

1:52:55Dunphy?

1:52:56Thank you guys for serving.

1:52:57Aye.

1:52:59Aye.

1:53:00Thank you both.

1:53:01Aye.

1:53:03Yes, I will definitely vote yes in support of these 2 outstanding humans.

1:53:07I really appreciate— I didn't think it was awkward either.

1:53:09I think we're called when we're of service and leadership to be courageous and to have such conversations.

1:53:14I appreciate that you demonstrated that, Anna.

1:53:17I will offer caution that the mayor and the chair, I think, failed to meet some of the spirit that was needed to improve this system.

1:53:24That said, I hear what you're talking— I hear what you both said today, and I'm leaving this vote with much more optimism, especially in the dialogue that we were able to have in person, Anna.

1:53:35So thank you.

1:53:37We didn't get a— I didn't have a chance to do a briefing with you, so thanks for allowing this to be such a transparent conversation that I think will help the system improve.

1:53:46So I really appreciate that, and I hope that you'll— both of you will have the courage Um, to, um, challenge, um, the status quo.

1:53:54Um, clearly it needs to be challenged because we must get better results.

1:53:57I vote aye.

1:53:59Thank you for stepping up.

1:54:00I vote aye.

1:54:02Thank you so much.

1:54:03Aye.

1:54:05Thank you very, very much.

1:54:07Aye.

1:54:09Thank you both for stepping up, and I wanted to acknowledge your comments about your personal life and grit.

1:54:14I relate to grit.

1:54:16Thank you so much.

1:54:17Aye.

1:54:19Green.

1:54:20Thank you for your service.

1:54:21Aye.

1:54:22Zimmerman.

1:54:23Aye.

1:54:24Pirtle-Guiney.

1:54:25Aye.

1:54:26And thank you both for all of your time here today, as well as the time we know you'll put into the work moving forward.

1:54:32And the report—.

1:54:33Sorry, I just was going to note for everyone, just process, these 2 individuals are before the county board tomorrow, so we'll report back on that outcome.

1:54:43Thank you.

1:54:44The report is accepted with 12 aye votes.

1:54:46Thank you.

1:54:48Thank you all.

1:54:52Councilors, I will note that the next 3 agenda items are all emergency ordinances.

1:55:00I see Councilor Knoll nodding.

1:55:03Uh, we are going to move on to item 8 on our agenda, and we will likely take a We are a little bit behind time, but I think we have a few agenda items that we can make it up on so that we don't go too much over today.

1:55:17Rebecca, could you read the agenda item, please?

1:55:20Item 8, authorize letter of agreement with Pro-Tech 17 to extend the expiration date of the current collective bargaining agreement from June 30th, 2025 to December 31st, 2025.

1:55:32Thank you.

1:55:33And we have, uh, 2 members of our labor relations team, Anne-Marie Kevorkian-Maddie and Sarah Daly, here to share some information with us about this extension.

1:55:46Go right ahead.

1:55:48Oh, good morning.

1:55:49Good morning, Mayor, uh, Madam President, and Council.

1:55:53I'm Anne-Marie Kevorkian-Maddie, uh, with the Bureau of Human Resources— wow, I don't know what happened there— Labor Relations, and I'm joined today by my colleague Sarah Daly.

1:56:04Uh, we're here to present this item for your authorization to extend the term of the Pro-Tech 17 collective bargaining agreement through the end of this calendar year.

1:56:16Uh, currently the Pro-Tech 17, uh, agreement expires June 30th, 2025, and we have a mutual agreement with the union, uh, or a mutual desire, I should say, with the union to extend the expiration through the end of this year, December 31st, 2025.

1:56:35That will allow the city and the union, uh, more time, uh, to evaluate, uh, a work in progress, which is a comprehensive class comp study that's evaluating all of the ProTech 17 classifications.

1:56:49Uh, and then we will, uh, have ample time to prepare for the successor negotiations that will take place during this calendar year.

1:56:57Uh, there are no other terms, uh, in the existing agreement that will change, um, but this letter of agreement will also provide for the standard, uh, cost of living allowance increase that occurs on July 1st, 2025.

1:57:13Uh, that's already embedded into the, uh, proposed budget documents, uh, and so there's no additional cost beyond that as part of this agreement.

1:57:23Uh, happy to take any questions that you might have.

1:57:27Thank you.

1:57:28And I noticed that we have Rachel Whiteside from Pro-Tech online.

1:57:36Um, Rachel, were you wanting to offer some comments today?

1:57:41Uh, thank you, Madam President.

1:57:42I don't have any prepared comments.

1:57:44I'm just here in case there are any questions by council members that I can assist with.

1:57:48I can confirm that Through a vote of our membership, there is support for this extension.

1:57:53The classification study that's involved with this is long overdue.

1:57:58We haven't had a complete one for our membership in over 20 years, maybe closing in on 25 at this point.

1:58:03So that's a real priority for our members, and I appreciate the collaborative thinking on the part of Labor Relations to extend our contract.

1:58:13Thank you.

1:58:15Rebecca, are there, uh, any public— uh, is there any public testimony that folks have signed up for?

1:58:22No one signed up.

1:58:24Okay, councilors, any discussion before we look for a motion on this item?

1:58:30Councilor Knoll?

