Portland City Council Regular Meeting

6:38Don't bring us out here.

6:39Go back.

6:40Good evening.

6:41I am going to call tonight's City Council meeting to order.

6:45It is March 19th at 6:02 PM.

6:49Um, we have what I think is a pretty full agenda, but hopefully we can get through it pretty quickly.

6:57Um, Council, the first item on our agenda is to approve the agenda and take any requests to reorder the agenda.

7:07We did have an item pulled off the consent agenda.

7:11Items pulled off I'm sorry, do we need to take roll first?

7:19Thank you, Council President Avalos.

7:20Keelan, could you please take roll?

7:22Yeah, thank you.

7:24Um, Avalos?

7:25Present.

7:25Dunphy?

7:26Here.

7:26Smith?

7:27Here.

7:28Clark?

7:28Here.

7:29Green?

7:30Here.

7:37Zimmerman?

7:38Here.

7:38Pirtle-Guiney?

7:40Here.

7:41And then—.

7:41And could our city attorney please read the rules of decorum?

7:46Thank you, Council President.

7:48Welcome to the Portland City Council.

7:49To testify before council in person or virtually, you must sign up in advance on the council agenda at www.portland.gov/council/agenda.

7:59Information on engaging with council can be found on the council clerk's webpage.

8:02Individuals may testify for 3 minutes unless the president of office presiding officer states otherwise.

8:07Your microphone will be muted when your time is over.

8:10The presiding officer preserves order.

8:12Disruptive 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.

8:21If you cause a disruption, a warning will be given.

8:23Further disruption will result in ejection from the meeting.

8:26Anyone who fails to leave once ejected is subject to arrest for trespass.

8:30Additionally, council may take a short recess and reconvene virtually.

8:33Council adjourned.

8:34Your testimony should address the matter being considered.

8:37When testifying, state your name for the record.

8:39Your address is not necessary.

8:41If you are a lobbyist, identify the organization you represent.

8:44Virtual testifiers should unmute themselves when the council clerk calls your name.

8:48Thank you.

8:50Thank you.

8:51Apologies.

8:52So, councilors, we did have one request for a reordering of the agenda.

8:58We have an item that was on the consent agenda consent agenda item number 5, which has been pulled off the consent agenda, and the staff from our Permitting and Development Department have asked if that could be reordered to the top of the regular agenda.

9:17Items pulled off consent are normally placed at the bottom of the regular agenda.

9:25If anybody is interested in making that change, I—.

9:28Second.

9:29Would accept that motion now, and then we—.

9:31So moved.

9:32Okay.

9:33Second.

9:34Okay, we have a—.

9:37Do we—.

9:37Can we do unanimous consent on this?

9:39Okay.

9:40Is there any objection to moving item number 5 to the first item on the regular agenda?

9:47Okay, without objection, we will change the order of the agenda.

9:51Are there any other requests to reorder the agenda or move items to a later meeting before we accept the agenda?

10:02Okay, without objection, we will move to public communication.

10:08Keelan, could you call up our first guests, please?

10:12First up, we have Injured and Pissed Off.

10:20Next, we have Amy Stocky.

10:30Okay, uh, next Robert Butler.

10:41Next Casey DeSantis.

10:48Welcome, thank you for being here this evening.

10:53Thank you.

10:58Hello, my name is Casey and I am an organizer in Portland for Palestine.

11:02I am here to bring to your attention the harassment and violations of First Amendment rights that were exhibited by Portland Police during an immigrants' rights march and rally on February 23rd.

11:13During the march, security personnel were stationed on the perimeter and cars in the front and back of the the crowd.

11:19This is done to protect attendees from oncoming traffic.

11:23Portland Police lined the sidewalks on bikes but failed to block traffic at intersections.

11:27Our own personnel took up this task, ensuring participant safety.

11:31Multiple times, police officers targeted and harassed an attendee in a wheelchair by blocking their path on the sidewalk with their bikes.

11:392 Of our female security members were verbally harassed when standing in crosswalks by officers.

11:45One of them was hit by a police motorcycle visor prior to being verbally harassed in the side— in the crosswalk.

11:52This organizer put her body on the line to keep demonstrators safe, and for that, she was hit with a police vehicle that failed to stop, not only for her, but for the crowd of marchers behind her.

12:04Afterwards, both cars that had protected the march were pulled over out of sight of the concluding demonstration.

12:11Drivers were given fines for violations that they had allegedly occurred 1 hour prior.

12:17These fines exceed, exceed costs of $2,000.

12:21Given the clear presence of police throughout the event, it is disturbing that citations were given after the march once drivers were isolated.

12:30Council, today I stand before you in unprecedented times.

12:34Every day we are seeing new threats to our democracy and our rights.

12:38Immigrants in this country, regardless of legal status, are being made to fear that their families will be torn apart.

12:45Historically, we know that in order to beat attacks on our civil rights, it is necessary to fight and not back down.

12:53It is necessary to march in the street and rally our communities together.

12:57Isolation and fear is what the current administration wants us to feel so that we submit to their attacks and so that we give away our freedoms willingly.

13:07The American Civil Liberties Union reminds us that we do not need a permit to march in the streets in response to breaking news.

13:15We did not impede traffic on February 23rd.

13:18We kept the march moving, and more importantly, we kept people safe.

13:23This is more than can be said for Portland police that day.

13:28Mayor Wilson, I know that you care about protecting immigrants in this city.

13:35You said so yourself, and you wish to maintain Portland's status as a sanctuary city.

13:41We know that you and your office are aware of the situation.

13:45There have been hundreds of calls from Portland residents to you and Chief Bob Day's office regarding this matter.

13:51We demand that the fines be dropped and the citations suspended.

13:55We demand that Portland Police stop harassing protesters and organizers across this And we want an end to the harassment and drop the fines.

14:04I repeat, end the harassment and drop the fines.

14:07Thank you very much for your time.

14:09End the harassment, drop the fines!

14:13End the harassment, drop the fines!

14:14Drop the fines!

14:15We need to keep cheering down, please.

14:18Thank you.

14:19Thank you for being here with us.

14:21Keelan?

14:22Next up, we have David Gray joining us online.

14:25Hello, can you hear me?

14:28We can hear you.

14:30My name is David Gray.

14:32I'm here today representing the Stadium neighborhood.

14:35The Stadium neighborhood is a high-density, working-class community.

14:38Most of us live in apartments, condos, and subsidized housing.

14:42We don't have yards.

14:43This means the streets and parks are our yards.

14:46They are, they are our social spaces.

14:49There's nothing more important for Portland right now than making our city clean and safe.

14:53Businesses are leaving, homeowners are leaving, properties are going vacant, and we see for lease signs everywhere.

15:00Our tax base is eroding.

15:01We are in a doom loop where there will be— where there will be less money to fix our problems as the problems are increasing.

15:08In 2017, we were ranked 3rd in the nation for real estate attractiveness.

15:12By 2021, we were below average, and now we are at the bottom, 80 out of 81.

15:18We are at a tipping point.

15:19If we allow the core to continue to erode, it will suck the entire city down with it, and it will take 20 years to recover.

15:26We are a compassionate city, but we cannot let compassion get in the way of common sense.

15:32We need to get back to basics.

15:34We need to refund our police, prosecute our drug laws, and enforce the camping ban.

15:39This is simply a baseline to stop the tide of further erosion.

15:42Thank you.

15:43The Portland Police Bureau is one of the most understaffed forces in the nation.

15:47We rank 48th among the 50 largest cities in the U.S. in police officers, officers per capita.

15:53That's half of the average U.S. city.

15:56Half.

15:57Uh, let me say that again another way.

15:59The average U.S. city has twice as many officers per capita as we have.

16:05At any given time, there are 36 to 60 officers patrolling Portland.

16:08In a city of 615,000 or 50,000, depending on how you count, we should have double that number.

16:16We cannot let the budget crisis be an excuse for further erosion of public safety.

16:20We need to decide on our priorities and put funding where it is needed— police, fire, emergency services, and basic city services that will make our city livable again.

16:30We are a caring city.

16:31We're a compassionate city.

16:33But compassion without accountability is not working.

16:35Thank you.

16:36There needs to be consequences for those who repeatedly flaunt the law and erode public safety.

16:41Every day we delay, the situation gets worse.

16:44Failing to act now means more crime, more victims, and a city in permanent decline.

16:49Fund our city, fund our police, protect our city.

16:53Act now, please.

16:54Thank you.

16:55By the way, if you're wondering like I was who's 81st in that real estate ranking below us, it's Hartford, Connecticut.

17:04So if you want to see where we are headed, uh, have a look at Hartford, Connecticut.

17:10Uh, if we don't do anything, we're headed in the same direction.

17:12Thank you.

17:14Thank you for being here.

17:15I'm going to remind folks again, I heard both positive and negative reaction there.

17:21If we want to be able to hear from everybody and get through the full agenda, we need to make sure that, uh, folks are keeping their responses silent.

17:29Hand motions are fine.

17:30Thank you.

17:31Keelan, I believe we had other folks join us.

17:35Um, I don't believe so.

17:40I think Robert Butler may have joined during that last—.

17:44Uh, Robert— oh, there.

17:46Oh, great.

17:46Okay, thank you.

17:49Yep, you're up.

18:03Good evening, overworked and underpaid members of our community.

18:10This is Robert Butler.

18:12I'm a Portland native.

18:14So Ted Wheeler was a master at getting people to follow him Or compelled to cooperate with him.

18:28And I remember when he was at Multnomah County and had all the— his commissioners there were just terrible.

18:34But he was— that's where he got his ability, I think.

18:38So what he's done now is made sure that his legend and his regime continues.

18:45And that one of those regimes was to make sure that the Bull Run Sand Filtration Project would never be questioned, would never be analyzed.

18:54Thank you.

18:56Or rethought, even though the commissioners at the time said we need to follow this, see when we're in trouble and should turn back.

19:07So I understand that, I don't understand, I know hardly the mayor was talked into it, sort of talked into it, but I don't understand why each one of you who I've contacted, you and you and you and you by letters, I've hand-delivered them.

19:24Thank you.

19:27And not a one, not one of you, none of you have appreciated the fact that this is the biggest scam probably in the history of the city.

19:38And we're losing the difference between $3 billion project with interest and $1 billion, not even $1 billion project with interest for $2 billion savings.

19:53And not one of you has shown any interest at all at saving $2 billion.

19:58$2 Billion.

19:59So the way that works is that back in 2017, this City Council said untruthfully that we could do ultraviolet for $105 million, that we could do sand filtration for $350 million, at the major highest amount, $500 million.

20:22That was a lie.

20:23The minimum was the $500 million, not the maximum.

20:26That was a million.

20:28So now it's a difference between $2 billion and $850,000.

20:35And we are spending $2 million a day out there now while you're silent.

20:42$2 Million a day is being sunk.

20:46So we're about 1/6 of the way through this project, which means we're half a billion dollars in the hole.

20:53Right now.

20:54If we walk away from there, we can build the new one, ultraviolet system for $500 million.

20:59That's half a billion.

21:01We're $350 million in the hole.

21:04So for $850 million, we can build that thing if you stop today, which you don't even wanna listen, do you?

21:10So that would be a savings of $850 million versus $1 billion.

21:15We can still save $1.1 billion beside, Despite your negligence.

21:24Thank you.

21:26Thank you for bringing that message to us.

21:28We appreciate it.

21:30I know that there are folks here who have received your communication.

21:33Thank you.

21:40Keelan, do we have anybody else here for public communication?

21:44I don't believe so.

21:45Um, Amy Stockey?

21:48Injured and pissed off.

21:50I think that completes testimony, or public communications.

21:54Thank you.

21:56Councilors, our next agenda item is a time-certain agenda item.

22:02Clerk, could you, Keelan, could you call that agenda item for us?

22:07Amend the comprehensive plan map and zoning map for properties at 3508 Northeast 11th Avenue and 1123 Northeast Fremont Street at the request of Derek Metzen, GreenBox Architecture, LU 24-073674-CPZC.

22:29Thank you, Council.

22:31We've first heard this agenda item, I believe, in February, uh, at a land use hearing and have first read it.

22:41Today is the actual vote, is that correct?

22:45Or is today our first reading?

22:47First reading.

22:47Today is our first reading.

22:49So today is where we see the amendments that were made to the item.

22:55We had directed our attorneys to bring us the recommendations with no amendments, so it should look just like we're expecting, but we don't take a vote on it today.

23:09Is that correct?

23:10That's correct.

23:12I'm wondering if our land use attorney is here.

23:16I believe that you may have been provided some information about voting to incorporate the council or the findings and conclusions.

23:29Okay, so we do need to move the findings in today as an amendment.

23:33Exactly, and there is a minor amendment to the ordinance directive A as well.

23:38Okay, and do we have anybody, any of our land use attorneys here to talk about that minor amendment?

23:42Okay.

23:45If you'd like, I can say a few words.

23:50That would be great.

23:51Why don't you do that?

23:52Go ahead and introduce yourself.

23:53Thank you.

23:54Thanks.

23:54My name is Amanda Rose.

23:55I'm a city employee.

23:57I was here for the land use hearing last month.

24:01The only amendment to the ordinance is amending the first recital, the first sentence of the second section of the ordinance that basically states that you're incorporating the findings, the facts and findings of the council rather than the recommendation of the hearings officer because now we do have final findings for council.

24:26Perfect.

24:27Thank you very much.

24:28Is there a motion to approve the ordinance?

24:31Amend these findings into the ordinance.

24:36So moved.

24:38Second?

24:38Second.

24:39Okay, Keelan, could you call the roll, please?

24:44Avalos.

24:49I'm voting on an amendment?

24:50So, Councilor, this is the land use item that we heard about a property on 11th and Fremont.

24:57And there were some requests to change the use allowances in the zoning map so that this could be commercial and residential mixed use.

25:07We are voting right now.

25:09This is, I believe, the first item like this that we've had.

25:12We heard a recommendation today.

25:15We adopt that recommendation into the ordinance and first read that ordinance.

25:23Second.

25:24And then at our next meeting, we will actually adopt that ordinance.

25:27So you are voting on an amendment to move the recommendation that we preliminarily showed support for at the land use hearing into the ordinance so that we can formally consider it today and at our next meeting.

25:43Voting first is hard.

25:46You only have the rest of this month and then we rotate.

25:50Uh, I vote aye.

25:51Done.

25:53Aye.

25:54Sorry, my mic is kind of being weird.

