Portland City Council Regular AM Meeting

7:28Good morning.

7:29I am going to convene today's council meeting.

7:34It is 9:33 on Wednesday, April 2nd.

7:38And councilors, a note for those of you who were not in the Finance Committee meeting yesterday.

7:45It is April, which means that our voting order has changed.

7:49I'll flag this for folks so you're not caught off guard.

7:52District 2 votes first for this next quarter.

7:55We will vote in order 2, 3, 4, 1.

7:58Councilor Avalos, you are off the hook for voting first every time.

8:02Councilor Kanal, welcome.

8:04Good luck.

8:07Before we get into— actually, Rebecca, why don't you call the roll and then I'll make a couple of comments.

8:13Good morning.

8:14Councilor Kanal?

8:16Present.

8:16Ryan?

8:17Here.

8:18Koyama Lane?

8:20Here.

8:20Murillo?

8:21Here.

8:22Novick?

8:22Here.

8:23Clark?

8:24Here.

8:24Green?

8:26Here.

8:27Zimmerman?

8:28Here.

8:28Avalos?

8:29Present.

8:30Dunphy?

8:30Here.

8:31Smith?

8:32Here.

8:32Here.

8:34Thank you.

8:35Councilors, we have a very tight agenda, and I believe over 100 people signed up for public testimony between the various items on our agenda today.

8:44We are not going to get through all of that, and I'll have a note for the public listening on what we will do to make sure we hear from everybody.

8:51But I just want to flag for all of us that the amount of time we take on items directly affects the amount of time we have to hear from the public.

8:59It's important for us to be able to robustly debate items, but if you can say something in 4 words instead of 10 words, today is the day to do that.

9:09I will try to hold myself to that as well.

9:12For folks who are here to testify, we are going to get through as much as we can, but there is absolutely no way that we will get to everybody today.

9:19In fact, we probably won't get to most of you.

9:23We will be opening space tomorrow.

9:26Council has an executive meeting from 2 to 3:30, but councilors, I will be asking if at least a quorum of us can be present from 3:30 to 5 tomorrow so that we can open up more time for public testimony.

9:38I will make sure to be here.

9:39If 6 of you can join me, I would appreciate that.

9:42We will also make sure that we have time at our next council meeting, which is Wednesday.

9:47I believe that is the 16th, to take additional public testimony on these topics.

9:53Councilors, I know that we have other items that have budget implications that we need to be moving forward on the 16th.

9:59We will have to figure out how we work this all in, but I will make sure that we reserve some time to finish public testimony that day.

10:06So So if you are here to testify today and we do not get to you, please know that whichever of those 2 times works best for you, tomorrow between 3:30 and 5:00, or Wednesday, I believe that is the 16th, that is an evening meeting, so we will likely get to public testimony around 6:30.

10:25We will make sure to have time for you at whichever of those times works best for you, and we will get to as many people as we can today.

10:31Thank you.

10:33Uh, with that, um, could our attorney please go over the rules of decorum?

10:42Welcome to the Portland City Council.

10:43To testify before council in person or virtually, you must sign up in advance on the council agenda at www.portland.gov/council/agenda.

10:53Information on engaging with council can be found on the council clerk's webpage.

10:57Individuals may testify for 3 minutes unless the presiding officer states otherwise.

11:02Your microphone will be muted when your time is over.

11:05The presiding officer preserves order.

11:07Disruptive 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.

11:17If you cause a disruption, a warning will be given.

11:20Further disruption will result in ejection from the meeting.

11:23Anyone who fails to leave once ejected is subject to arrest for trespass.

11:26Thank you.

11:27Additionally, council may take a short recess and reconvene virtually.

11:31Your testimony should address the matter being considered.

11:34When testifying, state your name for the record.

11:36Your address is not necessary.

11:39If you're a lobbyist, identify the organization you represent.

11:42Virtual testifiers should unmute themselves when the council clerk calls your name.

11:46Thank you.

11:49Thank you.

11:49We do have 2 councilors in the queue.

11:50Councilor Ryan, is your comment something before we continue?

11:54Yeah, when you made the announcement about stretching testimony to additional days and such, I just wanted to put a comment out that I hope we prioritize those that are in person that took the time to be here in person today.

12:05And unfortunately, I don't know that our current rules allow us to do that, but we can check.

12:10I will find out.

12:11And I have suggested that we think as we talk in governance about our rules about what order we take testimony.

12:17Madam President, I'd be happy to suspend the rules for that.

12:22Can we hold that motion until we get to that part of the agenda, please?

12:26But I hear that you'll want to do that.

12:28Thank you.

12:29I didn't know that would all happen.

12:30Councilor Smith, did you have a comment to make before we move on with our agenda?

12:34Yes.

12:34Are you saying that we're going to reconvene as a council tomorrow afternoon?

12:37Yes.

12:38Okay.

12:38Tomorrow we have an executive council session from 2 to 3:30, and I will ask that at least a quorum of us are available to convene in a public council session from 3:30 to 5:00 to take additional public testimony.

12:51We'll have to end at 5:00 because we have a budget listening session tomorrow at 6:00.

12:57Thank you.

12:59Absolutely.

13:00Okay, councilors, the first item on our agenda is the agenda approval.

13:05Are there any requests to amend or reorder the agenda?

13:10Okay.

13:15Seeing none, I believe we don't need to take a vote then.

13:18We just move on, is that correct?

13:20Okay, perfect.

13:23Next up on our agenda is our public communication.

13:29Rebecca, could you please call the first communication?

13:34Melissa Kostelecki.

13:40Welcome.

13:40Thank you for being with us today.

13:42Thank you.

13:45Good morning and thank you for your time.

13:47My name is Melissa Kostelecky.

13:48I'm a parent of 2 elementary schools in Southeast Portland.

13:51I'm also a board member of Bike Loud PDX, but I'm here today speaking for myself.

13:56I want to start by thanking several of you who have brought attention to the need for safer streets for all road users.

14:0215 months ago, I saw a driver hit a child on a bike in intersection just off the playground in Woodstock Elementary School right here.

14:09I'm pretty tall, yet even I was just barely able to see over the red car parked here.

14:14Sorry, I hope you can see it at the intersection, so I knew to stop.

14:18The boy biking from behind me was not so lucky to be nearly 6 feet tall.

14:21So as he entered the intersection, he and the driver were unable to see each other and he got hit.

14:26I reported the incident and the city acted within a few months, which the community was grateful for.

14:31Unfortunately though, treatments like no parking sign put in proved entirely ineffective, as this photo shows.

14:37Thank you.

14:37So in case you can't see it, it's a car parked at the exact same spot where the red car was parked when the boy got hit.

14:43Every single day at pickup and drop-off, drivers ignore this sign.

14:47So right here.

14:48So ultimately, the money the city spent was wasted.

14:51To make matters worse, I found that in many places, PBOT has installed signs allowing parking right at crosswalks, a violation of Oregon Statute 811.550, prohibiting parking within 20 feet of an intersection.

15:03There are intersections that PBOT doesn't want to lose parking for residents and businesses.

15:08For example, on Woodstock, I discovered that a business owner actually had PBOT approach him and ask him if he wanted a 5-minute no park— sorry, 5-minute parking zone right at the corner, specifically where parked cars now regularly block visibility for pedestrians and drivers trying to either cross or turn onto Woodstock Boulevard.

15:25So I have 2 asks for you today.

15:27The first is that you introduce code to end this practice of overriding Oregon State Statute 811.550.

15:33Thank you.

15:33As much as even I enjoy a nice convenient parking spot when I drive, we can't achieve our Vision Zero goals if we prioritize convenience over safety.

15:42And second, I know the city has secured some funding for intersection clearance, but the pace that we're moving at is too slow and the funding is woefully inadequate to daylight the nearly 18,000 intersections needing clearance.

15:52Whatever funding we can scrap together will be wasted if our corners are not hardened with physical barriers like flex posts, planter boxes, bike racks, or even artwork.

16:02And a benefit here is that these can even enhance the beauty of our neighborhoods and add some unique character.

16:06So my second ask is that you examine a policy of tactical urbanism similar to programs currently in place like in cities like Atlanta and Nashville, where fast-tracked permits are issued for low-cost pop-up projects like this without the extensive bureaucracy and endless search for funding.

16:24Projects like this can be done cheaply and quickly by local neighbors.

16:27The safety effects can be studied and community input can be gathered based on actual physical physical changes that enhance safety and livability rather than conceptual ideas.

16:36So 3 minutes goes by way too quickly.

16:37So if any of you are curious about how they're doing this in Atlanta and Nashville, I would love to speak to you about it.

16:42And I thank you again for your time.

16:44Thank you for being here and for bringing solutions to us.

16:50Emily Dumerck.

16:57Thank you for joining us this morning.

17:03Good morning, council members, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

17:06My name is Emily DeMerk, and I'm here today representing Alliance for a Safe Oregon.

17:11I urge you to fully fund the Office of Violence Prevention and all funding for community violence intervention.

17:18Over the past 5 years, Portland has lost far too many community members to gun tragedies, and public safety remains a top concern for residents.

17:26While the ceasefire program and community violence intervention have helped reduce shootings significantly, gun deaths remain well above pre-COVID rates, and the devastation continues to impact our communities.

17:39It is critical that we invest more in these proven programs.

17:43Research shows that sustained investment in CVI leads to a 20 to 30% reduction in both homicides and shootings.

17:51Over the past two years, thanks to initial investments in CVI efforts.

17:55We've begun to see a decline.

17:56Particularly notable is a 38% decrease in Black gun violence non-fatal shooting victims across Portland.

18:04These programs intervene before violence occurs, help prevent retaliation, and provide support for healing after tragedy happens.

18:13The cost of gun tragedies to Portland taxpayers is staggering.

18:16With an average of 1,000 injury shootings and homicides each year, taxpayers bear a burden of more than $100 million annually.

18:24By reducing gun tragedies by just 20%, we could save $20 million every year.

18:31Investing in prevention is not just morally right, it is economically sound.

18:37To truly make progress, we must fully fund CVI and continue to sustainably ongoing support, particularly for Black, Latino, and tribal communities who are disproportionately affected by gun tragedies.

18:49We need to prioritize sustainable funding for these community-based organizations which are already doing the hard work in our neighborhoods.

18:56And support their well-being to prevent burnout.

19:00Portlanders deserve to feel safe in their communities.

19:02To achieve that, we must invest in solutions that we know work.

19:06Please fully fund community violence intervention, ceasefire, and the associated funding for community-based organizations based on the street intervention and prevention.

19:17Thank you for your time and for your commitment to making Portland a safer place for all of us.

19:22Thank you.

19:23Thanks for sharing those thoughts today.

19:27Next we have Rashid Yusufi, and they're joining us online.

19:32Rashid Yusufi, thank you.

19:34Good morning, councilors, and thank you for listening today.

19:36My name is Rashid Yusufi.

19:37I am a District 3 resident, parent to a 1st and 3rd grader, and soccer coach.

19:41One of our weekly highlights for the past year has been riding in our bike bus at Glencoe in Southeast Portland.

19:46Our bike bus captain, Rob Galanakis, inspired me to start riding the kids to school when he noticed how frazzled and stressed I was when I dropped them off at In the car.

19:54I started making the trip by bike and immediately saw the difference in myself and in my kids.

19:57We no longer feared the clock.

19:59My boys arrived calm and ready to learn.

20:01Like most Portland schools, Glencoe struggles with unsafe conditions caused by large numbers of parents who choose to drive directly to school frontage.

20:07And like many schools, we've had PBOT and PPS staff observe these problems and decide to make no changes.

20:13Unfortunately, families that are making the responsible choice to ride or walk knew it was a statistical certainty that someone was going to be injured at Glencoe.

20:19Thank you.

20:20Despite frequent close calls, advocacy, and constructive suggestions from the school community, PBOT and PPS actively chose inaction multiple times.

20:27I'm here because I and my kids are the victims of that statistical certainty.

20:31On Thursday, January 9th, while we were riding legally on the street, a student opened their door directly in front of us.

20:37I slammed into the car door.

20:38Our bike then slammed into a parked car.

20:40My kids hit their heads and scraped their knees.

20:43My hand was broken.

20:44My wife took my oldest kid, Sammy, home.

20:46Since he was too shaken up to attend school.

20:48I went to the hospital and got x-rays and a cast.

20:51I couldn't use my hand for 2 months, threatening my ability to work and my family's livelihood.

20:55Sammy is still traumatized, and while I've gotten him back on a bike, he no longer will bike to school, including on our bike bus.

21:01Thank you.

21:02After this crash, PBOT came out to do another site visit.

21:05I was told by staff, and I quote, Glencoe's traffic circulation seems to be working well and is safe and efficient.

21:112 months in a cast and a traumatized kid are clear evidence to the contrary.