1:58:33Councilor Koyama Lane?

1:58:35I was just going to say I love hearing, um, what Rachel just said, that there's collaboration between Human Resources and Seeing no other, uh, interest in discussion, is there a motion to move forward?

1:58:56So moved.

1:58:57Second.

1:58:58Okay, with the motion and a second, Rebecca, could you call the roll?

1:59:02And this is a vote to, uh, this is a vote on an emergency ordinance to accept the letter of agreement.

1:59:14Avalos?

1:59:15Aye.

1:59:16Dunphy?

1:59:17Aye.

1:59:18Smith?

1:59:19Aye.

1:59:19Kanal?

1:59:21Aye.

1:59:22Ryan?

1:59:23Aye.

1:59:24Koyama Lane?

1:59:25Aye.

1:59:25Morillo?

1:59:26Aye.

1:59:27Novick?

1:59:27Aye.

1:59:28Clark?

1:59:29Aye.

1:59:29Green?

1:59:30Aye.

1:59:30Zimmerman?

1:59:31Aye.

1:59:32Pirtle-Guiney?

1:59:33Aye.

1:59:34Thank you so much for being here, councilors.

1:59:35We just made up 5 of the minutes we were over.

1:59:40Um, without objection, I am going to suggest, because we do have a couple of long agenda items coming up after this, that we take a 5-minute break so that our staff can have a quick break if they need it, and that we meet back here at 11:30.

1:59:55Uh, is there any objection to that?

1:59:57No.

1:59:58Okay.

2:07:26Welcome back, everybody.

2:07:28We are going to reconvene our council meeting.

2:07:31We are at agenda item 9, um, on the regular agenda.

2:07:38Rebecca, could you please call the agenda item?

2:07:44Um, I think we have—.

2:07:47Sorry, Councilor Dunphy, it's good to see you over there.

2:07:51Item 9, pay settlement of Woodstock et al.

2:07:56Civil rights and personal injury lawsuit in the sum of $938,328 involving the Portland Police Bureau.

2:08:06Uh, we have Denise Vannier, Naomi Sheffield, We don't actually.

2:08:23And Commander Dobson here.

2:08:25Sorry, we had a 4th person listed who wasn't up there with you all.

2:08:30Oh, perfect.

2:08:31And Rose Radich is here online.

2:08:32Wonderful.

2:08:33So we have—.

2:08:33Chief Dobson.

2:08:35Uh, Chief Dobson.

2:08:36I'm sorry.

2:08:37It's all right.

2:08:38My notes don't say chief.

2:08:41I am really sorry.

2:08:44Um, We will be hearing from the 4 of them about this agenda item.

2:08:49Go right ahead.

2:08:51Thank you, Madam President, members of the council.

2:08:55My name is Donnie Vanier.

2:08:56I'm a senior deputy city attorney, and with me here, as you noted, are Naomi Sheffield, chief deputy city attorney, Rose Radich, senior claims analyst, and Chief Craig Dobson of the Portland Police Bureau.

2:09:09The matter before you today is a proposed settlement in the case of Woodstock et al.

2:09:14Versus City of Portland.

2:09:17U.S. District Court's case number 320 CV 01035 SI.

2:09:23I will start by giving you an overview of the case and of the proposed settlement, after which Ms. Sheffield, Ms. Radich, Chief Dobson, and I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

2:09:38This lawsuit began in June of 2020 when 6 individuals initially filed the initial complaint against the city.

2:09:47Following several amendments which added and deleted several parties, the lawsuit eventually involved 9 individual plaintiffs and 1 corporate plaintiff.

2:09:57The corporate plaintiff was Index Newspapers LLC, the owner of the Portland Mercury.

2:10:05The lawsuit was complex.

2:10:06It involved numerous overlapping claims by the several plaintiffs.

2:10:11But in particular, the 9 individual plaintiffs were all journalists or legal observers challenging various aspects of the law enforcement response to the 2020 protests in the city that followed the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

2:10:29The plaintiffs alleged First Amendment violations, Fourth Amendment excessive force claims, and violations of Sections 8 and 26 of Article 1 of the Oregon Constitution.

2:10:40Thank you, Mayor.

2:10:42The lawsuit asked for damages for those alleged injuries, as well as prospective, so forward-looking, declaratory and injunctive relief seeking certain changes in policing practices.

2:10:57In July of 2020, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit obtained a temporary restraining order related to the Portland Police Bureau's interactions with journalists and legal observers.

2:11:09The city subsequently stipulated to a preliminary injunction in the case that remained in effect until 2023.

2:11:18Then in March of 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon— I'm sorry— ruled in favor of the city on a partial motion to dismiss, and the court dismissed as moot plaintiff's claims for declaratory and injunctive relief against the city.

2:11:34So those forward-looking claims seeking policy changes.

2:11:37Thank you.

2:11:38It also dismissed plaintiffs' claims under the Oregon Constitution, and it dismissed the claims by Index Newspapers.

2:11:46In doing so, the district court concluded that there was no realistic threat that conduct similar to that alleged in the complaint would occur again in the future.

2:11:59As the court explained, quote, the state legislature has changed the law that allowed for arresting journalists and legal observers who refused to disperse from an unlawful assembly, end quote.

