Portland City Council Special Session

5:40Good morning.

5:41I am going to call our special meeting— that's what we're calling this, our special meeting—.

5:48To order.

5:48It is April 23rd at 10:01.

5:52Keelan, could you please call the roll?

5:55Kanal.

5:56Here.

5:56Ryan.

5:57Here.

5:58Koyama Lane.

5:59Here.

5:59Morillo.

6:00Here.

6:00Novick.

6:01Here.

6:01Here.

6:02Here.

6:02Here.

6:06Here.

6:07Smith.

6:08Here.

6:08Pirtle-Guiney.

6:11Oh, here.

6:13Apologies.

6:15Um, could our attorney please read the rules of order and decorum?

6:25Welcome to the Portland City Council.

6:30To testify before council in person or virtually, you must sign up for the day on the council agenda at www.

6:39Information on engaging with council can be found on the council clerk's webpage.

6:44Individuals may testify for 3 minutes unless the presiding officer states otherwise.

6:49Your microphone will be muted when your time is over.

6:52The presiding officer preserves order.

6:53Disruptive conduct such as shouting, refusing to conclude your testimony when your time is over, or interrupting others' testimony or council deliberations will not be allowed.

7:02If you cause a disruption, a warning will be given.

7:05Councilor further disruption will result in ejection from the meeting.

7:08Anyone who fails to leave once ejected is subject to arrest for trespass.

7:12Additionally, council may take a short recess and reconvene virtually.

7:16Your testimony should address the matter being considered.

7:19When testifying, first, state your name for the record.

7:22Your address is not necessary.

7:24Second, if you're a lobbyist, identify the organization you represent.

7:28Third, virtual testifiers should unmute themselves when council clerk calls your name.

7:31Councilor Smith.

7:32Thank you.

7:35Thank you, councilors.

7:36The first item on our agenda is agenda approval.

7:40Are there any requests to amend or reorder the agenda?

7:48Seeing none, do I have unanimous consent to approve the agenda?

7:56Yes.

7:57I'm seeing head nods, Keelan, and no objections.

8:01A bobblehead nod.

8:03So councilors, because this is a special meeting, we don't have some of our other regular orders of business.

8:09We're just going to jump right into our regular agenda.

8:12All 3 items on our agenda are things that we did not get to last Wednesday.

8:18We are scheduled for 2 hours from 10 to 12 today, and I know there are some folks who have either conflicts that they have to leave early for or hard stops right at noon.

8:28So we are going to end either at noon, or if somebody is mid-sentence, a minute or 2 after.

8:35And if we are not able to get through all of these agenda items, we'll need to carry them over to a future meeting.

8:42I apologize to potentially have to do that twice.

8:46With that, Keelan, could you please read the first item on our agenda?

8:51Item 1, authorize revenue bonds in an amount sufficient to provide not more than $80 million to finance curb ramp and street improvement projects.

9:01Thank you.

9:01And I believe Christopher Hare is our Council Operations staffer today.

9:06Perfect.

9:07Chris, can you read your committee staff summary for us?

9:12Good morning, Madam President, Madam Vice President, councilors.

9:16For the record, my name is Christopher Hare, Council Policy Analyst with Council Operations, and I serve as staff to the Finance Committee.

9:24The ordinance before you, document number 2025-131, was considered in the Finance Committee on April 7th, where it was referred to council with a recommendation to pass.

9:34The ordinance authorizes the issuance of revenue bonds pursuant to ORS 287A.150 and related statutes in an amount sufficient to provide not more than $80 million to finance certain curb, ramp, and street improvements and related costs.

9:50The ordinance provides additional amounts sufficient to pay capitalized interest, accrued interest on any interim financing, and estimated costs related to the revenue bonds authorized.

10:01The principal amount of revenue bonds to be sold is estimated not to exceed $81.2 million.

10:07The full impact statement on this item includes a financial and budget impacts and analysis and information on potential community impacts and community involvement.

10:15There was no verbal or written testimony on this ordinance prior to committee action.

10:19This concludes the committee staff summary.

10:21Thank you.

10:24Thank you.

10:24Councilor Zimmerman, you presided over that meeting.

10:27Is there anything you'd like to add?

10:30Thanks.

10:31Just a very quick note in terms of, um, items that come before the Finance Committee.

10:36I know that there will be some questions today about the operations that this finance mechanism is financing.

10:46And I think those are appropriate questions, but that is not a line of questioning that the Finance Committee got into.

10:52We, we really took it from a position of the, the authorizations of bonds for other committees or other city operations who've already, quote unquote, vetted that plan.

11:04And so while I recognize that there'll be some questions today, I have them as well, and I think that's completely appropriate.

11:10The Finance Committee spoke with the CFO and team regarding what this meant in terms of cash flow and what it opened up and the bonding aspects of that.

11:18And so, um, I'll leave it there.

11:21Thanks.

11:21Thank you, Councilor.

11:24Uh, Councilors, because this is an item coming from the administrative side, we don't have a council carrier to talk about the, the why or the reason for bringing it.

11:35Uh, but City Administrator Jordan, is there anything that you'd like to add before we continue?

11:41No, Madam President.

11:42I think there are staff in the room to be able to deal with the questions, either financial or operational.

11:47Perfect.

11:48So councilors, often what we do is ask technical questions first, but save our broader discussion until after public testimony.

11:59Keelan, do we have anyone signed up for public testimony?

12:02No one signed up.

12:02Okay, then why don't we do both of those things together?

12:07If you have questions about the item before us, or discussion and points that you'd like to make, let's just have folks jump in the queue for both.

12:17And we do, as City Administrator Jordan mentioned, have both our finance staff and our PBOT team here to answer questions.

12:27Councilor Ryan, would you like to kick us off?

12:30Sure.

12:30Hello.

12:31I probably should come up for this question.

12:34I'm in support of this.

12:35I just wanted to ask an operational question.

12:38I'm asking for FRIEND, constituents.

12:41A couple in Irvington have stopped me recently and complimented the work of the upgrades to the ramps.

12:48Their confusion is, and you probably know what I might say, when they're there, there's a pothole on the street that remains a pothole after they're done with their work.

13:00Of course they should ask a question like that, and then I get the opportunity to ask you here in public.

13:06So the question is—.

13:07The question is, explain why you would do this work on 4 curbs on the same street where there's a pothole and you would leave the street with the new curbs but the potholes remain.

13:20Absolutely.

13:21Portlanders scratch their head at such moments.

13:23You can understand that.

13:24I do understand.

13:24Okay, thanks.

13:25Good morning, City Council.

13:27Millicent Williams, Director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

13:30Thank you very much thank you for having us here this morning.

13:33I'd like to address your question.

13:36There are several factors that are a part of the decision-making around how we will go about either replacing or repairing ramps and attending to the adjacent roadway needs, sidewalk needs.

13:52So first, we'll start with meeting the expectation around compliance with the ramp design and needing to make sure that slopes are appropriate and all of the things that go into the technical effort to ensure that it's appropriate.

14:08So we do that first.

14:09And there's funding that is allocated to ensure that we're able to do that work.

14:15In that body of work, there is often a pavement component, but it's a pave-back component.

14:22It's not necessarily driving down the street, or not physically, actually, literally driving down the street, but looking down the street to see if there are other opportunities to address asset condition further down the road.

14:36That would be a separate pot of funding, a separate set of activities.

14:40And often we're able to coordinate those activities, but sometimes we have not always done that.

14:45We have, in recent months, developed a new set of criteria around how we will look at the broader picture and go up more than the feet that are right in front of us, more of a—.

14:5910 Feet.

14:591,000-Foot view so that we can look at the entire community that's being affected by the ramp work and see if there are improvements that we're able to make there.

15:08So Deidre Davis, who runs the ADA program now, and actually Jody Yates, who is our Maintenance Operations Deputy Director, can speak to how we are looking comprehensively at doing that work.

15:20We recognize, however, that for many years as we've been doing this work, that has not always been the way that we've approached it, but we're working to make sure that we have this comprehensive yes.

15:30Effort that does allow for Portlanders to scratch their heads less regarding the work that we're doing.

15:37But we recognize that as— that had been a gap, and that's something that we're working toward making sure that we fill as comprehensively as possible, recognizing that we need to be good stewards of both the investments that go into the ramp work, but also making sure that the work that we're doing does make Thank you.

15:58And that's— I was able to explain the restricted funds for that restricted work is to be in compliance with ADA.

16:05I appreciate their question about the comprehensive operational look that you're planning, and it sounds like that's the standard that you'd like to move towards.

16:14So maybe we'll hear about how that movement's going.

16:17You will.

16:18Okay.

16:18Maybe that's why you're going to say something.

16:20Do you want to hear that now?

16:21I'll take whatever I can get.

16:22Is this good for all my colleagues?

16:24I'm sure I'm the only one that's got this.

16:25We got a lot.

16:26We got tons of information.

16:26Don't you go anywhere.

16:28Yes, Deirdre Davis, Division Manager for the ADA Curb Ramp Division, which is a new division within PBOT.

16:39First, I'd like to share, especially in Irvington, one of the things that you could share with constituents if they see a lot of curb ramps in their neighborhood being done.

16:48Most likely that's part of our Grind and Pave and our Fixing Our Streets program, and we do our ramps about 8 to 12 months ahead of the paving.

16:57So sometimes it is perceived as, you just did all these ramps but you didn't fix the streets.

17:02And then a year later, we come through and we pave.

17:05But in that delay, I think it can cause some confusion.

17:09And, uh, so part of our greater efforts is also around communication plans and engaging with our community more and being able to, um, get out ahead of that.

17:17Um, so when they see the curb ramps, they know the communication plan is the strategy?

17:25It's a communication plan, but also the strategy is that— so we have a paving list, and the paving list is a 3-year look ahead.

17:34But in order for us to pave down the street, we do have to make sure that in advance of that paving, the ramps are done.

17:40So in the case of the constituent who asked the question, there's a pothole 50 feet down the road, why didn't they deal with that?

17:47Thank you.

17:47We will, but it will be a year before we can do that.

17:54Thank you.

17:54Councilor Dunphy.

17:56Thank you.

17:57I—.

17:57Well, actually, I was not going to talk about that, but now that that's mentioned, I got to say, I find that actually pretty frustrating.

18:03And I think from the constituent's perspective, that's a color of money question.

18:06I understand from a bureaucratic standpoint, you are an enormous bureau.

18:09It is enormously complicated, and I don't want to minimize that.

18:13Experience, especially on my side of town in the East Side, to have the excitement of a construction crew coming in and actually improving the built environment but not fixing the things that are literally next to the truck is just— it creates a deeper level of distrust in our government.

18:30And I found that extraordinarily frustrating because I understand the limitations of why we have to do things the way we do, but it is leading to bad results.

18:39Thank you.

18:39So I just wanted to voice my frustration there.

18:43But my other— my specific question was to the ADA ramps.

18:46You know, I appreciate that.

18:48You know, I've been seeing the work crews out all over town, but I've also been hearing from a number of constituents who are in the process of doing remodels or trying to open new businesses that have done something that triggers a need to do a frontage improvement.

19:03And it has come to the point where those improvements that are unrelated to the development are now crippling those opportunities for those buildings.

19:10Specifically, I have 2 music venues that have called me and have said they're trying to open the new Doug Fir in the location of the old Montage and trying to convert the Dancing Bear Strip Club into an all-ages venue.

19:24Each of them have been given— have been told they are now having to improve these storefront or these ramps at their cost.

19:33How are we deciding when it is a—.

19:35I'm sorry.