25:56Uh, Smith.

25:58Aye.

25:59Uh, Canal.

26:01Aye.

26:03Ryan.

26:03Aye.

26:04Queen Lane.

26:05Aye.

26:06Mario.

26:07Aye.

26:07Novick.

26:08Aye.

26:09Clark.

26:09Aye.

26:10Green.

26:11Aye.

26:11Zimmerman.

26:13So because I was absent during this I wanna state for the record, I have reviewed and have not had any ex parte, but I did review the record and I'll vote aye.

26:27Aye.

26:27With 12 aye votes, the amendment is approved.

26:31Great.

26:31So councilors, this will come back.

26:34Do we need to set a time certain for this to come back?

26:37We do have a time certain held on April 2nd.

26:42At 9:45 AM.

26:45Perfect.

26:46So this agenda item will come back at 9:45 on April 2nd for a second reading, at which point we will have the opportunity to pass the ordinance and move forward with this change to the comprehensive plan map and zoning maps.

27:03We are moving on to the consent agenda.

27:06There are 2 items left on the consent agenda.

27:14Are there any additional motions to remove anything from the consent agenda?

27:18Can we take that from the dais or do we need to just move forward at this point?

27:21Yeah, I think you can move forward and take the vote.

27:23Okay, perfect.

27:27Is there any opposition to our consent agenda?

27:32Okay.

27:33Aye.

27:37Aye.

27:38Aye.

27:39Aye.

27:40Aye.

27:40Aye.

27:41Aye.

27:42Aye.

27:42Aye.

27:43Aye.

27:43Aye.

27:45Aye.

27:51With 12 aye votes, the consent agenda is approved.

27:55Thank you, Keelan.

27:57We are moving on to the regular agenda items on our agenda.

28:01The first of those is a final report from GTAC.

28:04Keelan, could you call the item, please?

28:09Council President, did you want to hear the—.

28:11We are doing the appointments first, aren't we?

28:15Yeah.

28:16Okay, let's move on to agenda item number 5.

28:18I apologize, colleagues.

28:20Let's move on to agenda item number 5.

28:22And Keelan, go ahead.

28:24Thank you.

28:25Appoint Susan Trexler and Jonah James Jensen to the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission.

28:34Welcome.

28:34Thank you.

28:36Just share my screen.

28:37Believe this did not come through a committee, did it?

28:45This did, yes.

28:46Yes.

28:47Okay.

28:47Did we hear this in governance?

28:51That wasn't it.

28:53Okay.

28:54That wasn't it.

28:58So this item was pulled by Councilor Kanal off of consent.

29:04Yes.

29:04I'm just wondering if we need to turn to a committee to give us any information about it.

29:10Why don't you guys go ahead and get us started?

29:15Yes, thank you and good evening, councilors.

29:18For the record, my name is David Kuehnhausen.

29:20I'm the interim director of Portland Permitting and Development.

29:22I'm joined today by Stacy Monroe.

29:24She's a senior planner in the Design and Historic Resources team within the Land Use Division.

29:28In Portland Permitting and Development.

29:30On behalf of Stacy and those joining us online, Susan Trexler and Jonah James Jensen, I wanna thank you for accommodating the request to move this up the agenda tonight.

29:39One of the responsibilities of staff in this group is to provide assistance to commissions to enable them to discharge their duties.

29:45And Stacy is the liaison to the Historic Landmarks Commission.

29:51The HLC is a decision-making body for historic resource reviews and advisory body to council on some demolition reviews.

29:57This commission is comprised 7 members, all of whom are educated, interested, and knowledgeable on historic preservation.

30:05They provide leadership and expertise on maintaining and enhancing Portland's historic and architectural heritage, and they actively participate in the development of design guidelines for historic districts.

30:16Members are appointed by council for a 4-year term with an option for a second-term reappointment.

30:22In 2025, the HLC will have one member term out in June, and we'll have another member declined to seek a second term.

30:28They will term out in March.

30:31PP&D recently ran a recruitment to fill those upcoming vacancies, and Stacy and I are here today to seek final approval of Susan Trexler and Jonah James Jensen for appointment on the HLC.

30:44I'll now pass it over to Stacy to conclude the presentation.

30:48Great, thank you, David, and good evening.

30:50We're seeking 2 candidates for appointment for a 4-year term.

30:53Susan Trexler will be filling the position— sorry, let me—.

30:57My screen didn't advance.

30:59Click it again.

31:01Thank you.

31:02Susan Trexler will be filling the position of preservation consultant, and Jonah James Jensen will be filling the position of architect.

31:10Both will bring valuable experience that is being lost with our 2 outgoing members.

31:15These appointments will ensure the Historic Landmarks Commission will continue to perform their duties as a decision-making body and an advisor on historic preservation matters.

31:24These candidates bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the commission.

31:28Specifically, Susan Trexler is a consulting architectural historian with 10-plus years of professional experience in historic preservation.

31:37She has 6 years of experience as a historic preservation urban planner performing project reviews and a staff liaison to a preservation commission.

31:47She also volunteers at architectural history groups and most recently at Portland's Architectural Heritage Center.

31:55Jonah James Jensen is a licensed architect with 20 years of experience, including some historic rehabilitations and additions.

32:02He has led and facilitated a variety of stakeholders that required collaboration and participation with culturally diverse and multilingual groups.

32:11He has also served on a historic commission in the state of Washington for 6 years.

32:17If appointed, Susan's first term will run from April 1st of this year to March 31st of 2029, and Jonah's first term will run from June 22nd of this year to June 21st of 2029.

32:30With these appointments, the Historic Landmarks Commission will have all 7 positions filled.

32:35We appreciate your support in considering these appointments for approval, and as David mentioned, both appointees are available via Zoom thank you.

32:46And I'm going to turn to Councilor Novick.

32:49This went through your committee.

32:51I apologize, I should have started with you, but I was trying to figure out which committee it had come out of.

32:55Are there any comments that you would like to offer on the folks who we are being asked to confirm appointment of today?

33:04Yes, we were very impressed by these 2 candidates.

33:07I would like to ask Mr. Jensen to provide a little bit more information thank you.

33:24I'd be delighted to.

33:27Yeah.

33:27So, as mentioned, Stadium High School was a project in Tacoma, Washington, that I actually started my career on as an intern way back in 2002.

33:38Spent the first 5 years, very formative years of my career, working on that project and rehabilitating it to its pre-1979 state, if you will.

33:50It was—.

33:501979 was a really bad renovation.

33:53And so it was an amazing project, very exciting project, and one that I ended up self-publishing a book on and distributing internationally for Um, you know, alumni and, and folks that were interested.

34:08So, um, yeah, but you get a chance to go visit it, it's still, still holding up really well, and I'm delighted to have been a part of it.

34:19Thank you.

34:22Thank you.

34:23Um, and councilors, you do have a committee staff summary that is attached to the electronic, uh, report of this agenda item as well.

34:37Um, I confess I didn't look for that.

34:40Um, darn.

34:43Um, do we?

34:44We do.

34:44Okay, if you click on the agenda, on the link in the agenda, it is there at the bottom of the agenda item.

34:51Um, Keelan, do we have anybody signed up for public testimony?

34:57No testimony.

34:59Okay, great.

35:00Councilor Zimmerman.

35:02Thanks.

35:02Obviously it's an easy choice.

35:04I would've voted for this in the consent agenda.

35:05So I think we should probably start with why was it pulled from the consent agenda?

35:09Is there a concern?

35:10Is there a problem here?

35:11What are we getting at?

35:12'Cause we just went through the— I'm trying to understand what we're doing here.

35:15Councilor Kanal, you had requested that this item be removed from the consent agenda.

35:19Would you like to respond?

35:21Yeah, sure.

35:21Thanks.

35:22I pulled it from the consent agenda because it's important for us to treat our advisory boards and commissions with the respect that they deserve, including analysis of those we appoint I will be pulling every appointment to boards and commissions that advise City Council off of the consent agenda for the duration of my time in office.

35:39Just so I made that clear before.

35:41So because this is an advisory board to council on some land use decisions, that this is worthy of being considered in this fashion in the light of day.

35:48I have absolutely no concerns with the appointees and intend to vote aye, as I did in the committee.

35:54I'm just curious.

35:58Why the Veterans Memorial Coliseum is on the slide?

36:02Should I be nervous that that's going to be a National Historic—.

36:05No, it was just an—.

36:06It was an image that we selected that everyone would be familiar with.

36:09It is a landmark.

36:10It is a city-designated landmark to be protected.

36:14So we thought it would be a great image to put on there.

36:18Thank you.

36:20Councilors, any other discussion?

36:24Keelan, could you please call the roll?

36:28Council President, since this is a report, would you like to ask for someone to accept the report and make a motion?

36:36That is a good point.

36:36This is a report, isn't it?

36:37And we're off consent.

36:38Do we have a motion?

36:40Second.

36:43On the first.

36:45I say so moved.

36:46Okay, thank you.

36:48Thank you.

36:50Okay, Avalos?

36:53Aye.

36:54Dunphy?

36:55Aye.

36:56Smith?

36:56Aye.

36:57Kanal?

36:58Aye.

36:58Ryan?

36:59Aye.

36:59Koyama Lane?

37:00Aye.

37:00Morillo?

37:01Aye.

37:02Novick?

37:02Aye.

37:03Clark?

37:04Aye.

37:04Green?

37:05Aye.

37:07Aye.

37:07Pirtle-Guiney?

37:08Aye.

37:09That's 12 ayes.

37:10The report is accepted.

37:17Thank you.

37:17Keelan, could you please call our next agenda item?

37:26Item number 7, accept the Government Transition Advisory Committee final report.

37:31Councilors, we've heard a number of times before in different forums from our GTAC, our Government Transition Advisory Committee, but that committee So we've asked them to come back to give us a final report with any last things that we should know from them.

37:53Many of them have offered to be resources as we move forward, but this is the, the final report to close out their work.

38:01I'd like to invite you up to share with us some of the takeaways that you want to make sure we have in mind as we continue our work.

38:10Thank you, Mayor.

38:10Thank you so much.

38:16And we have Fred and Jose kicking us off tonight.

38:19Perfect.

38:21And Councilor Koyama Lane, we did hear this report is a little bit different from what was heard in committee, but we did recently hear in the Governance Committee from GTAC.

38:29Is there anything you'd like to share before our guests get started?

38:35Do I have to?

38:36Opening remarks.

38:38Yeah, so colleagues, this is the final report from the Government Transition Advisory Committee, or GTAC.

38:44The previous council appointed GTAC in March 2023, and it sunsets this month.

38:50This important volunteer committee was tasked with ensuring effective and efficient implementation of charter reform, engaging the public, and providing advice to the city.

39:00So last week, we welcomed GTAC to the Governance Committee for a robust and targeted discussion on both policy movement and budget development and how the community can participate in both.

39:11Today provides an opportunity for GTAC to now give an overview of all of its work.

39:16The current co-chairs will present the final report, and then we will have ample time for councilor questions and discussion.

39:26And many GTAC members are here to participate in this discussion.

39:29We'll take public testimony at the end.

39:30We will vote to accept the report.

39:31Thank you.

39:34We will vote if we're going to accept the report.

39:36With that, I welcome up—.

39:38Well, you're already here—.

39:39Fred Neal and Jose Gamero-Georgeson, current co-chairs of the Government Transition Advisory Committee, to present the final report.

39:48Thank you so much for being here.

39:51Go ahead and introduce yourselves and jump in.

39:53Thank you.

39:54Thank you, Madam President.

39:55Thank you, Council.

39:57My name is Fred Neal, and I'm here with Jose Gamero-Georgeson.

39:59Georgerson.

40:00We are the current co-chairs of the Government Transition Advisory Committee, GTAC.

40:05The GTAC was appointed by the mayor and council in March 2023, and our term concludes this month.

40:12We were tasked with ensuring effective and efficient implementation of charter reform, engaging the public, and providing strategic research-informed advice to the city.

40:24GTAC members represent a cross-section of Portland, and we are united in involving Portlanders in the successful transition of our government.

40:34We hope that our work and our advice provides crucial community input into your elected positions and the new form of government.

40:45Next slide, please.

40:48Jose and I will give a 20 to 25 minute presentation that covers our appreciations, how we did our work, advice to city transition leadership, lessons learned, our recommendations for new city leadership, and the guidance we have for the city going forward.

41:05We ask that you hold your questions and comments till the end of our presentation when we will have time for questions and discussion.

41:12Many members of GTAC are here today to join the discussion.

41:16Next slide, please.

41:20We want to begin by acknowledging that the transition to a new government has been remarkably successful.

41:26The signature features of the charter amendments— a ranked-choice voting election, new council districts, and the replacement of the commission form of government with a mayor, a city administrator, and a legislative council— have been implemented.

41:40Substantial additional work has been done, from the physical renovations of City Hall to the collection of staffing, code, administrative, and organizational changes made to support the new government.

41:52We recognize the early success of the Salary Commission and the Independent District Commission in setting up the basic parameters for the first ranked-choice voting election of the entire suite of elected officials in the new government.

42:06Then the November 2024 election became a major focus.

42:11The development of election rules and processes was a remarkable collaboration across multiple jurisdictions and offices in an incredibly narrow window of time, resulting in a technically flawless first-ever ranked-choice election in Portland.

42:27Members of the GTAC deployed as community educators in voter education efforts, seeing firsthand the excitement and enthusiasm building in the weeks before the election.

42:38By the first council meeting in January of this year, the transition had provided the council with the basic tools necessary to start legislative work in the new government.

42:47And where pieces weren't yet in place, the council followed many of our recommendations by increasing funding for staffing and creating and populating council committees.

42:58Meanwhile, in the executive branch, several budget reforms regarding community engagement were being implemented according to GTAC's recommendations, and a new engagement officer was hired to adopt a citywide approach to community engagement.

43:13The complete reboot of Portland's government in the 2 short years since the vote on the charter amendments is a giant accomplishment.

43:20Above all, the GTAC recognizes and deeply appreciates the enormous amount of thoughtful and collaborative work to launch the new government.

43:29Next slide, please.

43:32Our committee is comprised of hardworking volunteers.

43:36In over 75 public meetings, we debated and deliberated how to ensure the city's transition is effective and efficient.

43:43We researched 20 peer cities to identify promising practices of good government elsewhere from which Portland might learn.

43:52And most importantly, we served as the public engagement body for the transition.