2:12:11The court also noted, quote, as a result, PPB revised Directive 63510, which establishes how PPB responds to public order events, so that failure to comply with an order to disperse is not a crime and shall not be the basis for an arrest, end quote.

2:12:28The court further noted, quote, the legislature has also limited PPB's ability to use tear gas for for crowd control purposes, end quote.

2:12:37And the court concluded, quote, where intervening legislation has settled a controversy involving only injunctive or declaratory relief, the controversy has become moot.

2:12:47The Oregon State Legislature has effectively settled this controversy, end quote.

2:12:52And again, that was the ruling on the prospective relief.

2:12:55So following that dismissal, what remained in the case were the 9 individual plaintiffs and specifically their retrospective claims for damages for the alleged injuries that occurred in 2020, plus those plaintiffs, those 9 individual plaintiffs' claims for attorney's fees and costs.

2:13:14Because since this is a federal civil rights lawsuit, it does bring with it a right to recover attorney's fees.

2:13:22So following further discovery in the case, the parties eventually agreed to mediation before Magistrate Judge Stacy Beckerman here at the District Court in Portland to attempt to, to resolve those remaining claims.

2:13:34And through Judge Beckerman's mediation, the parties eventually reached the tentative agreement that is before you today.

2:13:42That agreement would settle all the claims for damages by the 9 individual plaintiffs, plus all of those plaintiffs' claims for attorney's fees and costs, for a combined total of $938,327.64.

2:13:56Thank you.

2:14:01The city would also agree to make no material deletions to Portland Police Bureau Directive 63510, Section 11.2, through December 31st, 2028, unless intervening changes in state or federal law require amendment.

2:14:17And that police bureau directive is that directive that the court cited in its order on this partial motion to dismiss that deals with how PPB addresses public order events.

2:14:31So the City Attorney's Office, Risk Management, and the Portland Police Bureau recommend that the city agree to this settlement.

2:14:37Um, and at this point, Ms. Sheffield, Ms. Radich, Chief Dobson, and I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

2:14:44Thank you.

2:14:46Thank you.

2:14:48And councilors, before we move to our questions and discussion, I do believe that we have a few folks signed up for Public testimony.

2:14:54I'd like to provide them the opportunity to, uh, go ahead since we're already a little bit behind schedule.

2:15:01Rebecca, could you invite up folks who have signed up for public testimony, please?

2:15:05Hi.

2:15:07First 2 testifiers, Kelly Simon and Athul Acharya, um, want to approach the table together.

2:15:16Thank you both for being here today.

2:15:19Thank you.

2:15:20And can you please introduce yourself as you start?

2:15:27Will do.

2:15:28Good morning, Council President Pirtle-Guiney, Vice President Koyama Lane, esteemed councilors.

2:15:33It is great to see so many of you who represent this city.

2:15:38My name is Kelly Simon.

2:15:39I use she/her pronouns, and I am the legal director for the ACLU of Oregon.

2:15:44The ACLU of Oregon is a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization With more than 43,000 members statewide.

2:15:53We work in the courts, the state legislature, and with communities to defend and advance our democracy, civil liberties, and civil rights.

2:16:02The ACLU of Oregon urges you to approve the mutually agreed-upon settlement terms before you today.

2:16:09We believe it is in the best interest of the City of Portland to resolve these claims to avoid additional expense To the Portland taxpayers who have already borne too high a financial and emotional burden for police violence against protesters in this city.

2:16:26The ACLU of Oregon would like to thank our clients, some of whom are here today, our cooperating attorneys at Brown Hagee and Borden and Public Accountability, the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, Legal Observers for the ACLU of Oregon, the National Lawyers Guild, and the over 60 news organizations that joined in an amicus brief in support of this case.

2:16:50We were proud to fight with all of you to defend and advance the fundamental freedoms that protect our democracy.

2:16:57In 1971, the United States Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black stated in the seminal case New York Times Company versus the United States that the press was to serve the governed not the governor's.

2:17:10The freedom of the press protected by the First Amendment is critical to building a democracy in which the government is accountable to the people.

2:17:19A free media ensures that the public always has a watchdog that can investigate and report on government wrongdoing, like the violent police backlash we saw and experienced in 2020.

2:17:31A free press ensures we have access to the truth even when that truth does not serve the narratives that those who abuse power would prefer to tell us.

2:17:42We continue to see that defending the truth and those who dare tell it is urgently vital to defending freedom for everyone.

2:17:51It was a recording that exposed the violent murder of George Floyd, and it was recording after recording that followed that exposed the racialized and violent police backlash that confirm that these characteristics are the systemic and nationwide hallmarks of our policing institutions.

2:18:10I urge you to interrogate the history of the city to understand why the Portland Police Bureau became the national face of the violent police backlash in 2020, and I hope that we can find ways to work together to bring a different kind of leadership and culture to the city of Portland, one that welcomes accountability and the truth.

2:18:30Thank you.

2:18:32Good morning, uh, Council President Pirtle-Guiney, uh, Vice President Koyama Lane, and city councilors.

2:18:40My name is Attul Acharya.

2:18:42I am the executive director of Public Accountability, a nonprofit civil rights law firm.