19:36Constituents' responsibility to fix the curb ramps, and in some cases fixing curb ramps that were replaced less than a decade ago, versus when we are spending the dollars we're authorizing today?

19:48Sure.

19:48So in the case of the 2 venues that you're speaking about, and we've had extensive conversation about how we can support Doug Furr's efforts to open that business, right in front of that business, there are no ramps.

20:03At all.

20:03It's just you stepping off of the higher than desired curb onto the street.

20:10And so when there is increased foot traffic, when there are— there are several triggers that inform when we would, through the development process, encourage or require businesses to make the investment to upgrade the frontage of the location that they're yes.

20:31—Proposing to inhabit.

20:33And so we recognize that for some, that is a bit of a surprise, but we have the opportunity to continue to have the conversation about how we can work with them to best realize the necessary outcomes.

20:45And so in the case of Doug Fir, we have had as recently as yesterday a conversation about how we might be able to support the effort.

20:54They have agreed that there is a responsibility on their part, and we've agreed that there's a responsibility on our part yes.

21:00To work together to define the best path forward.

21:03So sometimes the requirements do appear to be, or in some cases maybe even are, a little onerous.

21:13When those instances occur, we do encourage folks to reach out to us so that we can have the conversation and we can work together to identify solutions.

21:21We receive calls and comments all the time, and often those calls and inquiries come directly to me.

21:28Directly with the team to make sure that we come up with a meaningful solution.

21:32In the case of Doug Fir, we're working hand in hand with PP&D to make sure that we have the best outcome for that establishment.

21:39And I believe that we'll be communicating that within the week, within the next several days, by the end of the week, about the plan for the path forward so that we can make sure that they can open.

21:49And if there's any mystery around how code applies and when it can or does not need to apply, we have some opportunities to reevaluate what we do there.

22:01Inasmuch as there's a blanket that covers the expectation, we do handle everything, frankly, on a case-by-case basis.

22:08Great.

22:08I do appreciate that.

22:10And I'm grateful for the work that is happening.

22:12And I know that it's vital to making sure our city is the kind of city we need.

22:16But also want to just recognize we're at a moment of economic precarity.

22:20And anybody who's investing in our city right now yes.

22:24Especially when we're investing $80 million into doing the rest of the curb ramps.

22:27If that's the difference between someone bringing a new business to our community or creating public vibrancy, especially in areas that are going to be either currently or historically have been part of either TIF districts or areas that are historically underdeveloped, I would hope we would find as much flexibility as we can because our, as we've heard over and over, our local economy's hurting.

22:52And there is a, sometimes a $20,000 bill is the difference between a business succeeding or not.

22:58And we don't want to be a burden.

22:59We don't want to be a barrier.

23:00We want to be a partner.

23:01And we look forward to working with everyone who is expected to, based on their development needs, figure out the best path forward.

23:11Perfect.

23:11Thank you.

23:21Thank you, Madam President.

23:24Thank you all for coming today, and I appreciate you all, uh, giving us this agenda item and want to go back to us identifying funding before the mayor's budget is dropped.

23:40I had conversations with Finance Chair and, um, the president about how we go about requesting money in this budget cycle.

23:50And Director Williams, could you tell me, is this process of identifying the $80 million in funding, is that going to be something that helps the mayor to balance his budget when it is released?

24:10Does he need this $80 million project to help balance his budget?

24:18Going to ask that, uh, Jonas Biery, DCA, or, uh, Chief Financial Officer?

24:26Sure.

24:27Okay, uh, come forward.

24:28Great, thank you.

24:29Um, for the record, uh, Jonas Biery, the DCA of Budget Finance.

24:33And Chief Financial Officer.

24:36So Councilor, if I understand your question around— the question is, does this financing help the city produce a balanced budget?

24:46And the answer is it does, but not out of necessity.

24:53So the financing as it's proposed achieves 2 objectives.

24:58One is it fills a project gap.

24:59Okay.

25:00So it allows around $10 million-ish a year for the next couple years, I think $10 million next fiscal year, '25-'26, and $16 million, if I remember correctly, for '26-'27.

25:12It allows that project gap to be filled so those projects can proceed without having to identify $26 million in additional resources over those next 2 years.

25:22The second reason, objective of this financing is to produce 1 year of cash flow savings.

25:28Okay.

25:29So by financing over time that the amounts that would have otherwise been cash funded, plus that gap, we can achieve the first objective and also receive around $12 million in savings in fiscal '25-'26, $6 million to the general fund roughly, and $6 million to the transportation fund, which will prevent the city from having to identify cuts that would otherwise have to occur if we didn't proceed with the financing?

25:59So the answer is, DCA Biery, is that it has a significant impact on balancing the budget.

26:07I'd say $10 million, $25 million, $26 million.

26:10That is a huge gap considering we have a known gap of $91 to $93 million in deficit.

26:19That's fine, and that should also be something that you all lead with, because leading with needing to do this, uh, now because we're going to have, you know, we're going to have a huge deficit in the next 2 or 3 years— I think it would have been— had— it would have been important and necessary and critical for us to know that this is a significant way that the mayor is balancing his budget, because we were told that we could not bring any financing tools forward until he dropped his budget.

26:53I was told I could not bring anything to the Finance Committee.

26:56Others were told that they could not bring anything to the Finance Committee as a result.

27:00But this piece of information is so critical why we are doing this now as opposed to after the mayor drops the budget.

27:10And so he's going to have to— if this fails today, he's going to have to figure out how to balance the budget.

27:18Yeah, understood.

27:18And if it helps to add a little bit of context about what brought us here to this action today, this generated from a budget note that was included in last year's budget that we look at, we assembled a work team with PBOT, myself, and other stakeholders to look at a way to fund the gap.

27:39And so that was the genesis of this action.

27:42That work occurred in the fall of last year to identify a recommendation of which this was, that was provided to the city administrator last calendar year and was reflected also in the city administrator's recommendations as a concept that was on the table at that point.

27:59So I just wanted to provide council members with that context.

28:01No, no, no, I know exactly what it was.

28:02I saw the budget note.

28:03The budget note said give us some remedies and give us some tools, and it was supposed to be turned in yes.

28:09To, uh, the city administrator by the end of January.

28:13Uh, that report was not made available by the end of January.

28:17And so here we are in April, and now we're trying to identify ways in which the mayor can balance his budget.

28:27And so that's key.

28:28It's not in addition to needing to pay for this early.

28:32It is, it is to actually help him to balance his budget.

28:36And that should be made clear.

28:38Even though he is the one that's dropping the budget, we were given direction not to bring any of these things forward until after May 7th.

28:47And so that, that is the point that I'm trying to make about this.

28:50Not that I, I, I think it's important.

28:52I think it's critical.

28:53I think we will be able to get some of those ADA ramps in District 1 and District 4 where it's going to be really important.

29:02And there are ways that we can marry this request with, uh, hopefully SIP, uh, if it passes, so that we can make sure that the most vulnerable of our neighborhoods will be able to have sidewalks that they can walk on.

29:17So I just wanted to make a note of that.

29:20Thank you.

29:24Thank you, Madam President.

29:28Um, thank you for presenting today.

29:30Uh, I just have a technical question.

29:34Maybe it's operational too, but does this— were we behind, I guess, on the pace of our compliance?

29:43And if so, well, I guess, how does this help us in terms of our compliance requirements?

29:49And does it, like, does it put us in a more advantageous position as we look at the broader asset management work that we need to do in this city?

29:57We are on pace.

29:58We have been completing the required 1,500 ramps that came about as the Creek settlement every year since the settlement was initiated, the agreement was initiated.

30:10So we are on pace.

30:12The issue is that, as has been reported and shared with several of you, delivering on ramps is an expensive venture.

30:22And frankly, the general fund allocation that the bureau has received to date is largely used to cover the cost of those ramps.

30:33And so we look forward to having, I think, what I would call assurance or insurance that we would be able to deliver on the stated objectives, as has been dictated by the Creek settlement in their case against the— not the Bureau, but the city, helping to ensure that we're meeting those objectives.

30:55But we are on track.

30:56Thank you.

30:57We can give you the numbers that we've produced each year, year over year, and have that data available, readily available for you.

31:07Thank you.

31:07So do you think it'd be fair to characterize this to say that this tool allows us to make sure we continue apace with our compliance and not face any upstream risks for that?

31:19That would help tremendously.

31:20One of the main drivers as we look at any project and to ensure our overall delivery is how are we paying for this?

31:28And if we aren't able to pay for it, sometimes we have to think of other alternatives to include stopping.

31:34So this would allow for us to move forward with a strategy that allows for us to really understand how we can best invest over the course of the next several years, how we can work with all of those who are contributing ramps.

31:48And I wanted to mention that there are 4 ways that we have ramps.

31:51Yes.

31:51That come into this program.

31:53They are through the development.

31:58Developers, when they're developing, do have the requirements to provide ramps.

32:03We have ramps by request.

32:04People call in to indicate that they have a need.

32:08Our team goes out and does the evaluation, and we count ramps through that mechanism as well.

32:14We also count the ramps from the CIP, or the Capital Improvement Program.

32:18So all of those major transformational projects like 4th Avenue, hundreds of ramps all along 4th Avenue that we're able to count.

32:25Now, those are not paid for by this funding source.

32:29They are paid for by the CIP, or they're paid for by development, or they're paid for by utility work that's happening.

32:39So ramps by request and—.

32:43The grind and pave program.

32:44The grind and pave ramps.

32:46Those are what will be covered through this.

32:48Through this funding source.

32:50But there are 4 different ways that we are able to get to that magic number of 1,500.

32:57And sometimes those levers, depending on how development is going, whether a CFE project is on schedule, change.

33:07But at the end of the day, that's how we get to the 1,500.

33:10And we appreciate the opportunity to be able to comprehensively plan.

33:15Thank you.

33:15For how we will get to that end in meaningful ways.

33:19Thank you.

33:20And I'll just close my questions by just commenting briefly.

33:23I'm really sympathetic to Councilor Dunphy's, the issue that he's raising.

33:29I tend to think that bonds are really our appropriate tool to use to pay for long-lived assets like ADA curb ramps or sidewalks in general.

33:42As we go down the road here, would love to see opportunities to bond out those types of expenditures more so than relying upon the kind of frontage individual cost approach, which I understand the intuitive appeal, but it does have that effect of stymieing development in our city when we need it the most.

34:02So I just wanted to raise that.

34:04Thank you.

34:04Thank you.

34:06Councilor Zimmerman.

34:09Thank you.

34:09I think my question probably is similar to Councilor Ryan's with respect to the type of quality of projects.

34:17So one could walk down 4th Avenue outside City Hall right now and we could see, particularly at the park here, a very large, what I would call the Taj Mahal of ramps that I've ever seen in my life.

34:30And one might say, wow, what a great accomplishment.

34:33Thank you.

34:34I'm not in that perspective because 4th Avenue, turns out we had ramps all the way down this darn street, and we continue to rebuild ramps in parts of Portland that already have ramps.

34:47When at 16th and Montgomery, I've got a curb for a constituent who is 9 inches, and it's just a nice drop-off.

34:55It's like the Grand Canyon of ramps.

34:57What I don't understand, and I have said this before, and I'm I think it— is it Deidre?

35:02You're the new program manager of this.

35:05I am looking forward to finally getting an answer from somebody in the city organizations for why we continue to replace existing ramps with, my words, the Taj Mahal of ramps, when there are far more streets who don't have any ramp at all.

35:24And I say that as a person representing downtown Portland, that I feel like if I'm using grade school grades here, the C+ ramp was doing the job.