43:57In a summer of focused community engagement, we asked community leaders, stakeholders, transition and bureau staff, and hundreds of Portlanders for guidance, feedback, and improvements to our recommendations.

44:10We then finalized our recommendations consistent with what we learned.

44:14We provided 141 presentations to community groups on the city's transition, including more than 50 neighborhood and business associations.

44:2439% Of our community presentations were in partnership with communities historically left out of City Hall decision-making.

44:32Thank you.

44:33Over our almost 2 years of work, we've collectively contributed more than 4,000 hours to the transition.

44:39Next slide, please.

44:43Throughout the transition, the GTAC gave constructive informal and formal advice to city leaders in the transition.

44:49In public meetings, we evaluate— we evaluated the transition work plan, transition community engagement plan, revisions to Code 3.02 on council organization and procedure, the voter education plan, the transition project budget, and how to evaluate the city's transition efforts.

45:09More formally, we issued recommendations to city transition leaders on 4 subjects.

45:14First, council staffing.

45:16GTAC recommended expanding the number of employees.

45:20The previous council did not follow GTAC's advice.

45:23We appreciate this council quickly acting on this recommendation.

45:28Second, district offices.

45:30GTAC recommended temporary low-cost district offices while the city conducted robust community engagement to determine what programming Portlanders want in their districts.

45:41The previous council initially agreed with temporary low-cost district offices but reversed course.

45:47The previous council also failed to allocate resources to engage Portlanders on what programming they want in districts.

45:53Thank you.

45:54We understand that tonight's consent agenda includes authorizing the city administrator to negotiate and execute a lease for District 3 council office space, and we are glad to see movement on this issue.

46:07Third, community engagement.

46:09GTAC recommended improvements to community engagement and an expedited process to hire the new citywide engagement officer.

46:17We are pleased the new engagement officer began at the end of January.

46:20Thank you.

46:21And we look forward to the adoption of a citywide approach to community engagement.

46:27Fourth, onboarding of new leaders.

46:30GTAC made a series of recommendations about the onboarding process for the new elected officials.

46:35Some of the recommendations were implemented, and we believe they strengthened the process.

46:40Some recommendations weren't implemented, such as partnering with GTAC.

46:45Next slide, please.

46:48Our nearly 2 years of dedicated service.

46:52Over that 2 years, we've reflected on our journey, identifying both significant challenges and meaningful accomplishments.

46:59We hope these insights offer valuable guidance for future efforts.

47:03Early in our term, confusion arose regarding the scope of the GTAC's advisory role and how its input would be applied to the broader transition project.

47:13The previous council excluded GTAC from advising on the executive branch reorganization.

47:19This lack of clarity resulted in inefficiencies, protracted discussions, a member's resignation, and no significant community involvement oversight on a significant portion of the transition.

47:32The GTAC convened 6 months after the charter amendment's approval, placing it in a reacting position relative to the transition team's progress.

47:40Members face the dual challenge of catching up on complex work and addressing the substantial scope of the project, leaving limited time to fully engage or effectively utilize the wealth of input available.

47:55Tasked with educating and engaging the public about the government transition, the GTAC faced significant challenges due to the city's lack of a structured or consistent Aye.

48:15The GTAC's very existence enhanced transparency in the transition process.

48:20Its meetings provided a platform for open dialogue, enabling both the committee and the public to learn about key aspects of the transition.

48:28Participation in the GTAC proved deeply rewarding for many members.

48:33Fostering a stronger sense of civic duty and personal fulfillment while highlighting the value of engaged, informed residents.

48:42Our involvement underscores the long-term benefits of empowering residents to take active roles in local governance.

48:51Next slide, please, and I'll pass it to Jose.

48:54Thanks.

48:55Thanks, Fred.

48:56Again, I'm Jose Gomero-Jorgensen, GTAC co-chair.

49:00In addition to advising city transition leaders, GTAC also leads recommendations for the new city leadership.

49:07Next slide, please.

49:10GTAC has detailed recommendations for the new city leadership in 5 different areas: engagement with city government, budget and budget engagement, council and council committees, city administrator recruitment, and voter education.

49:24I'll give an overview of each set of recommendations, but we encourage you to read our final report for a full description of each one.

49:33Next slide, please.

49:35I'm going to begin with probably the most common theme throughout GTAC's work, which is that charter reform provides an opportunity to redefine what community involvement looks like here in Portland, as well as shift the The public opinion of the city itself.

49:53To rebuild trust, engagement processes need to, need to be much— excuse me— need to move much more from city government in the way of transparency, accessibility, reliability, consistency, and clarity of purpose.

50:10The new government needs to take full advantage of the new government structures and take proactive care that does not default to the bad habits and poor practices of the past.

50:23We have many recommendations related to community engagement, but our general guidance is this: a thoughtful, unified, and well-coordinated approach to community engagement.

50:34Crucial to this work is the review and reform of the city's overall approach to advisory bodies in the context of the new form of government, district representation, and a renewed emphasis on system-wide community engagement.

50:49Responsibility for the overall management of advisory bodies should be clarified, and standardization of proven and effective practices should be considered.

50:59It is also crucial for council to implement procedures and manners of communicating with constituents and increase and improve district communications and constituent relations.

51:12We appreciate that the city has launched a new citywide newsletter.

51:16We also appreciate that 311 is working with both branches of government to adopt more consistent tools to respond to constituents, as well as the individual communications you're all sending out.

51:29We look forward to council implementing more inclusive community informed decision-making processes.

51:35Next slide, please.

51:39The transition to a desiloed city administration provides opportunities to identify redundant services that can be consolidated, thereby eliminating unnecessary costs.

51:51The mayor, city administrator, and council should actively and publicly through public meetings and public involvement, identify those inefficiencies and efficiencies and how they can be incorporated into the city budget process or taken out of it.

52:11We also want to ensure that our councilors are aware of a report produced last year for the city called the Budget and Finance Staffing and Budget Process Transition Report.

52:24Immediate concrete and coordinated steps need to be taken in both executive and legislative branches of government to move implementation of the report's recommendations along.

52:36Next slide, please.

52:39Because the roles of the legislative and executive branches significantly change when it comes to budgeting, charter reform provides a unique opportunity to enhance community engagement in the city's new budget process.

52:54We believe the city can strategically build off the current and upcoming budget engagement opportunities.

53:01We want to thank the city budget office for already implementing several of our proposed reforms regarding budget engagement.

53:09We also appreciate the city administrator releasing preliminary budget recommendations in February the recommendations are providing a tool for council and community-based organizations to engage Portlanders on the budget.

53:22We hope that next year the city administrator's recommendations will be simplified for broader consumption and be part of a more holistic budget education and engagement strategy that includes advisory bodies, and that the city will have a strategic plan in place to guide budget A couple of items that we want to highlight that the city has in plan in the planning stages is the need to reconsider advisory bodies for the budget.

53:51Our advice is to dissolve bureau-specific budget advisory bodies, create service area advisory bodies, and assess and revisit the citywide community budget advisory board.

54:04In addition, primary.

54:06Responsibility for the design, coordination, and implementation of community engagement in the budget process should be centralized in the city administrator's office.

54:16Next slide, please.

54:20Charter reform provides an opportunity for council to be more strategic and forward-thinking and to engage community in new ways.

54:29You need to appropriate resources.

54:31To successfully implement your new roles.

54:35We appreciate that council voted to increase the supplemental office budgets for use at your discretion, including hiring additional staff, but we do remain concerned about your staffing levels and recognize that the funding for additional council operations staff hasn't been identified.

54:53We also appreciate that multiple opportunities existed for team building among counselors during your December onboarding.

55:00We hope that you continue to find these opportunities.

55:04The early development of a citywide strategic plan is a priority for GTAC.

55:09We understand that the city leadership team has discussed high-level scope of work for this project and is actively working on assigning a project manager and start date for this work.

55:22We ask that strategic planning remains high on your to-do list.

55:28We also appreciate that you quickly created and composed council committees, and you did so in alignment with legislative priorities versus executive functions.

55:37We remain concerned that not all districts were represented on every council committee, especially because committees are going to, um, going to be the place for significant budget-specific discussions.

55:51There's still a lot of work to do to establish council rules and norms, and this work needs a champion to make it happen.

55:58We want to thank Chair, um, Koyama Lane and Vice Chair Ryan and their entire governance committee for inviting us to join the committee last week to dig into some of these issues.

56:12Finally, we do recommend that you create a code commission responsible for recommending necessary code changes to review, organize, and update and maintain a moderate— modern and accurate city code.

56:28Next slide, please.

56:32Our next recommendation relates to the city administrator recruitment.

56:37In short, we recommend the city implement a robust, well-designed, timely, community-informed, transparent city administrator appointment process.

56:48We spoke in depth about our recommendations when the city administrator's appointment was on your agenda.

56:55We appreciate that the council approved a resolution submitted by the mayor that established a nationwide recruitment, um, that will be— that will being this spring and a new city administrator appointed by January 2026.

57:11However, the city provided a written response to recommendations.

57:16This was the response we found the most dissatisfying.

57:19The city merely acknowledged G-Tax recommendations rather than provide any progress updates on this.

57:27We hope that the council stays ahead of the progress being made on the recruitment.

57:31Improvement, and that is that the process remains transparent all the way throughout with opportunities for community involvement.

57:40Next slide, please.

57:43Our final recommendation area is for future voter education efforts.

57:47As a reminder, charter reform included a mandate for the city to provide specific voter education campaigns to educate Portlanders about ranked choice voting in general.

58:00Our advice is for the city to invest in what worked in 2024 and address the identified areas of improvement for voters of color and voters in District 1.

58:11We want to acknowledge that future voter education efforts will be led by the Auditor's Office, and we've shared recommendations with them as well.

58:19We want to thank the Auditor's Office and specifically the elections office, some which are here today, for their partnership, partnership with us over the last 2 years.

58:29And we know they are already planning on the next election.

58:32There are some elephant elements of our voter education recommendations that we want to highlight because they are outside of the scope of the auditor's office.

58:42Council should define its role regarding voter education with a focus on counselors from lower voter turnout districts.

58:53The city should also provide ways for the public to learn about the candidates, as that was one of the biggest things we heard.

59:01Finally, we believe that the voter education efforts done by the Auditor's Office should be implemented by city-provided ongoing civics education, especially in lower voter turnout districts and building trust with hard-to-reach communities between election cycles.

59:19We can go on to the next slide, and I'll pass it back to Fred to close out our presentation.

59:30We recognize that there are still many outstanding loose ends and open questions arising out of the transition, and it will be important for the city to follow through on resolving them.

59:41The GTAC believes that the promise of the charter amendments extends beyond simply setting up a new government.

59:47To realize the full potential of the charter reforms, GTAC envisions the need for continuing commitment by both the executive and legislative branches to ongoing work in the following areas.

59:59First, commit to finding efficiencies in the new form of government during this budget cycle and continuing transition work.

1:00:07The GTAC is very much aware of the severe budget constraints facing the city in the upcoming budget cycle.

1:00:13However, continuing the deep work on the government transition will help inform the budget priorities and trade-offs.

1:00:21Finding efficiencies in a desiloed government, consolidating and restructuring areas of top-heavy management, and streamlining processes are essentially— are essential parts of necessary ongoing transition work.

1:00:35Thank you.

1:00:36We also recognize the difficulty of budgeting without a strategic plan in place.

1:00:43Second, commit to a citywide strategic planning process and schedule and begin work.

1:00:50There is wide acknowledgment that the city needs to embark on a strategic planning process to guide priorities for policymaking and budget decisions in the new government over a longer term, but there's no clear path to do so in a comprehensive Council committees are separately discussing priorities, and the constrained budget will force some urgent decision-making.

1:01:11But these are poor substitutes to planning broadly and comprehensively.

1:01:16A full transition to the new form of government cannot be considered complete until this planning process occurs.

1:01:24Third, commit to creating a citywide systemic approach to community engagement.

1:01:30With an expanded district-based city council, reorganized neighborhood coalitions, and desiloed bureaus, as well as a newly staffed engagement officer position, the time is ripe for an overhaul of weak and failed community engagement practices in Portland.

1:01:47A thoughtful, unified, and well-coordinated approach to rebuilding relationships with community will be necessary, along with new approaches that emphasize trusted messengers and district-level delivery.

1:02:01Fourth, commit to collaboration between the legislative and executive branches and continued support of the council.

1:02:09The new expanded legislative council still needs to develop more robust rules and procedures and accountability mechanisms to district residents to bolster its ability to function in the new charter-reformed government.

1:02:22As inevitable frictions evolve, Formal and informal mechanisms to foster collaboration will be increasingly necessary across districts, council committees, branches of government, and constituencies.

1:02:37Fifth and finally, commit to a work plan to implement the GTAC recommendations.

1:02:43We appreciate that the city administrator responded in writing to many of the GTAC's recommendations, and we hope a similar model will be used for many advisory bodies.

1:02:51For the city.

1:02:53As the GTAC sunsets, the city administrator should add the most recent GTAC recommendations to this punch list and continue to make progress toward completion of them.

1:03:03The Governance Committee of the council should insist on regular updates.

1:03:07Next slide, please.

1:03:11We appreciate that many detailed elements of the transition remain open questions as the new government gets underway.

1:03:18New practices and procedures, new norms and traditions, and new ways of governing will need time to develop.

1:03:26The GTAC would like to thank the many people who contributed to this effort, in particular the elected leaders who took the time to meet with us and engage in discussion, the transition team who provided us with information, guidance, and important perspectives, and bureau leadership and staff who made themselves available to answer questions.

1:03:44Thank you.

1:03:48And of course, the GTAC's superb and transformational staff team of Julia Meyer, June Reyes, and Guillermo Salgado need to be thanked heartily.

1:04:00Finally, the GTAC is honored by and thanks the countless Portlanders who came to a meeting, a community presentation, a listening session, or provided impressive and useful input thank you.

1:04:16The Government Transition Advisory Committee concludes its service with deep appreciation for the work that has brought us so far so successfully.

1:04:26We hope our suggestions and guidance assists with the work that must continue, and individual members are here ready to assist you as needed.

1:04:34That completes our presentation, and we look forward to any discussion you wish to, uh, Involved with this.

1:04:41Thank you.

1:04:42Thank you.

1:04:43Thank you both for the presentation, and thank you to the entire committee.

1:04:47I know that you have put countless hours over years into this work, and putting more time into a final presentation with very thoughtful recommendations for us to move forward on is, is really helpful, and I appreciate it.