2:18:47We litigate civil rights cases around the country, but we're based right here in Portland, Oregon, and these plaintiffs are my clients.

2:18:53Thank you.

2:18:53Thank you, Mayor Wilson.

2:18:53Councilmember Herbold.

2:18:54Thank you, Mayor Wilson.

2:18:54Councilmember Herbold.

2:18:54Thank you, Mayor Wilson.

2:18:54Journalism is not a crime.

2:18:56It's a fundamental First Amendment right, and in fact, it's the only profession that's explicitly mentioned in the Bill of Rights.

2:19:03Being a legal observer isn't a crime either.

2:19:06Journalists and legal observers are a key part of accountability at protests for everyone.

2:19:11They're a key part of maintaining public order.

2:19:14They're what differentiates the public order of American democracy from the public order of say Tiananmen Square.

2:19:22The Portland Police lost sight of that in 2020.

2:19:24They targeted journalists.

2:19:26They threatened, they beat, they gassed, they threw grenades at, they shot, and they arrested my clients even when there were no protesters around, when my clients were wearing big fluorescent press vests and carrying bulky professional cameras.

2:19:38And they left real injuries that my clients still live with today.

2:19:42A lot has changed since 2020.

2:19:45The Portland Police Bureau has adopted new policies that recognize journalists' right to report on protests, And this agreement protects those new policies from change.

2:19:54We have a new city council, a new mayor, a new form of government.

2:19:58And so I urge you to approve the mutually agreed-upon settlement terms before you today.

2:20:03It's a fair settlement.

2:20:04It's a good deal for the city's taxpayers, and it'll help bring to a close a dark and painful chapter in this city's history.

2:20:12Thank you.

2:20:14Thank you both.

2:20:19Next is Mark Porras.

2:20:21Mark is online.

2:20:23Good morning, can you hear me?

2:20:26We can, yes.

2:20:26Thanks for being here.

2:20:28Yeah, fantastic.

2:20:28Council, thank you for the opportunity to testify.

2:20:32My name is Mark Porras, I use he/him pronouns, and I'm with the group Portland Copwatch.

2:20:36We understand that the 2 legal observers and 7 journalists who are the last remaining plaintiffs in the Index Newspapers lawsuit lawsuit have come to an agreement to settle with the City of Portland.

2:20:46The agreement calls for this civil rights and personal injury lawsuit to end with compensation totaling $938,328, and we have no objection.

2:20:55We at Portland Cop Watch testify on settlements like this as a prompt for our elected officials to discuss the harms done when policies were either followed, indicating a design flaw, or disregarded, indicating that officers were at fault.

2:21:07Journalists and legal observers must be allowed to do their work observing and reporting on law enforcement actions during protests without being subject to police violence.

2:21:15The short version of this lawsuit is that PPB fired rubber bullets at, tear-gassed, pepper sprayed, threw flashbangs at, and battered legal observers and journalists who were covering protests following the murder of George Floyd.

2:21:27To quote from written testimony of one of the named plaintiffs, our work was met with violence and disregard, which should never happen in a society that values freedom of expression, the press, and the right to peaceful protest.

2:21:38The lack of information about this lawsuit and even the title of the ordinance seemed designed to let this nearly million-dollar settlement slide beneath the radar.

2:21:46The ordinance states that it settles a personal injury lawsuit brought by Woodstock et al.

2:21:51Relating to journalists and legal observers at the 2020 protests, and that it settles tort claims relating to journalists and legal observers at the 2020 protests involving the Portland Police Bureau.

2:22:02We've already pointed out that relating to and involving in this case mean that police tear-gassed, flashbanged, pepper sprayed, and otherwise used violence against the journalists and legal observers.

2:22:10We appreciate that this settlement is on the agenda, as all settlements over $50,000 are now required to be.

2:22:15However, we ask you again to ensure that you revert to the prior policy of putting all police misconduct settlements over $5,000 on the agenda.

2:22:23This settlement brings the total paid out by the city for police brutality during the 2020 protests alone to over $4 million.

2:22:31What have the city and police bureau learned from this nearly million-dollar settlement?

2:22:34What went wrong?

2:22:34What discipline was imposed on officers responsible for brutalizing journalists and legal observers, and what safeguards have been put in place to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

2:22:43This lawsuit covered abuses occurring on many different days in 2020, beginning with PPB's use of tear gas on June 2nd, 2020, also known as Tear Gas Tuesday.

2:22:52On that day, families who were peacefully gathered in Pioneer Square got exposed to chemical weapons by PPB.

2:22:58Nearly 4 years later, and after a stretch of time without significant protest activity, there were multiple days in May 2024 when the Police Bureau responded to protests at Portland State University.

2:23:08According to PPB's use of force dashboard, more force was used in May 2024 than any month prior, dating back to 2017 and up until today.

2:23:17It's a bit misleading because prior to this, PPB did not include force used during protests on that dashboard.

2:23:23Nonetheless, PPB's data showed that chemical incapacitants were used on 16 individuals that month, most of which was during the protests at PSU.

2:23:33Next is Dan Handelman.

2:23:39Dan is online.

2:23:42Hello, uh, councilors, can you hear me?

2:23:45We can.

2:23:47Yes, great, thank you.

2:23:48Uh, my name is— thank you, good morning.