21:14It is no mystery why we have families unwilling to let their kids walk or ride a few blocks to school while parents drive 5,000-pound boxes of steel through the densest assembly of our most vulnerable community members.

21:25My injury and 3 years of advocacy around this very specific problem gave PBOT a gift-wrapped, gold-plated, best-it-could-possibly-be opportunity to make one of a dozen easy fixes to this dangerous situation.

21:36It was a layup.

21:37Instead, PBOT told me that actually the responsible thing to do is nothing.

21:41Thank you.

21:41Sammy's pain doesn't matter.

21:43The safety of the children is not worth the effort.

21:45It's insulting and degrading.

21:47It isn't representative of the love and hope that I have for this city.

21:50Councilors, I implore you to start taking PBOT to task, to not accept their excuses and the status quo.

21:56This bureau, left to its own devices, is not doing its most basic job of keeping families safe, not out of lack of budget or even lack of will, but evident— but evidently of a learned helplessness.

22:06You encourage us to ride or walk to school, but the people at your bureau come up with every excuse excuse to avoid making that safe.

22:12Even Sammy, just 9 years old, said to me, I can't ride until there's a bike bus in front of our school.

22:17We need more than cheerleading for families that walk and bike.

22:19We need changes to our streets.

22:21Thank you for your time.

22:24Thank you for sharing that with us.

22:27Justin Leitner.

22:29Justin's online.

22:31Welcome, Justin.

22:32Hi.

22:33Thank you.

22:34Thank you for having me.

22:35Um, I am gonna use my time today to speak to you about hopefully fully funding the Multnomah County STI clinic downtown.

22:45Right now, there is a lot of people that use that service, and it's very helpful in getting, one, lower STI rates throughout the city.

22:56We've seen a decline of the STI infections because of the work that the Multnomah County STI clinic has done, both in its location downtown on 6th and Hoyt, I believe, and at outreach centers.

23:14The proposed budget going forward would completely take off the Multnomah County STI clinic, defund them, which is where they would also take their STI tests from the outreach centers back to get tested.

23:29And so it's very important to have a place, bring it back to, make sure that everyone can get the care that they need in that time.

23:39Uh, there's so many outreach facilities that take care of not just houseless people or low-income people, but everyone from all walks of life.

23:53It's important that we need To make sure that Portland stays healthy through all of this uncertain future coming up ahead of us.

24:03We're looking for, please, a fully funded STI clinic.

24:08The pharmacy there is also very important for people to pick up their meds.

24:15DoxyPEP has a very important— like, if you take it shortly after any sort of encounter, it greatly decreases the chance of acquiring any sort of STI infection.

24:32But as long as we can get the funding for it, for the pharmacy and the STI clinic— typically the meds are covered through insurance, we just need to make sure that we can get Thank you for your time and your commitment to keeping Portland safe and healthy.

24:57Thank you for taking the time to be with us today.

25:02Elijah Cooper.

25:10Elijah Cooper.

25:20We're good.

25:20Okay, it doesn't look like Elijah is with us today, uh, so I think we are going to move on to our time-certain item on the agenda.

25:35Um, item 3 on the agenda Rebecca, could you read the title please?

25:41Amend the Comprehensive Plan Map and Zoning Map for properties at 3508 Northeast 11th Ave and 1123 Northeast Fremont Street at the request of Derek Metzen, GreenBox Architecture.

25:57So councilors, as a reminder, we heard about this at a meeting of our body to discuss land use issues.

26:07We then had a first reading where we adopted the amendment, taking our recommendation and putting it into this ordinance.

26:17Today is our second reading of the ordinance where we generally just call the roll and pass the ordinance.

26:22But I just want to create that reminder that we have had significant discussion on this item in the past.

26:29Is there any last-minute discussion before I ask Rebecca to call the roll?

26:34Yes, Mayor.

26:36Okay, Rebecca, please.

26:39Kanal?

26:40Yes.

26:42Ryan?

26:42Aye.

26:44Koyama Lane?

26:45Aye.

26:45Murillo?

26:46Aye.

26:47Novick?

26:47Aye.

26:48Clark?

26:48Aye.

26:49Green?

26:50Aye.

26:50Zimmerman?

26:51Aye.

26:51Avalos?

26:52Aye.

26:52Dunphy?

26:53Aye.

26:53Smith?

26:54Aye.

26:55Pirtle-Guiney?

26:56Aye.

26:56With 12 ayes, the ordinance is passed.

27:01Thank you.

27:03Um, the next thing on our list is a new agenda item.

27:08It is the committee referral list, and I had told you all that we would be posting a list so that the public could see what had been referred to committees.

27:16I'll also be reading that here just so that it is on the record for folks listening to the meeting.

27:22This is a list of items that over the past 2 weeks have been referred Thank you.

27:29To committees, these are things that committees either have at this point or will be in the coming weeks having discussion on that we can expect are likely to come back to council in the coming weeks.

27:41Adding the Sustainability and Climate Commission code to our code is in the Governance Committee.

27:49Adopting a procedure for the appointments and confirmations of Portlanders to city boards, commissions, and committees in the Governance Committee adopting the fiscal year 2024-2025 technical adjustment ordinance and making other budget-related changes is in the Finance Committee.

28:04Amending the fee schedule for tree permits in the Finance Committee, and three items that we will actually hear today: paying settlements of Amber Williams bodily injury claim, pay settlement of Janet Krasner body injury claim lawsuit, and pay settlement of Robert Medan employee.

28:28The next item on our agenda is also a new agenda item.

28:32Oh, Councilor Knoll.

28:36Thank you.

28:37I just wanted to ask, and maybe this is just a clarification, under the city code that we adopted in January, items that are referred are from the— by the president are from the mayor and the city attorney.

28:49Auditor, and one of these items at least, it may be, I think it's just one.

28:54The second item is actually something that was proposed by councilors.

28:57Mm-hmm.

28:58So I'd just like to ask if in the future that can be clarified as separate, because in the council item here, it implies that that was referred to governance at the discretion of the council president and not at the discretion of the filers, which are Councilor Ryan and Councilor Koyama Lane.

29:14So just wanted to clarify that.

29:15I just want to clarify that that is a separate type of item than the other 6 on here.

29:19We can divide this out differently in the future, but I do think it's important for the public to be able to see everything that's going to committee.

29:29For sure, for sure.

29:30I'm just— because if you look at that paragraph up at the top, it implies— I think so.

29:34It's just about an organizational thing to make it clear to the public that the reason the other 6 were referred is because under code, the council president may do so and did so.

29:43There's a line in here that needs to say that councilors make—.

29:50Yeah.

29:51Items that councilors have brought forward where they are directing which committee the president should send them to.

29:57Exactly.

29:58So, well, directing it directly.

30:00It's 3.02.

30:01I don't have the exact thing right here, but yeah, just wanted to clarify it.

30:06Thanks so much.

30:07Not a concern.

30:08Yeah.

30:12Yeah, thank you for creating this.

30:13I think the main thing I would ask is if it could have a status column.

30:18I just feel like there's— it needs a little bit more for me because just at first glance I'm not sure how to navigate what it's telling me and like where things are at what point.

30:26So I know that's adding more to work for you, but, um, I feel this would be more helpful to me with something like that.

30:32We could talk offline, but just one—.

30:33Councilor, I think in the future there's a lot we can do to make sure that this And our system as a whole are more accessible to the public.

30:40As we develop our rules and procedures, I'm trying to make sure that I'm asking the clerk to make changes for things that I don't think will change.

30:50But for things where our rules and procedures might affect how the public looks at things, I'm trying to not ask them to do work twice.

30:59But if there are things we can add now that would be consistent even once we have all our final rules in place, let's certainly get those up.

31:04Thank you.

31:05'Cause I do want to make sure that this is helpful to all of you, but also to the public who I have gotten repeated feedback.

31:12Sometimes it's hard to follow along with how City Council works, and we want to make this process more visible, frankly, for all of our constituents, I think.

31:22So happy to work with you on that.

31:25Councilor Knoll, are you back in the queue?

31:26Yeah, it's 3.02.020B.

31:321A1 sub-sub-whatever section A and B are the 2 parts.

31:36Just want to get that in the record.

31:37Thanks.

31:40Okay, Rebecca, could you please read agenda item 5?

31:52City Administrator report.

31:54Fantastic.

31:55So, councilors, this is another new agenda item, but something that we have Yes.

31:59We have talked about, I think since our first meeting maybe, that we would ultimately be getting on our agenda, which is a monthly report from the city administrator to share with us things happening within the executive branch and the administration.

32:14We have also had conversations about ensuring that council has visibility on funds coming into the city earlier in the process than council traditionally has.

32:24And this is a place where I believe Mr. Jordan will be getting some of that information.

32:28Correct, Madam President.

32:30Okay, would you like to take a couple of minutes to go over the highlights of your report for us?

32:34And then if folks have questions, we will take questions on the report.

32:39Councilor Smith, do you have something before Mr.

32:41Jordan gives an overview?

32:43Yes, I just wanted to add, um, the, uh, ordinance that we passed said that the, uh, city administrator should come every 15 days, not 30.

32:52So I just wanted to make sure that So I just want to make sure that if he's going to put this in his report every 30 days, it's still missing the mark of the 15 days about putting the funding piece.

33:04I apologize.

33:052 pieces.

33:06Yes, we have asked for certain types of funding to come to us within 15 days.

33:12There are other types of funding that come to the city as well that councilors have asked about having visibility on, and those pieces I've asked Mr. Jordan to include in his report, but you are right, there are certain types of funding that we've specifically asked for more.

33:24Which is the unassigned funding.

33:27And we shouldn't conflate the two.

33:28Thank you.

33:28Thank you for pointing that out.

33:29Appreciate it.

33:32Mr. Jordan.

33:33Thank you, Council President and members of the council.

33:36I'm going to try and get you some time back this morning, but I'm certainly willing to entertain questions and comments.

33:43The report that you received earlier this week Is a very, very first draft, and it's there as much for form as it is for content.

33:54There are some items in each of the categories.

33:56We have organized this generally by service area along with the Administrator's Office, and there is a section under communications.

34:06There are 2 addendums.

34:07Council has asked for information regarding settlements that don't come to Council.

34:12Yes.

34:13So there's a listing there of those.

34:15And then there is also a grants page that is a first attempt at a kind of keeping up with grants across the city.

34:26I want to acknowledge and be maybe the first to acknowledge that those 2 reports are highly inadequate regarding their readability.

34:35They need a cover memo that helps people understand all the acronyms and the abbreviations.

34:41Yes.

34:42And all the rest.

34:42So know that, at least we know that.

34:46I've already mentioned that to staff when I got it.

34:48I said, I can't read this, all of it, even though I'm aware of most of those things.

34:54So I wanna acknowledge those things.

34:58I also wanna acknowledge we have chosen to organize this way.

35:04If there are other categories of information—.

35:06Yes.

35:07That the council would like to see, I would love to hear about that.

35:11Also, this, the mix of items that you see in this report are a mix of things that have happened, and there are some acknowledgement of things that are going to happen and come to council.

35:23So there's a mix of those things.

35:25Would love to get feedback on your thoughts about that and what's most useful for you.

35:31So again, I wanna make sure you understand this is a very rough first draft.

35:35Thank you.

35:37I'm here to both capture your comments and questions today, but know that you can send them to me at any time.

35:47We will be working to refine the report for next month, and it will be a monthly report.

35:53Regarding Councilor Smith's comments, I'm working with the CFO for a different element to this report that will come to you.

36:01Thank you.

36:02Bimonthly, if you will, so that you can get up to date on received revenues.

36:08And I know that CFO Biery is working with the revenue division on how to organize a report so that the council can see revenues more in real time.

36:21I'm really interested in getting you a year-to-date against budget.

36:27Summary so that you can see how the whole city's doing on a more real-time basis through the year and can ask questions and see where we are from a financial perspective.

36:39So I'm not gonna go into every detail of the report.

36:42It's pretty high level.

36:43It's very abbreviated this month, but I'm here to take your comments and/or questions about either form or content.

36:51And then obviously we'll take your questions.

36:54Thank you.

36:56Ongoing, let's put it that way, as we can continue to refine this to make it the most useful it can be for Council.

37:02I'll stop there, Madam President, and take questions or comments.

37:08Thank you, Mr. Jordan.

37:09Councilor Smith.

37:11Thank you, Madam President.

37:12Thank you for the report.

37:15One of the issues that I have with the report is it is not in Excel format.

37:21It says we're going to do this, but it has no numbers associated with it.

37:26Uh, it says that you're going to take this out of the budget, but it doesn't say how much you're going to take out of the budget or how much you're going to put in for the new program that you suggested.

37:35So for me, it's not useful.

37:37It is, it is a way just to tell a story, but it is not giving me what I really need in a report.