1:05:03I know many of my colleagues do as well.

1:05:04So thank you.

1:05:08Keelan, I believe we have public testimony signed up.

1:05:11I think we're going to take public testimony first, and then we will move to council discussion and invite members of GTAC back up to answer questions from the council.

1:05:20We have 2 people signed up.

1:05:22First up, Jim Labby.

1:05:30Good evening, Councilor Pirtle-Guiney and City Council.

1:05:33My name is Jim Labby.

1:05:33I'm a District 2 resident, and I'm a board chair I'm the chair of Participatory Budgeting Oregon.

1:05:39Our mission is to support more just and participatory public budgeting for all Oregonians.

1:05:45So I wanted to follow up on GTAC's important presentation to make sure that you understood what participatory budgeting is and isn't.

1:05:52Now, it didn't make the top of the list in this presentation, but in the committee it was mentioned, and it's on page 28 of the report, a recommendation to explore participatory budgeting.

1:06:01And it's a topic that's important because it's It's been a topic of confusion for the past city councils.

1:06:06And I've submitted a packet with that diagram and actually some polling data on city of Portland voters.

1:06:13But quickly, I think it's useful to describe participatory budgeting in the context or in relationship to the budgeting process you're currently in.

1:06:21As you know, when you adopt a budget in June, you won't be deciding how every public dollar is ultimately spent.

1:06:30Rather, you'll be mostly allocating funds within broad categories or to bureaus that hopefully reflect your priorities and the public's.

1:06:39You are effectively, in this sense, you're effectively delegating a portion of your budgeting power within parameters, mostly to bureaus, but also sometimes to nonprofits and businesses to advance the city's work.

1:06:51Now, while most bureaus and departments and NGOs do that, Most of the time, as you know, Portland has struggled with adequate transparency and accountability over how public funds are spent on the public's behalf.

1:07:04This is a problem that has in many ways increased and made a lot more Portlanders distrustful of their government.

1:07:11So instead of delegating budgeting power to bureaus and NGOs to make the many budget decisions you can't make, PB basically delegates some of that budgeting power directly to the residents of the city.

1:07:24Who are allowed to decide within parameters how a portion of the budget is invested on their behalf.

1:07:32So PB is a process that commits to radical transparency and accountability over a portion of the budget by a clear set of rules that outline the process and how people can get involved.

1:07:45The PB process allows residents to collaborate with each other and with city staff To develop feasible projects or short-term programs that then are subject to a vote of all residents citywide or in your city council districts.

1:08:01So, and this is, so then, and this is crucial, the city implements the winning projects and evaluates the process and does it again the next year.

1:08:13And this is really critical because it is by doing that that you convince more and more residents to get involved in this process over time.

1:08:20It's a proof of concept This is how PB in places like New York has grown to hundreds of thousands of residents deciding how to spend tens of millions of dollars annually.

1:08:32That's my time, but thanks for— hopefully it will be a continuing conversation about finally bringing participatory budgeting to Portland.

1:08:43Thank you for being here.

1:08:47Next up we have Karen Chiray.

1:08:54Karen Chire.

1:08:56Yes, um, hello, my name is Karen Chire.

1:08:59I'm a resident of District 3, a business owner in District 4, and a member of Stay Damvid.

1:09:08I'm here today to address the pressing financial implications of our current administrator/councilor form of government.

1:09:16While the intention behind this governance model may have been to enhance effectiveness, we must critically examine the significant cost and inefficiencies that have arisen.

1:09:31As it stands, our city is responsible for paying 12 city councilors, a mayor, a city manager, 6 deputy city managers, and at least 2 to 3 administrative staff for each of these positions.

1:09:42The city's current governance model is This substantial payroll on top of maintaining offices at City Hall places an immense burden on our budget.

1:09:51Currently, we also face a proposal for District 3 councilors to lease an office space at a staggering cost of $36,000 plus additional property management fees.

1:10:04This raises serious concerns about our fiscal responsibility and resource allocation.

1:10:08Councilmember Given our budget constraints, it is perplexing that we would incur such substantial expenses when a city-owned building located at 4745 East Burnside Street offers ample space and parking.

1:10:23Utilizing this existing resource would not only save taxpayer dollars but also streamline operations by consolidating our administrative functions.

1:10:32Furthermore, we must consider the importance of public accessibility.

1:10:36Thank you.

1:10:37Would this additional lease space be accessible to the public for constituents to engage with their city councilors?

1:10:44It is vital that the locations where our councilors operate facilitate communication and interaction with the community they serve.

1:10:51If we can provide a space that is both cost-effective and accessible, we would be better serving our constituents.

1:10:58Leasing additional office space for the councilors while we have a suitable facility available exemplifies the inefficiency inherent in our current governance structure.

1:11:08The financial burden of leasing, combined with the duplication of roles and responsibility, only exasperates our budget challenges and diverts resources away from essential services that our community needs.

1:11:22While we cannot change the framework of our government at this time, I urge this council to reconsider the leasing proposal.

1:11:29And explore the use of city-owned building at 4745 East Burnside.

1:11:34By doing so, we can demonstrate a commitment to fiscal responsibility and the prudent use of taxpayer funds.

1:11:41It's imperative that we prioritize effective governance and accountability in our administrative practices.

1:11:48Let us work together to ensure that our city operates efficiently, responsibly, and maximize the resources we have at our disposal.

1:11:56Thank you.

1:11:57Councilmember Thank you for being here.

1:12:02That completes testimony.

1:12:06Councilors, I see a number of folks who are interested in discussion.

1:12:11Now, I do want to flag that at 7:20 we are going to take a 15-minute break, um, to allow anyone who is observing Ramadan to break fast.

1:12:21So we will start our discussion Hear from a couple of people, take that quick break, and then come back to conclude our discussion.

1:12:31Fred and Jose, if you'd like to come back up, and then if there are questions for other members of GTAC, please feel free to invite up your colleagues to help you answer the questions.

1:12:40You bet.

1:12:40Thank you.

1:12:44Go right ahead.

1:12:45Thank you, Madam President.

1:12:48Just to start off, thank you thank you so much for everything you've done.

1:12:52Fred, I know you've been a lifelong public servant and local government nerd, really.

1:12:58So I appreciate all the time, and I had the privilege of watching you actually make some presentations in the community, which was great.

1:13:05I just wanted to say I'm very proud and actually very humbled to be a part of what you all work to engineer, and I'm glad that we've taken advantage of many of your recommendations.

1:13:17But I know we have a long way to go.

1:13:20We're just beginning the cultural change that I think you had your finger on, particularly the tension between executive and legislative branch.

1:13:29We're just beginning to experience some of those things.

1:13:32But I also want to say that I appreciate your recommendation of a work plan, and I'll look at our council president.

1:13:38Yes.

1:13:38I think that taking up some of your recommendations, maybe after we get through the budget process, It's a great idea.

1:13:46I really appreciate some of that forward-looking ideas that you have.

1:13:52And I want to say lastly that I hate to see you go away.

1:13:57I just think that your work has been invaluable, and all the other GTAC members I see in the audience that I know.

1:14:03How can we best keep you in the loop and keep you informed?

1:14:07Thank you.

1:14:08Well, thank you.

1:14:10We've those of us who wish to continue this conversation with you individually or as the council or with the administrative branch have given Julia's staff our personal contact information.

1:14:25Obviously, our Portland email addresses terminate as of March 30th, which is fine with me.

1:14:33But still, of course, we are much more I think we agree unanimously in our final meeting last week that we're all better citizens for having engaged in this process, and I look forward to a successful transition and a successful city that works better.

1:14:52And so feel free as individual councilors or in committees, the like, to contact any number of us.

1:14:59There's great expertise amongst I know I've gotten a few phone calls from your staffers, so my phone number is out there.

1:15:09I'm sure others are as well.

1:15:11You feel free to continue to do that.

1:15:17Thank you.

1:15:17Councilor Smith.

1:15:19Thank you, Madam President.

1:15:21I just want to say thank you for all the hard work that you all have been doing, and you've been doing this for a couple of years now, so Kudos to, to you and the entire GTAC folks who, who comprise of your committee.

1:15:36And I, I feel just like Olivia, how can we stay in contact with you?

1:15:41Because what, what you've done is given us some guardrails on how to and when to and what to do, and that gives us ideas on how we can maintain going into the future.

1:15:56One of the things that you talked about was community engagement, and I had a nice conversation today with our community engagement officer and to let her know that we were having district town hall meetings from, from my office.

1:16:12And I asked if she could share that information with who she contacted for the budget office so that we're sharing information.

1:16:20And you had something very similar up there, that we need to kind of have a holistic way that we reach out to the community.

1:16:27And I think it's so important that if one of us has a tool or have information, that we should be sharing that information with each other.

1:16:35It doesn't matter if it's a citywide event or not.

1:16:38I think we still need to, uh, make sure that when we're having individual district meetings, that those meetings are, um, Well attended as well.

1:16:49And, um, I think that your, uh, time and effort that you put forward, it is very much appreciated from Councilor Smith's office.

1:16:58And I know District 1 has enjoyed, uh, having you here too.

1:17:02So thank you, thank you, thank you.

1:17:04And if we can be ever of help to you, or you want to deliver a report, or you need to do something, don't hesitate to, uh, to ask my office.

1:17:12Thank you.

1:17:23Thank you, Madam President.

1:17:24Um, I just want to say I'm so grateful and so heartened to see you here.

1:17:28I feel like the new form of government gave me so much hope, and I think that people have been so joyful.

1:17:33We just had our first budget in-district meeting, and there were, I think, around 120 people in person, and then over 88 people there online.

1:17:42So just the way that people have been invigorated by the new form of government and the access that it's given people is really life-changing.

1:17:50And I'm just very, very grateful for the work that you've done.

1:17:53I feel a little bit like we're your kids and we're going off to college and we're like, no, Mom, please don't, don't go away yet.

1:18:01And so I hope that we'll still get to come over for dinner sometimes and bug you guys and ask you questions.

1:18:06Uh, I'm just very grateful for all the work you do, and I hope to continue working with you in the years to come.

1:18:11Thank you.

1:18:15Just remember to pack overnight bags.

1:18:18Will do.

1:18:19Be careful, some of us might bring our laundry.

1:18:23Councilor Avalos.

1:18:25Uh, I was excited to leave my house, so I can't relate.

1:18:29Um, thank you so much.

1:18:30I have so much that I want to say, but I think it really just boils down to my gratitude for all of the hard work that you did.

1:18:38And in particular, I feel like what you highlighted is super important— how we engage our communities, how we build up district trust, and especially around budget, strategic planning.

1:18:50These are the kinds of things that I definitely want to continue to explore.

1:18:54And I'm— I was going to ask that same question that Councilor Clark asked about how you all, you know, as individuals, as citizens of Portland, wanted to continue to engage.

1:19:03I definitely consider my office Yes.

1:19:05Very open to continuing to hear from you all and welcome any feedback about what you're seeing as we're trying to implement these various recommendations.

1:19:16I'm not on the Governance Committee, but I'm going to be whispering in Governance Committee's ear just to, you know, make sure that as a council, we are really held accountable to implementing this.

1:19:26And partly it's because of the spirit of what you said too around advisory committees.

1:19:31Portlanders across our city, they put in hard work doing research, engaging with other Portlanders, really providing valuable assets.

1:19:39And it is a shame that so often that work goes underutilized, unnoticed, underappreciated.

1:19:46I don't feel that way, of course, but I know that that is the history and I really want to make that, keep it in the past.

1:19:53I think that this is the moment to really show how we are implementing what our community is Councilor Loretta Smith.

1:20:00Thank you, Mayor.

1:20:00I think that's a great point.

1:20:00I think that the way that we can make change is through the people recommending to us, and through these advisory boards is one way, but also in the way that we just change our relationship with citizens of Portland.

1:20:08So thank you so much for all of your hard work.

1:20:10I know those long nights, I know those, you know, frustrations of feeling like you might be speaking out into a void.

1:20:18Know that I am in the void, I'm listening, and I definitely plan to follow up with you all and keep in touch so that we can keep moving this forward, because this is going to take many years to implement.

1:20:28So I would encourage you all to stay engaged for sure.

1:20:34Councilor Kanal.

1:20:36Uh, yeah, I will have some questions, but I do want to also start by saying thank you.

1:20:41Um, Portland's volunteers in general who serve on committees like GTAC, you're dedicated, you're committed, you make Portland better, you're willing to work for it.

1:20:48Portland's worth fighting for, and you do it every day.

1:20:51I'm grateful to everybody who volunteers on any committee and committed to making your services meaningful as possible.

1:20:57And even by that high standard, you've done a ton here for GTEC specifically since you started your service 2 years ago.

1:21:04And so I want to express the city's in your debt, along with your colleagues on the Independent Districting Commission, the Salary Commission, and the Charter Commission as well.

1:21:12And speaking of the Charter Commission, I want to also thank the staff.

1:21:16It's the second time we've had Julia Meyer here bring a big project to fruition successfully.

1:21:21Thank you.

1:21:23Again, everyone who supports an advisory board citywide, I've been in your shoes.

1:21:26I recognize how hard it is and the support you need.

1:21:29And it's uniquely difficult when you have a high-profile, time-bound group.

1:21:33So thank you to June and Guillermo, but in particular Julia for project managing both Charter Commission and the Government Transition Advisory Committee.

1:21:43I also just wanted to highlight that, you know, you mentioned about having limited time and not being provided with a community engagement framework and having insufficient time to talk about community engagement.

1:21:52Yes.

1:21:54Because of the way that community engagement has not been set up, like about how that should function.

1:21:59It's sort of sadly ironic and I think worth really revisiting for us as we talk about how advisory groups work.

1:22:07And that's sort of my intro comments.

1:22:09I had 3 questions.

1:22:12The first thing was about council committees and if you could speak more as to the fixed scheduling or flexibility in scheduling.

1:22:21Yeah.

1:22:21And the, the sort of very, very strict time limits we've had and how that fits into your recommendations for it.

1:22:29And Madam President, would it be convenient if I just asked all 3 of my questions?

1:22:33You know, we have a pause in 2 minutes, so let's start with a quick response to this one, and then we'll pick up your questions when we get back.

1:22:42Great, thank you.

1:22:46We—.

1:22:46I don't think we discussed I'm not familiar with exactly all the different parameters of how you're setting up your committees as far as time.

1:22:55I do agree that this is not a recommendation we gave, but having them at one time fixed for a certain period of time every day during the week will limit community engagement.