2:23:49My name is Dan Handelman.

2:23:51I use he/him pronouns.

2:23:52I'm a member of the group Portland Cop Watch.

2:23:55Um, uh, we are connecting the dots here because the PSU protests that you heard about fell during the second quarter of 2024, which was after the mayor's executive order.

2:24:03After the compliance officer community liaison's last report to Judge Simon, who oversees the DOJ settlement agreement, and before the first expected report from the new court monitor, which will cover 2024 quarters 3 and 4.

2:24:16Unless there's an independent investigation into PPB's use of force at the protest in May 2024, we will have lost the first real opportunity to understand what PPB has learned about crowd control during protests.

2:24:26Judging from the amount of force used, there appear to have been some missed lessons.

2:24:29Thank you.

2:24:30And now many of the same officers from the rapid response team responsible for brutalizing Portlanders in 2020 have been allowed to rejoin the RRT and will potentially be improperly policing peaceful protests.

2:24:41Also slipping through accountability cracks, the compliance officer noted in their final report that an officer had been found liable in court and asked the monitors to verify the PPB has taken proper steps for the city to maintain compliance.

2:24:52They are referring to the million-dollar-plus jury award for the estate of Michael Townsend by a jury.

2:24:56Mr. Townsend, who was expecting— experiencing a mental health crisis, called 911 for a welfare check and wound up being shot and killed by CPB in June 2021.

2:25:05The city is shamefully appealing the jury's verdict and racking up a 9% interest until the appeal is complete.

2:25:12We hope to testify before you when council asks the city attorney to withdraw that appeal.

2:25:17Paragraph 222 of the DOJ agreement requires review of civil lawsuit information to help determine whether the bureau is in fact a learning organization that sees patterns and responds by changing policies and training To avoid making the same mistakes over and over, we reiterate our request for the monitor to pick up where the compliance officer left off in reporting on police lawsuits and to focus on the policies that led to the suits.

2:25:40One time in the eight years, the compliance officer published settlement data only one time, and they only talked about the amounts paid out rather than the underlying policies that led to the lawsuits.

2:25:49It's important also that they report on the amount and time money spent by the city attorney's office and risk management on settlements.

2:25:54In this case, the plaintiffs are each receiving $44,000, which means lawyers representing them are being paid over $500,000.

2:26:01The city likely has racked up similar costs.

2:26:04At Chief Day's confirmation hearing last month, he said other jurisdictions, including overseas, were interested in Portland's approach to crowd control.

2:26:11But the new system has only been in place since June 2024.

2:26:14So were they actually interested in the violence they saw at the 2020 protests?

2:26:18It's worth getting clarification.

2:26:20We have a particular interest in making sure the city follows state Statute 165.540, which protects cop watching, that is recording officers conducting their duties in public places, and the corresponding Police Directive 635.20, which also protects cop watching.

2:26:34We understand this settlement also assures that protections for observers stay in place until 2029, but ideally the policy and training will be reworked so that nobody at a protest who's abiding by the law gets attacked by the police.

2:26:46Thank you very much.

2:26:47Councilmember Thank you.

2:26:51Next we have Jared Essig.

2:26:57Jared.

2:27:01Good morning, councilors, Mayor Wilson, Administrator Jordan, and citizens of Portland and Multnomah County.

2:27:13My name is Jared Essig.

2:27:15I'm here because bastards' lives matter.

2:27:20And that's why I was at the unlawful assemblies, um, back in 2020 that were shut down by police, usually around 10 PM, sometimes 11 PM.

2:27:29A riot would be declared around midnight or so, and that's when I got flashbanged and tear gassed and bull rushed and all that because I tried to report on the, uh, the events.

2:27:42Um, it was a risk that I assumed by choosing to be at a, uh, riot, and, um, my choice to engage in reporting and investigative journalism does not absolve me of the responsibility to not riot.

2:28:00So I did choose not to sue the city because the money is simply coming out of our parks, our recreation, our sanitation, and our clean water, our community development for a lot of Black and brown communities that need it.

2:28:15It's not actually stopping the police.

2:28:18The police are funded at record levels because you've incited a crime wave, and now everybody all over this state and all over the country are pointing to Portland as an example of why not to defund the police.

2:28:28Okay, and they hate it when I quote MLK Jr.

2:28:32They hate it when liberals do that, but I will.

2:28:33Councilmember No.

2:28:34Riots are designed to fail, and they are counterrevolutionary.

2:28:39And that's why this protest movement failed.

2:28:43Now, I want you to do not approve this, okay?

2:28:48Fire the city attorney and hire a city attorney who can win.

2:28:52Their role is to defend the city.

2:28:54That means including through political and moral and intellectual arguments and leadership.

2:28:59That's what's needed from all of you.

2:29:00Okay.

2:29:01Okay, pay out $9,000 at most, maybe $1,000 to each of them.

2:29:06That's the most they deserve.

2:29:07Okay, this is a massive wealth transfer away from the taxpayers toward plaintiffs' attorneys and toward media technology professionals who want to engage in the form of Fight Club-style news entertainment.

2:29:19Okay, this was on the front page of the Oregonian today, by the way, and the Oregonian reported on all those protests as well, and their reporters were not parties to this lawsuit.