35:36There are other places that have Fs, and I would rather we got the whole city to a, a B- kind of grade before I brought 4th Avenue again into the highest category of ramps.

35:47I just don't understand that.

35:49And, and Director, I, I did hear you say that 4th Avenue is paid slightly with a different fund.

35:55That's, that's news to me, so I'm going to learn a little bit about what that means.

35:59But this is the type of situation that is similar to Councilor Ryan's question, which is the everyday member of the public sees something and they say, boy, I've gone down that ramp 100 times.

36:10Let me see that.

36:10Not sure why it's getting replaced when the one that is near my home or the one that's on this other street doesn't have one at all.

36:16Help me communicate this to everyday Portlanders in a way that builds faith.

36:22Or tell me you're working under a requirement that is silly and you need us to change that requirement, because the ADA advisors upstairs have told me these are not a requirement.

36:32So I'm curious.

36:33Uh, so I'll start, and then I've asked, uh, Alex Bejarano, uh, to come up as well.

36:38He's the— our chief engineer, uh, and responsible for engineering services for the city to help to explain, um, from the broader perspective as well as, uh, Deidre explaining.

36:47I will tell you that I walked out of the Portland Building one day and I knew the 4th Avenue project was coming.

36:52Of course, I've known it's been coming for 7 years.

36:55And so I was looking at a ramp that I know had been recently rebuilt.

37:00And I said, I know we just rebuilt that ramp 4 years ago, 5 years ago when something was done inside of the Portland Building as we were doing the— well, the Portland Building as we were doing the upgrade of the system.

37:12Thank you.

37:12Sorry.

37:13Sorry, as we were doing the upgrade of the facility.

37:16And I said, if I have questions about us rebuilding this ramp, what about John and Jane Q.

37:22Citizen?

37:22I know that that's a question.

37:23So we talked about the communication strategy.

37:26Certainly we need to do that and help people to understand more universally what needs to happen.

37:31But there are tolerances within our guidelines based on not just the Creek settlement, but ADA guidelines.

37:39Yes.

37:40That require us to have slopes of a certain degree.

37:44If something is outside of that scope, if the ramps are off-center, which many of the ramps on 4th, 5th, and 6th are, we need to adjust those things.

37:54Some of the ramp corrections are slight.

37:57It's grinding down a little bit.

37:59It's adding some pavement somewhere.

38:01It's, you know, there are small adjustments that we need to make.

38:04Others, more universally, have to be adjusted.

38:07And so We'll talk about the triggering for ramps and why we've chosen the ramps that we have as well, especially given the fact that there are hundreds, thousands of ramps that are in need of, or to exist at all, or are in need of repair or replacement.

38:24So, Dieter and Alex.

38:26Thank you, and thank you for this opportunity.

38:29So plain simple, it's a federal trigger.

38:32So it's not even, within our city.

38:34So if we pave, there's pavement requirements, and we have to upgrade that corner to current ADA standards.

38:42So we have our inspection team, which is under my division.

38:45They do a condition assessment, and if they deem that it is not up to standard, then we have to redo the ramp.

38:51The good news is that federal law also says that if you trigger the ramp but you have your inspection data and it was in compliance at the time of construction per ADA, then you don't have to redo the ramp.

39:06So the great news is, is starting in 2018, due to the Creek settlement, we have comprehensive inspection data now.

39:13So now when we go through and let's say the ADA standards change and we had an insured ramp in 2020 and we trigger the ramp, we say we don't have to do that ramp now because now we have that data for that.

39:28So the lion's share of the ramps that we do in the city are triggered by federal mandate.

39:35We do have a discretion, some discretion around ramps, around 100 to 200 ramps.

39:43We wish it was more.

39:44And what we do with those, we call those our strategic ramps.

39:47And this is a new initiative that we're doing So when a community member calls and requests a ramp through the ramps by request, we look at it, span out, and look at the entire neighborhood, and we say, okay, we have curb cuts here, so let's skip this corner, let's go here, let's do here, and let's connect parks with our community center and to a school.

40:09But we're only— in that time when we can be strategic, we only do corners that do not have any curb and I think we're almost fully aligned.

40:19I will say that C+ ramps can cause wheelchair tipping, can be very challenging for blind, visually impaired folks to navigate.

40:27And so the goal is to bring it up to ADA standards and then have that inspection data so that when we come back through in 5 or 6 years, we're not doing what we have to do now.

40:37Thanks.

40:42I'm hearing that as saying that the federal government's regulations are why at this park over here now there is new concrete that rivals the size of some small studio apartments.

40:54I'm struggling to understand why the federal government says we had to pump out, pop out, excuse me, the concrete on that versus just creating and I understand the angled ramp, which I think a lot of us grew up with, that comes off a sidewalk.

41:11And if you're in the crosswalk, you kind of got to go to the angle to come up.

41:14And I hear you on that.

41:17But the grinding to allow straight-on approaches doesn't also require us to pop the concrete out in a large— and here's why I care about this.

41:28That ramp over there means a couple other streets in my district don't get any ramp.

41:32Right.

41:33At all.

41:34And while the old model may not be the safest, it is still better than my constituents having to walk another block down, go down a hill, particularly, you know, I've got the Southwest Hills, so these are, these are already kind of delicate paths.

41:51I'll just put it that way.

41:53And so I look at that in the most serviced corridor in our city, 4th Avenue.

41:57Thank you.

42:00I'm not sure that I am understanding, even with your explanation, why it continues to get redone when others are not at all.

42:12Because I didn't see the paving, and I don't see the standards that say you have to pop it out and go really big.

42:19That, that's, that's the part I'm missing here.

42:20I'm understanding there's some triggers.

42:22I, I do get that.

42:24Um, but right now I'd love to know what discretionary points that we have in the future, and I don't know that we need to answer it today, but the discretionary points in the future, because I think we should highly examine those.

42:34What are aspirational and what are absolutely required by law and only by law?

42:40And then it goes with my second question, and I think it's at the heart of some of this, is the cost increase for ramps is notable, and I'd love Madam Director, how you plan to communicate back to the council how we are going to monitor or at least assess whether or not that ramp is worth it to do it if it's going to cost that much, because maybe we put that one on hold and we go do 2 others for half the price and we look at some opportunities.

43:12I don't know what the feedback loop there is.

43:13It's probably the Transportation Committee, but this cost growth is concerning, and when I see curbs like that versus what I think could happen, it's hard to have faith in some of these answers.

43:28Sure.

43:29Thank you, Councilor Zimmerman.

43:31I'll share— I'll answer both questions.

43:34Regarding 4th Avenue, Taj Mahal of ramps, that is, first of all, the 4th Avenue project is a capital improvement project that took many years to plan and has many funding sources, and it started as a Fixing Our Streets project.

43:52Uh, we got additional investment from, um, uh, Metro and from, uh, the county and from TriMet to, um, make the corridor, uh, to transform the corridor.

44:05And so in doing the transformation, there were choices that were made about what the street design would end up being.

44:12And so, uh, we have the bump-outs.

44:14Yes.

44:14To create the pocket for parking, to create a greater opportunity for pedestrians who are at the crosswalks to stand, especially in locations where there is a park.

44:26So there are more people, there is a building that a lot of people come to, so there are more people.

44:31And so some of those choices were made based on the intended use of each of the intersections.

44:39The— you will continue to see significant improvements happening along this corridor.

44:46Again, it's a $25 million project.

44:49Could we split it up and spend it in other places?

44:52Absolutely no, we couldn't.

44:54The funding has been dedicated to this particular location for a particular set of objectives.

45:01And so over the course of many years, as we worked through design, worked with community to land on something that met their needs and expectations, That's how we ended up with something like that.

45:14In the case of the other projects where we— because we were asked, could we just not do 4th and spend it over here and spend it— that would be potentially a great idea, but actually no.

45:27The dictates, the mandates of the funding dictated that we deliver the program, the project where we identified.

45:35So you'll see a variation in the ways that ramps yes.

45:40Actually show up even along this corridor.

45:42So I would encourage us, as we continue to move through, maybe we can take a walk and talk about all of the different components and why we made this choice here, why we made this choice there, who it benefits, and, you know, with every project, who it burdens.

45:54And our hope is to alleviate those burdens in as much as we can as we're working on that ramp work.

46:00Regarding the cost of ramps, we recognize that it has gone up exponentially, or at least based on our early estimates over the course of the past 6 years.

46:09So when we started with the negotiation with the Creek team, the estimates were, we think it'll cost this.

46:21And there are some $5,500, $8,000, $10,000 ramps.

46:27But we did a lot of the easier ramps earlier in the program, and now we are at the harder ramps.

46:33Yes.

46:33Ramps that do have to consider drainage, ramps that are connected to signal poles, utility lines, all of those things, vaults and ceilings, making sure that we're dealing with drainage and inlets.

46:47So all of those components add up to making the ramps exponentially more expensive.

46:53So we have a pretty broad range from $20,000 to $60,000 at this point.

47:00But this team is working to help to control those costs.

47:04We brought all of the ADA work under one umbrella.

47:08It was spread out around the bureau in multiple parts of the organization.

47:12We brought that together to, first of all, ideally gain efficiencies, make sure that we were delivering consistently, making sure that we were not finding ourselves building, rebuilding, and rebuilding ramps, and to create greater control around process As well as the cost.

47:31And we are already seeing the benefits of those efforts.

47:36I know that we've talked about some ramp rebuilding.

47:42One of the things, and Deidre and Alice can speak to this better than I can, one of the things that we recognize that in our effort to move through getting ramps built quickly, we would engage contractors both to design and build.

47:55We are no longer doing that.

47:57We have brought all of the design for ADA ramps they are a part of the ADA group.

48:02They span from engineering services and maintenance operations.

48:05They are able to field fit where there's more extensive design that's required.

48:10They're doing that, but we're doing that in-house because we know how to do it, and then we know how to build it.

48:16And I often tell Jody, the ramps that her team builds, you can slice a tomato on the edge of them.

48:23And that's the quality that we hope to be able to bring.

48:26And as we work with contractors, Thank you.

48:28In the case of 4th Avenue, Brown is the contractor.

48:31Our contractor— our construction inspectors are out there every day making sure that they're meeting the expectations and the goals of the project and doing so in a way that is not burdening the project with cost, helping to contain those costs.

48:47So we know it's a problem, and that's why we've done some of the things that we've done internally, and we will continue to work to improve.

48:52We can provide some reporting on that.

48:53I appreciate it.

48:54I mean, I'll be supportive of this.

48:55I think it's worthwhile, the conversation to have in terms of faith in the operations.

49:02And I'd love to be able to cut a tomato on a ramp, I guess.

49:04But—.

49:05I don't know if you wanna eat it, but you know, we gotta bring the cleaning back to do the—.

49:11It raises the continual concern that there are parts of this city who go continually unserviced.

49:17And I think that our eye to that would be so important.

49:21I believe the work we're doing out here is top quality work.

49:23Don't take my words any other way.

49:25It's about what quality do we do so we can spread it out, so to speak.

49:29So thanks for answering it.

49:30I appreciate it.

49:31That's all.

49:32Thank you.

49:34Thank you, Madam President.

49:36Just prefacing, I am also sympathetic to the argument raised by Councilor Dunphy, and I think removing somewhat illogical barriers to private investment is a good administrative priority and also a good policy choice for this council.

49:47I'm also very happy to hear what you just said about design work being in-house.

49:52I have 3 questions.

49:54First, I want to follow up on Councilor Smith's question with a question to DCA Biery or potentially Administrator Jordan.