37:44Thank you.

37:45From the financial perspective, Councilor?

37:47Exactly.

37:48Okay, thank you.

37:52Yes, thank you, Madam President.

37:54Um, hello, Michael Jordan, DA Jordan.

37:57Um, couple things.

37:58One, you owned it.

37:59It's a rough first draft, and, uh, I appreciate that it's in the works.

38:02This kind of used to be our council agendas just not too long ago, so I'm, uh, I'm missing this kind of information, to Councilor Smith's point, and more details.

38:11Um, just on process, as you're working out the kinks, this is something that we should have posted In transparency on the Friday when it goes out at 9:00 AM.

38:19I know I probably missed the email, so I just saw it this morning.

38:23So you already know that, but we wanted to make sure that was clear.

38:26And then on the grants one specifically, if you could identify the source, there's a big difference between pass-through money that we get from the feds or Metro or wherever, and then those grants that we're giving from the general fund.

38:39And that's just a really important feature.

38:41Okay.

38:41Feedback that I wanted to give you on grants.

38:43And I— and you owned that that one has a lot of work to do.

38:46So I want— I hope that you would start with that, at least the source of where those funds come from.

38:50Thank you.

38:54Thank you.

38:55Thank you, Madam President.

38:56Thank you, Administrator Jordan, for this.

38:58I, I think, you know, going from nothing to something is a really big step, uh, and that— I think that's a really important thing, and I want to express gratitude for that.

39:07Um, I'll co-sign what both my colleagues just said and add, um, That there— I think it's worth considering that people can, can and should be able to get through more information.

39:17So for example, on the Community Board for Police Accountability, noting that it has the ability to hear cases of alleged misconduct is kind of a core part of it that was summarized out of the description.

39:29The settlements, having more information about what they are is great.

39:33I will say we never had any transparency really in the last council over the $0 to $5,000 And so I— that's a really big step, and I, I want to thank you explicitly for that.

39:43Um, yeah, thanks.

39:47Councilor Smith, are you back in the queue?

39:49Yes, ma'am.

39:50Thank you, uh, Madam President.

39:52I also wanted to note that on the 15-day for the, for the other, uh, ordinance that we passed in February, it also notes that it should be brought to council and acknowledged in a budget modification.

40:04Not just to report to us, you have to bring it to council so that we can acknowledge it and put it into the existing fiscal year.

40:13So I'm clear, Councilor, you're suggesting that we bring a budget modification ordinance every 15 days?

40:22No, I'm suggesting when money comes in, you have 15 days to report it to council so that it can be in a modification, a budget modification, so that we can either expand our existing fiscal year budget.

40:37If it's before, you know, we need to work out something depending on how close it is to the budget.

40:42But the, uh, the actual ordinance requires you to bring it, to bring it forward and acknowledge it in a council meeting and to get a budget modification to add it to our existing budget.

40:54Thank you.

40:58Thank you.

40:59Any additional questions for Mr. Jordan about the content of the report or comments about the, uh, structure of the report?

41:10Okay, seeing none.

41:13Thank you, Madam Clerk.

41:14Thank you for bringing this forward to us.

41:19Councilors, the next item on our agenda— and I, let me just check with the clerk— I don't believe that we need to accept this report.

41:26This is just an informational agenda item, is that correct?

41:29Correct.

41:30Okay, thank you.

41:32Uh, councilors, the next item on our agenda is the consent agenda.

41:36Rebecca, have any items been pulled from the consent agenda?

41:39No, none have been pulled.

41:40Okay, could you please call the roll?

41:43Kanal.

41:46Okay, so, um, I am going to vote yes on this.

41:49I do want to note one thing.

41:51Which is that these 5 items that are on the consent agenda are, they're emergency ordinances.

41:58I have no concern with the content of the documents.

42:01I actually don't know why we're voting on a separate time to create a fund for a TIF district we already created, and that's maybe something we should dig into.

42:08I also have no concern about the consent agenda.

42:10However, on the topic of emergency ordinances, the rationale in here is that in order to deny Portlanders a second chance at reviewing this document, that advanced notice of 19 days instead of 5, and prevent you from giving easily public testimony without requesting it.

42:31The rationale given is that it would— delaying it would prevent it from being in the FY 2025 to 2026 budget, which doesn't— is not true.

42:42I clarified that with the staff involved in presenting this, that if we hypothetically did a second reading on the 16th, And it took effect on May 16th, we would have the ability to have it be included in the next year's budget.

42:57And the rationale given was that it would affect the ability of the administrative staff to receive a quick yes from council and council efficiency, that that is why it's an emergency.

43:08That is not an emergency.

43:10We are not responsible and the public should not be punished because this was not filed in advance.

43:16And I want to be super clear about that.

43:17And in the future, if you'd like anything to get through a consent agenda, I encourage the administrative side to file this in advance and not force us to have to weigh whether or not public— the public should get to weigh in on these things through public testimony.

43:32Because this is a follow-up to something we've already created, I'm not pulling it off the consent agenda, but I wanted to raise that issue before voting yes.

43:38I vote aye.

43:40Ryan?

43:41Aye.

43:41Koyama Lane?

43:42Aye.

43:43Morillo?

43:44Aye.

43:45Novick?

43:45Aye.

43:46Clark?

43:47Aye.

43:47Green?

43:48Aye.

43:49Zimmerman?

43:49As the chair of the Finance Committee, it was my call to put it as an emergency, and I think it was the right move to make.

43:56I think emergency is useful for certain items, and this is clearly and, and simply just the creation of the bank account.

44:06There will be a larger policy discussion but the Finance Committee did hear this, and the staff did come to me and provide 2 options.

44:16And because I valued that the committee do the work to hear this and take that time instead of sending this to Council prior to, I was just fine with it being part of an emergency and part of consent.

44:31I vote aye.

44:35Aye.

44:37Aye.

44:38Smith.

44:39Aye.

44:40Pirtle-Guiney.

44:41Aye.

44:43With 12 ayes, the consent agenda is passed.

44:46Thank you, Rebecca.

44:49That takes us to our regular agenda and agenda item 12.

44:56The next 3 agenda items, councilors, are all Settlements.

45:02These are emergency ordinances, and I will just address that very quickly because I know this is something that comes up.

45:08Emergency ordinances— an emergency clause is often placed on a settlement so that our team of attorneys who have been negotiating with somebody who believes that they were harmed by the city can move that process of creating closure for those individuals forward and not have a delay that might make it harder both to find closure for that individual and also to maintain an agreement on the settlement.

45:36So I just want to flag that for folks now.

45:42And I believe— are you presenting just on the first or on all 3 of our settlements?

45:48On the first ordinance, Council President.

45:50Rebecca, could you please call the agenda item?

45:53Item 12, pay settlement of Janet Krasner bodily injury lawsuit for $200,000 involving the Portland Parks and Recreation Bureau.

46:02Wonderful.

46:02And we have Mark Rodriguez and Joseph Jesse, or we have both of you?

46:07Oh, I see Joseph online.

46:08Perfect.

46:08Wonderful.

46:09Go right ahead, Mark.

46:10Thank you.

46:11Thank you.

46:12Good morning.

46:12Mark Rodriguez, Deputy City Attorney.

46:14Good morning, Council President and councilors.

46:16This lawsuit brings a claim of negligence yes.

46:27Ms. Krasner alleges she was on an outdoor patio of her daughter's house when a large branch of one of Willamette Park's pin oak trees broke and fell onto the property, causing her to jump towards the house, causing injury to her back and knee.

46:41The property is located at the south end of Willamette Park.

46:44The property had 2 prior documented incidents involving branches from the same park tree causing damage to the house and fence.

46:50On both prior occasions, Urban Forestry arborists responded and performed maintenance to the involved tree, determining that the overall health of the tree remained in good condition and did not warrant removal.

47:01The City Attorney's Office, Risk Management, and the Parks Bureau determined it would be in the best interest of the city to resolve Ms. Krasner's lawsuit prior to trial.

47:09The parties negotiated a settlement for $200,000 plus the removal of the 2 pin oak trees adjacent to subject property.

47:16We recommend approval of the settlement, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

47:19Thank you.

47:23Are there any questions?

47:25Councilor Zimmerman.

47:28So I just want to be clear what we just heard, particularly given yesterday's hearing.

47:34So Urban Forestry, quote, addressed it, but not enough to keep us from being liable, or at least liable enough that we thought it was a good idea to cut a $200,000 check for damages to this resident based on Urban Forestry's determination that the tree didn't have to be removed, that it wasn't a hazard, and then it turned out to be a hazard.

47:55And you said it was twice that they've been called out to this tree prior to this damage?

47:59That's correct.

48:00Thank you for clarifying that.

48:02You're welcome.

48:08Uh, first, thank you.

48:09Thank you for being here.

48:09And thank— I just want to thank the city attorneys and risk management for really improving the way in which settlements have come to us, uh, in the course of last year to present.

48:18Um, and just start with that.

48:21Um, I think you've done a good job of laying out the allegations.

48:24Is there anyone here from Parks who can speak to, um, how we're not going to have to cut another $200,000 check for this again in the future?

48:34Or I should say the Vibrant Community Service Area.

48:35I think It'll be fine as well.

48:38And I see the DCA coming.

48:39Sorry to put you on the spot.

48:41Go right ahead, please introduce yourself.

48:42Hi, good morning.

48:43Sonia Szymanski with the Vibrant Communities Service Area.

48:46I am here.

48:47We also have Paul Anderson here who can speak more completely to that question, and I see him here if that suits you.

48:57Whoever you'd prefer.

48:58I think that—.

48:58Let me just put a finer point on the question.

49:01What is This didn't happen, you know, yesterday.

49:04What has happened subsequent to the event, and what is happening now within Vibrant Communities to ensure that we're not settling cases like this in the future, getting claims like this?

49:14Yeah, Paul, go ahead.

49:16Thank you.

49:16Thank you for the question.

49:18Paul Anderson, Urban Forestry Operations Manager.

49:22I appreciate the opportunity to answer this question.

49:24There have been significant changes to the urban forestry operations approach since the incident occurred.

49:30Uh, thanks to this, the local option levy, Urban Forestry now has capacity to proactively inspect parks.

49:39Trees in developed parks are inspected once every 3 years at minimum, and we can also provide maintenance to those trees that require maintenance.

49:48This proactive approach has already increased public safety, reduced the risk to reduce risk in general and improves tree health.

49:56So that's a really big shift from reactive work to proactive work.

50:01I want to say also Paul is virtual because Paul works at Delta Park, which is quite a long drive.

50:08Thank you.

50:10And then my other question is, could you tell us the aggregate amount that has been paid out in the last year and in the last 5 years for all lawsuits involving Portland Parks and I believe Joe—.

50:23Joseph Jesse, you have that number?

50:25I, I do have information on that.

50:27I do not have it broken down by lawsuits, but just general all claims, um, which would involve lawsuits as well.

50:34Is that okay?

50:36Sure.

50:37Could you also clarify what else is included beyond lawsuits in these numbers?

50:42Um, so this would be, first of all, for the— for one year, I can say that total paid out, this would involve anything from property damage to bodily injury to expenses, say, for experts or for legal expenses.

50:58Last, last year it was total paid is $20,006.11.

51:04Of that, $16,861.45 is related to property damage and $3,144.66 is related to various expenses.

51:16I can bring up the 5-year—.

51:18Sorry, one sec here—.

51:22Related to 5 years.

51:24The total paid out is $396,625.39.

51:31Of that, property damage is $218,455.29.

51:37Bodily injury is $70,629.64.

51:42Expenses is $37,140.11, and legal is $70,435.

51:51Thank you.

51:51And just 2 quick clarifications.

51:53One, that's, uh, paid out not based on claim date or incident date?

51:59That is based on— it is based on loss date.

52:05So claims that have happened and it's by fiscal year, so it would be claims that have occurred since— would be July 1st, 2020 to June 30th, 2025.

52:18That answered my other question as well.

52:19Thank you, Madam President.

52:22Any other questions?

52:27Okay, uh, Rebecca, is there anyone signed up for public testimony?

52:32No one signed up.

52:34Okay, councilors, any discussion on this agenda item?

52:41Thank you both for being here.

52:43Rebecca, could you— oh, Rebecca, could you please call the roll?

52:48Kanal?

52:49Aye.

52:50Ryan?

52:51Yeah, I want to thank legal for the meeting earlier this week.

52:53It's always helpful, and I was able to hear how each bureau was responding, um, in terms of practices from the lawsuit.

53:00So I vote aye.

53:02Koyama Lane?

53:03Aye.

53:04Morillo?

53:05Aye.

53:05Novick?

53:06Aye.

53:07Clark?

53:07Aye.

53:09Green?

53:11Aye.

53:11Thanks.