2:29:28It's possible to engage in professional journalism without rioting, or if you choose to riot in order to get a really good story like I got, then you assume the risks.

2:29:43The problem is they've adopted the Palestinian strategy of protest, which is to incite violent revolution, start a fight, and then try to get sympathy by claiming victimhood afterward.

2:29:53That's what happened in 2024 of May at the.

2:29:55PSU, Palestinian Intifada, that a lot of these people have mentioned.

2:29:59By the way, that intifada cost $1 million for a PSU plus 3 months of the library being closed.

2:30:05And how many hundreds of people died in the murder epidemic in Portland as a result of this ideology that might makes right, that you can just join a mob as a solution to any problem?

2:30:14And that's what Donald Trump and his cohort are doing, by the way.

2:30:17You see—.

2:30:18And that's why they're in power.

2:30:21Thank you, sir.

2:30:21We appreciate your perspective.

2:30:23Thank you for being here.

2:30:29That concludes testimony.

2:30:32Councilors, I don't see anybody in the queue.

2:30:34Is there any discussion on this agenda item?

2:30:36Councilor Kanal?

2:30:38Yeah, I'd like to invite the presenters to come back, please.

2:30:41So, um, this is our first settlement.

2:30:44I, I had a couple questions that, uh, I had asked for as it relates to settlements going forward.

2:30:49And there are 4 things that I think we should be looking to do, colleagues, on these.

2:30:54And I'll— I think one of them's been addressed, and I'd like to ask some questions about the other 3.

2:30:59Yeah.

2:31:00So I put in a standing request that settlements will no longer be on the consent agenda for the duration of my term in office.

2:31:07This ensures both transparency and the opportunity for public comment on the expenditure of public dollars.

2:31:13To the community, you should not have to request that this happen.

2:31:16You deserve that transparency and opportunity to comment.

2:31:18So that's why I put in that request.

2:31:21Um, I requested that staff also include in, in the presentation a specific description of the allegation rather than just something like a motor vehicle collision involving X bureau, um, but a summary of what the plaintiff alleged.

2:31:33So I'll ask the city attorneys, could you please put into the record, uh, what it is that the plaintiffs alleged in their claim.

2:31:41And that does not imply that the city agrees with it.

2:31:43I want to be very clear with that, but I— that we're putting into the record the allegation.

2:31:48Uh, yes, I should have those here.

2:31:54All right, so as I said, there were 9 individual plaintiffs.

2:31:58Uh, so plaintiff Doug Brown alleged that on June 12th, 2020, PPB fired a flashbang grenade directly at them and hit them with their bats.

2:32:08Also alleges that on June 14th, 2020, PPB threatened to arrest them so that they left the scene and were unable to continue as a legal observer.

2:32:18Brian Connolly alleges that on June 15th, 2020, PPB launched a flashbang grenade directly at them after seeing that they were using their camera.

2:32:29They alleged that they were later told they had to leave even if they were media and that PPB pursued them down the street.

2:32:35Thank you.

2:32:36Uh, plaintiff Matthew Lewis Rowland alleges that on May 21st, 2020, they captured an image of a PPB officer aiming a gun at them and that the officer then fired on them and that they were struck with what was described as shrapnel and tear gas.

2:32:57Plaintiff Kat Mahoney alleges that on June 2nd, 2020, they were subjected to tear gas from PPB.

2:33:06They alleged that on June 10th, 2020, PPB hit them with a rubber bullet that caused physical injuries.

2:33:13They alleged that on June 29th, 2020, they were subjected to pepper spray and later were hit with a police truncheon that caused physical pain.

2:33:23And they alleged that on August 8th, 2020, PPB took them to the ground and arrested them, causing physical injuries.

2:33:30Plaintiff Olmos alleges that on June 6th, 2020, they were hit with a truncheon and threatened with tear gas because they were recording PPB.

2:33:42Plaintiff John Rudolph alleges on June 29th, 2020, they were subjected to pepper spray while they were documenting a protest, and that later they were pushed to move with the crowd by a PPB officer who said that they did not care if that plaintiff was media.

2:34:00Alex Tracy alleges that on June 2nd, 2020, they suffered exposure to tear gas when caught in a— what was described as a PPB gas trap.

2:34:10They alleged that on June 7th, 2020, PPB threatened to arrest them if they did not leave after recording a PPB arrest of 2 people, and that later they were hit with a non-lethal round by PPB.

2:34:26They also alleged that on June 6th, 2020, PPB threatened to arrest them, and the plaintiff was unable to continue reporting on the arrest that they were documenting.

2:34:35And then they allege on June 29th, 2020, uh, PPB threatened to confiscate their camera as evidence.

2:34:43Uh, plaintiff Tuck Woodstock alleges that on June 30th, 2020, um, PPB tackled and arrested people to either side of the plaintiff, and then PPB then shoved plaintiff, uh, even after plaintiff informed PPB that they were media.

2:35:00And finally, uh, plaintiff Justin Yao alleged that on June 5th, 2020, they were covering, uh, PPB's dispersal of the crowd, um, and PPB threatened them with arrest even after being notified that they were press.

2:35:14And then they allege that on July 1st, 2020, plaintiff was tackled by several officers and arrested, causing physical injury.