50:01DCA Biery said this would raise $6 million of general fund revenues for next fiscal year.

50:06Does the calculation of a $64 million deficit, which is the $92 million figure often quoted minus the mayor's new ask of $28 million, which is an ask rather than a deficit, does that $64 million include this $6 million?

50:20Yes.

50:21In other words, when you quote us, are you assuming that we're going to adopt this, or is this going to make it better?

50:30Oh, because— and I asked this, I want to just clarify, the reason I'm asking this is because the very fact that we were quoted $92 million at all anticipated that we would approve the mayor's ask for $28 million.

50:41So I have to ask what's being assumed.

50:43Yeah, yeah, it's a great, great question.

50:45So as, uh, again, as was reflected in the, uh, City Administrator's February document, this was identified as a component of the math that went into that February recommendation that the $6 million in general fund savings and $6 million to PBOT savings was included as an assumption among many within that February document.

51:06And I would flag that's also why it was highlighted, specifically called out in that February document, was to try to put a little bit of daylight underneath that.

51:13Thank you.

51:15Thank you.

51:16So second question, it seems like we're focused on federal triggers for deciding which ramps and the rest is by request.

51:24And I hear your response to Councilor Zimmerman as saying you're doing this now so you don't have to do it again in 6 or 7 years, I think was the timeline quoted.

51:31But also that we're currently doing it now after having done it 6 or 7 years ago in the case of 4th Avenue.

51:38And while I do believe it's a champagne problem that the councilors to my right would probably love to have more crews going to the wrong part of my district, Rather than work crews never coming to my district at all.

51:49I am sympathetic to the point that Councilor Zimmerman made about taking something that's a C+ and making it an A+ while ignoring the F-grade areas.

51:56So my question, given that I listened to that entire exchange, is what parts of the mandates of the funding which dictate the program are adjustable by council, if any?

52:06I understand you said most are federally mandated, but outside of the most, What are the rules that council could change that would allow more flexibility, if any?

52:21I don't know that there are rules that could change.

52:25What we anticipate being able to do is identify where we can deliver projects to ensure that we are meeting the expectations around whether that's sidewalks, Yes.

52:37Streets, ramps.

52:39What we've done at the bureau over the course of the past several years, many years, is requested funding, written for funding for projects.

52:49Much of our work, the lion's share of our budget, is not locally funded.

52:55It is from grants and other entities that have contributed, or that we've written and been successful in being awarded.

53:02To be able to deliver projects.

53:04And so what we have done as a bureau is identified areas of greatest need, um, and identified opportunities to match funding to those areas of need to be able to deliver projects.

53:14So I know 82nd Avenue is one, but we have many in, uh, in, uh, districts all across the city that are informed by a series of, of, um, factors to include, um, how, uh, equitable yes.

53:29Our delivery of project and programming— projects and programming has been across the city.

53:35For the past, at least since I've been at the bureau and I came in 2017, there has been a very specific focus on East Portland and Outer East Portland to ensure that those places that had been woefully underinvested did have the opportunity and the benefit of having projects in those neighborhoods and those communities.

53:55We have significant investments now in the Cully neighborhood that is in your district because of our obvious data that demonstrated that there are gaps and we needed to work to fill those gaps.

54:09And so we write specifically to ensure that we're able to deliver projects in those locations with the discretionary funding.

54:19Thank you.

54:20Say we were able to receive this funding through this mechanism, we would be able to use that same data, our PedPDX plan, our street condition maps, all of those things that help to inform our daily work on a maintenance basis to determine how we could prioritize.

54:37So there is some opportunity, and Deidre and Jody can speak to some of the ways that Jody is doing this work on a daily basis in terms of maintenance.

54:45Thank you.

54:46But the maintenance crews see.

54:48They also— they're doing other things, but they see that there's a need.

54:51And so if we're able to, through this process or any other, bring together a solution that allows us to not just look at the ramp, not just look at 50 feet down from the ramp, but look more comprehensively at how we can deal with issues, I think that you would be able to realize and see the benefits of that.

55:09So there is some direction that we would be able to take from you in terms of how we prioritize and focus.

55:14Thank you.

55:15But there is some discretion.

55:17We get to pick some, but it's not a lot right now, just based on the lack of the funding to allow us to have this bit of flexibility that we would like to have.

55:31And I'd also like to add to— there is also an opportunity that we have to be better at community outreach.

55:39And making sure that we have our materials translated into multiple languages and going to communities and engaging with them on the ramps by request program.

55:50Because again, it's predicted to us, right?

55:52The community member reaches out to us, but we have an opportunity and we are working on that currently to do better outreach specifically for English language so they have access to this service as well.

56:05Inappropriate.

56:09Right.

56:09All corners of the city.

56:12That light's out.

56:13Somebody put in a work order, get the light replaced.

56:17There's a pothole there.

56:18Somebody put in a work order, get this location, get a, get a base repair done here.

56:24This corner is out.

56:27We shouldn't have to be so reactive.

56:30We should be able to be proactive.

56:32Given our current funding, our proactivity is incredibly limited.

56:38And so a lot of our response is based on people calling in to say, I have this problem.

56:44But again, from a maintenance operations perspective, they do have a multiple-year look ahead on what's going to be done.

56:51But it is in fact limited.

56:55Thank you.

56:56In the interest of time, I won't ask my third question.

56:58I'll just close by commenting that I think while it is really important and I support the idea of creating accessibility through things like translation, I would also add that there is a significant portion of the city that doesn't engage or ask questions for reasons unrelated to access, but reasons related to trust.

57:15Absolutely.

57:15And I think a lot of the conversation we talked about earlier in this, and this is not specific to PBOT by any stretch of the imagination, is based on the idea that people will put in requests Or ask for things when they believe that they will receive them.

57:30And it's very disproportionate in the city who has trust that they will receive whatever the services that are being provided.

57:36So I would like to see that be emphasized broadly around the city as well.

57:39Thank you, Councilor Kanal.

57:40And I'll share that we know that.

57:43When we did the big pothole push last year, and Jody Yates can speak to that, we went where we went because we knew that people were not reporting.

57:53We had the data that said, this is where the potholes are.

57:56We are not getting the reports.

57:58We need to use our own eyes and our best judgment to look comprehensively at what needs to be done and address the needs in that way.

58:06And we did a block-by-block effort to ensure that— Jodi, how— what did we do exactly?

58:13The effort that Director Williams— oh, sorry.

58:16Jodi Yates, Maintenance Operations Deputy Director for PBOT.

58:20The effort that Director Williams is discussing is a 2-week effort last spring.

58:26We called it March Madness.

58:29Okay.

58:29Very creative.

58:30We're very creative at Maintenance Operations.

58:32So it was 2 weeks in March, and we approached— we went through road by road.

58:38All the crews for the Street Systems Division were assigned to go and work and drive every single yes.

58:46Road in, uh, southeast— I'm sorry, east of 82nd, uh, all the way from the river to the county or city boundary with Clackamas County.

58:56And they drove and, uh, proactively filled, uh, all the potholes, uh, repaved a few of the streets through there.

59:04And I think we filled, uh, 1,700 potholes in that 2-week time frame.

59:10And I don't remember the exact amount on, uh, the pavement that we did.

59:15But we know that's an area that does not report potholes, but it doesn't mean they don't exist.

59:21And this came right behind, if you all remember, the January snowstorm that lasted about 11 days with all the downed trees.

59:31That hard freeze is actually really hard on our roads and creates additional potholes.

59:36And so it was a married-up event to go in and these areas and proactively take care of them.

59:43So we have— do have a report on that if anyone would like to see, and we can share that forward as well.

59:49So we, we do understand that areas of the city are less likely to be in that tell us where the problem is and we'll go and fix it.

59:59So we do have to take a proactive approach at times.

1:00:05Councilor Smith, I believe you already asked a question, so I'm going to Thank you, Madam President.

1:00:14Excuse, I'm having allergies if I lose my voice.

1:00:17Um, I want to say that I think this has been an excellent discussion.

1:00:22I've learned a lot.

1:00:22You've clarified a lot of issues from 4th Street to the complexity of the ramps.

1:00:28Um, and I'm hoping that when you develop your communications plan that you'll share it with us because we have a responsibility to informing the public about the choices that get made.

1:00:38And like other of my colleagues, I get asked this all the time.

1:00:42Why are we doing this and we're not doing that?

1:00:44So that would be very, very helpful.

1:00:46I appreciate that.

1:00:47I also want to say that I appreciate the ramps.

1:00:51Having pushed my mother around in a wheelchair, when you don't have a ramp, it's a real drag in finding access for a wheelchair.

1:01:00So I do— I very much appreciate the fact that we're doing this on behalf of people like my mother.

1:01:06Um, uh, Madam President, I would like to move that we approve the ordinance to authorize the revenue bonds to finance curb ramp and street improvement projects.

1:01:19Second.

1:01:19There's a motion and a second.

1:01:25Are you moving to call the question, or are you I— this is—.

1:01:31Yes, I'm calling the question and making the motion.

1:01:34Thank you.

1:01:35You're—.

1:01:36Oh, whoop.

1:01:37Our attorneys have a question.

1:01:39So this item is a non-emergency ordinance, so it will pass to second reading for a final vote at a future meeting.

1:01:47So I think, Councilor Clark, we can continue discussion or you can move to closed debate.

1:01:52I would like to move to closed debate given the short timeframe we have today.

1:01:57I, I will second.

1:02:03I believe we don't have discussion on this motion.

1:02:05I believe we move straight to a vote.

1:02:07Is that correct?

1:02:08Okay.

1:02:09Keelan?

1:02:11With respect to my, my colleague still in the queue, I'll vote no.

1:02:16Ryan?

1:02:16Similar thought.

1:02:17No.

1:02:23Yes.

1:02:25I'd like to hear what my colleague has to say.

1:02:28No.

1:02:31Kind of a no-no-no.

1:02:32Uh, yes, but with reservations.

1:02:36Clark?

1:02:37Aye.

1:02:39Aye.

1:02:41No.

1:02:45Dunphy?

1:02:46No.

1:02:48No.

1:02:49I believe that's passed with or without me, so I will vote no— or failed, rather, with or without me.

1:02:58So no.

1:02:59No.

1:03:00Okay, thank you.

1:03:01Um, so with 4 yes votes and 8 no votes, the motion fails.

1:03:08Madam President, I have just a quick question.

1:03:11Um, Deputy Director Yates could you tell me how many additional ADA ramps that we have to go to complete that project in total in the entire city?

1:03:20I'm going to refer that to Deirdre, the ADA program manager.

1:03:25Thank you.

1:03:26I want to clarify your question.

1:03:27Are you asking how many ramps still need to come up to compliance in the city?

1:03:32Yes.

1:03:33I do not have that at my fingertips.

1:03:34I can get that for you.

1:03:36But 1,500 ramps a year.

1:03:38For the next 6 years is what we have to deliver.

1:03:41So if we do the math, and every time transportation comes before me, y'all make me do math in public.

1:03:47I'm sorry, I, I, I, I, I can answer the question.

1:03:51We do 1,500 a year.

1:03:52It's, uh, 7,500 ramps.

1:03:551,500 a year times 6, right?

1:03:57That's right.

1:03:58Is that 7, 7.5?

1:04:00That's 9,000.

1:04:019,000 Ramps.

1:04:03Sorry.

1:04:03We have 9,000 more ramps to do, and we will complete—.

1:04:05Under the order.

1:04:06Under the order.

1:04:07And it's potential—.

1:04:08There's potential that we would find ourselves in the same position that we were in in 2018 with a suit coming to the city requesting that we complete ramps.