1:23:06And we did talk about that in— when we talked about the council meetings and things like that.

1:23:11If you're moving a lot of the things you're looking at into committee and take them out of council than moving your council meeting around to make it more accessible, but then moving the things you have to talk about into committees that are not accessible is not gonna go in the, in the spirit of what our recommendations were.

1:23:32Even though we didn't specifically talk about timing for the committees, I don't believe it matches up with what we did recommend.

1:23:40Councilor It doesn't allow for the most amount of people.

1:23:43You're still going to be limited to the people that can take off work, show up in the middle of the day on a certain day, probably a lot of people from this area, etc.

1:23:55Hi, Tessie Magaña-Paulo, for the record, District 1.

1:23:58I think also it's important to talk about what your agenda is going to be.

1:24:03If we know, like, as you're Solidifying your committees because it seems like there might be too many.

1:24:09And again, not every district is represented in each one.

1:24:12Um, I heard a lot of like, how do we keep GTAC around?

1:24:16And I think Jose said this in a previous, uh, public meeting, but if you invite people, they will come.

1:24:21And so like, while it's hard for working people to understand what your committees are and when your agenda's coming up, again, I think that framework of community engagement and identifying your stakeholders will be helpful.

1:24:33And again, if committee meetings are all during the working hours, because we understand you do have that work-life balance.

1:24:39That means a lot of energy and effort put into getting actual community engagement discussions, and that is transparent and accountable.

1:24:49I'm going to pause us here.

1:24:52We are going to go into a 15-minute recess to allow anyone who is observing Ramadan to break fast.

1:24:59We will meet back at 7:35 to pick up.

1:25:01Councilor Kanal, on your line of questioning.

1:40:09We are reconvening tonight's City Council meeting.

1:40:13Thank you all for heading back to your seats.

1:40:20In, and as soon as our GTAC leaders are back at the table.

1:40:26Councilor Kanal, if you would like to continue with your final 2 questions, that would be fantastic.

1:40:33Yeah, thank you very much.

1:40:38So thank you.

1:40:39I think that's— I'm good on the council committee's question.

1:40:42I want to ask sort of related questions related to advisory bodies, which is my thought has been, and I've engaged with a couple of members of GTAC on this, that, that having fewer, better resourced, more integrated advisory bodies would be better for policymaking.

1:40:59And I'd like to ask what your broad recommendations are on those types of questions, which are kind of a little outside of the scope of what's in the document.

1:41:07And also, just relatedly, would you have supported eliminating bureau budget advisory committees this year if you had known that there weren't going to be service area Budget Advisory Committees until next year?

1:41:20Yes, we would have.

1:41:23And in fact, we brought it up earlier, but it seemed maybe too early for that suggestion to be receptive.

1:41:33Clarifying, you would have still supported—.

1:41:34Because we had the bureaus intact for the first half of the fiscal year and then more or less, or then in transition, whether they talked to their Citizen Budget Advisory Committees about that transition or not, we never heard.

1:41:50And it may be doubtful because our research and survey of members of all— many of the advisory committees, not just CB, Citizen Budget Advisory Committees, was that many of them felt that they weren't being utilized, they weren't informed, and that if they did have a discussion, it wasn't somehow institutionalized.

1:42:11Thank you.

1:42:12Through the process so they would get feedback and know whether their involvement was useful or not.

1:42:18We talked to a lot of people on advisory committees to make our recommendations.

1:42:22We did a lot of engagement, and the ones that complained the most about advisory bodies were people on budget committees and budget advisory bodies.

1:42:30So that's why we talk about 'em.

1:42:33The biggest complaints I heard were from those people that they were, There are all kinds of comments about how ineffective they felt they were.

1:42:42We talked about an advisory committee on advisory committees, but that seemed a little, you know, duplicate, maybe a little too bureaucratic.

1:42:51Just as long as you standardize your recruitment efforts, that you make sure that your efforts are diverse considering the overall citizen makeup, as well as the specific areas of expertise It depends on what expertise you're looking for advice on, whether it be legislative or administrative, and there's a difference there too, I think.

1:43:13I certainly hope— it occurred to me that, because I haven't been following, I don't know, some of us have been following your various committee meetings and attending quite a few of them.

1:43:23Are you getting— does Mr. Jordan's staff show up?

1:43:29Yes.

1:43:30For those, and are you engaged with them in discussion and learning and getting advice and knowledge from them?

1:43:38Because they're— they can be a conduit from citizen budget advisory committees from the bureaus.

1:43:45It's not budget advisory committees, but work service area advisory committees to you, to the council.

1:43:55Yeah, and just a related—.

1:43:56Sorry.

1:43:57A related point on this is engaging accurately with the recommendations you mentioned, and I wanna highlight the comment you made on the status update in which a recommendation to accelerate the hiring of a city administrator, the next city administrator from the then scheduled June 2025 was marked as acknowledged with an explanation that it was actually being delayed by 6 months.

1:44:23I think it's important for us to just say we disagree when we disagree.

1:44:27I have concerns about one of your recommendations.

1:44:29I wanna make sure I say that, which is around being a one-size-fits-all for community engagement around the city.

1:44:36I personally have a concern about that.

1:44:37I think we should be allowing that conversation to play out, but I won't belabor that point.

1:44:43But my question, my last question on the city administration is, we have Deputy City Administrators, which are not a position that has direct reportage or appointment with the council, um, has a very significant role that is higher than a, a bureau director, which was sort of explicitly in the charter outside of the scope of council.

1:45:08And so I wanted to ask if you had thoughts on what a Deputy City Administrator should be in terms of its level of substantive work with the content of the work of the bureaus, and if you think that council should have, what type of role council should have in the conversation around deputy city administrators.

1:45:30Well, let me, I mean, it's maybe personal.

1:45:32We have talked about it some in public meeting that we're sort of surprised that there weren't more bureau directors or managers that were then transposed to being service area deputy city administrators.

1:45:51Is there— and we made some reference in tonight's presentation about perhaps a top-heavy administrative structure and budget constraints aside and the like.

1:46:00It's just, does every bureau of the 26 that were preexistent have any of them been folded into some other bureau, or have they just been congealed into separate 6 service areas and still maintain their hierarchy of administrators?

1:46:20And that doesn't seem efficient to any of us.

1:46:24We had some, quite a bit of discussion about desiloizing means being more efficient.

1:46:32And you've got certainly a Deputy City Administrator has got to bring those formally siloed disparate bureaus, but they have like service functions into a particular service area to make them talk to each other, to collaborate, to coordinate, and to find out themselves.

1:46:53I guess this is the term used in the transition plan, in the change management contract, is future opportunities.

1:46:59Yes.

1:47:00Well, the future is here now, and these opportunities are critical to you, I think, setting the precedent for streamlining the government, evoking efficiencies, and making sure that these bureaus are desiloed and are unified.

1:47:20Yeah, but let's be clear, as a GTAC, as a committee, did not talk about what these deputies, city administrators, should be doing.

1:47:27So yes, we talked about efficiencies and making things more efficient and desiloencing the government, but I don't want to get into my opinion on what they should be doing or whether or not we even should have an opinion on what they should be doing.

1:47:43I'm not necessarily sure that's up to us.

1:47:45Well, I'm asking you personally because, and any of the other members, because I noticed you in the unclear committee objectives section, you specifically noted that GPO Thank you.

1:47:55I would like to note that the City Attorney's Task Force was restricted from discussing executive branch reorganization, which is a problem because that— and some of the colleagues up here and former councilors as well have noted that that is one of the major parts of the charter and therefore of the government transition, that you are the advisory committee to— it's in the name.

1:48:14And so I would love— I'm asking largely to give you the opportunity to talk about something that I think you should have been allowed to talk about for the last 2 years.

1:48:21And I'm sorry to put you on the spot in this way, but if you happen to have something, I'd love to hear it.

1:48:27District 1, for the record.

1:48:29A lot of like the reorg part, a lot of the materials, even like, you know, the committee structures and all that, we were more reactive again than proactive.

1:48:40It was very hard in the previous council and mayor model to really provide any input.

1:48:48And so again, like, We, I think we've created a norm and a rule to discuss, as we say, like that this council should model in committee discussions.

1:49:00And it's really hard because one of the things we did wanna ask and why we pushed so hard on onboarding engagement was because we wanted communication in some form to be understood and clarified and accountable and transparent, and we never got it.

1:49:14Yeah.

1:49:15I think the closest we got was to the hope of seeing the onboarding session of how councilors and the mayor were talking to one another.

1:49:22But we haven't heard any updates since.

1:49:24Personally, I will say as a GTAC committee member, and again, if you want to invite like GTAC members for a future governance committee discussion regarding how do we streamline communications, because we did acknowledge you're gonna get calls from constituents about potholes and services, and how is that going to be held in the executive branch?

1:49:47And, you know, we had these conversations, but they were not in a space to be fostered and provide good recommendations.

1:49:55And I will say that the one thread common for GTAC is that our conversations were nothing— were not nothing, but were not our recommendations.

1:50:07While some people I think that's a good point.

1:50:08Councilors are wondering why we didn't fold more people up.

1:50:10Some of us, like myself, are glad that there are new people coming, looking at things in different ways.

1:50:16Like you mentioned, one size fits all for engagement.

1:50:19I don't think that's what we meant at all with the recommendation.

1:50:22Just with, like, with this, for me, having a plan, a person to oversee a plan means that you can think about this.

1:50:29We need to do it different in District 1 than in District 3 than in District It doesn't mean it should be one size fits all, but it should be that one person knows the entire plan so we're not duplicating efforts and things like that.

1:50:44Just like with deputy directors, there might be some places where institutional knowledge is more important, but you might be able to get that not in a deputy.

1:50:52You might be able to get it elsewhere.

1:50:54And you want a deputy that can come in with fresh eyes because it's a whole different system.

1:50:59Thank you.

1:50:59And so that we don't just fall into old ways of doing things.

1:51:03I've been a big proponent of doing that in almost every respect.

1:51:07This is our chance to do things completely different.

1:51:10Take it as often as you can.

1:51:11Bill.

1:51:12Oh, thank you, Fred.

1:51:13Bill Kinsey, a member of GTAC.

1:51:17I view the creation of the Deputy City Administrators as an effort to reduce the siloing of bureaus where each bureau looks out for itself.

1:51:30And if one organizes the bureaus in service areas, there's the opportunity to identify some commonality and increase efficiencies.

1:51:43I'll stop here.

1:51:44Thank you.

1:51:46Thank you, Councilor.

1:51:47Councilor Green.

1:51:49Thank you, Madam President.

1:51:51I just want to start by saying I hear directly from Portlanders pretty much every day, both in my district and citywide, frankly, a sense of hope and relief on how well the new government is off to a great start.

1:52:04I mean, we're not perfect, we're still figuring it out, but the common thread is they are just grateful that it seems like we are willing to take action with urgency in ways that a previous council would not, and that we know how to work together.

1:52:17And I just, I want to Say it's really, really important to get things right, and you guys have put a lot of work into showing us how to get it right.

1:52:24And so I just kind of want to thank you.

1:52:27So when those folks reach out, say thank the GTAC, you know.

1:52:31So thanks for your service to the city.

1:52:34I have sort of, I guess, maybe a comment for my colleagues, but maybe also an invitation to weigh in on this comment.

1:52:40And it's on how we use committees.

1:52:43Yes.

1:52:43And how that intersects with community engagement.

1:52:45And you touched on it in your report.

1:52:47And one of the things I've been struggling with right now is this feeling that our committees are really just a reproduction of an old habit where bureaus are briefing in a unidirectional way to city councilors.

1:53:01And part of it is that we have to change our norms, and we're still figuring this out.

1:53:06And kind of how to decenter that a little bit and say you're going to get some space in our committees, but really our committees are also for the community to come on in, engage in a dialogue with us directly, offer ideas that either are a fully baked policy or the germ of an idea.

1:53:24And we do this sort of discourse to figure out how we move that policy into action.

1:53:31And so I'm wondering if you can comment on what you think the balance of that might be and, you know, What a best model looks like?

1:53:40We were just reviewing this because there's so many recommendations that, I mean, we as East Tech members will not remember them all or we'll get them wrong.

1:53:47We folded— when I talked earlier about, I wasn't sure if we talked about council committees and time.

1:53:54We did.

1:53:54We folded into our councils.

1:53:56One thing we want out of council committees is your chance to have them at different times, not only at different times, but in different places.

1:54:05They're smaller committees, they're not the whole council.

1:54:07Why are they always here?

1:54:09Why can't, if it's, if your main agenda item is something that affects East Portland, why not have it in District 1?

1:54:16If your main thing has to do with Forest Park, then why not have it here or somewhere near Forest Park?

1:54:22Like, be creative to get people to be there.

1:54:28The heart of our work in my mind is community engagement.

1:54:31You hear it over and over, and you see it even in places where we're not talking about community engagement.

1:54:37Take that to heart and use your committee as a community engagement tool, not just another committee to hold hearings about bills that are just like every jurisdiction in the world.

1:54:49A critical factor, though, in council committees is that you get the right knowledge and information to make your committee deliberations and recommendations to the full council.

1:55:01And that means finding expertise out there as well in the community.

1:55:05And that's where it kind of falls on either committee staff, if you have that, who knows how to reach out in a particular subject area depending on the committee, or your council or individual councilor policy staffs that may— since you're on a particular committee, certainly your staff is involved in that, your work on that committee.

1:55:28Yes.

1:55:28To some extent, and they can tell you who's out there, maybe, or help you find those people to bring them in so you get a broader perspective, a community perspective on that particular issue at that particular time.

1:55:45That's really helpful.

1:55:46Amy?

1:55:47Yeah, Amy Randall for the record.

1:55:49I don't know if this fits exactly to this comment, but I'm not sure if there's another time to say it, which is that at the At the heart of what the work we did was community engagement.

1:55:58We were the primary citizens engagement body.

1:56:00We weren't in charge of architecting the transition.

1:56:03We didn't write the charter reform.

1:56:06We were in charge of going out and talking to Portlanders and then bringing back their experience of dealing and interfacing with government and understanding how that goes into the new government.

1:56:15And what we heard overwhelmingly was that it's difficult to interface with the City of Portland, in particular difficult to interface with the council.

1:56:22Thank you.

1:56:22The website is hard to use.

1:56:24It's hard to find things.

1:56:25And when people reached out to their councilors, they didn't hear back.