53:11I want to, um, appreciate Councilor Kanal's questions.

53:15They are in line with some of the same concerns that I've had, given that yesterday we heard that the parks levy pays for much of, of, uh, the urban forestry, uh, program.

53:26There's a lot to be concerned here, right?

53:28And I would just— I will be voting in favor of this, but I hope we all are continuing to take a look at my editorializing, which is that urban forestry is in deep need of a revamp and how it works with our public to avoid situations like this where we are doing harm to the public when they raise the red flag.

53:48So thank you for bringing this.

53:49Thank you.

53:50And noted, I also appreciate how these have been coming forward.

53:52So thank you.

53:55Aye.

53:58Smith?

53:59Aye.

54:00Pirtle-Guiney?

54:01Aye.

54:02Thank you.

54:03Thank you.

54:0412 ayes.

54:04The ordinance is passed.

54:08Rebecca, could you please read agenda item number 13?

54:11Item 13, pay settlement of Robert Medan employee discrimination lawsuit for $100,000 involving the Portland Parks and Recreation Bureau.

54:20Thank you.

54:21And I believe we have Anne Milligan, Rose Radich, and Lauren McGuire here to help walk us through this agenda item.

54:29Go right ahead.

54:31Good morning, councilors.

54:32My name is Anne Milligan, and I'm a Senior Deputy City Attorney with the City Attorney's Office.

54:37Robert Meadon began working for the City of Portland in Parks and Recreation on August 4th, 2022, as an entry-level supervisor.

54:45On or around March 3rd, 2023, Midon filed an HR complaint against his direct supervisor, a white man, alleging that his supervisor made race-related comments.

54:56After making his complaint, Midon no longer had to report to that supervisor.

55:01Subsequently, Midon attempted and attended 2 different work meetings that resulted in multiple contemporaneous written complaints from his colleagues expressing strong disagreement with Midon's behavior at those 2 meetings.

55:15As a result of his behavior at the first meeting, he was put on paid administrative leave and investigated.

55:20In June 2023, BHR completed its findings regarding Meadon's complaint, and they sustained 2 of Meadon's allegations of discrimination.

55:29Meadon's employment with the city was ended during his probationary period on July 26th, 2023, due to his inappropriate behavior at 2 meetings.

55:38On February 17th, 2024, Meadon filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court seeking $305,000.

55:45This complaint alleges discriminatory treatment and a hostile work environment based on race, retaliation for whistleblowing and for reporting or opposing race discrimination, and in retaliation for invocation of the Oregon Family Leave Act.

55:58Trial is currently set for July of 2025.

56:02The City Attorney's Office and Risk Management recommend resolving this case for $100,000.

56:07And with that, we would welcome any questions.

56:08Thank you.

56:13Councilors, any questions?

56:15Councilor Kanal.

56:17And I'm not sure who's the right person to answer this, but the numbers we just heard, do that— do those include employment-related claims for the previous item, or are there a different set of numbers for the aggregate amount of employment-related payouts we've made for Parks and Recreation?

56:35Is your question regarding your question of Joe Jesse in risk management, is the total amount of claims for parks inclusive of this settlement that we haven't paid out yet?

56:48'Cause I think he only responded as to claims paid.

56:51It's whether or not the response to that question includes other employment-related claims that have been paid out, if any should exist.

57:00Yes.

57:00So there haven't been any employment-related claims for parks since 2019 when there was a reverse discrimination case that the city won.

57:09We paid nothing in that case, but that was the last time there was any kind of employment claim of any kind.

57:14There have been no claims paid.

57:15Ms. Radich, did you have—.

57:17Oh, I'm sorry.

57:17Ms. Radich, did you have something to add to that answer?

57:20Yes.

57:21Yeah, just to add to what Ann Milligan said is these—.

57:25The numbers would, if there were, if there was costs incurred on employment claims, those would be included in those total numbers that we bring with risk management.

57:36It's just that for the last 1 and 5 years for parks, they are either general liability or auto liability.

57:45But those would be— employment claims would be included in that total claim numbers that we bring with the data.

57:51Thank you.

57:52Thank you very much.

57:53And as a result, I don't feel a need to ask the other question, which is what are you doing about it if there hasn't been one in the last 5 years?

57:59Thanks.

58:00Thank you.

58:01Any other questions?

58:05Okay, Rebecca, do we have anybody signed up for public testimony?

58:08No.

58:09Okay, councilors, any discussion about this agenda item?

58:17Okay, thank you so much for being here with us.

58:19Thank you.

58:19Rebecca, could you please call the roll?

58:23Kanal?

58:25Aye.

58:26Ryan?

58:27Aye.

58:28Koyama Lane?

58:29Aye.

58:29Murillo?

58:30Aye.

58:31Novick?

58:32Um, based on the detailed briefing I received in this earlier, it seems clear that this person was fired for reasons that absolutely nothing— for inappropriate behavior that had nothing to do with the original inappropriate comment by his supervisor.

58:46So I'm not convinced that we should pay $100,000, so I vote nay.

58:53Clark?

58:54Aye.

58:54Green?

58:55Aye.

58:56Zimmerman?

58:57No.

59:01Aye.

59:02Aye.

59:05I appreciate Councilor Novick's comments.

59:10I am willing to take our attorney's advice to support this, but I do hope that we are I think it's important that we are careful with our budget, that we are judicious with these decisions, and that when we receive recommendations like this, it is because it really is the most cost-effective thing for the city.

59:27When there are cases where it does not appear that we have done any wrongdoing, I will vote aye.

59:34With 10 ayes, the ordinance is passed.

59:43And I missed you on this, or are you in the queue on something as we move to the next agenda item?

59:47It's just to wrap up what you just said, and I think all of us received a, a more detailed, um, description of what actually happened.

1:00:00And I think if you go back and go over what we received from the, from the attorneys earlier in the week, it It gave a history and a pattern and a practice, and that's important.

1:00:16Is there a pattern and a practice?

1:00:19And there was pattern and practice as I listened to it.

1:00:23So this is not us just giving money.

1:00:25You have to— you give the money when you find that there is a pattern and practice of us doing wrongdoing.

1:00:31It is not about us saving liability money.

1:00:37If we were wrong, we were wrong.

1:00:41Thank you.

1:00:42Thank you.

1:00:45Councilors, we do have one more settlement item to hear.

1:00:48Rebecca, could you please call agenda item 14?

1:00:51Pay settlement of Amber Williams' bodily injury claim for $81,589 resulting from a motor vehicle collision involving the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

1:01:04Thank you.

1:01:05And I believe we have Joseph Jesse on this.

1:01:10Yes.

1:01:11Oh, perfect.

1:01:12Can you—.

1:01:13Okay.

1:01:13So this claim arises out of a motor vehicle collision involving a PBOT— I'm sorry, a PBOT dump truck, large vehicle moving heading west on Morrison Bridge.

1:01:28It was merging into the far right lane.

1:01:30Early in the morning on a Tuesday back on March 28th, 2023.

1:01:35It clipped the driver's side rear of a 2020 Honda Civic that had our claimant in it, Ms. Williams.

1:01:45This caused the vehicle to spin in front of our vehicle, which caused a secondary impact where we essentially T-boned the driver's side door of that vehicle.

1:01:56It was at relatively low speed, but this is a larger truck that caused the damage.

1:02:02First notice we received of this was a letter of representation from a claimant attorney stating that they would be providing a demand package upon the completion of their client's treatment.

1:02:13We received that demand package and medical details at that time and were able to resolve based on the damages for the amount thank you.

1:02:33Do you have information to add for us?

1:02:35Uh, good morning, Madam President.

1:02:37Excuse me.

1:02:38Uh, good morning, councilors.

1:02:39My name is Mark Williams.

1:02:40I'm the Chief Administrative Officer for PBOT, and I'm just here to answer any questions that you might have about this case.

1:02:46Perfect.

1:02:47Thank you.

1:02:48Councilors, any questions?

1:02:50Councilor Kanal.

1:02:52I just wanna note for the record on this, we could do this a lot faster in the future if it was just in the written document and save us the time of having this question be asked in the council meetings.

1:03:01I know our time is limited here, so I'd encourage you again at Risk Management to put this in writing.

1:03:07But with that said, could you speak to the, or could Risk Management speak to the aggregate amount of money that's paid out by PBOT for the last year and the last 5 years?

1:03:18Absolutely.

1:03:19Um, so regarding this, total paid by PBOT is $27,253.98 for the last fiscal year.

1:03:29Paid—.

1:03:30Of that, expenses paid was $2,161.91.

1:03:34Total property damage paid is $25,092.07.

1:03:39Um, there has been no bodily injury paid in the past fiscal year.

1:03:44And then let's see here, sorry, for 5 years it is total paid out is $1,594,611.52.

1:03:55Of that, property damage paid is $631,767.35, bodily injury $407,800— or $407,823.36.

1:04:06Thank you.

1:04:09Expense, $93,102.57, and legal, $461,918.24.

1:04:19Thank you, Mr. Jesse.

1:04:20And to Mr. Williams, could you speak to anything that's happened subsequent to this incident or which is ongoing now at PBOT, uh, to ensure that incidents like this are less likely and we're not asked to, to pay out settlements on it in the future?

1:04:34Sure, thank you, Councilor Kanal.

1:04:35Uh, first I will, um, share with the council that anytime there's an incident like this, there is a crash analysis review board, and that's made up of several representatives of several bureaus.

1:04:48And what they do is they review the incident report, any available evidence, they review the training history for that particular driver, they review the driving history for that particular driver, and they make a determination as to whether that particular incident was preventable or not.

1:05:05After that, that particular driver will work with their supervisor regarding any additional training that may be needed, or if this is a number of repeat issues, it may lead to a disciplinary issue.

1:05:18And is any—.

1:05:18Excuse me—.

1:05:20Is any of that new, or is that an ongoing practice for a number of years now?

1:05:25This is an ongoing practice for a number of years.

1:05:28Thank you.

1:05:29Thank you, Madam President.

1:05:32Councilors, any other questions?

1:05:36Okay, Rebecca, do we have anyone signed up for public testimony?

1:05:39No one is signed up.

1:05:41Okay, any discussion?

1:05:46None.

1:05:46Rebecca, could you please call the roll?

1:05:49Kanell?

1:05:50Aye.

1:05:51Ryan?

1:05:51Aye.

1:05:52Koyama Lane?

1:05:53Aye.

1:05:54Aye.

1:05:55Novick?

1:05:55Aye.

1:05:56Clark?

1:05:57Aye.

1:05:57Green?

1:05:58Aye.

1:05:58Zimmerman?

1:05:59Aye.

1:06:00Avalos?

1:06:00Aye.

1:06:01Dunphy?

1:06:01Aye.

1:06:02Smith?

1:06:02Aye.

1:06:03Pirtle-Guiney?

1:06:04Aye.

1:06:0512 ayes.

1:06:05The ordinance is passed.

1:06:07Thank you.

1:06:08Thank you for being here, councilors.

1:06:12We now have 2 agenda items that have come out of committee, and, um, As we take on the work of ordinances and resolutions that councilors have brought forward that have come through committee, what we'll do is start with a committee staff summary to give councilors who are not in that committee an understanding of what the conversation was in committee.

1:06:38I'll ask the councilor who presided over the committee meeting or meetings to add anything to that summary.

1:06:46I'll then ask the person who brought the ordinance or resolution forward to share with us what their intent is in bringing this forward and any other information they'd like us to have.

1:06:58We can spend some time on technical questions, and then we'll move— before we move into the meat of our policy discussion— to public testimony so that we make sure that the comments from the public inform our policy discussion.

1:07:12Then we'll move into our discussion and voting on any amendments that there may be and on the final resolutions and ordinances.

1:07:21So with that, Rebecca, could you please call agenda item number 15 for us?

1:07:28Require the city administrator to study alternative housing financing and ownership models and deliver a report of findings to council.

1:07:36Thank you.

1:07:38Claire Adamsick was the Council Operations Policy Analyst who works with our Homelessness and Housing Committee.

1:07:44Claire, could you go ahead and give us your staff summary?

1:07:50Good morning, Madam President and councilors.

1:07:52For the record, Claire Adamsick from Council Operations and staff to the Homelessness and Housing Committee.

1:07:57The resolution before you, document number 2025-101, directs the city administrator through the Portland Housing Bureau To submit a report to council on alternative models of housing financing and ownership no later than May 31st, 2026.

1:08:13The report must include analysis and evaluation of social housing models, municipal nonprofit and cooperative ownership, and financing models that efficiently leverage public subsidy to expand housing options across income levels for Portland residents.

1:08:27The resolution also directs PHB to evaluate domestic and international alternative housing models, identify applicability of existing models to the city's current housing landscape, and provide a set of policy recommendations including potential funding mechanisms that may be used to implement such recommendations.