1:04:17So you believe that there's going to be another ADA suit?

1:04:19There could potentially be one.

1:04:21Okay, so we got 9,000 ramps and the cost of those 9,000 ramps, because if we didn't know the number, I would find it very difficult to figure out how to pay for this $80 million.

1:04:32If we don't know what we're, what we're reaching for, why are we even asking for the $80 million in limited revenue bonds?

1:04:40I think what we're reaching for is to fulfill the creek agreement requirement of the $1,500 a year through to the end of the settlement agreement.

1:04:50At that point, and I don't have the exact numbers, I would say we're probably a third, maybe further along on getting all of the ramps in the city up to compliance at that point.

1:05:01So the work still needs to continue.

1:05:04But yes, to Director Williams' point, our guess is that because there are so many more ramps to be completed after the settlement agreement, that they will reengage for another.

1:05:16I'm just concerned about the settlement agreement because we're issuing bonds to pay for this, and the key is Um, the number, the number that we, we have to reach in the next 6 or 7 years, because I looked at your, your budget note.

1:05:33There's a possibility of us asking for additional funds in 2 more years to, uh, do the ADA ramps.

1:05:40So we're going to have to come back to this question again.

1:05:43Do we issue another $80 million in those bonds?

1:05:48The other question is did the suit tell you where you had to put the ADA ramps, or are you just making that up as you go?

1:05:57Well, again, they— so it's yes and no.

1:06:01So the ones that are federally triggered, that we have to do those ramps.

1:06:05And what the Creek Agreement tells us is that we need to do that by the 2010 ADA standards.

1:06:12They more predict how we do the ramps that are yes.

1:06:15Then there's a section of the settlement agreement that talks about ramps by request, and then there's another section of when we have those discretionary ramps, in which order to do.

1:06:26And I believe government buildings is first, and then it goes— there are schools, etc., down that priority list.

1:06:32So we engage in that priority list when we have those discretionary ramps.

1:06:38So when I was speaking earlier of when we get a ramps by request, and then we span out and we connect, that's when we engage in that part of the creek settlement on our prioritization.

1:06:49And Deirdre, I don't want to get confused with our overall mission to, to do ramps.

1:06:55I'm really concerned about the ADA ramps that we're going to be issuing bonds to, and so I don't want to confuse the council either.

1:07:01I want to make sure that we're talking about the same things.

1:07:03I'm talking about the ADA ramps.

1:07:06They don't tell us where to put those ADA ramps Or we just pick where we want to put them?

1:07:13In the settlement agreement, what it tells us is that when we go to— no, they don't tell us where to do the ramps.

1:07:20Okay.

1:07:21We informed the settlement team of the locations where we would be delivering the ramps.

1:07:30They provided the guidelines around what was required.

1:07:34And so, as Deidre has mentioned, the federal triggers is one of those places, one of those ways.

1:07:41When we are looking at our CIP based on the fact that many of our capital improvement projects are federally funded, we are using that guidance.

1:07:50Now, again, we count those ramps.

1:07:52Those are not ramps that are paid for by what's proposed with this funding source.

1:07:56But we're talking about, for the funding that is in question, Right.

1:08:02The $80 million would be applied to the remaining 9,000 ramps.

1:08:08Okay, and that's, that's what I needed to know.

1:08:10And just a quick comment, Director Yates, I know you all did 1,700 potholes in East Portland, but I can tell you east of 82nd on Stark Street, there are so many potholes still left that were not done that it's really shaky.

1:08:28And, um, I would appreciate us going back in that— I mean, we, we have a couple other, uh, agenda items that we'll talk about SIP, and that's why I think we need SIP to make sure that we close that big Grand Canyon gap that we have in East Portland where we lack, uh, sidewalks, paving, and pothole filling.

1:08:47And we'll talk about it a little later, but thank you so much for doing that over that 2-week time frame.

1:08:52We will, uh, happy to get the locations after this and, and send crews out that way.

1:08:58We also have Stark, uh, is on the paving list, uh, this summer or next summer, I can't remember which.

1:09:07Uh, didn't bring that information forward with me today.

1:09:10And if SIP is approved, we might make that earlier than later.

1:09:14Have Stark and Washington around, uh, the Gateway area are already perfect.

1:09:22Perfect.

1:09:22Thank you.

1:09:23President Pirtle-Guiney, may I mention one thing?

1:09:25And this is to address points that both Councilor Smith and Councilor Dunphy raised.

1:09:30Briefly, please, because we do have 2 more agenda items.

1:09:33Yes.

1:09:34One of the things that I think— I know that is a concern is that we do a ramp, we do whatever we're doing, and we don't go all the way down the street because we know something is coming in a year.

1:09:46Could we fill the pothole today?

1:09:48Yes.

1:09:48Would we be throwing good money after bad?

1:09:50Yes, because we know we're going to come and do something more comprehensive, more sustainable, that will last longer later.

1:09:57And so I know that that is unsatisfactory in the moment, but that is the rationale.

1:10:03That is why Stark wasn't done, because we knew it was on the paving list to be done within the next 18 months.

1:10:10And instead of spending $300 a pothole, to fix the pothole.

1:10:15Let's spend $3,000 or $10,000 to actually repave that street.

1:10:19So that's, that's, um, the— some of the—.

1:10:21And, and the reason why I know, um, Director Williams, is because I travel down Stark Street from here all the way down to, you know, what we call the Numbers.

1:10:31I live in the Numbers, and Stark Street is, um, sometimes the easiest, quickest way to get on the east side instead of going through 84.

1:10:41And then you have to take into account how is that going to mess up your tires and, and, and others.

1:10:47But I appreciate it.

1:10:48Thank you so much.

1:10:49And, um, keep up the good work about the ADA because we need those.

1:10:54We need those ramps.

1:10:59Director, I hesitate to ask questions because we're running short on time, but I do have 2 very quick questions.

1:11:06I hope they have very quick answers.

1:11:10You are coming to us for $80 million in bonding so that we can keep up with the lawsuit needs.

1:11:16Do you expect that you will need to come back to us for additional bonding in the future to fulfill the lawsuit needs after this batch of funding?

1:11:28Yes.

1:11:28Okay.

1:11:30When should we expect that?

1:11:31Is that 2 years out?

1:11:32Yeah, I'll answer the question.

1:11:35So we recognize there is a 6-year tail of projects.

1:11:40We didn't think it makes financial sense and prudence to ask for all of that potential need upfront.

1:11:45So as we often do at the city for borrowing strategies, we carve off kind of a couple years of projects.

1:11:51And so that's what we're addressing now, recognizing that doesn't fill the gap for those remaining years of the settlement agreement.

1:11:59So the intent is to look at where we are.

1:12:01It's probably 18-ish months, 18 to 24 months from now in advance of that next budget conversation 2 years from now and see how close are we.

1:12:11Is the gap smaller?

1:12:12Is the gap larger?

1:12:13Do we have different resources?

1:12:15What does that trade-off look like at that point?

1:12:17That will then determine the potential project need and potential timing and repayment structure.

1:12:23So short answer, Yes, I think it's likely there will be a request at some point in the next 24 months for a second round of borrowing.

1:12:32Longer answer is we don't want to presuppose what that size may be.

1:12:36Frankly, hopefully it's smaller because we've had other resources and abilities to address that gap otherwise without having to come back and ask for borrowing.

1:12:44Thank you.

1:12:44Second question, very briefly.

1:12:46If we don't approve these bonds, should we assume that that's both additional money that will need to come out of the general fund for these projects and also likely money from other parts of your budget and therefore less work happening on other transportation projects.

1:12:59Yes.

1:13:00Okay, thank you.

1:13:02Councilors, seeing no one else in the queue, I am going to close our conversation on this ordinance.

1:13:10It will move to second reading at our next meeting and open a conversation about items 2 and 3 on the agenda.

1:13:21Councilor Smith, I believe you asked to hear those 2 items together, is that correct?

1:13:27Yes, Madam President, I did.

1:13:29Okay, Keelan, could you— thank you all for being here.

1:13:32Um, we may have some of you back up in a few minutes, um, but Keelan, in the meantime, could you please read agenda items 2 and 3?

1:13:41Item 2, direct funding for the workforce pre-apprenticeship program and a summer works youth employment initiative.

1:13:47Item 3, direct Bureau of Transportation to construct and maintain sidewalks while addressing pavement maintenance deficiencies throughout Portland, improving safety and accessibility for all residents through the sidewalk improvement and paving program.

1:14:02Thank you.

1:14:03And we have Ashley Hernandez here to give our committee staff summary.

1:14:07And for folks in the audience or watching online, just a note that we ask our committee staff to read a portion of their summary so that everybody hears some of that same critical information, but there is actually a full summary with even more information posted online on each of these agenda items.

1:14:27Ashley, please introduce yourself and go ahead.

1:14:30Madam President, councilors, for the record, my name is Ashley Hernandez and I serve as a staff to the Labor Workforce Workforce Development Committee.

1:14:38The resolution before you, document number 2025-156, was considered in the Labor Workforce Development Committee on April 10th, where it was referred as amended to City Council with a recommendation that it be adopted.

1:14:53Signals the city, uh, City Council's interest in allocating funding for summer youth program for fiscal year 2025-26.

1:15:022026, Encourage, um, ensuring this sufficient to meet Portland's future workforce needs.

1:15:10The resolution outlines objectives established by council for Community Opportunity and Enhancement Program and the Summer Workforce Initiatives to include, not to be limited to, delivering high-quality training opportunities across varieties of trade sectors Assisting participants in obtaining industry-recognized certificates, fostering collaboration with local businesses, local unions, and educational institutes to enhance effectiveness of the program, executing outreach efforts to engage the recruitment diverse array of participants.

1:15:50The resolution directs that summer works initiatives will be operated by Work Systems Inc. and staffed by Councilor Smith's office.

1:16:00It also calls for, for the formation of an advisory committee to provide strategic guidance.

1:16:08Additionally, Summer Works Inc. is to deliver an annual report to Portland's— to Prosper Portland and the city detailing the program's accomplishments, participants' demographics, outcomes, and areas of potential improvement.

1:16:20Second.

1:16:22The item to full council.

1:16:25The effects of amendments on the original resolution draft are summarized in the, some, um, the committee summary staff.

1:16:33The full impact statement in this item includes financial and budgetary impacts, community impacts and community involvement, financial and budgetary analysis.

1:16:44At the meeting on April 10th, One person submitted written testimony during the meeting.

1:16:50A general theme includes a discussion of a correlation between apprenticeship programs and how they support community and share a report from Labor Education Research Center.

1:17:04Thank you.

1:17:05Thank you.

1:17:06I'd like to call—.

1:17:08Before we move on, we have opened both items, um, so I believe that was the summary.

1:17:14Agenda item 2.

1:17:15Ashley, could you actually give us your summary for agenda item 3 as well?

1:17:20That is, um, I don't have the number before me, uh, document number 2025-95.

1:17:28Yes, I just gave the, um, the summary for document 2025-2056, and she's— she will be giving the other one.

1:17:37Got it, we have that from Claire.

1:17:38Perfect, thank you.

1:17:39I apologize, Claire.

1:17:41If we could have the second committee staff summary, that would be great.

1:17:44No problem.

1:17:45Good morning, Madam President and councilors.

1:17:47For the record, Claire Adamsick from Council Operations and staff to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

1:17:52Item 3, the resolution document 2025-095, was heard in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on March 24th, where it was referred to council as amended with the recommendation it be adopted.

1:18:07The resolution directs the Portland Bureau of Transportation to evaluate options for delivering the objectives of the Sidewalk Improvement and Paving Program, or SIP for short.