2:35:23And finally, plaintiff Yao alleges that on July 2nd, 2020, PPB refused to return plaintiff's seized equipment within the time period required, so that plaintiff was unable to publish their footage with 2 news agencies.

2:35:38That is a summary of the allegations in the plaintiff's 3rd amended complaint.

2:35:43That is the complaint that would be settled by this agreement today.

2:35:46Thank you.

2:35:47Um, would you also put into the record the aggregate amount of the settlements paid out from this bureau over the last year, as well as over the last 4 or 5 years, whichever is more convenient for you?

2:35:57Yes, Councilor.

2:35:57Um, actually, I believe Ms. Sheffield has that data, or actually—.

2:36:01For the entire bureau?

2:36:04I think, um, Ms. Radich has that information.

2:36:07Yes, um, I do.

2:36:08Thank you, councilors.

2:36:09Um, let me get that.

2:36:11And so just a couple, um, I guess qualifiers on the, um, the data numbers is that this is kind of the best information that I have right now.

2:36:21But, um, just a couple things on it.

2:36:23Um, so the payment for this settlement, um, you know, hasn't been approved yet, hasn't been paid out.

2:36:29So it's— that number is not included for the, the $938,000.

2:36:33Thank you.

2:36:35Also, some of the claims are open claims, so there is a possibility that something could be paid in the future on them if there's a resolution or verdict or something later.

2:36:45Or also on attorneys' fees, there's often a little bit of a lag for those to get billed into our file.

2:36:54So let me get— so for one year for Portland Police Bureau, And I'm sorry, just to clarify, is this just— are you seeking the numbers for total claim costs, like including legal expenses, or just the amount paid out to like plaintiffs or claimants?

2:37:14Actually, both would be great.

2:37:15I was only asking about the paid out, but now that you mention it, it does seem like a good thing to add for the record.

2:37:21Yeah.

2:37:22Great.

2:37:22So for Portland Police in the past year, and this includes all coverages.

2:37:29So not just sort of, as we've been talking with protest claims where there might be like use of force or civil rights allegations, but also like auto liability if there's a vehicle collision, general liability, employment liability, things like that.

2:37:45So with all of my caveats, in the past year, the total paid out For plaintiffs and claimants has been $12,977.41.

2:37:59For legal costs, that is $8,792.03.

2:38:07And then expenses, so that can be like deposition transcripts, you know, expert witnesses for litigation, things like that.

2:38:18It's $1,038.72.

2:38:21Thank you.

2:38:23For the past 5 years, those totals.

2:38:33So I have for the one year that was all property damage.

2:38:37Our files have the money sort of separated between property damage and then like injury, bodily injury, which includes those civil rights, um, and like constitutional claims.

2:38:55And those are for the total paid out, including both injury and property damage, but I can break that down further if you'd like, is $4,525,367.29.

2:39:15And for our legal costs, that is $6,487,107.57.

2:39:27And then expenses is $404,104.19.

2:39:37Thank you, Ms. Radich.

2:39:39And I, I think that's very helpful information contextually for the fiscal responsibility element, and also it shows a trend downward, and I want to recognize that as well.

2:39:48And I appreciate the representatives here for bringing up the policy change as well.

2:39:54I want to make sure that I also recognize the 4th thing, which is asking a bureau director or their designee attend and be able to speak.

2:40:00And I appreciate DCA Myers being online and Commander Dobson for being here.

2:40:04Is there anything that you would like to add about the PPBs?

2:40:08Work to sort of ensure that we're not asked to pay out another $900,000 in the future on a similar type of claim?

2:40:16Thank you.

2:40:17Thank you, Madam President, as well as council.

2:40:21We have worked not only, as it was mentioned, city or state law has changed.

2:40:26We changed our policy.

2:40:28We now have body-worn cameras to hold us more accountable to those things as well.

2:40:33We've trained— changed our training as well.

2:40:36We have accepted the National Tactical Officers Association's standards.

2:40:41We actually train our normal officers to a standard that a team of a Tier 3 team would be, which is 8 hours a year.

2:40:51And our team that we have reconstituted receives 96 hours.

2:40:56Of those hours, it's not all tactical type training.

2:40:59It includes also de-escalation training, training on decision-making, training on lots of the theory side of crowd theory and how does that work as well.

2:41:10And so with that, we believe going forward that there will be less— we have mitigated much of the exposure that we had prior.

2:41:19Thank you so much.

2:41:19And I also just want to observe that when Chief Day was here, he also noted that he'd read the Citizen Review Committee report on crowd control as well, and that was a part of it.

2:41:28So I appreciate the transparency there, and that That concludes my questions.

2:41:35Thank you, Madam President.

2:41:37I just want to express my appreciation to the legal team for, um, briefing us in advance.

2:41:42I think we all had an opportunity to ask a lot of questions and get a lot of answers, and I appreciate that.

2:41:48And I also think that we have all learned a lot since 2020 and obviously changed practices, and I appreciate that as well.

2:41:57Thank you, Councilor.

2:42:00Councilor Murillo.

2:42:02Thank you, Madam President.

2:42:04Um, first, I want to thank the legal team for putting this together so well.

2:42:08It was extremely helpful, as Councilor Clark said, to get the briefing beforehand and to hear about everything going on.