1:56:31This was partially to do with the form of government, but also partially to do with poor systems on the part of the council, despite their best efforts to be in touch with their constituents.

1:56:41So with regards to committees and getting input on committees, we invite you to think of all of these things as Opportunities to improve engagement with the city, that somebody should have a positive experience when reaching out to their city councilor and actually expect action, actually expect to hear back.

1:57:01And we have a lot of recommendations that are around specific logistics of that.

1:57:07And then also we have recommendations regarding—.

1:57:13Oh, I forget what I was going to say.

1:57:15Fix the website.

1:57:20That's a really timely comment.

1:57:22I've been feeling that right now.

1:57:24I know that there are people trying to reach my office and, you know, we're doing our best, but it's like I would like to get back in a much more timely fashion.

1:57:32So I'll be looking very carefully at ways we can be pretty creative in that.

1:57:36And some of it's structural, some of it's like prioritization.

1:57:41So thank you.

1:57:42I can't miss this opportunity to thank Jim Labby for commenting on participatory budgeting, which is something I care a lot about.

1:57:50I know it's a piece of the report, and I bring it up because we're in the budget cycle.

1:57:56We're in the season where we consider the budget.

1:57:59And, you know, I was at the D3 budget listening session last night, and people have ideas about the budget and how we should use it.

1:58:08And I've been thinking a lot about this this quagmire we're in with the structure of our revenue for our city where most of it's restricted.

1:58:15We have a very, very, very small sliver of our revenue that's even open to negotiation.

1:58:21And I think if we want to move— and I understand why, right?

1:58:24Like, you know, let's say tax increment financing as an example.

1:58:28We use that so much because for some communities it's the only way that they can really earmark money for their community.

1:58:34But when you do that over and over and over again for various different things, what you're with is a revenue structure that's pre-specified.

1:58:41And so if we ever want to move to a world where the public has trust that we can pass a general tax that is for general purpose that we can adjust and change, I think participatory budgeting is how we get there because that builds a practice, that builds sort of democratic— you're flexing your democracy muscles.

1:58:59And so I just would like our council to think about that as we move forward.

1:59:05And I didn't want it to get lost in the sort of broader— we heard public comment and then Jim went away.

1:59:09So, so thanks for that.

1:59:12Um, and I think I'll just stop talking.

1:59:13Thanks.

1:59:17Uh, thanks.

1:59:20I, I will start with just echoing some of the comments that were made at the beginning.

1:59:24It is an honor to sit up here on this side after the significant amount of work that you all and you all there that I have the worst seat to see you all, but that you all did, right?

1:59:36That, that is not lost on me as a, as a son of Portland, um, and a person whose grandfather made a lot of ruckus in these, these chambers at different times over the decades.

1:59:46It is not lost on me that I am— I have a deep privilege here because a lot of the work that you all did.

1:59:51So thank you for that.

1:59:53Um, I'm very appreciative of the work that went in and the collaboration with Multnomah County.

1:59:58Washington County, Clackamas County, to make sure that all Portland voters got through this system.

2:00:04And I think we did it well.

2:00:05And as the only guy up here who won because of ranked choice voting, I'm into it.

2:00:12Thank you for extending that levity.

2:00:16So I just, I don't want that to be lost.

2:00:19I have a couple of questions, and similar to Mr. Kanal, I'm just kind of interested in the thoughts from the committee on a couple of items.

2:00:28Um, I'm going to come back to community engagement.

2:00:29My first one is, was the GTAC able to discuss, or how do you consider the auditor another branch of the government?

2:00:43Meaning we think of the executive branch, right?

2:00:45The mayor and the executive.

2:00:46We've got the council.

2:00:47Is the auditor another outside our scope.

2:00:54We were actually informed that, um, the reorganization of the administrative end of it, whether it involved the auditor as a separate elected official or, uh, the mayor as a separately elected official, was not part of the charter change that we were to advise on.

2:01:13Okay.

2:01:13Uh, so it's were you aware in your studies though, were you aware of any location where the presiding officer of the legislative body didn't have direct oversight over the enabling functions like a clerk's office?

2:01:29Because here's why I'm asking it.

2:01:31Some of the challenges that we have is that we are, we are also working in a handshake agreement about what is possible, where to hold meetings, how to hold meetings, and we have a unique structure.

2:01:41Yes.

2:01:41Structure here where our clerk works for another branch of our government that is a challenge to meet some of those, because we are meeting a lot.

2:01:51We are stressing that team out in terms of its capacity, our contracts.

2:01:56We've had—.

2:01:56Interesting.

2:01:57An uncomfortable meeting previously that was canceled due to a contract with the streaming service.

2:02:04Some of those things that this council is trying to do some work, I'm not aware of any other government where we have that separation from the presiding officer, and I'm wondering if you learned of any in your studies.

2:02:14I wonder if Terry is watching.

2:02:17Terry is online and has raised his hand.

2:02:19Would you like us to have him speak to this?

2:02:22Oh, there he is.

2:02:23Okay.

2:02:24Hey, Terry.

2:02:26Yeah, hey, thanks for, uh, having me on.

2:02:28And before I get started, um, Fred and Jose are doing an amazing job communicating our work, and I appreciate what they've done.

2:02:38Um, we did a lot of research into how councils were structured, and most councils have some sort of clerk.

2:02:47The level of independence of the clerk varied, and supervision of the clerk varied.

2:02:54Most of them—.

2:02:56Most councils are structured around the presiding officer having control of the, of the staff structure.

2:03:04Sure.

2:03:06Um, and it's because clerks aren't a separate entity of government.

2:03:13They are serving the legislative body.

2:03:17So I think that's the, the direct answer to Councilman Zimmerman's question.

2:03:23And I know, I, I know you guys are struggling with it.

2:03:25I watched the council and auditor work session the other day.

2:03:31And it is something that we, we knew was going to be an issue, and it is something that you'll have to work through.

2:03:40Thanks, Terry.

2:03:41I appreciate you coming in with that.

2:03:44My community engagement question— I, I've always thought of the 12 of us up here as, as a pretty significant part of the community engagement apparatus.

2:03:55I think that I see you nodding.

2:04:00I'm glad that— I wanted to check in with that.

2:04:03We had, you know, it's not lost on me that most, most parts of government are not written down.

2:04:10Most are built on practice.

2:04:13A few things get codified over 200-some-odd years, but generally we're in practice mode and a few things are written down.

2:04:19So we're creating frameworks.

2:04:20I think that's a good thing.

2:04:23At the beginning of this experience, we heard some unfortunate things that I think set a weird tone, and I'm curious about your, um, understanding of maybe why those tones could have gotten set.

2:04:35We had some staff who said we don't have a role in constituent relations, just send those on to the bureaus, they'll take care of them.

2:04:43We, we don't have a role in the way that we, um, conduct community meetings, that a community engagement officer will Do that for us.

2:04:53I struggle to think that that's what this body and GTAC came up with.

2:04:58And so do you have any estimation where and how— not lost in translation, but we got bobbled in translation somewhere from the community body that you all presided over through the staff and now into our practice?

2:05:12And we're just— we're still working through some of those kinks, I would call them.

2:05:15Um, we've got We just got some, some things to get moving a little bit, and I'm curious if you know where that came from.

2:05:22Well, I'm going to take the looks in the face— for those who can't see it, the looks on faces in the audience— as a, we're a little surprised to hear this.

2:05:30So, okay.

2:05:32Yeah, I agree with you.

2:05:33You all should be a community engagement body just as much as anyone.

2:05:39We agree that although we all know that you can't do it all, There should, and like I said before, there should be one person that oversees everything so that things aren't falling through the cracks, right?

2:05:50And like you said, not everything is codified, but the problem is what if 3 councilors or 2 councilors in one district are actually doing engagement, one never does?

2:06:00Which is a little bit, we talked about why we need to have some person in charge or someone to oversee or rules in place.

2:06:07Yes.

2:06:09But it shouldn't be— nothing should be that person decides it all.

2:06:13Um, every district's going to work differently, and it's going to work differently, and the people best suited to know that are you.

2:06:20Um, well, the relationship between the council as a legislative policymaking body and the administrator and mayor as the executive branch, um, is, is so critical to this you've got to iron it out.

2:06:37Oh, and you've got to be responsive to your constituents and to the knowledge that you're getting, hearing from your community members, to make sure that the bureau administration is hearing this as well and that you have an ongoing collaboration or reciprocity as far as communication is so vital.

2:07:00And we said that tonight earlier.

2:07:03This is something you're all going to have to practice, as is Mr. Wilson and Mr. Jordan and Mr. Jordan's successor.

2:07:13And more power to you.

2:07:15But the standardization of making sure that there's a— we talk about 311 and there's some way that if somebody asks a question, we know who asked the question, we know who they asked it of.

2:07:27Was it a councilor or a bureau?

2:07:29Yes.

2:07:30Administrator, and then what was the answer, and that there's a record of that so that the citizen knows that they're being listened to and that they're being responded to.

2:07:41I think the key is collaboration, because just like the engagement officer is not going to know it all, especially about your districts, you're also not going to know it all.

2:07:51There's some places where just the regular town hall doesn't work.

2:07:56People don't show up.

2:07:57So you have to come up with different ways.

2:07:59And I spoke, we spoke to the community engagement officer specifically about that in a meeting with her recently.

2:08:05And she told me of things she did in previous positions she's held to raise engagement so that in the future when they do have something like that, people do show up.

2:08:15So, and we don't expect you to know all those different methods because you might not be an expert.

2:08:22Yeah.

2:08:22On all the different methods of engagement.

2:08:24So it really needs to be a partnership where you're working together.

2:08:30I see someone coming to the, the desk.

2:08:33I'm sure it's something good.

2:08:34Not with all the answers, but I, I may be echoing, you know, some of the comments.

2:08:40But if, if I'm understanding at least part of the question, I mean, I think you're identifying a tension between the executive branch and the legislative branch.

2:08:52The executive branch is going to want to explain what it's doing in terms of administering or executing the law.

2:09:01But the legislative branch is going to want to explain its policy and really be in contact with the constituents.

2:09:11As an analogy, which I think many would say it's not working real well right now, the federal government.

2:09:23You have the executive branch doing various things, but you have a lot of congressional leaders— I mean, different, different views, but, you know, the congressional leaders have their tools for communicating.

2:09:39Communicating with the public.

2:09:41That doesn't specifically answer the question.

2:09:45Perhaps, you know, you know, the legislative branch needs to have, you know, organized, you know, a voice for how it goes out, or it leaves it to the individual councilors or the districts.

2:09:59But that will be a tension as to how much the executive— as the executive— as the legislative branch want to have your own voice.

2:10:08Thanks.

2:10:08Yeah, I, you know, I've— throughout your comments, throughout the presentation, I see that the public is very much centered, and then this body is very much centered in where you spend a lot of time, and that's not lost on me.

2:10:21And so I think of that as because then engagement was also this foundational principle, that it is engagement between council and public which was desired.

2:10:34It comes off the pages that that was desired so much.

2:10:38And so for me, I take that as those engagement functions, if they're going to exist in the city, should be set up to enable the council to be responsive, to hear, to understand, so that the policy can be directed or that our advocacy can be on behalf of.

2:10:55And so I think, you know, sometimes you get cramps and you get knots and you got to work them out.

2:10:59I think I think I'm learning through this a little bit, but I appreciate it.

2:11:02You know, my time at the county, I would say the constituent relations on this side of the river are not— they've got to be at least tenfold what my experience was at the county.

2:11:11And so that is a significant level that I think we are 12 engagement officers.

2:11:15So thanks for you guys' work.

2:11:16I am so appreciative.

2:11:18And I also just want to say, a government commission who has an ending date sure does seem motivated to deliver a solution.

2:11:28And I'm actually fan of ending certain ones because, man, you, you produced, you, you exited, and we, we beat the old trope of government just kind of talks about itself.

2:11:36So thank you for your work.

2:11:38All the volunteers, it was great.

2:11:40Thank you.

2:11:42Councilor Koyama Lane.

2:11:45I'll be quick.

2:11:47Since Councilor Clark was kind enough to shout out Fred's amazing leadership, I feel at liberty to say thank you, Jose, for your leadership, particularly as you're someone from District 1.

2:12:01We know you wear a lot of different hats, and it's been really meaningful to have your guidance as someone who understands at a deep level the needs, hopes, challenges of a district that's been historically underrepresented in these chambers in many ways.

2:12:15So centering that through your leadership has helped make this process thoughtful and equitable.

2:12:22Thank you so much.

2:12:23Yay!

2:12:26Councilor Smith.

2:12:32Thank you, Madam President.

2:12:33I just wanted to go back and piggyback on what, uh, Councilor Zimmerman talked about, and I think that our guest kind of summarized it because there's the executive side where 311 reports to the executive side of the government.

2:12:49And the engagement officers, uh, community engagement officers, they also report to the executive side.

2:12:58And so as us, we're the legislative side, you know, we have a, we have a different mission.

2:13:05And you can't standardize that because we're individual elected officials.

2:13:10And so that is up to that elected official on how they want to engage, or how, how much they want to engage, or how little they want to engage with their constituents, maybe to their detriment.

2:13:22But we, we need to, to understand that you cannot standardize districts because we have individual people.

2:13:30We're not voted in as districts, we're voted in as individuals.

2:13:34Absolutely.

2:13:34And so therefore, we're creating something that we're, we're trying to build a foundation for.

2:13:42And so we need to have access to all the information that the executive side has.

2:13:48And I have to tell you, it, it was like pulling teeth about getting information to do community engagement that, you know, they wouldn't give to us.

2:13:58And I'm still trying to get some of that information because they have tools, they have the emails.

2:14:03Yes.

2:14:04They have the organizations that they've reached out to, but they're only actually using that for citywide services.

2:14:12So I just think that is just unconscionable.

2:14:14But at any rate, so we have to understand who we are, where we're at, and that we're elected individually, and you can't call us District 1 and assume that it is all going to be the same because it's not.

2:14:28I agree with you.

2:14:29Like I said, everything's gonna have to change depending on who's working.

2:14:34And I do implore the executive branch and you guys to work together, especially at a time like this.

2:14:43Ideally, you would have your own engagement officer and you'd have certain resources that are yours.

2:14:49Exactly.

2:14:49But we are in a money situation that that might not be tenable.

2:14:53So there's gonna be a need for flexibility.

2:14:56Yeah.

2:14:56Maybe that can change in the future.