1:18:16SIP objectives include improving safety and accessibility for Portland residents through constructing and maintaining sidewalks and addressing pavement— excuse me— pavement maintenance deficiencies, with particular focus on areas within Portland that are historically underserved or have the greatest maintenance needs.

1:18:32The resolution specifies that PBOT will develop a 4-year project list and project delivery framework and create a public website and dashboard with details on project plans and delivery timelines.

1:18:42The resolution further directs PBOT to utilize existing transportation to inform project prioritization.

1:18:50It clarifies PBOT will partner with specified entities as part of the city's inclusive contracting practices.

1:18:57Finally, the resolution directs the creation of a subsequent resolution to evaluate options for financing the sidewalk improvement and paving program developed in consult with the City Budget Office and considered by the Finance Committee.

1:19:09It specifies that any future funding considerations for SIP related to the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund are to be reviewed by the Climate, Resilience, and Land Use Committee.

1:19:18I will note that the committee adopted amendments prior to moving the item to full council.

1:19:24Some of those were summarized in what I just shared, but the effects of those the impact statement on this item includes financial and budget impacts and analysis from the City Budget Office, community impacts and community involvement, and 100% renewable goal information.

1:19:44For public testimony in committee, 5 people testified during the committee meeting on March 24th.

1:19:493 People submitted written testimony prior to committee action, and an additional 5 people submitted testimony at the public comment period.

1:19:54After the committee meeting and prior to the full council agenda posting.

1:19:58The general themes of the testimony, both written and verbal, included emphasizing sidewalk development on the busiest streets, particularly in East and Southwest Portland, considering bicycle facility development at the same time as sidewalk development, encouraging the use of existing plans such as the Citywide Pedestrian Plan as a resource to guide implementation of SIP, highlighting the role of sidewalk infrastructure in decreasing traffic emissions and improving pedestrian recognizing the link between well-maintained sidewalks and economic success and opportunity, and noting the opportunity to recommit the city to its Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries on Portland streets.

1:20:35And that concludes this committee staff summary.

1:20:38Thanks.

1:20:38Thank you, Ashley and Claire, both so much.

1:20:41Councilor Smith, you presided over these, over one of these work sessions, and I believe Councilor Clark councilor Clark presided over the other.

1:20:53Um, Councilor Smith, as the carrier, um, and one of the presiding, uh, chairs, I'll have you go first.

1:21:00Is there anything you'd like to add to either of these reports?

1:21:03And then we'll turn to Councilor Clark.

1:21:05Yes, just quickly, I'd like to say with this resolution, my aim was to address the urgent need for targeted support to empower underserved residents and underrepresented Second.

1:21:16Second.

1:21:16Motion passes.

1:21:16Thank you.

1:21:16Next item on the agenda is the City of Portland's Summer Employment Opportunities Enhancement Program.

1:21:16This program is designed to support underrepresented minorities and enhance apprenticeship opportunities, particularly for youth.

1:21:23Both the Summer Works Program and the Community Opportunities Enhancement Program offer pre-employment opportunities for folks who don't typically have easy pathways to good jobs, and marrying that with the SIP program seemed like a, a perfect marriage.

1:21:41And, and these programs not only aim to enhance yes.

1:21:45Job readiness, but also seek to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs who can contribute their unique perspectives and innovations to our city's economy that have an enormous amount of opportunity to be successful, especially if they are hired to work on publicly owned projects like the City of Portland's Bull Run Watershed Project.

1:22:09Filtration project, 2 major state projects like the Rose Quarter and Interstate Bridge, and like the SIP, if it is approved, uh, to prioritize District 1 and District 4.

1:22:22Thank you.

1:22:23Councilor Clark, do you have anything to add from the discussion in your committee meeting?

1:22:27Um, on the third— the third item?

1:22:28Yes, on agenda item number 3.

1:22:30This comes to you from the Transportation Infrastructure Committee where we had extensive testimony on the condition of streets and sidewalks, and a presentation from Vision Zero, as a matter of fact.

1:22:43The piece I just handed out was testimony that was received from PBOT where the greatest need exists for sidewalk improvements, which are both in District 4 and District 1.

1:22:58And then I know there's a number of amendments, and I'll have an amendment to this as well, thank you.

1:23:04Thank you, Councilor.

1:23:07Um, Councilors, I believe we have public testimony signed up, and because we are short on time, I'd like to move straight to public testimony so that we can hear from members of the public.

1:23:17Um, it looks like we have a few small amendments submitted, uh, but nothing that will create drastic changes where I think we need to introduce it Madam President, can we bring up our, uh, speakers to the table?

1:23:34Uh, the folks who have signed up for public testimony?

1:23:36How many folks do we have?

1:23:38Uh, Keelan, how many people do we have signed up between these 2 items for public testimony?

1:23:457.

1:23:47Okay.

1:23:498.

1:23:498.

1:23:50Fantastic.

1:23:52Uh, I We, we have some testimony from, um, invited guests that I would— I think we need to have first.

1:24:03Okay, I didn't know that we had invited guests today, Councilor.

1:24:07Uh, that's something that we usually save for committees.

1:24:10Because you've invited them, I don't want to ask them to leave, so why don't we start with that and then we'll move to public testimony?

1:24:16Thank you.

1:24:16Thank you, Madam President.

1:24:18Keelan, do you have the names of our guests?

1:24:20I, I believe Councilor Smith has the names.

1:24:23Yes, she asked me to, to do that, and I told her about the guests prior to.

1:24:27Andrew McGough from Work Systems Inc., uh, Derek Albert from Albert and Associates, and the National Organization of Black County Officials.

1:24:41Please introduce yourselves and go right ahead.

1:24:44Andrew, could you go first, please?

1:24:46Sure.

1:24:47Uh, good morning, uh, councilors.

1:24:50Uh, thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

1:24:52My name is Andrew McGough, and I'm the executive director of Work Systems, which is the Portland Metro Workforce Development Board.

1:25:00As the Workforce Development Board, we are designated by the governor to receive and manage federal and state resources to improve the quality of the workforce and support the regional economy.

1:25:12We combine and coordinate these resources with a variety of other funds and partners to build a comprehensive, sustainable approach to workforce development.

1:25:22The regional public workforce system consists of more than 40 public education community-based partners who collectively served more than 25,000 people last year and is a critical resource in addressing some of the region's most persistent and significant challenges.

1:25:41The city is an integral partner in the regional system, both in terms of thought leadership and co-investment.

1:25:48We work together on several initiatives, including support for registered pre-apprenticeship programs and expanding work opportunities for low-income young people.

1:25:59Registered pre-apprenticeship programs are essential for preparing workers to fill jobs in the region's construction industry.

1:26:07They provide hands-on training and direct pipelines into registered apprenticeships, ensuring Portland has the skilled labor force it needs to build and maintain housing, transit, and climate infrastructure.

1:26:21From an economic perspective, the construction industry is a cornerstone of Portland's economy.

1:26:28The regional construction industry currently employs over 60,000 workers, is expected to add nearly 17,000 new jobs over the course of the next few years, and offers family-sustaining wages without requiring a 4-year degree.

1:26:45Another major partnership we've enjoyed with the city is SummerWorks.

1:26:49SummerWorks is currently co-funded by a variety of organizations including the city, Multnomah County, the city of Gresham, TriMet, and Work Systems.

1:26:59Together, we have served more than 11,000 youth since the program started in 2009.

1:27:06Summer employment programs provide young people with critical early job experience, exposure to career paths, mentorship, and income.

1:27:16Research shows that summer jobs significantly significantly reduce involvement with the justice system, improve school retention, reduce dependence on public assistance, and increase lifetime earnings.

1:27:28In a time of rising youth homelessness, violence, and economic uncertainty, these programs are not optional.

1:27:36They are a foundation of safety, opportunity, and hope.

1:27:41Portland has long prided itself on being a city that leads with equity.

1:27:46Youth employment and pre-apprenticeship programs are precisely the kinds of proven investments that reflect that value, especially in tight fiscal times.

1:27:57If we fail to invest in these young people and emerging workers today, we will pay far more tomorrow in public assistance, emergency services, and lost productivity.

1:28:09I urge you to protect and expand funding for pre-apprenticeship and youth employment initiatives in this budget cycle and beyond.

1:28:17Thank you for your leadership and commitment to Portland's future.

1:28:23Thank you.

1:28:23Go right ahead.

1:28:25Good morning, Madam President.

1:28:27Thank you, councilors.

1:28:28Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you all this morning.

1:28:31My name is Derek Albert.

1:28:32I'm the co-chairman of the National Organization of Black County Officials, as well as president and CEO of Albert and Associates, a national consulting firm based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

1:28:44I come to you today to talk about the different organizations that I've worked with throughout this nation to help summer youth programs from Memphis, Tennessee, Chicago, Illinois, New York City, Atlanta, all over this nation.

1:29:01Personally, I had the privilege to be in a summer program.

1:29:06I grew up in the inner city of Nashville, about 40 years ago.

1:29:08Came from a single home.

1:29:10My mother was unemployed, and I was given an opportunity my junior year in high school to work in county government, and actually Shelby County, Tennessee.

1:29:21What that job did for my family that summer was help me and help my mother be able to pay our bills.

1:29:30What it did for me long-term was give me the opportunity to work in government in different branches.

1:29:36The first year I worked, I actually worked in security.

1:29:41Some life stories about these jobs are interesting that actually play a huge role going forward in life.

1:29:50Little did I know guarding a parking lot will give me an opportunity to get to know the sheriff of the county, get to know the mayor of the county, and get to know a lot of the county officials.

1:29:59Thank you.

1:30:00It was a good job until one day the alarm went off in the credit union.

1:30:05When that alarm went off, there was an old police officer named Rooster Cogburn there.

1:30:10He said, Albert, we're gonna go up to the 4th floor, we're gonna kick the door in, we're gonna save the people from getting robbed.

1:30:21I looked at Rooster and I said, well, I don't have a whistle.

1:30:25I don't have a stick.

1:30:27I don't have anything.

1:30:29Can I quit?

1:30:29Because I'm not going to get killed on my first day working in county government as a student.

1:30:36I didn't quit, but they did reassign me over to the county health department that summer.

1:30:42And I had an opportunity to do different things and understand blood and the intake of blood and different things like that.

1:30:47The second year I worked there, my senior year, I had an opportunity to be an assistant for the county commissioners, and I worked as a legislative aide.

1:30:58That year, believe it or not, I got a chance to meet a guy named Jim Routt, who was the chair of the commission, who was a Republican who became the mayor.

1:31:07I didn't know that that job that summer would take me to heights of becoming the chief of staff for a congressman after graduating from college.

1:31:15But prior to that, I worked in Lamar Alexander, who was a governor.

1:31:20I worked in his office as a legislative aide while I was in college.

1:31:25And I also worked for Al Gore, both sides of the aisle, when I was in college.

1:31:29And it all came from that summer job the second year when I was a senior.

1:31:34But my freshman year in college, had an opportunity to go back for a third time.

1:31:39And I worked in the public defender's office.

1:31:42Working in the public defender's office, I had a job where I was assigned with an attorney to interview people who had been accused of murder.

1:31:52Can you imagine?

1:31:54Those 3 experiences, those 3 years changed my life.

1:31:58It made a huge difference.

1:32:00The first year, I was able to help my mom out.

1:32:03The second year, I was able to build character and morals and understand things that helped me throughout life.

1:32:10Later in life, You know, as I was looking at this, the chart here, and it was talking about earning money while building their future.