1:08:45The full impact statement on this item includes a financial and budget analysis that notes that existing Housing Bureau funds may be used to complete this study.

1:08:54And public testimony in committee at the committee meeting on March 25th.

1:08:596 people provided verbal testimony.

1:09:01Another 26 people submitted written testimony prior to committee action, and 1 person submitted testimony after the committee meeting and prior to the posting of this council agenda.

1:09:11The general themes in the testimony the committee heard included a high proportion of rent-burdened households in Portland and the resulting loss in economic activity for the region, expanding permanent housing options for people exiting homelessness, the current experiences of Portlanders with displacement due to market forces and limited wealth-building opportunities.

1:09:31The opportunity to explore successful models in Vienna, Austria, and other cities nationally and internationally.

1:09:38Ensuring any future housing developed using this model is held to rigorous health and safety standards.

1:09:44And finally, a request for an expedited timeline or more frequent updates from the Portland Housing Bureau on the findings of the study as it progresses.

1:09:54And that concludes the committee report.

1:10:00Councilor Avalos, I believe you presided over this committee meeting in your committee.

1:10:04Would you like to add anything to that report?

1:10:07Yes, and I will do my, uh, as the chair but also as the co-sponsor of the bill right now.

1:10:13I'll do that speech.

1:10:14You both together?

1:10:15Yeah, I'm going to do both together.

1:10:16Thank you.

1:10:18All right, well, I am really pleased to be a chief co-sponsor of this resolution with Councilor Green and with Councilors Koyama Lane and Kanal.

1:10:27As the chair of the Homelessness and Housing Committee, I'm more aware than most of the dire situation that our city is in when it comes to providing housing to meet everyone's needs.

1:10:36We are far behind the curve in production, financing, and affordability.

1:10:41And part of why we are behind is because we have spent the majority of our time since the housing crisis was declared over 10 years ago responding haphazardly and without a unified vision for how we solve homelessness.

1:10:52That is why I'll be leading a process to get us to a unified housing plan that creates a single theory of change and ties together the various agreements, roles, and funding streams into a system that supports individuals through the entire spectrum of housing need.

1:11:05We need to be creative and think deeply about all options that have proven to be successful in other communities, and I'm excited to see the results of the study because I believe that social housing can be an important piece with that, I will pass it on to my chief co-sponsor, Councilor Green.

1:11:23Thank you, Councilor, and thank you for your partnership as a chief co-sponsor of this resolution, and to my co-sponsors Koyama Lane and Kanal for supporting this.

1:11:32I'll keep my comments brief and get straight to the point.

1:11:35Portland is in a housing crisis that demands bold solutions and frankly system change.

1:11:42And, you know, we have been responding to that crisis responding as sort of a reaction to the scarcity of affordable housing in this city for a long time.

1:11:49And so the intention of this resolution is to empower the Portland Housing Bureau to unlock its expertise and have the explicit direction to go out and study new ways of doing housing production, in particular social housing.

1:12:03And the idea here is that Director Hissrich has studied social housing.

1:12:08She's studied the best practices around the world and just needs guidance from council.

1:12:13We're giving—.

1:12:14Councilor Herbold.

1:12:14Heard that guidance at this point.

1:12:15And so, um, over the course of this year, we're going to have check-ins, we're going to have a community engagement process that brings people along.

1:12:23But the idea is to say, how can we apply those successes we've seen elsewhere in other cities, in other parts of the world, to Portland with its unique institutions, its market, and, and so on and so forth?

1:12:36And so the idea here is what we will have at the end of that process is a document that is rigorous, that has been vetted, and that we can then move forward with an ordinance that will stand the test of time.

1:12:47So that way, when we look back in 20 years, our children and their children are going to say this council took action to end housing precarity forever.

1:12:58And so, colleagues, I hope that you support this today.

1:13:01Thank you.

1:13:02Oh, and by the way, if you're here to support our testimony or this resolution today, I thank you so much.

1:13:07We do have a huge volume of people testifying, so if you're willing, I would just say I support, and then keep your comments brief.

1:13:16That'll help us move through all the public testimony we have today, and so everyone gets heard.

1:13:20So thank you for that consideration.

1:13:24Thank you, councilors.

1:13:26Councilors, are there any questions about the staff summary, the overview from our We'll get to the meat of our discussion a little later, but any questions about what we've heard and what occurred in committee and, and why we're hearing this?

1:13:42Councilor Zimmerman.

1:13:44Thanks.

1:13:45I was hoping—.

1:13:46Can we just— I want to just reiterate any deliverables that we have from this in terms of date when a report can be expected by council.

1:13:54What kind of stuff are we looking at?

1:13:58I'm sorry, I believe that's a question, Claire, to you about the substance of the resolution and when we should expect the report to be returned to council.

1:14:07I ask it in a world of we, we are trying to be action-oriented and not be bogged down by study.

1:14:15And I think always laying out where expectations are for deliverables is, is a good thing, because I think Councilor Green knows that I supported it in committee.

1:14:22I'll be supporting it today, but I think it's good for the public to have an idea for what are we undertaking.

1:14:26Yes.

1:14:27Um, Councilor Zimmerman, my— and the council, um, my understanding, and as the resolution indicates, that, um, the report directs the Portland Housing Bureau, or the city administrator through the Portland Housing Bureau, to report to council by May 31st, 2026.

1:14:48Did you have a question?

1:14:49Yeah, I just want a direct response because it's important.

1:14:51There's, there's nuance here, which is that we don't wait until It's not laid out in the resolution, but the director, I think, has committed to a quarterly process, and she's very amenable to being flexible in how we can move forward in a way that enables us to be an action-oriented council.

1:15:11So I appreciate the comment.

1:15:13And I believe the director is online.

1:15:17If you would like to— Director Hisarick, if you would like to respond to the timing question.

1:15:25Thank you for the opportunity to respond.

1:15:28I'm Helmi Hisarik, Director of Portland Housing Bureau, for the record.

1:15:33We are in the process of scoping this plan.

1:15:35We think that the social housing study actually has multiple facets, so we'll be presenting a quarterly— at a minimum, we will have quarterly report backs to council at the committee level on, on The findings of the report, but before we embark on the study, we will put together a scoping document showing specific deliverables and timelines throughout the year.

1:15:58And our anticipation is that we'd come back within a year with recommendations based on the study that we've presented.

1:16:06Thank you.

1:16:08Councilor Clark.

1:16:10Thank you, Madam Chair.

1:16:12In a cursory review of this, I didn't see anything about studying impediments.

1:16:17Is that something that you intend to do?

1:16:21What prevents us from being a stronger housing market here?

1:16:28What stands in our way?

1:16:30Is that a part of your resolution?

1:16:34Councilor, would either of you like to respond to that question?

1:16:37Councilors Green or Avalos?

1:16:39Yeah, I'm going to find the specific line item in here, but I think the intention for the the purpose of this study is for Helmi and her team to deliver sort of a Portland-grounded roadmap if we want to pursue some other avenues, which would implicitly say here would be some challenges and roadblocks in this city that we would have to overcome, such as financing, such as code changes, any of the like, to make possible any of the potential solutions.

1:17:09Thank you.

1:17:10My understanding is that's pretty implicit in the intent of this.

1:17:15Would you be amenable to actually calling that out?

1:17:18I don't have specific language right now.

1:17:20I can work on some real fast, but it seems like we ought to also be addressing impediments.

1:17:27And I don't just mean financing.

1:17:28I mean, I'm really thinking about our zoning code, our permitting process, the kinds of things that stand in the way of building, uh, housing.

1:17:38I believe, you know, I hear you and it sounds like you want something explicit.

1:17:42I feel like it is implicitly wrapped in this entire study.

1:17:46The goal of the study is to explore absolutely every avenue, which would of course include impediments.

1:17:50I'd be open to something.

1:17:52I don't have anything prepared though, and I don't know where that could naturally fit in, but I can assure you that that is being taken into consideration.

1:18:01If I If I may.

1:18:03And Councilor, with your, with your assent on a friendly, I, I would think the most appropriate place to add that at the last be it further resolved.

1:18:11It says it is recommended that report include a number of elements, but the very last piece is a set of policy and programmatic recommendations, comma, to include identification of any impediments.

1:18:25Would that be perfect?

1:18:26Would that be satisfactory?

1:18:29Councilors, we do have a lot of public testimony, which will give us an opportunity, I think, if you want to try to workshop something while we're hearing from the public.

1:18:40Okay.

1:18:40Councilor Ryan.

1:18:42Thank you, Madam President.

1:18:45I saw that there was no financial impact stated in the resolution, which really can't be true.

1:18:50In fact, we just agreed to do quarterly reports.

1:18:53My question is, how many staff will be working on this, and what is the financial impact?

1:19:00Councilor Ryan, I would defer to Director Hisarick to maybe speak to the specifics of the existing Housing Bureau funding, as I understand it, that would be used and what the staff would look like.

1:19:10Absolutely.

1:19:10I'm glad the director joined us.

1:19:12Director Hisarick, the analysis that we have from the budget office says no fiscal impacts as the resolution requires.

1:19:32Yes, thank you for the question.

1:19:35We have specifically gone after federal funding for the study of alternative strategies or alternative ownership models through a pro-housing grant, which we were awarded.

1:19:47The grant is not yet appropriated.

1:19:49It'll be appropriated for fiscal year 25-26, and using those funds, we anticipate looking at various elements of the, um, of the social housing model.

1:20:02Uh, and so that's our primary source of funding for this work.

1:20:08Uh, we have not allocated the staff or decided which staff is doing what.

1:20:12That's part of our scoping process right now.

1:20:15So we're, we're, uh, again, when we come back with our scope, we'll identify specifically who will be leading different segments of the study.

1:20:26Okay, that's helpful to hear.

1:20:28I do think considering where we're at with our budget, and clearly the most important expense we have is labor, but it's really important that we identify how much that will take to pull this off.

1:20:42Thanks.

1:20:43Oh, and while you're there, while I have you, what about the studies that we've been hearing about around the fair ordinances that were passed in 2018, some of the tenant rights passages?

1:20:55We haven't received those reports yet, so I wanted to hear how those studies are coming along.

1:21:01We have not started a study on the fair ordinance.

1:21:03It's been asked, requested that we study the fair ordinance this year, so that's in our proposed work program, but we have not yet identified funding for that study, and we are also in the process of scoping what that is, although that is a priority for the, for the Bureau to, to do the fare ordinance study.

1:21:23Okay, and perhaps in the Housing Committee we can look at an ordinance to remind that that would be nice to receive as well from the administration.

1:21:30Thank you.

1:21:32Councilor Kanal, technical questions?

1:21:34Yeah, just wanted to clarify something that Director Hystrich just said in in terms of allocating the staff or deciding which staff is doing what, does that imply that this will be done in-house?

1:21:47No.

1:21:47Yes and no.

1:21:49We will be bringing in outside consultants to evaluate different components.

1:21:54However, social housing isn't one thing, it's multiple things.

1:21:57So for example, contained in the study, one of the things that we may be studying is land banking.

1:22:02We have specific staff who works with property and real estate, so we would ask them to lead the land banking effort with outside consultants.

1:22:10Separately, there's an analysis of financing.

1:22:13We have a finance team, so financing in the social housing model is different than our current low-income housing tax credit model.

1:22:20We'll ask our financing staff to lead the financing study.

1:22:23So we have yet to allocate which staff person and how much FTE will be needed for each element of this, of the study.

1:22:31That's what the scoping process is.

1:22:34Great.

1:22:35Yeah, anytime we're talking about some or all of it being in-house is a good time for, for, from my perspective.

1:22:41So I appreciate that clarification.

1:22:43Okay, I don't see any other technical questions in the queue.

1:22:49So, Claire, thank you.

1:22:51I will note that there was a typo in the summary that we have, um, that I was just asked to flag.

1:22:58It says the vote was 3-1 but lists 4 aye votes.

1:23:01The vote was 4-0.

1:23:03The clerk's dispensation out of committee was correct.

1:23:06It was just a typo on the sheet that was brought before us.

1:23:09Um, so in case there were any questions from folks watching online about the discrepancy there, the aye votes listed is correct.

1:23:18It was a 4-0 vote.

1:23:20Councilor Ryan, are you back in the queue, or is that a former hand?

1:23:22No, I'm not.

1:23:23Thanks.

1:23:23Okay, legacy hand.

1:23:25Yeah, great.

1:23:27Thank you, Claire, for being here with us today.

1:23:31Uh, Rebecca, I believe we have a significant amount of public testimony signed up.

1:23:35We have 20 people signed up.

1:23:37Fantastic.

1:23:38So we will be calling folks up.

1:23:41You will have 2 minutes to testify.