2:42:13Um, and I want to also thank Councilor, uh, Kanal for laying out those questions, I think very beautifully, to kind of, uh, point out the fact that we are in a budget deficit and we're having these And the cost of these settlements for our taxpayers and for us as decision-makers is not something that can be ignored.

2:42:33And I hope that as we move forward into another difficult time where people are going to be expressing their First Amendment rights and the tensions will be high, that our police bureau is prepared to handle things with as much de-escalation as possible.

2:42:48It kind of hurts my heart a little bit to see the amount of money that we're spending Revisiting some of this as someone who was in person for a lot of these things.

2:42:56I remember back then I was 110 pounds soaking wet and the, you know, wearing a little raincoat and the aggression that I received from police at that time was quite intense when I was doing essentially nothing other than standing around.

2:43:11I know some of the plaintiffs too, just seeing viscerally how small some of these people are and how truly non-threatening they are in the face of fully armored police that look like Bionicles, if anyone knows those '90s toys.

2:43:25You know, it's— there's a real difference in, in that power and how you have to exert it.

2:43:30So I, I don't know, it's surfacing a lot for me revisiting some of this.

2:43:35I also think that we as the City Council have a responsibility to right past wrongs and to make sure that we're doing right by our constituents, both as people who are expressing their First Amendment rights in our city And who are taxpayers.

2:43:48And I think that there are improvements that have been made.

2:43:52Obviously, our police have body-worn cameras and things like that.

2:43:55But I don't want to— I don't want us to lose sight of the fact that a camera in the hands of a civilian, a camera in the hands of a journalist, is a very different tool.

2:44:05You can capture a lot of different things based on who is behind the camera and whose perspective is being shared and what they're choosing to cover.

2:44:14And that, that is something that's really critically important to protect.

2:44:17And the— there is a lot of beauty, in my opinion, in those who are willing to bear witness to what is happening in order to record these moments in history so that we can fight for a more just future.

2:44:27So I want our colleagues to remember that, the importance of citizen journalists and legal observers as well in this process.

2:44:35And I, I'm grateful for all the work that was put into addressing the past harm And I hope that we can move into a future where we don't have to do this again.

2:44:44Thank you.

2:44:46Thank you, Councilor.

2:44:47Councilor Smith.

2:44:51Thank you, Madam President.

2:44:53I just want to say to, uh, the plaintiffs, I am so sorry that you had to go through that.

2:44:58And I had a question in terms of, was there any, um, video on this, on, on any of these Yes.

2:45:10I mean, some—.

2:45:11Sorry, go ahead.

2:45:13Oh yes, uh, you know, not for a lot of them, but for some of them, yes.

2:45:18And for which ones?

2:45:25I'm trying to think if we can go through each of them.

2:45:28I guess what I'm— so let me make it a little bit easier.

2:45:30Um, Was that how you came to the conclusion that we should settle?

2:45:37Was it based on the video?

2:45:40Not, not solely.

2:45:41It was part of the analysis.

2:45:43Yes.

2:45:45Yes.

2:45:45And your sense was that we would be in court for the next so many months or years and that it would be cheaper just to pay out a settlement?

2:46:02I, you know, what I would say is, is no, I think that's too reductive.

2:46:11Um, it's not simply about time.

2:46:13Um, I also, you know, want to be mindful of the fact to not, um, you know, I, I basically, I don't want to have sort of attorney-client privilege conversations you know, in this open setting, I would be very happy, you know, to give, to give, you know, a sort of private briefing about the risk analysis.

2:46:32But definitely, yes, it was, it was based on a review of the evidence and the case and a variety of considerations.

2:46:39Okay, thank you so much.

2:46:41We are the client.

2:46:42The public is the client.

2:46:50Councilors, I don't see any other comments in the queue.

2:46:54I'll just add that, um, I appreciate you beginning the information you shared with us today, uh, with sharing what has changed, because one of the questions that I think is really important to always ask when we hear about settlements is what we've learned and what we're doing different.

2:47:14I never want to hear that we have to settle for the same issues more than once.

2:47:20I know that will happen sometimes, but I think that's a worst-case scenario.

2:47:23And I appreciate hearing that not only are we bound by changed state laws, but that we have also changed our own procedures and our own directives within our police bureau here.

2:47:34I hope that that means that we won't see a settlement like this again.

2:47:37Councilor Kanal noted that we're seeing a downward trend thank you.

2:47:41We also have had some easier years the last few years, and I hope that if we have harder years, we continue to see those changed directives, um, changing what things look like so we don't have to see settlements like this in the future.

2:47:56Uh, thank you all for being here.

2:47:58Councilor Clark, are you back in the queue, or is that an old hand?

2:48:01Okay.

2:48:03Uh, councilors, this is an emergency ordinance.

2:48:06We do need a motion So moved.

2:48:12Second.

2:48:13Okay, thank you for the change there, Councilor Novick.

2:48:16Uh, Rebecca, could you please call the roll?

2:48:22Avalos.

2:48:25I agree with the overall sentiment that we want to reduce these kinds of settlements because we're reducing the incidents.

2:48:31So I will continue to look at that from a poli— Policy perspective as a councilor.

2:48:37I vote aye.