1:32:17I was able to do that.

1:32:19But then most likely to return to school and complete school.

1:32:23That freshman year when I came home from school and I was working in the summer at the county, I was planning to quit college because I wanted to take care of my mother because she couldn't afford anything.

1:32:35And Jim Routt, who was the county Chairman of the County Commission at the time had become the mayor.

1:32:40And he saw me, he said, hey, how's everything going?

1:32:43I said, well, I think I'm gonna have to drop out of college so I can help my mother.

1:32:47And Jim Roud at that point said, no, we're not gonna do that.

1:32:52Let's help your mother and then let's help you.

1:32:54Little did I know that just building those relationships, the foundation of those relationships 40 years ago, would play into my career today.

1:33:04And it made a huge difference in my life and turned my life around.

1:33:06I didn't quit college.

1:33:07Not only that, the next statement there says most likely to enter post-secondary education.

1:33:13My undergrad degree came from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

1:33:16Volunteer, I'm a proud Volunteer.

1:33:17And my graduate degree in finance, an MBA from finance, came from Georgetown University.

1:33:22Had I not had the opportunity to work in those summer programs, I don't think any of that would have occurred.

1:33:28Today I have one of the most successful businesses in this nation.

1:33:32You know, I'm proud to say I know you guys love the Portland Trail Blazers, a great, great team.

1:33:39My next-door neighbor where I live now owns the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Red Wings on one side of me.

1:33:49On the other side of me, my neighbor owns the Detroit Lions and Little Caesars Pizza.

1:33:54That all stemmed from being able to work in one of these summer jobs and grow character and grow a person to help me develop I know that there are so many other Derrick Alberts around this nation that need those opportunities.

1:34:06I would strongly encourage you to support the youth because you can support that— those funds positively and help educate and grow young people, or you can take those same funds and support it negatively and support the criminal justice system.

1:34:21It's one of— how do you want to spend your money?

1:34:23Do you want to spend it positively?

1:34:24I do.

1:34:25Or do you want to spend it negatively?

1:34:27That's my personal testimony, and I would encourage you on both sides of the aisle to support something that will really make a difference in your community, because it makes a difference in every life, no matter what side of the political spectrum that you're on.

1:34:40Thank you for this opportunity.

1:34:43Thank you both so much for being here.

1:34:45Thank you.

1:34:47Keelan, could you please invite up our first panel of public testimony?

1:34:51First up, we have David Barron, Antonio Jackson, and Marita Inglesby.

1:34:58Thank you.

1:34:58And while you're making your way forward, we do have a councilor who needs to leave at 11:30.

1:35:02So Councilor Ryan, you had just one brief comment to make while I get things settled.

1:35:05Yes, I'll be brief.

1:35:06I'm actually leaving 'cause I have to head to the Portland Children's Levy Allocation Committee meeting where such items will be discussed.

1:35:12I've had the pleasure of knowing Councilor Smith for a couple decades, and where we came together was around workforce issues.

1:35:20And so I'm highly supportive of everything that's coming forward today.

1:35:23Thank you for seeing that through, especially on the trades.

1:35:26It doesn't get enough conversation.

1:35:28This is our lever, colleagues.

1:35:29This is our lever to do something about equity.

1:35:32This is our chance to have a student on the workforce side go from pre-apprenticeship to a journey person within the scope of a big project.

1:35:40That's called progress, and that's called building generational wealth.

1:35:44It was great to see Andrew here at Rocky Top.

1:35:46Welcome to Portland, Oregon.

1:35:48That's a For those who aren't football fans, that's what people call Tennessee Volunteers.

1:35:53Yeah, I'm a college football junkie.

1:35:55So anyway, I just wanna say thank you for bringing this forward.

1:35:58There's 2 things that I just would wanna talk about later, and I hope that you all get to it.

1:36:02I think they're both very solvable.

1:36:03And one is how this works out with the deliberations of our budget.

1:36:07And then 2, operationally, it needs to be operationalized into the enterprise.

1:36:12And so I don't know if it's procurement or HR, but it needs a home.

1:36:17As someone that had to launch projects out of a commissioner's office, which is a little bit easier because we had executive authority, I just think we have to be careful not to ever do that.

1:36:25So those are my 2 little, um, points.

1:36:28And Councilor Ryan, I will be introducing an amendment to put this back into the Human Resources Department.

1:36:35Great, great.

1:36:36Anyway, I'm very supportive.

1:36:37I hate to miss the rest of the meeting, but it's for the kids.

1:36:39See you later.

1:36:40I need your vote.

1:36:41Thank you, Councilor.

1:36:43I'll call in later if you need it from the other building.

1:36:47I'm not sure if we'll get to a vote today.

1:36:49We do have to end at noon and we have about 20 minutes.

1:36:51Yeah, that first item took a while.

1:36:53All right, thanks.

1:36:54See y'all.

1:36:55Go right ahead.

1:36:56Thank you both for being here.

1:36:57Thank you very much.

1:36:59My name's David Barron.

1:37:00I'm here to share a little bit about my organization, FRIEND.

1:37:06First, I'd like to thank you, Madam President and Vice President and councilors for having me here.

1:37:15Thank you.

1:37:16I'd like to read some familiar words to you quickly.

1:37:19The Workforce Pre-Apprenticeship Program and Summer Works Youth Employment Initiative represented a transformative investment in Portland's workforce, bridging critical gaps in skilled labor while fostering equitable economic opportunities.

1:37:34Thank you.

1:37:35By directly funding these programs, the City of Portland has taken an approach to ensuring residents, particularly those from historically underrepresented communities, have access to career pathways in high-demand industries.

1:37:49And this comes from your committee, these words.

1:37:51Thank you.

1:37:52On March 22nd, Alex Zielinski of OPB published an important article highlighting what Portlanders are experiencing in real time.

1:38:01A city increasingly defined by economic strain.

1:38:06He cited the 2020 U.S. Census data revealing how deeply income inequality and cost of living pressures are impacting communities of color.

1:38:17According to the City of Portland's 2024 Community Survey, 72% of respondents cited housing affordability and the high cost of living as major challenges.

1:38:28Affecting their families.

1:38:30Portlanders are increasingly identifying these economic burdens as their top concern, not just in terms of rent and mortgages, but also in access to sustainable jobs and opportunities, upward mobility, and overall financial security.

1:38:48The pressure is not shared equally.

1:38:51It is hitting Black and brown low-income communities the hardest.

1:38:53Thank you, Mayor.

1:38:54Deepening generational inequities and creating even more barriers to success.

1:38:59Here are some of the high points.

1:39:01The average monthly income for Black households in Portland is around $3,500 a month.

1:39:08Latin communities, $4,500 in comparison to the white average households of $6,400.

1:39:16More critically underscored are Portland's BIPOC communities are disproportionately Thank you.

1:39:24Portland's Black and Latino residents are living with incomes under $35,000 compared to just 20% of white residents.

1:39:35And while Portland continues to diversify, people of color make up approximately 28% of the population according to the 2020 U.S. Census data, a figure that is expected to grow.

1:39:47Yet opportunities for upward mobility have not kept pace with the demographic shift.

1:39:52That's approximately a $3,500 gap for every single Black Portlander.

1:39:58Our summer camp is 2 days, and we work with 13- and 19-year-old girls and boys to encourage them to become firefighters or pursue a career in first responder.

1:40:10We will be holding this camp July 17th and 18th in District 1.

1:40:12Thank you.

1:40:13District 1 at Portland Fire and Rescue's training facility.

1:40:16This is a great opportunity.

1:40:18I encourage all of you guys to attend and show support.

1:40:21Thank you.

1:40:23Thank you so much for being here and for sharing that with us.

1:40:27Go right ahead.

1:40:28Good afternoon, Madam President, President and council members.

1:40:31My name is Antonio Jackson.

1:40:33I am the co-founder and executive director for Building Blocks to Success.

1:40:37We are a local nonprofit In the Portland metropolitan area, working with youth K through 12, getting them excited about science, technology, engineering, and math.

1:40:49We're a pathway program, and what we try to do is create access and opportunities for youth in our community to see that there are career fields that are attainable for them.

1:41:01And the, the Summer Works program is so important Because it will allow us to continue to employ young youth in these areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.

1:41:16It'll allow us to continue to impact our community in a positive way, showing them that there are opportunities for them to work in these areas that are different from working at McDonald's or at Walmart or Safeway.

1:41:36We want to create career pathways for them and show them that there is hope, there is opportunity, and there are programs like ours and many others that are out there that are creating spaces for our young people to, to get the skills so that they can be contributors in our community.

1:41:59Thank you.

1:42:00It's so important starting young and creating a foundation, creating a foundation of working in an environment where they're being coached, they're being mentored, they're being supported with other people that are helping them align their path, their paths for success for higher-paying jobs in the future.

1:42:23We need to show them that there are these These opportunities, and that's what we do within our programs.

1:42:31We're a year-round program.

1:42:33We partner with many other organizations, universities, Oregon State University, University of Portland.

1:42:42We have kids on a college campus on a regular basis.

1:42:46So they're, they're seeing that college is an opportunity for us.

1:42:51So creating these these opportunities for young people to work with us through the Summer Works Program, to become mentors, to become coaches, to really be an example for our youth is so important.

1:43:10So continuing to support this program today and beyond is, is so important.

1:43:16It's something that's needed, and it's needed for our our, our organization and many other organizations out there.

1:43:23So thank you.

1:43:25Thank you so much.

1:43:26Thank you both for being here.

1:43:28Next up we have Marita Inglesby, Lisa Caballero, Lynell McCauley, Louisa Welcome.

1:43:58Thank you for joining us today.

1:44:14Thank you so much.

1:44:21Should I just start?

1:44:22Uh, if you want to scoot a little bit forward so the mic picks you up, and then go ahead and introduce yourself, and you can jump right in.

1:44:28Thank you.

1:44:29Um, Madam President, Vice President, councilors, um, I am so— my name is Lisa Caballero, And I'm from Southwest Portland, and I am so happy about SIP.

1:44:41And so I would like to thank all of you for, for that being here.

1:44:45I'm here today to speak in opposition to one of the amendments, and that's the amendment that strikes the words District 1 and District 4 from the text of SIP.

1:44:58The problem with our sidewalk problem in Portland is not just money.

1:45:02It's in large part money, But it also has to do with status quo.

1:45:07And I'm gonna focus on Southwest Portland 'cause that's what I know best.

1:45:10And I'm wondering if you've heard my joke.

1:45:13How do you say sidewalk in Southwest Portland?

1:45:17White stripe.

1:45:17White stripe.

1:45:18Okay, that's a status quo problem.

1:45:21City of Portland is perfectly fine putting white stripes in the asphalt and calling 'em sidewalks.

1:45:26That has got to change.

1:45:29And to change that is going to take the enthusiastic cooperation of a lot of, a lot of bureaus and entities in the cities in Portland, City of Portland, including Development Review, the City Attorney's Office, BES, and the Water Bureau.

1:45:51And we're not going to move from the status quo.

1:45:53Thank you.

1:45:55We can put all the money we want into this and Southwest Portland is still gonna get white stripes until we change the status quo.

1:46:02And that's why I want the word District 4 to stay in that text because we need to be reminded of that.

1:46:10It needs to be held accountable or we're just gonna continue with white stripes forever and money's not gonna solve that problem.

1:46:18That's all I have to say.

1:46:19Thank you so much.

1:46:20Thank you, everybody.

1:46:20Thank you.

1:46:22Thank you so much for being here and sharing that experience with us.

1:46:26Thank you.