1:23:44You'll hear a chime when you have 30 seconds left and then an additional chime when your time is and Rebecca, if you want to call folks up 3 at a time, why don't we jump in?

1:23:55First, we have Travis Noddings, John Knight, and Jenna Knobloch.

1:24:03Welcome.

1:24:04Thank you all for being here.

1:24:12Shall I start?

1:24:13Hi, thank you for letting me be here.

1:24:15My name is TJ Noddings.

1:24:16I am a housing justice organizer here in Portland, as well as a tenant advocate at Community Alliance of Tenants.

1:24:23So I spend a majority of both my professional and personal life talking to renters all over this city.

1:24:29And I'm here in support of this agenda item, as well as the following agenda item on banning AI rental price fixing software.

1:24:37A majority of the conversations that I have with renters in our city center on affordability.

1:24:42And the fact that most renters believe that they will not be able to afford to live in this city much longer at all.

1:24:49When they invite me into their apartments, they'll show me mold growing on their walls, holes in the walls, ceilings, non-functioning appliances, inadequate heating and cooling, a list of maintenance and repairs that have been neglected by the landlord.

1:25:02And when they go to look for other apartments to move to, to move into better living conditions, they find that there are no better options, that the floor for minimum rent prices in the city has reached a point that they cannot afford.

1:25:14So they feel that they have to live in these conditions and watch their rent go up every single year despite the conditions of their housing getting worse, because as a function of the private market and as a function of landlords working together to collude on rental prices, they're stuck in these spots without better options to go to.

1:25:34At a recent renters town hall, a retired woman came to let us know that when she pays her rent from her fixed income, Social Security, every month, she's left with only $60 left to pay for food and other necessities, which is obviously not enough to live off of.

1:25:48And that's why adults over the age of 55 are the fastest growing demographic of homeless in our city, because the rent is rising faster than everyone's wages, everyone's income.

1:25:57So I ask the councilors, when you are deciding to vote on this ordinance for social housing and to ban AI rent price fixing, to keep that in mind and know that half of this city is made up of renters who are all struggling, and we're watching and hoping and pleading for help from this body.

1:26:14Thank you.

1:26:18Right ahead.

1:26:19Hi, Councilor Green, President Pirtle-Guiney, Portland City Council.

1:26:24Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the social housing future of My name is John Harris Knight.

1:26:28I propose the following for inclusion in the study: a combination of public, private, and civil society sector ownership models into one housing system.

1:26:37I imagine a 3-part structure, a triangular stability of a republic, if you will, with practical checks and balances that treats residents as equals.

1:26:46One, households organized through democratic tenant resident unions comprised of fellow residents.

1:26:52Residents will build a version of equity or rental pension, kind of like Social Security.

1:26:56See UCLA's Shane Phillips's proposal in my written testimony.

1:27:01This earned benefit will promote mobility throughout the social housing system.

1:27:05The unions will share responsibility with the city and facility management to set standards.

1:27:10The unions will have the authority to petition the city if services are inadequate or insufficiently responsive.

1:27:16Tenant residents will finally feel an ownership-level connection to and responsibility for the places they live.

1:27:23Community-based nonprofit or quasi-governmental, perhaps property management organizations.

1:27:29They'll provide the necessary professional building management, be responsive to tenant residents, and reflect the diversity of our communities and the residents of social housing.

1:27:38Management organizations will confidently rely on the city's authority to protect our city's housing units from disrepair or degradation.

1:27:45The City of Portland, as a responsive and responsible partner in ending our housing crisis, and promoting democracy in a time when democracy is under assault.

1:27:52The city will be responsible for ensuring that tenant residents have monthly rates at or below cost, responsible for acquiring safe housing with qualities and amenities comparable to median housing of that size, establish official guidance and facilitation to support the development of democratic practices by tenant unions, and provide essential safeguards in case of mismanagement or disrepair.

1:28:13Thank you.

1:28:14Thank you.

1:28:15Go ahead.

1:28:17Hi everyone, my name is Jenna Knobloch.

1:28:19I'm a renter in District 3, and I'm here to testify in support of this resolution.

1:28:25I've been waiting a long time for City Council to actually consider big, bold solutions and not just biting around the edges of the housing crisis.

1:28:34And social housing is a big, bold solution, but it's not a radical one.

1:28:39It's a proven model that has been tried and had great results in cities across the country and across the world.

1:28:47And I'm really excited for a report to help map out concrete next steps for Portland to see how this model could help address our housing crisis.

1:28:57Thank you.

1:29:00Being here, and we'll look at that written testimony.

1:29:05Next we have Mason Shepherd.

1:29:08Michael Grigsby Lane— Grigsby Lane, excuse me— and Tim McCormick.

1:29:19Mason Shepard, Michael Grigsby Lane, and Tim McCormick.

1:29:24Tim is online.

1:29:30Tim, why don't you go ahead while we wait for others?

1:29:40Tim, you're good to go.

1:29:40Yeah, can you come back to me towards the end?

1:29:43I'm just setting up here at my end.

1:29:49Rebecca, you want to call the next group and then include Tim?

1:29:51Yeah, I'm going to go to Brian Bloomklotz.

1:29:56Is Brian here?

1:29:56Brian Bloomklotz?

1:29:59Donna Cohen.

1:30:01Donna's also online.

1:30:02And Heather Riggs.

1:30:09Heather will start us off.

1:30:12Thank you.

1:30:15Good morning, Madam President, councilors, and administrator.

1:30:19I am Reverend Heather Riggs, pastor of Montavilla United Methodist Church in Southeast, and I live in the Mount Scott neighborhood.

1:30:29Most mornings at my church begin with me saying, hey friend, it's time for you to get up and move on, to one of our houseless neighbors taking shelter in a porch on our church.

1:30:42Because of this, my congregation represents— represented today by my lay leader DJ—.

1:30:48Wave your hand, DJ.

1:30:49Hi.

1:30:50Thank you.

1:30:50Has made supporting shelter and housing a priority.

1:30:55Many of the unhoused folks I encounter in our neighborhood are experiencing mental health issues, physical health issues, and addiction disorder.

1:31:06Many of these beloved children of God cannot successfully move directly from the sidewalk to a market-rate apartment.

1:31:15My church is also a part of a coalition of faith communities who are interested in building housing on church-owned land.

1:31:23We are supporting a bill in the state legislature that would release pre-development funds that would unlock this land for nonprofit affordable housing or social housing.

1:31:36This resolution to study alternative housing financing and ownership models is a step in the right direction for helping churches like mine build nonprofit affordable supportive housing.

1:31:51However, I will say that I would prefer that we skip the study and just move forward with this model that has been amply demonstrated to work in many other places.

1:32:02Providing more affordable housing as soon as possible is a life-saving measure that benefits everyone in our city— businesses, Housed neighbors and unhoused neighbors.

1:32:15Thank you.

1:32:18Thank you.

1:32:20I believe our next folks are both online.

1:32:22Is that correct, Rebecca?

1:32:23Yeah, Tim McCormick.

1:32:24Tim, if you're ready.

1:32:31Okay.

1:32:31Oops.

1:32:33Can you hear me?

1:32:34Yeah.

1:32:35Hi.

1:32:35Good morning.

1:32:36Good morning, councilors, staff.

1:32:39And administrator.

1:32:40My name is Tim McCormick.

1:32:41I'm a longtime housing and homelessness advocate and a contributor writer for Sightline Institute, also co-founder of the Oregon Cooperative Housing Network.

1:32:51And I'm fully in support of the general ideas here of, you know, finding all tools, seeing all the options.

1:33:00However, from looking at the direction I see things going, I would I would have to have concerns about whether the process that's currently envisioned is likely to do that, that job of discovering all options.

1:33:13So in an earlier life, before I worked in housing, I worked in Silicon Valley for many years, and I worked on many innovation programs— internal, public, civic.

1:33:21And, you know, there are well-known principles about what you want to do if you want to truly solicit bold and varied solutions.

1:33:29And essentially what you want to do is you don't want to empower one central party to deliver a report.

1:33:35Rather, or in addition, what you want to do is essentially more like create a platform where unexpected and varied voices have permission, invitation, and welcome.

1:33:45And so I'd like to offer that to the Portland Housing Bureau to consider that, you know, what might really be effective in the long run is, is not a report a year from now, but is the establishment of an open process.

1:33:58Thank you.

1:33:59Whereby, rather than a very politically constrained and closed process producing a report, you create an ecology where varied things can come forth.

1:34:09And finally, just to— is that 30 seconds left?

1:34:12I think 30 seconds.

1:34:13Yes, go ahead.

1:34:1430 seconds.

1:34:15Yeah.

1:34:15And as an example, I just want to throw in a couple of things that just recently strike me as sort of signs that, you know, the ideas aren't necessarily getting through.

1:34:24We just had a situation where actually, input from Prosper Portland, actual other city agencies, did not get it into the, um, the impact study on legislation that the city was considering.

1:34:39Uh, and so that was an interesting case.

1:34:41And then I'll just leave it there.

1:34:43I just want to say there are a lot of difficulties in getting all the ideas forth.

1:34:46We should try to open up a platform to make them so.

1:34:49Thank you.

1:34:50Thank you.

1:34:50And the director is still online with us, so I'm sure that she heard that comment.

1:34:55Next, we'll go to Donna Cohen.

1:34:57Donna, you're on— she's online.

1:35:00Yes, I'm here.

1:35:01Welcome, Donna.

1:35:02Go right ahead.

1:35:03Hi, I'm Donna Cohen.

1:35:04I live in St. Johns in District 2.

1:35:07As a community housing advocate, former chair of the Portland League of Women Voters Housing Interest Group, a current member of the Social Housing Workgroup of Welcome Home Coalition, and a homeowner who was finally able to purchase because of a first-time homeowner Program, I'm thrilled to support this resolution.

1:35:24I would like to thank the Housing and Homelessness Committee and the sponsors of the resolution who understand the critical situation we're in, the work the city has already done in regard to housing, and future initiatives which are needed.

1:35:36I'm pleased that the Housing Production Strategy report is being taken to heart by the city.

1:35:41Pertinent sections, as cited by the resolution, identifying a long-term sustainable funding source for affordable housing.

1:35:49Establishing a comprehensive citywide land banking strategy, pursuing the development of new programs that support alternative homeownership models can be, I believe, hugely beneficial towards solving our housing crisis.

1:36:02As the resolution notes, we have many, many people living with housing insecurity, and we know from research done out of the University of Washington that the single biggest driver of homelessness is lack of housing.

1:36:14I only have one suggestion because already the suggestion for multiple reports has been approved, it seems.

1:36:22From my current comments to the council on March 5th, please note our data would show even greater numbers of individuals and households who require affordable housing were we to use not the HUD income charts, but information specifically on Portlanders' income.

1:36:41And I apologize for this, but my community is desperate.

1:36:45Yesterday, RJ DeMello, the head of SJNA, and myself determined that the legislature is, is stonewalling House Bill 2749, the $5 million for PBOT to design a life-saving bridge on Columbia over the cut.

1:37:00Please help us get a hearing.

1:37:03They are stonewalling us.

1:37:04Thank you very much.

1:37:05Thank you.

1:37:11Next we have Molly Hogan, Sahan McKelvey, and Trevor Newhart.

1:37:30Go right ahead.

1:37:33All right, good morning, Council President Pirtle-Guiney, council members.

1:37:37My name is Sahan McKelvey.

1:37:38And I am the Director of Advocacy and Engagement at SEI, Self-Enhancement Inc.

1:37:44I'm also a member of the Welcome Home Coalition Steering Committee and am here to offer support for this resolution regarding alternative housing models and especially for social housing concepts.

1:37:55I've been a part of a lot of conversations, um, citywide, regionally, in our county conversations as well, but one of the key points in every one of those conversations is that we have to be able to improve the alignment between our various systems.

1:38:12Our approaches to this problem are often not aligned, and that is often why we see some of the, the lack of results and not, not the definitive results that we would like to see.

1:38:21One of the primary places where we need alignment is to be able to manage the inflow and outflow into homelessness shelter and housing.

1:38:29In recent conversations with several CBO leaders as well as Mayor Wilson, The mayor expressed his desire to create multiple creative housing solutions for people who are exiting an expanded shelter system and are ready to take the next step in their journey to permanent housing.

1:38:45We discussed a lot of options, but the primary point was to acknowledge the reality that the path to permanent housing looks different, and we must maximize every option for folks to ensure that everyone can access the ideal fit for themselves.

1:38:58Social housing should be one of these options.

1:39:00Thank you.

1:39:01This is a path that will help us to maximize opportunities to create the alignment that we need between the outflow out of short-term shelter and the inflow into housing.

1:39:10I think we are coming to agreement with the concept that Welcome Home has been championing for years, and that is that homelessness is a housing problem.