2:14:58But we talk about you having the appropriate resources to do your work.

2:15:01Those are the kinds of things we're talking about.

2:15:03You need to be adequately staffed and resourced to do all that.

2:15:08And we've heard public testimony that some people don't like saying you need more staff to do this.

2:15:14But in my opinion and experience, community engagement is how we get the city on track and it is how we get the public engaged with everything you're doing.

2:15:25So where, what, where else are we going to spend the money?

2:15:27And, and remember, Jose, um, resources don't always equal money.

2:15:33Resources means data, information that's shared between the different, um, executive and legislative levels.

2:15:42That's what I'm talking about.

2:15:43It's still money.

2:15:44It goes back and—.

2:15:45Staff time.

2:15:46Yes.

2:15:47Thank you.

2:15:50Um, yeah, I just want to speak to this a little bit because, um, part of our mission was to reach out to Portlanders traditionally left out of City Hall.

2:15:57And I don't know how well we succeeded with that, but we spent a lot of time in conversation with communities that are very disenfranchised and, um, upset.

2:16:06Frankly, they've had pretty bad experiences dealing with City Hall.

2:16:10And over and over we heard again that they simply want to be listened to and that if they are offering feedback to the city, that the city is acting on that feedback.

2:16:20Those relationships have been burned over and over again out in community because of the city's disorganized way of engaging with the community.

2:16:29And this is a moment for exceptional leadership for you all, um, to really see that on a meta level and really understand that the city can't go on engaging with communities like that, like asking, asking, asking, and then not delivering.

2:16:45And then and then be surprised when it's difficult to do community engagement.

2:16:48So we invite you to recognize this moment of exceptional leadership and that you guys are asked to think of this in a way that is exceptional to your roles as councilors.

2:16:59You are architecting a new government, and this is a really unusual thing.

2:17:04And we invite you to meet the moment at the grandeur that you are.

2:17:08You are.

2:17:09We're so excited to see you all doing that.

2:17:11And that community engagement is at the core of so many of our recommendations because it is at the core of the city building trust with the people again and building trust that you guys are going to actually deliver on what Portlanders are wanting.

2:17:25And to add to what you're saying is that a lot of people think that 311 is our offices and they have to engage via, um, that, you know, email.

2:17:36And 311 is not us.

2:17:37Yes.

2:17:38And so they don't understand that.

2:17:40And so they send out an email and they correspond with 311, and all they want to do is talk and be referred to their, um, their elected person.

2:17:50And so the way it was set up was for them to go through 311 and then 3 layers down get to us, and, and that's not great.

2:17:59So I, I have changed the telephone number for me on the 311, that it doesn't go through that system, that they— it comes to my office if they want to talk to me.

2:18:10So thank you.

2:18:12Yeah, it's the user experience details that you all are going to exceptionally need to be mindful of and think about.

2:18:22Thanks.

2:18:23Um, this is Juliet Himes from the GTAC, and this is when I implore you to work with your neighborhood associations and coalitions they're such a great resource.

2:18:32They're anxious to work with you.

2:18:34My neighborhood association has already met with all of our District 4 councilors, and they have gone through a lot and contorted themselves to fit in with this new charter.

2:18:45This is really the kind of the third, uh, really bumpy transition they've been through in the last probably 15 years.

2:18:55And I implore you, they, they, they're ready for your support, and they're ready to support you back.

2:19:03Again, um, again, and I think this goes back to why we recommended service-aligned advisory bodies to really have a place where we can talk about service concerns and have the public engage with that.

2:19:16We also, um, in our recommendations, we want— we recommended that the standing committees reflect legislative priorities, but in order to have that be effective.

2:19:26We really then encourage creating a strategic priority, strategic plan.

2:19:32That way, when things come to attention and we need to make sure that the council and the executive are collaborating, is because we as a city have agreed to certain priorities.

2:19:44Um, I think as a council, or as a committee, we did talk about that.

2:19:48We imagined that the city administrator and Deputy City Administrator— sorry, it's been a second since I've seen the org chart— actually be present at some of these committee discussions.

2:20:02Because again, while there is the distinction of the executive duties, you are setting and aligning to priorities and building legislation.

2:20:11And that's again, I think, what's powerful about having service connected advisory bodies to help funnel that.

2:20:20And I'm so sorry, Councilor Smith, that that was your experience.

2:20:22I think this is the beauty of having transparency and accountability in a committee session.

2:20:31Other people's experience when they try to get connected with me, it's a lot of folks' experience.

2:20:36And then people who know me, they call me on my cell phone.

2:20:38I said, they say, I can't get to you through your, through your office, they're sending me to an email.

2:20:42Thank you.

2:20:43And, um, I looked at the website, and it is great to have a website.

2:20:48I think this is when streamlined communications— this is again not a one-size-fits-all, but at least some level of coordination so that when somebody goes into your website, like, the, the voting record is new, that's great.

2:21:01The, the district maps and who's where, and like, there— some people have more information, some people have less, but at least having a landing space so that they can interact.

2:21:10Um, we, we uplifted 311 because they were great in the voter education stuff, but I think again this is where, where the tension of where the executive and the legislative come out.

2:21:21Um, we, when I, when we were talking about it, we, we assumed that that level of city administrator and inviting to the committees, that that was where the dialogue could happen, and that in my opinion is what we were for, what we were for.

2:21:36Um, and it's hard to capture that in a report.

2:21:39Those are, you know, lost in discussions.

2:21:46Thank you.

2:21:46Councilor Ryan.

2:21:49Thanks.

2:21:49Thank you, Madam President.

2:21:51Um, I have had the pleasure of having a meeting with you before the committee meeting, then we had the committee meeting, and now there's this.

2:21:59And I have to say the third time was the best of all because there were some great questions that were asked.

2:22:04And I really appreciate the last dialogue we were having because we're experiencing those growing pains in real time on how the legislative branch and the executive branch work together.

2:22:14I think it's natural that this is happening.

2:22:16I really appreciate you being here, Annie Von Berg, the Assistant City Administrator.

2:22:21It was noticeable that I didn't see anyone over there earlier.

2:22:24Yeah.

2:22:24So I just want to thank you for being here this evening.

2:22:26It's really good to have someone in person in that, in that box.

2:22:30Um, I just want to say a few thank yous, uh, because I've had the pleasure of experiencing all of you in the last, um, highly regarded, uh, City Council.

2:22:39You can all like say laugh or whatever, um, with all the praise that you were giving us on how you were dealt with.

2:22:45And so it's been very healing to have an opportunity to be with this group and to be in all these meetings with you of late.

2:22:51I did always see you.

2:22:53It was clunky at best, but I just like that you hung in there the whole time.

2:22:59And I also want to just say a few things, like you've been very helpful.

2:23:03Well, first of all, serving with you, Chair Koyama Lane, you're like so gracious in how you welcomed them and really included them in the early days of building the governance So I hope you really noticed that, that we wanted to take your— the artifacts of your intelligence and make sure that we use that as foundational as we're building this.

2:23:25And so I've had the pleasure of being a part of that, and it's been really wonderful.

2:23:29I also think you've been affirming because you've also just like, okay, check, we're doing that, check, we're doing that.

2:23:35Like, there was a lot of marching orders you gave that I don't even know if we are conscious of this.

2:23:41Yeah.

2:23:41But we were guiding, we were being guided along by a lot of your recommendations.

2:23:46I do think I'm a little bit of a critic of how many committees we have.

2:23:52I think it's going to be wildly inefficient in the future if we continue to have this many committees with the amount of staff we have on the admin side because—.

2:24:02Mm-hmm.

2:24:03It just is.

2:24:04And we're stretching the auditor's office, we're stretching the admin side.

2:24:08So I think your recommendations were built on 4.

2:24:10I'm not saying we have to go down to 4, But I do think that you guided us towards rethinking that.

2:24:15And I hope that we do have some robust discussions about that.

2:24:19Losing almost everybody up here with that thought, I just want to again say thank you so much for all the work that you've done.

2:24:27It's been a real pleasure to dive in with you the last month and a half.

2:24:29Thanks.

2:24:33Seeing no one else in the queue, I think we'll let you go from all of the questions.

2:24:42With much gratitude from everybody up here for all the work that you've put in.

2:24:49Keelan.

2:24:50Thank you.

2:24:51I believe since this is a report, we need a motion to accept the report.

2:24:56So moved.

2:24:57Second.

2:24:58Sorry, who seconded?

2:25:02Commissioner Smith.

2:25:03Councilor Smith did.

2:25:04Did you get the original motion as well?

2:25:07Yep.

2:25:07Councilor Kanal.

2:25:10Committee.

2:25:11Oh well.

2:25:13Avalos.

2:25:14Huh?

2:25:15I need to be there for that.

2:25:18I just want to put on the record my appreciation, particularly for my personal staff who were part of the transition team and were, uh, the folks responsible for a lot of the praise that you all gave.

2:25:30Um, my chief of staff ran the salary commission and the citywide practices community engagement project.

2:25:36And, um, my senior aide Sophia ran the independent district commission, um, and the voter education efforts.

2:25:42And I'm going to use this time on the record to give them some praise because they're also helping me integrate what you all have worked on.

2:25:49So thank you so much.

2:25:50And now I guess I vote aye.

2:25:51Yeah, okay, vote aye.

2:25:54Dunphy.

2:25:56Truly, thank you all so much for the amount of work.

2:25:58The history books will remember it.

2:26:00Aye.

2:26:01Yeah, thanks again for presenting the report, your extensive work the last couple years.

2:26:06I want to co-sign both Councilor Green's thank you to Jim Lobby as well, and my support for participatory budgeting for all the reasons he said.

2:26:12So ditto.

2:26:13I also want to thank Councilors Zimmerman and Smith for sort of building out my concern really well on the, the conversation.

2:26:19We need to lead on engagement in this form of government, and this also relates to what Councilor Green talked about with getting fed information from bureaus.

2:26:28So we do need our own capacity for engagement that's not filtered through the administrative side.

2:26:32And I say that here to say I am sorry that we're spending more time on the disagreement point because that's kind of how it works to some degree.

2:26:39But it does seem most councilors agree with most of your recommendations.

2:26:43And I also want to note that the fact that we're talking about the disagreement is actually a good thing because normally the capital C city used to hide the disagreement with advisory groups through ignoring you.

2:26:53And I think it's really good if we're modeling actual engagement with your recommendations, and I hope you agree.

2:26:59This is a historic time for the city.

2:27:01I appreciate you shouting out that this was a very successful election and a lot of the transition is going really well.

2:27:07We couldn't have gotten here without your input along the way.

2:27:09The recommendations will be continually helpful as we go forward, and I think as we hold budget listening sessions, I think we'll continue to see the recommendations around that.

2:27:18Yeah.

2:27:18Because the first one was very successful.

2:27:21One other thing to think about as we work to embed community participation is sustaining that throughout the journey that an item takes from first appearing in the filing system to appearing on a committee agenda to being voted on by the full council so that we're encouraging community input early in the process to shape the elements of an ordinance or resolution.

2:27:40And then when it arrives at a council meeting agenda, focusing our engagement there on soliciting testimony in favor, opposition, or on adjusting when it's kind of 95% baked.

2:27:50And I look forward to working with both council as a whole and hopefully with the Code Commission on this.

2:27:54So thank you, GTAC.

2:27:55Thank you, Julia, June, and Guillermo.

2:27:57I vote yes.

2:27:58Ryan.

2:27:59Yeah, I just wanna say Jose, Fred, Bill, Destiny, Amy, Juliette, and Terry, you've got yourself in there too.

2:28:06Thank you so much.

2:28:07It's been good getting to know all of you of late, and I vote aye.

2:28:11Ashley Emily.

2:28:13Thank you.

2:28:14I vote aye.

2:28:16Thank you so much for everything.

2:28:18I won't repeat all of Councilor Green's statements, but I agree with the participatory budgeting aspect, and I'm excited to get community more engaged in that.

2:28:26I vote aye.

2:28:26Thank you so much.

2:28:28I add my thanks to everybody, and I also specifically want to thank Fred Neal, who's been a major force in Oregon civic life for as long as I can remember.

2:28:37Every once in a while, I worry that Am I just outliving my welcome and should I consign myself to the scrap heap?

2:28:43But knowing that you're still in there swinging, swinging makes me think that maybe I still have something to offer too.

2:28:48Thank you.

2:28:50Aye.

2:28:51Ditto.

2:28:51Councilor Novick is one of those old-timers with Fred.

2:28:55And thank you both, Jose and Fred, for presenting tonight, and all the members of the GTAC.

2:28:59Aye vote aye.

2:29:02Thank you, members of GTAC.

2:29:04You get the Mitch Green stamp of approval.

2:29:07I want to specifically thank Bill for your service both in the federal government and now.

2:29:12Once a public servant, always a public servant.

2:29:14I vote aye.

2:29:19Aye.

2:29:20Adding my gratitude to what others have said, I also just want to call out that I know there are additional recommendations that didn't make it into your report that are also very important.

2:29:30We will be looking at there was information you highlighted for the Governance Committee that we didn't talk about tonight that I know will be guiding the work of that committee.

2:29:40And as I go about the work as Council President and think about the precedent that we set in every action we take, I try to make sure that I'm thinking about the values that you've uplifted and that Portlanders uplifted through your work and through the opportunities that you provided, and really try to think about the ways that we can make our work easier to follow, easier to understand, and more accessible to Portlanders.

2:30:04So thank you not only for your work, but for creating space for all of our neighbors' voices through your work.

2:30:13Aye.

2:30:15The report is accepted with 12 aye votes.

2:30:22Councilors, we have a couple of more administrative items now.

2:30:26Keelan, could you please read items 8, 9, 10, and 11 together?

2:30:32Item 8, initiate foreclosure action on 11514 Southeast Alder Street for the collection of delinquent city liens placed against the property.

2:30:42Item 9, initiate foreclosure action on 10218 North Tyler Avenue for the collection of delinquent city item 10, initiate foreclosure action on 111 Northeast Killingsworth Street for the collection of delinquent city liens placed against the property.

2:31:02Item 11, initiate foreclosure action on 4121 Northeast Grand Avenue for the collection of delinquent city liens placed against the property.

2:31:13Thank you.

2:31:14And councilors, when we originally heard these thank you.

2:31:17Thank you.

2:31:17Councilor Herbold.

2:31:17Thank you, Mayor Wilson.

2:31:17Regarding these items, we were told that on item 8, the foreclosure at 11514 Southeast Alder Street, would be removed from the list if the payment plan that had been proposed was agreed to and a first payment was made.