1:39:18The single biggest driver of homelessness in our city is the lack of affordable housing, and this is reality.

1:39:24So please take this resolution seriously.

1:39:26Please attack this concept aggressively.

1:39:28Thank you.

1:39:29And please commit to our city that you will do everything it takes to bring this solution to fruition for our communities, because it's time to follow the example of other cities around the world to increase livability in Portland and build a thriving community that we want to see without the reality of homelessness.

1:39:45Thank you.

1:39:48Thank you.

1:39:49Good morning, members of the council.

1:39:51Oh wait, should I just go?

1:39:52Go right ahead.

1:39:52Yes, introduce yourself and Good morning, members of the council.

1:39:57My name is Molly Hogan, and I'm the director of the Welcome Home Coalition.

1:40:01We're a multicultural alliance of dozens of organizations and individuals building a housing justice movement in the Portland metro area.

1:40:08I am here today to vocalize our strong support of the resolution to require the city administrator to study alternative housing financing and ownership models.

1:40:18The coalition championed and moved forward the first City of Portland Affordable Housing Bond that voters passed in 2016.

1:40:24That bond has been an example of government spending tax dollars as promised and exceeding goals, and we want to see more of it.

1:40:32However, we also know that traditional LIHTC affordable housing development practices have become incredibly cumbersome and expensive due to bureaucratic red tape and escalating industry costs.

1:40:42Because of this, our coalition members have been learning about innovative social housing housing model— models used elsewhere that increase affordable housing options.

1:40:51We are so excited to see new city leaders taking real action to move innovative housing solutions forward in our biggest city.

1:40:59Seeing what can happen when a city government declares housing a human right is inspiring.

1:41:04As you've heard, Vienna, Austria has been named the most livable city in the world, but 100 years ago that was not the case.

1:41:12But they started with a vision of housing as a human right, and the government implemented robust public investment to make that a reality.

1:41:23Vienna shows that when governments invest in housing as a human right, they can combat homelessness and inequities, and there is no reason why we can't do that here in Portland.

1:41:34So we ask you, dream big, councilors, and lead Be bold and pass this resolution as the first step to move on a path to make City Portland a city that's famous for ensuring that all its residents have a home.

1:41:51Thank you for your time.

1:41:53For being here.

1:41:57Next, we have the testimony that we're hearing.

1:41:59I'll just remind everybody that if you can keep your support silent jazz hands, thumbs ups, all fine.

1:42:06That would be appreciated.

1:42:07Thank you.

1:42:09Next we have Toby Hodges, Jordan Lewis, and Winta Johannes.

1:42:17And Jordan is joining us online.

1:42:24Ms. Johannes, why don't you go ahead and kick us off?

1:42:30Good morning, Council.

1:42:31My name is Wente Yohannes.

1:42:32I serve as the executive director of the Albina Vision Trust.

1:42:36I'm here today to provide our support for the resolution today.

1:42:40There's been a lot of emphasis from the mayor, governor, and others in recent weeks about the need to communicate that Portland is open for business.

1:42:49This is true, but I urge you today to also consider ways that you might communicate through your policymaking that Portland is also open to partnership.

1:42:59This is how we move from study to action.

1:43:03The Albina Vision Trust is the nation's largest restorative redevelopment effort.

1:43:08We've brought over $600 million of public and private capital to the city at a time when everybody else was running away.

1:43:16We seek to build a neighborhood where people have both the dignity of stable housing and the opportunity to rebuild generations of stolen wealth.

1:43:26We know that conventional economic development models and tools will not work in our effort to rebuild historic Albina, and therefore Albina needs to serve as an urban laboratory for innovative policymaking.

1:43:42It is with this in mind that we believe there is great promise in the limited partnership model and we look forward to bringing both our community and our technical expertise to the conversation.

1:43:55We ask that you invite us to the table not as advocates, but as serious partners committed to moving the work of the city forward.

1:44:02Thank you.

1:44:07Rebecca, I believe our next testifier is online.

1:44:10Yes, Jordan Lewis.

1:44:13Jordan, can you hear us?

1:44:14Yeah, I can hear you.

1:44:16You're good to go.

1:44:18Awesome.

1:44:18I want to give everyone time to testify today, so I'll keep this short.

1:44:21The social housing thing is really great.

1:44:23I'm here to support it.

1:44:24Countercyclical development is awesome.

1:44:27We're gonna have a recession pretty soon, and ideally you're able to do development in a recession, which social housing lets us do.

1:44:33So it's a win-win-win-win.

1:44:36Everyone wins.

1:44:37Please pass it.

1:44:38I just wish it was going faster, and we should have done it 10 years ago.

1:44:41Thank you.

1:44:42Thank you.

1:44:45Next we have Sarah Radcliffe, Lee Shelton, Michelle Hornbeck.

1:44:59Good morning, uh, members of council.

1:45:01My name is Sarah Radcliffe and I'm here on behalf of Habitat for Humanity Portland Region.

1:45:06Habitat supports this proposal, but we wanna make sure that council is aware that there are innovative models that exist in our communities, but simply haven't been funded to scale.

1:45:19Specifically, the community land trust model, which Habitat implements in partnership with Proud Ground, shares a lot of the core features of social housing, which I'll run through just very quickly.

1:45:32First and probably most importantly, community land trusts or CLTs are non-market housing.

1:45:38So they create a slice of our housing supply that's insulated from both the risk and the escalation that's associated with market drivers.

1:45:49CLTs use a 99-year affordability covenant or deed restriction that's renewed every time title transfers.

1:45:57So effectively ensuring that these homes will remain affordable forever.

1:46:04Second, CLTs, like renting in Vienna, provide a stability of tenure that renting in the US simply doesn't provide.

1:46:16Part of my journey from into the affordable homeownership space was informed by my experience working as an eviction defense attorney and realizing thank you.

1:46:25Realizing that eviction or that renting just by definition is very precarious in this country.

1:46:31And finally, CLTs deliver mixed-income neighborhoods, which have benefits for all residents.

1:46:38This can be achieved through small CLT infill projects or through larger mixed-income CLT developments.

1:46:45Habitat and our work with Proud Ground, we sell homes to families between $35,000 and 80% of area median income, but many CLTs serve higher income brackets as well.

1:46:59With stable, predictable funding and the supply of land that Director Hisrich envisions, we can bring these innovative models to scale.

1:47:07Thank you.

1:47:09Thank you.

1:47:11Good morning, Council.

1:47:12My name is Lee Shelton.

1:47:14I'm a housing policy organizer and member of Portland Neighbors Welcome.

1:47:18I'll cut to the chase.

1:47:20I dream of diverse, high-quality, mixed-income, and family-friendly publicly owned housing that promotes community trust and connectivity.

1:47:33We're living through an incredibly lonely period of American life where 50% of Americans report being— feeling lonely or isolated on a regular basis.

1:47:44I myself experienced this in the years after the birth of my children.

1:47:48I often felt alone and isolated in our single-family home, surrounded by mostly older adults with no kids.

1:47:57Thank goodness for our beloved Portland parks.

1:48:00Great building design and well-integrated green space can help mitigate loneliness.

1:48:06It can boost our opportunities to socialize and care for one another.

1:48:10I'm so excited to see what creative plans we can come up with and strongly support this resolution.

1:48:15Thank you.

1:48:18My name is Michelle Hornbeck, and I am part of Welcome Home Coalition.

1:48:24And I came today to say that I support this resolution.

1:48:29We, we must find a way to be able to house people So speaking from the other side, as a person who was homeless, that sense of safety is so important.

1:48:48So the Helen Swindell Hotel on Broadway and Burnside years ago was a hotel, and what they've done is now they just rent the rooms out on a monthly basis.

1:49:01And they're part of Portland Housing Authority.

1:49:04They receive payments from them, whatever.

1:49:06When I stayed, I just paid out of pocket.

1:49:09But it was the sense that I could go in and lock a door and know that I would be safe for the night.

1:49:18And we just have too many people out there that feel alone and hopeless, and you have the power To make that not their reality anymore.

1:49:32And I'm sorry, I get emotional because I know how hard it is out there.

1:49:36And when you have a roof, someplace you can rest, you can be more productive, you can look for a job, you can take care of your medical problems, or at least see a doctor.

1:49:51Councilmember You can eat properly.

1:49:54When you're homeless, you don't have that.

1:49:56You don't have any of that.

1:49:58And that's why we lose people on a daily basis.

1:50:02You know, we have people with mental health that rely on drugs in order to cope with whatever, you know, issue that is, but also just to get through, you know.

1:50:16So it's so It's so important, and I would just urge you from my heart, um, I know how grateful I am.

1:50:23I, I have affordable housing, and, and I've been there a couple years now, and it really has changed my life.

1:50:30Thank you.

1:50:32Karen, for sharing your stories.

1:50:38Next we have Lauren Armony and Laura Bauer.

1:50:53Thank you.

1:50:55Go right ahead.

1:50:56All right, all right.

1:51:00Hello, Council President Pirtle-Guiney, Vice President Koyama Lane, and councilors.

1:51:05For the record, my name is Lauren Armony, and I'm here to testify in support of this resolution.

1:51:09I shared a similar testimony last week but want to ensure all of you have the privilege to hear it.

1:51:14I was born and raised in Portland.

1:51:16I've worked in housing justice nonprofits in the Portland metro area for the past 5 years, recently joining the Welcome Home Coalition.

1:51:23And I've also been homeless because I could not afford rent.

1:51:26I grew up off Southeast 35th and Hawthorne.

1:51:29Before it had a dosha spa, it was working-class families, college students, and small businesses.

1:51:34Businesses.

1:51:35We had block parties every summer.

1:51:37Kids on the street played together, and I knew everyone by name.

1:51:40Neither of my parents had a college education, and they were able to buy our house for $70,000 in 1990.

1:51:46Due to post-9/11 recessions and illegal terminations perpetrated by Portland Public Schools, my father became unemployed.

1:51:52We plunged into poverty and almost lost our house.

1:51:55We made incredible sacrifices that still affect me to this day.

1:51:59At the same time, We had realtors knocking on our door on Saturday mornings with cash offers— $350,000, $375,000, $400,000— knowing they'd still turn a profit if they were to sell it.

1:52:11Slowly, my neighbors started taking the offers and trickled out of the neighborhood.

1:52:14We stopped having annual block parties by 2005.

1:52:18We managed to keep our then 110-year-old house until 2014.

1:52:22It was subsequently gutted, flipped, and sold for over $1 million in 2015.

1:52:26I believe Councilor Dunphy shared a similar experience in house price inflation last week.

1:52:31There is a reason why adults still living in Portland who grew up here are called unicorns.

1:52:35Right now, my peers and I are debating on whether to save for retirement, a house, or have children, because you can only pick one in Portland.

1:52:42But we can imagine a different future.

1:52:44The private market refuses to regulate itself, but I'm confident that city leadership can take this bold step to study non-market housing options for Portland and housing options that keep our communities intact, reduce housing insecurity and homelessness, and give residents the opportunity to build wealth without having to rely on a fickle real estate market.

1:53:01Portland was a great place to grow up, but I can't help but wonder how different my life would have been if my family had the option of non-market housing.

1:53:08Let us not make future generations wonder.

1:53:11Please support this resolution.

1:53:12Thank you for your time.

1:53:13Thank you.

1:53:19That completes testimony.

1:53:24Thank you.

1:53:25Uh, councilors, it's time for discussion.

1:53:31Is there anybody who wants to discuss the resolution?

1:53:39I guess I wanted to follow up and see if there was an amendment worked out.

1:53:44I see Councilor Clark in the queue.

1:53:48Um, thank you, uh, Councilor Avalos.

1:53:50I think we've come to some agreement on that.

1:53:53Do you want to offer that up, or— Sure, Councilor Green will offer the amendment.

1:54:00Okay, uh, let's see.

1:54:03So I have an amendment here that Councilor Clark has helpfully written, and it would just amend On sub, so be it further resolved.

1:54:14The last be it further resolved in the resolution on item five, where it says other governance and implementation needs and considerations such as funding impacts, compliance, monitoring, enforcement, administrative costs, staffing needs, and potential city liability, including and here's the amended, including identification of impediments such as zoning code, permitting process, and financing gaps.

1:54:37So just sort of rounds out that we're running for traps here, I think.

1:54:42Second.

1:54:45Councilors, we have a proposed amendment with a first and a second.

1:54:49Is there any discussion of this amendment, or would anybody like Councilor Green to read just the amendment part again?

1:54:57Can you read just the amended part again so folks can have that pulled up?

1:55:02No problem, Madam President.

1:55:03It just simply says including identification of impediments such as zoning code, permitting process, and finance gaps.

1:55:11And that's in the second resolved item 6.

1:55:165.

1:55:165, I apologize.

1:55:17Item 5.

1:55:19That's correct.

1:55:20Okay.

1:55:23Councilor Clark, are you in the queue to discuss this?

1:55:26I can discuss this, but I had some general comments too.

1:55:29Do you want me to wait?

1:55:31Right now we have a motion on the table, so conversation should be to the motion.

1:55:34Okay, I really appreciate the co-sponsors accepting this.

1:55:38I'm thinking you're accepting it.

1:55:40I think it's important that we also look at what prevents us from doing the things that we want to do in affordable housing.

1:55:47This is a great opportunity, and I appreciate your willingness to incorporate that.

1:55:53Any other discussion of the amendment?

1:55:58Okay, Rebecca, could you please call the roll?

1:56:01Kanal?

1:56:01Aye.

1:56:02Ryan?

1:56:03Aye.

1:56:03Koyama Lane?

1:56:04Aye.

1:56:05Morillo?

1:56:06Aye.

1:56:06Novick?

1:56:07Aye.

1:56:07Clark?

1:56:08Aye.

1:56:08Green?

1:56:09Aye.

1:56:10Zimmerman?

1:56:11Aye.

1:56:11Avalos?

1:56:12Aye.

1:56:12Dunphy?

1:56:13Aye.

1:56:13Smith?

1:56:14Aye.

1:56:15Pirtle-Guiney?

1:56:17Aye.

1:56:18Uh, with 12 ayes, the amendment is accepted.

1:56:22Thank you.

1:56:25Councilors, I'm putting myself in the queue because I also have an amendment that I would like to propose.

1:56:32We heard from one of our partners, Albina Vision Trust, and asked to think about how partners could be included in this work.

1:56:42And I've brought forward some language that might allow us to work with them as a potential partner.

1:56:48Thank you.

1:56:50Potential pilot area, one of what could be a few areas where we can look at how social housing might actually work in Portland in the near term as we see the results of this study.

1:57:05I'm going to pass out some language on paper, and I apologize that I didn't get this to folks sooner, but we were working out the details of it pretty late last and I figured rather than assume folks would look at their email at 11:30, I would bring a copy this morning.

1:57:23This would amend the resolution in 3 places.

1:57:29It would add 2 whereases to the bottom of the whereas section.

1:57:33I'll read it out loud for folks who are in the audience or online.

1:57:38Whereas the 2022 State of Housing in Portland report shows that in 2022, the average Latino and Native American families could not afford a 3-bedroom house in any neighborhood in Portland, and the average Black family could not afford a 1-bedroom home in any neighborhood in Portland.

1:57:54And whereas the North-Northeast Preference Policy seeks to address many of these disparities, and the city already has partners like the Albina Vision Trust poised to build thousands of units under this preference policy.

1:58:06And then in the second, be it further resolved, which is the resolved that Councilors Clark and Green just amended.

1:58:15There would be a new 6.

1:58:18The current 6 would move to a number 7, and the new 6 would say, be it further resolved, it is recommended that the report include analysis of pilot zones available for near-term implementation of social housing models at scale, including within the Albina Vision project area and other neighborhoods within the North Northeast Preference Policy area.

1:58:43I am going to let Vice President Koyama Lane manage discussion on this in case there are questions for me about the amendment.

1:58:56Councilor Clark, we can start with you.

1:58:57Hold on, it hasn't been seconded.

1:59:00Oh, I apologize, you're right.

1:59:02I was going to let her manage it through that also though.

1:59:05I'll second it.

1:59:07I think you had a second from Councilor Smith.

1:59:13So the amendment has been moved by Councilor Pirtle-Guiney and seconded by Councilor Smith.

1:59:24Will you call the roll?

1:59:25Discussion.

1:59:26No discussion.

1:59:27You're managing the discussion.

1:59:29All right, Councilor Clark, go ahead.

1:59:32I'm not going to mention the amendment.

1:59:34I'm interested in more general comments later.

1:59:37All right, Councilor Green, would you like to talk about the amendment?

1:59:41I would, Madam Vice President.

1:59:43Thank you.

1:59:43Um, uh, as I read it, I, I'm supportive of the amendments for a couple different reasons.

1:59:51One, um, the whereas clauses I think just add to the body of context for why it's important to do the study and why we have certain urgency around it.

2:00:02It also ties to, which I think is a practice that we should extend, prior work that identified gaps and said, you know, city supports X, Y, and Z.

2:00:12This does that here for a part of the city that when we talk about real estate development, if we were to ignore the impacts that earlier urban renewal projects did on the Albina District, we would be doing ourselves a disservice.

2:00:29So I think it does that, which is good.

2:00:31And then I think the, the add resolve piece, that doesn't diminish, in my view, any of the substantive original intent of the resolution and just sort of makes explicit that, you know, we have some opportunities.

2:00:45So I support that.

2:00:52Thank you, Council Vice President.

2:00:54So I am a little bit troubled by the amendment, not in the whereases, but in the be it resolved piece.

2:01:02And it is related to how some of the public comment actually came out.

2:01:06One of the things that I'm looking forward to in this study and why I will say in my overall remarks why I think that information, we should never be afraid of information.

2:01:16And one of the things I'm looking forward to this study It is completed in as non-biased a manner as possible, in a way that doesn't look at just funding more of the current system.

2:01:28But some of the public comment today were already from groups who I think are starting to see a funding solution to their own programs.

2:01:38And this to me is kind of opening up.

2:01:41And so where do we stop?

2:01:42Do we have now 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 for a variety of other organizations who also I think that what makes this study most pure would be that it not be directing work with one organization over the next.

2:01:58So I'm looking forward to those results and the information that comes of it.

2:02:03And if the study identifies that pilots are appropriate for us to consider at a later date, I think that would be great.

2:02:11But I am a little bit concerned about The nature of this study, in the way I think some members of the public commented today, is seen as a way to just drive funding to what I would call is the old broken system already.

2:02:25And I want to know more about it without having to question the study's motivations.

2:02:29So I would— I will not support the amendment.

2:02:34If the be it resolved portion was not in it, I would support it, but I just want to put that out for, for consideration.

2:02:47Thank you.

2:02:51I have some comments about that, uh, Councilor Zimmerman, and I want you to be more specific in what you're talking about because I don't— I'm not going to assume anything.

2:03:01So if you could call out what you're, you're saying organizations are trying to If I, I can—.

2:03:20Happy to respond.

2:03:21You may direct your comment.

2:03:22I think it's great, right?

2:03:23And we are, we are in business and we are supportive, right?

2:03:26And I, my point here is, do we list all of the housing organizations in this and take an amendment for that?

2:03:32Or for do we just say, we're going to fund all housing organizations of them who we are currently trying to help and get into the business of helping develop more affordable housing.

2:03:41Or one of the things about this, the way I'm taking this study is that it is offering more than just our current system of how we are funding nonprofit and affordable housing development, but looking at what is the next level of that.

2:03:57Yeah.

2:03:58I don't know that we have to list this for the study to be successful, but this seems like a one call-out for one group, and we could list all the groups that we do affordable housing with.

2:04:11Yeah, let's be clear.

2:04:13These organizations would not exist if the regular system was providing communities of color adequate, affordable, Housing.

2:04:25And that is why Albina Vision Trust came up.

2:04:31That is why Self Enhancement, who is known as a youth development organization, they found that even their own employees could not afford the housing in this city.

2:04:41And so they have created housing for elderly seniors who are African-American, and they have— they're not trying to supplement their book of business, which is in the youth development business, they're offering a service that is currently not being offered by the general housing community or ecosystem.

2:05:04They had to add something to that ecosystem to serve the people that they serve.

2:05:10So I would look at it at a different way, Councilor Zimmerman.

2:05:14Mm-hmm.

2:05:18So should we include then SEI in this and Latino Network in this?

2:05:23That's what I'm asking is—.

2:05:25Well, if it makes you feel better, include them, but be able to fund them at the same level that you're trying to, to do this first, if, if, if that is the issue.

2:05:36I don't find that an issue so much about what they're going to be funded because there's no numbers here.

2:05:42But what I find that is a little troubling, and I'm going to add a whereas myself, and I wanted to, to bring that up.

2:05:51So just so that we put a finer point on this, to, to basically settle any councilor's concerns about why people have been pointed out, listen to this.

2:06:06Whereas, based on 2022 U.S. Census yes.

2:06:10U.S. Census data for Portland, and this is in the report that, that they cited, the U.S. Census data for Portland, the average Black household brings in about $3,000 in monthly income, while Latino households earn $4,500 a month, and Native American households Earn $5,000 a month in comparison to white Portlanders' households earn $6,400 on an average each month.

2:06:47And so if we add that data to a whereas, we put a finer point on the discrepancies and, and, and how we minimize or marginalize certain groups in this city.

2:06:59And so there, there is a disproportionate amount of housing for African Americans, Latino, and Native Americans compared to their monthly salary.

2:07:09So if you look at that, Councilor, I think that would help you to get to a finer understanding of why this amendment is needed.

2:07:19Well, I think I understand the whereases just fine.

2:07:22What, what I have made very clear is that I don't understand just the result part.

2:07:27The whereas and And that added language that you just suggested, I think is important.

2:07:32But what I'm not understanding is why we'd only look at pilot zones with one organization when we have a lot of partners.

2:07:38And I think that is confusing for me in that sense.

2:07:42So I think your whereases are great, Councilor.

2:07:44Well, let's add Latino Network and Self-Enhancement if that makes you feel better about this amendment.

2:07:52Thank you, Councilors.

2:07:53I think there are some people in the queue.

2:07:54Thank you.

2:07:54I see a few that would like to speak on this also.

2:07:57Councilor Pirtle-Guiney.

2:07:59Yeah, thank you.

2:08:00And I, you know, I occasionally take off my council president hat and get to speak as a District 2 councilor.

2:08:08And this is something that is really important to me for a couple of reasons.

2:08:13And Councilor Zimmerman, I understand your concerns, which is why the resolve specifically speaks to neighborhoods within the North and Northeast Preference Policy area.

2:08:23Not just Albina Vision Trust.

2:08:25And the reason that Albina Vision Trust has been called out specifically is because they have already been working with our housing bureau on social housing, and they have already been looking at how they might be able to pilot social housing.

2:08:40It seemed appropriate if we are asking for a study of social housing and we know that we are hearing from groups councilmember Herbold.

2:08:48Thank you, Mayor.

2:08:48I think that given that we have 2 ordinances that are specifically speaking to the need for social housing for communities that have been historically displaced, and we have an organization already working with our bureau on piloting social housing specifically in an area where we say we are working to help families come back that have been displaced, that we should call out the ability to look at that work as a potential to learn from as we go through the process of this So that is why this region of Portland more broadly has been called out in this resolution and why this organization specifically has been called out in the resolution.

2:09:23It's not to diminish the work of anybody else who could play in this space, and it's not to presuppose a determined outcome, but rather to say we actually have an opportunity where work is already happening to look at as we do this study.

2:09:39Thank you.

2:09:42Councilor Kanal.

2:09:44Thank you, Madam Vice President.

2:09:46Um, I— this is a very interesting conversation and I appreciate it.

2:09:49Um, I think I, I, I appreciate also Councilor Smith's, I guess, second proposed amendment or proposed amendment to the amendment.

2:09:57I don't know how it'll end up being done, but, um, I, I wanted to ask, 'cause I, I think, um, for me, the, the thing that makes the area unique is it's the only area where we have historically established a policy to help address the intentional policymaking in the past that displaced so many people.

2:10:18That to me is the regional interest in it.

2:10:21And also it's the only place where we're talking about building land.

2:10:25And that makes it unique.

2:10:26Unlike any other, we're talking about making more of it.

2:10:30And I think that that's a notable thing.

2:10:33Councilor Zimmerman, I want to ask you, the actual place where the organization is called out is in the second whereas, whereas we're just talking about the project area for the sort of the Lower Albina redevelopment in the resolved.

2:10:49So I wanted to ask why the concern was about the whereas versus the resolved.

2:10:54Does that make sense?

2:10:55I hope I'm—.

2:10:56Yeah, I think so.

2:10:58I just want to be, be clear.

2:11:00My, my concern with the resolves is that the resolve, in some sense, I think of it as, as directing language, right?

2:11:08And that is, that is where my concern stops, because I am hoping that this study brings us back a, a study full of information that is about, I think, the heart of the way that Councilor Green and Councilor Avalos wrote the original.

2:11:27And so that is where the resolve piece, it adds this layer to it.

2:11:31And, and I don't understand necessarily why we would drive that in the resolve.

2:11:36That's purely where, where my concern existed, which is why I can support the first and second whereases.

2:11:42Um, it is also very clear there's very strong feelings about this.

2:11:46The geographic nature of it makes a lot of sense to me, Councilor.

2:11:49Um, uh, this seemed odd to call out one group in one area in the B resolved.