2:31:32That has happened, so we are referring item 8 back to Mayor Wilson's office and will be discussing items 9, 10, and 11.

2:31:47Um, I believe there is not any more public comment accepted on these.

2:31:51So, councilors, is there any discussion on agenda items 9, 10, or 11?

2:31:56We do have staff here if there are any questions.

2:31:59Are we going to vote for all of them at the same time too?

2:32:01We'll vote for each one individually.

2:32:03Okay.

2:32:04Councilor Ryan.

2:32:06Yeah, I have a question.

2:32:07Number 11— let's see, number 10.

2:32:11I voted on this before, and that was like a year ago.

2:32:15And so I just want to know, will I have to keep voting on this every 6 months to a year?

2:32:19Could you please—.

2:32:21And then we also passed the legislation that took this from a year to 3 months.

2:32:26This has been quite baffling.

2:32:28For the record, I'll state my name.

2:32:30Kevin Foster, foreclosure prevention manager for the city.

2:32:34So this property It is go.

2:32:37It depends on whether you guys vote to approve it for it or not, but we will proceed with foreclosure.

2:32:41We do have the current owner is in negotiations with the buyer Habitat for Humanity to purchase the property, and their goal is to demolish the property and build four town four townhomes there.

2:32:56So that's where we're at, and I will definitely keep you posted on the progress of that.

2:33:01Thank you.

2:33:01I appreciate that.

2:33:07Just a question for you, Madam President.

2:33:09Um, do we have to vote separately on the referral back to the mayor's office?

2:33:13Uh, I have been told that we don't have to.

2:33:16I will look both to our clerk and to our attorney to make sure that we're getting head nods saying we don't have to.

2:33:22Okay, councilors, any other questions or comments So moved.

2:33:30I think, I think we don't actually need a motion on this one.

2:33:32I'm just encouraging it.

2:33:35Keelan, could you please call the roll separately, but we'll move forward on items 9, 10, and 11?

2:33:41Yes, thank you.

2:33:43Item 9, Avalos?

2:33:46Aye.

2:33:46Dunphy?

2:33:47Aye.

2:33:47Smith?

2:33:48Aye.

2:33:49Kanal?

2:33:49Aye.

2:33:50Aye.

2:33:51Koyama Lane?

2:33:52Aye.

2:33:53Morillo?

2:33:54Aye.

2:33:54Novick?

2:33:55Aye.

2:33:56Clark?

2:33:56Aye.

2:33:57Green?

2:33:57Aye.

2:33:58Zimmerman?

2:33:59Aye.

2:33:59Pirtle-Guiney?

2:34:00Aye.

2:34:01The ordinance is passed with 12 aye votes.

2:34:04Item 10.

2:34:08Avalos?

2:34:09Aye.

2:34:11Dunphy?

2:34:11Aye.

2:34:12Smith?

2:34:13Aye.

2:34:13Aye.

2:34:14Aye.

2:34:14Aye.

2:34:15Aye.

2:34:19Aye.

2:34:19Novick?

2:34:20Aye.

2:34:20Clark?

2:34:21Aye.

2:34:23Aye.

2:34:24Aye.

2:34:26Smith?

2:34:36Aye.

2:34:36No.

2:34:37Aye.

2:34:38Aye.

2:34:39Ojeda?

2:34:40Aye.

2:34:41Aye.

2:34:42Novick?

2:34:43Aye.

2:34:44Aye.

2:34:45Aye.

2:34:47Aye.

2:34:48Aye.

2:34:50Aye.

2:34:51This is passed with 12 aye votes.

2:34:56Thank you.

2:34:58Our next agenda item is another second reading.

2:35:02Um, this is a property transfer that we heard about at our last council meeting.

2:35:08Uh, Keelan, could you read the title?

2:35:11Item 12, declare property located at intersection of I-405 and Southwest Naito Parkway as surplus property and authorize Bureau of Transportation to dispose of property to Oregon Department of Transportation in exchange for accepting property at west end of Steel Bridge ramps.

2:35:29Thank you.

2:35:29Councilors, are there any comments or questions?

2:35:32I do believe we have staff available if there are questions.

2:35:40Okay, Keelan, could you call the roll?

2:35:43Avalos.

2:35:44Dunphy.

2:35:45Yes.

2:35:45Smith.

2:35:46Green.

2:35:47Kanal.

2:35:48Yes.

2:35:50Yeah, I just want to say a couple things.

2:35:51I'm just so excited that we're moving the Old Town Skate Park project forward after 20 years' journey to finally come to fruition, transforming this underutilized area into a recreation destination destination will be a tremendous asset in helping activate Old Town, which is what our businesses, our families, our neighbors, our guests, and our nearby hotels desire, because joyful activation equals revenue and public safety.

2:36:15Aye.

2:36:17Aye.

2:36:19Aye.

2:36:21Aye.

2:36:22Uh, Councilor Ryan, let's just hope it doesn't take another 20 years.

2:36:26Aye.

2:36:28I just want to also express my gratitude that this is moving forward.

2:36:32I look forward to attempting to shred myself and very publicly humiliating and breaking every bone in my body.

2:36:39I vote aye.

2:36:43I have no intention of ever setting foot on the thing, but I'll drink a beer while he falls on his ass.

2:36:49And I appreciate those in the back who made this happen.

2:36:51So thank you, and I vote aye.

2:36:56Uh, District 4 councilors, I'm really looking forward to this ribbon cutting.

2:37:02Aye.

2:37:02The ordinance is passed with 12 aye votes.

2:37:08Councilors, we are moving on to the final item on our agenda.

2:37:14Keelan, could you please read item 13?

2:37:18Declare action concerning Zenith Energy Terminal Holdings, LLC, including placing communications into the public record, demanding the mayor to investigate violations of the Zenith franchise agreement, and urging the auditor to conduct an investigation into the competing statements and arguments heard by council on January 21st, 2025 by city staff, Zenith, and members of the public.

2:37:43Second.

2:37:51Councilors, I just, um, heard from staff that there's an ask for a brief recess.

2:37:56Um, are there any objections to taking a 5-minute recess?

2:38:02Okay, uh, we are going to recess for 5 minutes.

2:38:06We will come back at 8:39.

2:38:08Councilors, Going to call us back into council.

2:46:15If folks can take their seats, please.

2:46:18I apologize for that brief recess.

2:46:21There was some updated information about our current agenda item that staff wanted to make sure councilors had an opportunity to check in about.

2:46:36So councilors, we have had a few agenda items come out of committee, but this is actually our first major policy item that has come out of a committee, and we are going to try something thank you.

2:46:51Thank you, Mayor Wilson.

2:46:51So for those of you who are new tonight, we have a fantastic team in our Council Operations Office, including our policy analysts who help to staff our committee meetings.

2:47:04And Claire Adamsick has prepared a committee staff summary of this resolution and is going to come up, or is at the table, to share pieces of that summary with us.

2:47:20The staff summary is attached to the agenda item.

2:47:24If any of you have that pulled up, or for folks who are watching online, you can see the full overview of the staff summary there.

2:47:32And Claire will go over just a few of the highlights of that with us now.

2:47:38Thank you, Madam President and councilors.

2:47:39For the record, Claire Adamsick with Council Operations and also staff to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

2:47:46The resolution before you, document number 2025-070, declares the council's interest in evaluating prior actions related to Zenith Energy Terminal Holdings, LLC, and in involving the public in decisions affecting human and environmental health and safety.

2:48:01It directs Portland Permitting and Development and the mayor to investigate potential violations of existing agreements and to evaluate compliance with applicable land use laws.

2:48:11It directs specified city bureaus and the city attorney to disclose all prior communications between the City of Portland and Zenith.

2:48:19The resolution also demands that the mayor pause any administrative actions related to Zenith while an investigation is in progress.

2:48:26Finally, the resolution urges the auditor to investigate and report on the city's actions related to Zenith's land use compatibility statement applications.

2:48:36The full impact statement on this item includes language both in the financial impact section, and it also describes community impact.

2:48:44And in terms of public testimony in the committee, at the committee meeting on March 10th, there were 4 people who testified and 7 people submitted written testimony.

2:48:59An additional— sorry, 4 people submitted individual comments and 1 person submitted a letter signed by representatives of 22 different community groups.

2:49:06And this was prior to committee action.

2:49:08I'll note that an additional 2 individuals submitted testimony after the committee—.

2:49:12Councilmember Herbold.

2:49:12After the committee action.

2:49:13Committee meeting and before the full— this full council meeting was posted.

2:49:18And I want to note that what I just shared does not include the written testimony that was submitted since the council agenda was posted, which is at least 75 different pieces of written testimony.

2:49:28The general themes in the public testimony that the committee heard on March 10th were, um, included transparency in the city's decision-making processes related to the franchise agreement, Investigating Zenith Energy's potential violations of the franchise agreement, mitigating potential harm to communities along the Willamette River caused by rail traffic and the threat of a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake, and ensuring that the city's actions are in compliance with the 2035 Comprehensive Plan and the North Reach River Plan.

2:50:01Thank you, Claire.

2:50:02If you can bear with us for just a minute, councilors, I'm going to turn to the Councilor who presided over the public hearings to see if there are any additions to that report.

2:50:15We'll then let Claire go and I'll then turn to the Councilor who originally introduced the resolution to offer comments about the resolution more broadly.

2:50:27Councilor Clark, would you like to comment or would you like me to turn to Councilor Murillo who presided that day?

2:50:32Thank you, Madam Chair.

2:50:32Councilor Murillo presided that day, so I was not there at all.

2:50:36Thank you.

2:50:36Councilor, is there anything that you would like to add from the committee discussion to the report that Claire has brought to us?

2:50:44I think much of what we heard during the committee meeting is reflected in what we already heard at council sessions at large.

2:50:52I think Claire's summary was perfect, and we heard that testimony over and over again in the broader meetings and emails in context to at least my office, and I'm sure lots of other offices.

2:51:02So no, I don't have anything new to add.

2:51:05I would say that the community has a very strong invested interest in pushing us to bring more clarity to this situation.

2:51:12Thank you.

2:51:13Thank you, Councilors.

2:51:14Are there any questions about the committee report for Claire or Councilor Morillo?

2:51:20Councilor Kanal, are you in the queue with questions about the committee report?

2:51:22Sorry.

2:51:24Councilor Dunphy, are you in the queue?

2:51:25No.

2:51:25Councilor Avalos?

2:51:26Okay.

2:51:27Councilor Smith, question about the committee report?

2:51:30Yes, I'm— yes, Madam President, I'm trying to get some clarification on what our action is, is going to be.

2:51:38Is it on voting on the report or—.

2:51:40No, we will vote on the resolution.

2:51:43The report is to give us a taste of the conversation in committee because we are moving toward doing much of the conversation around policy in a bill.

2:51:55In committee, this allows us to get a taste of what the conversation was and have some of that background information.

2:52:01It also ensures that councilors who have not been part of the creation of a policy from the start have their attention drawn to that committee staff report, which gives us a good summary of what is in the resolution.

2:52:15Okay.

2:52:17Okay, thank you, Claire.

2:52:22Councilor Green, as the original introducer of this resolution, would you like to speak to the resolution?

2:52:32Thank you, Madam President.

2:52:33I would love to speak to the resolution.

2:52:36Councilors, when Portlanders voted to change our form of government, they did so on the promise that it would do away with a government structure that was unresponsive to all but the most well-connected Portlanders and not amenable to taking tough questions of accountability, oversight, and transparency head-on.

2:52:54We're, we're in an historic moment where the actions we take or the actions we choose not to take will establish the precedent for this new government for generations to come.

2:53:03So it is with this obligation that I bring forward this resolution with co-sponsors Councilor Murillo, Koyama Lane, and Dunphy, which calls on this body to address a number of issues that are urgent and related to Zenith Energy That present harms to our committee— our community, to our city government, and the public trust.

2:53:20So the resolution, I think Claire did a great job of summarizing the main things, but I want to highlight what it does.

2:53:26The first element, and the meatiest element, calls upon the mayor to exercise his authority and duty given by charter to investigate the franchise agreement that Zenith has with the city.

2:53:38It also demands disclosure of all prior communications between the city and Zenith Energy and to place them in the public record.

2:53:44Uh, third, it demands Portland Permitting and Development to evaluate whether its 2024 Greenway review remains in compliance with land use laws following what we have learned from the DEQ regulatory enforcement action vis-à-vis the 2022, uh, 2022 LUX.

2:54:02Uh, it urges the auditor, uh, to investigate the facts and settle the record with respect to competing claims and statements yes.

2:54:09Given to council members during the January 21st work session between staff reporting in the public record and members of the community.

2:54:18And finally, it demands that the mayor pause any further administrative action to the fullest extent allowed by the law related to Zenith Energy pending the outcome of these investigations.

2:54:28And so I'd like to just take another minute, if I may, to motivate why the franchise agreement aspect of this is so important.

2:54:35The charter grants each incoming mayor both the authority and also the duty to investigate the franchise agreements that the city issues to its franchisees.

2:54:45This is really important because cities grant franchises to private companies that perform inherently public functions, usually with monopoly rights.

2:54:53So this franchise relationship carries with it an essential regulatory obligation that our charter empowers the city with.

2:55:01And so when, when there's credible evidence that a franchisee has violated that agreement, we have an obligation to act.

2:55:08As the early parts of the resolution lay out, Zenith Energy appears to have violated its franchise agreement by failing to remain in compliance with the laws, applicable state and local laws.

2:55:17For example, failing to disclose its unpermitted activities with the city and the DEQ, as well as violating local lobbying rules.

2:55:24So to restore the public trust, we must investigate this franchise agreement.

2:55:27Thank you.

2:55:28The mayor alone has the authority and the duty to do this and provide council with the options for remedy if that agreement is found to be in violation.

2:55:37So failure to do so will send a signal to the city, send a signal to the community that the city is unwilling or incapable of exercising its due regulatory authority vested in its charter, and that any company seeking to do business with the privilege of the franchise is beyond account.

2:55:53Thank you, Mayor.

2:55:53The other parts of the resolution are designed to restore public trust by addressing issues of accountability, transparency, and inconsistencies in our own policies and also exclusion of the public from public matters.

2:56:05So at this point, I'd just like to offer, if I may, a moment for my chief co-sponsor, Councilor Morillo, to make some comments as well.

2:56:14Councilor, go right ahead.