1:46:29Lynelle McCauley, Louisa Barecki, Leslie Hammond.

1:46:41That completes testimony.

1:46:44Okay, thank you very much.

1:46:45It looks like we lost some folks When we had to reschedule, unfortunately.

1:46:49Um, but I appreciate those of you who were able to still be here today, especially after that reschedule.

1:46:57Uh, councilors, we have 2 items open so that we can discuss them together, and then when it comes to votes, we will take them in order if we have time today.

1:47:09Agenda item 2 first and then agenda item 3.

1:47:13We are going to have to end right at noon.

1:47:16We have a couple of colleagues who have other events that they need to get to.

1:47:20Councilor Smith, would you like to kick off our discussion?

1:47:23Could I ask a point of order before we do that, just so I'm clear of how we're approaching this?

1:47:29So like, are we gonna— we're talking about both of them interchangeably?

1:47:33So like, if you're signing up to speak, like, you can speak on both items 2 or 3, or are we—.

1:47:38Because we had because we had some comments on both, we opened them both together.

1:47:46But when we are proposing amendments, we'll take them one at a time.

1:47:52I suspect we may have colleagues who have comments that are about the full program where these 2 items kind of go together, support each other.

1:48:01We'll keep discussion open for both, but if you want to get in the queue on just If you want to discuss just one or the other, that's fine.

1:48:07And when we get to amendments, which anybody can propose at any time, we'll then move into just discussion about that amendment on that item.

1:48:15It's a little bit messy.

1:48:17It allowed us for the best overview, I think, with public— for public testimony.

1:48:26Councilor Smith?

1:48:29Yes.

1:48:30Thank you, Madam President.

1:48:32I would like to put an amendment on the floor for item 2, and I heard my colleagues loud and clear about Summer Works, and I would like to change Summer Works and who reports to Summer Works and where it reports from back to Human Resources.

1:49:07So this would be an amendment to change the reporting structure for the program to BHR, the Bureau of Human Resources within the city?

1:49:16Yes.

1:49:17And we've handed— do you have the amendment, uh, Clerk?

1:49:25Yeah, let me, let me see if we can pull it up.

1:49:33I don't— is this on the website, Keelan?

1:49:38Um, I, I believe it is, but let me confirm.

1:49:41Yes, it's on the website.

1:49:44Yes.

1:49:45And so I wanted to make a motion to I have so many.

1:49:51So Councilor Smith, does that— is that the first— excuse me, not the first.

1:49:54The be it resolved the Summer Works Youth Program Employment Initiative will be operated by Work Systems, Inc. and staffed by the Bureau of Human Resources.

1:50:01And will remain within the Bureau of Human Resources.

1:50:04Second.

1:50:05Okay, councilors, I'm gonna go through the queue to see if there's discussion on this amendment.

1:50:11Councilor Knoll, are you in the queue on this amendment?

1:50:14Councilor Novick?

1:50:16No.

1:50:18No.

1:50:19No.

1:50:21Yes.

1:50:22Okay.

1:50:24Thank you.

1:50:24Thank you, Madam Chair.

1:50:25I support this amendment.

1:50:27I think it's responsive to one of the primary concerns that we heard during the Labor and Workforce Development Committee.

1:50:34So I appreciate that willingness to kind of listen to your community colleagues on that.

1:50:40I had previously suggested that I was gonna I was going to bring forward an amendment that opposed language that was specific about the megaprojects in our region.

1:50:48I've decided not to do that today.

1:50:49I think I'm on the record opposing our— the city's strategy for prioritizing investment in freeway expansion and megaprojects.

1:50:58So I don't need to belabor that issue here.

1:50:59So I'll yield.

1:51:03Okay.

1:51:04Any other discussion on the amendment?

1:51:08Could you please call the roll?

1:51:10No.

1:51:11Yes.

1:51:13Koyama Lane.

1:51:15Yes.

1:51:15Mariel.

1:51:16Yes.

1:51:17Novick.

1:51:18Yes.

1:51:18Clarke.

1:51:19Yes.

1:51:19Green.

1:51:20Yes.

1:51:21Zimmerman.

1:51:21Yes.

1:51:24The motion is approved with 11 yes votes.

1:51:34Madam President, I'd like to call the question and take a vote on this.

1:51:40Okay, do we have a second for calling the question?

1:51:44Second.

1:51:46Please call the roll.

1:51:49This is a vote on whether to end discussion and move to a vote on agenda item 2.

1:51:56No.

1:51:59I see 3 other councilors in the queue, and I have— including myself, and I think we've had conversation about whether calling the question is appropriate here.

1:52:09I will be voting no on pretty much all calling the question motions from here on out.

1:52:12No.

1:52:13Because I haven't heard from many of these folks, I vote no.

1:52:21No.

1:52:21No.

1:52:24I thought the people who had their hands up were not interested in discussing this issue, so I'm going to vote yes.

1:52:30Green.

1:52:33I'd like to hear what my colleagues have to say.

1:52:35No.

1:52:36Zimmerman.

1:52:37Aye.

1:52:39Avalos.

1:52:41My hand is up to ask questions about the bill, so we haven't even had time to talk about the larger bill.

1:52:45That was just about the amendment, so I vote no.

1:52:49Dunphy.

1:52:50No.

1:52:50Smith.

1:52:52Yes.

1:52:55No.

1:52:56With 3 yes votes and 8 no votes, the motion fails.

1:53:01Moving back to discussion on the now amended underlying resolution.

1:53:06Councilor Smith, did you have more discussion, or should we move to Councilor Kanal?

1:53:10Uh, no, ma'am.

1:53:11Go ahead and let's move this on because I want to get to a vote today.

1:53:15We have been pushed off twice before, and I'm— it is my understanding that we have to leave at 12:00, which I think is, uh, unconscionable to do, to put it back on and, uh, take a vote at another time.

1:53:32It's— that's ridiculous.

1:53:35Just to clarify, Madam President, you said on item 2, are we discussing both together still?

1:53:41Uh, you're welcome to discuss either, yes.

1:53:44So I, I'm I'm broadly supportive of agenda item 2 and would— and intend to vote yes on it when it gets to that point.

1:53:53And I don't know where everyone else is at, but I am very comfortable moving forward on that.

1:53:56My concerns are entirely with agenda item 3, and I'm happy to discuss those at a later time after the amendment is formally moved, and I'll wait to do that.

1:54:06Thank you.

1:54:08Councilor Clark?

1:54:12Sorry, I forgot to lower my hand.

1:54:15Councilor Avalos.

1:54:18Yeah, so, um, also struggling to figure out how to go about this.

1:54:22Like, I have amendments for 3, but I'll start with 2 and then I guess get back in the queue to propose my amendments for 3, or is that not what I should do?

1:54:30I think either, either of those are fine.

1:54:33And like I said, it's a little messy.

1:54:34It created our best process for public testimony.

1:54:39Okay, well then I'll start with my question on 2, and then I'll talk about my amendments on 3.

1:54:44So my question on 2 is, um, uh, for Councilor Smith.

1:54:48I'm just curious, based on the financial and budget analysis that was refuting some of the claims of the resolution, I, I guess I just want to know if you have an answer to those or thoughts about what was presented and how some of the information seems to conflict with your resolution.

1:55:05I don't—.

1:55:07Councilor, I don't know what you're talking about.

1:55:10Um, I am—.

1:55:11Are you talking about the cost of, of the summer jobs program?

1:55:16I mean, I guess I'm talking largely about it because there's a couple things in the financial impact statement or whatever that has like—.

1:55:23So yeah, let me speak to that for, um, Agenda item 2.

1:55:30We had talked about the co-ed program, and I was told that it was gonna be cut.

1:55:34Human Resources did cut the summer jobs program, and I wanted to get some input from the council to see if this was a program that we should keep.

1:55:44It has a no revenue consequence.

1:55:48I have since, since I dropped this, talked to Human Resources and—.

1:55:54Councilor Smith.

1:55:55And with the mayor.

1:55:57And I'm not sure exactly what it's going to be, but I understand that we are going to have some, um, support for this.

1:56:03Uh, the second piece, it's a non-revenue— SIP is a non-revenue, uh, bill.

1:56:09It is just asking to mandate that PBOT create a 4-year plan to identify District 1 and District 4 as priority areas to, uh, fill potholes create sidewalks.

1:56:23And if you all look at your paper that I sent you, a map, this shows where the sidewalks have the greatest need.

1:56:30And if you look at this map, it's in District 1 and District 4.

1:56:38Um, okay, well, let me just move on to my amendments then.

1:56:42So, um, I would like to get my 2 amendments on the table and then offer an explanation for them before we have discussion?

1:56:50Is that preferred, to just put both up?

1:56:53Like, put one up, ask for a second, put another one up?

1:56:56Madam President, if we don't have any more comments on the summer jobs program, can we take a vote on that?

1:57:03I was actually just going to ask if anybody else was in the queue or had amendments for agenda item 2, or if we should get that out of the way.

1:57:10I have a question on item 2.

1:57:12Okay, it looks like Councilor Murillo is in the queue on agenda councilor Avalos, I told you to do all at once, but are your amendments both on agenda item 3?

1:57:20Yes.

1:57:22Are you okay if we move to Councilor Murillo, potentially get agenda item 2 off the table, and then come back to you if we have time on agenda item 3?

1:57:29Or start with your discussion when we open this back up at a future meeting?

1:57:34Okay.

1:57:35Okay, Councilor Murillo, go ahead.

1:57:37Thank you.

1:57:38I am generally supportive of item 2, And I just have some questions about the implications of having within the whereas clauses that talk about construction, having the expansion of, you know, there are specific programs listed here, the interstate bridge replacement, the Rose Quarter, Bull Run filtration.

1:57:58I think some of those are necessary, like Bull Run.

1:58:00Some of them are very controversial in the community right now.

1:58:05And I'm just curious what the implications are of having those are you looking for a policy response or a response from our lawyers about whether having that in a whereas clause signals support or binds us to anything specific on those projects?

1:58:25I think a policy response and a legal response, if possible.

1:58:28Madam President, since I wrote the bill, can I give her the explanation of why we put it in there?

1:58:33Sure.

1:58:33In there because they don't know why I put it in there.

1:58:35Yes, let's have you give the policy response.

1:58:36It was used as an example of the number of, of, uh, projects that we have actually in the city.

1:58:43But I'm going to go deeper than that.

1:58:44Currently we have 117 projects which I didn't list.

1:58:48I just listed a few.

1:58:49Those were the big ones.

1:58:50But we got 117 projects in the queue in the Portland region that need apprenticeships.

1:58:57Forget the 3 that you see here.

1:58:58We're not promoting those projects.

1:59:00We are not saying that this is where people are going to go.

1:59:02It was just to give you a large-scale view that with those projects alone, we need 22,000 people.

1:59:09I was trying to make the point, if we cut our apprenticeship program, if we cut our pipeline with our summer works program that, that goes into the pre-apprenticeship programs, we're going to be cutting the opportunities for folks to have good-paying jobs in this community and city.

1:59:25I don't want to get into the politics of I'm not talking about any of those 3 programs because that's not what we're talking about.

1:59:29We're talking about making sure that we spend city resources with underserved kids in underserved projects.

1:59:35And the project that I am trying to get these underserved kids on is the SIP project.

1:59:41That is to put sidewalks, potholes, and paving in the city of Portland in District 4 and in District 1.

1:59:48That's what I'm trying to do.

1:59:49I don't want to get sidetracked.

1:59:50I don't want this to get diluted about other things.

1:59:53Councilwoman Smith, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to interrupt you.

1:59:53We need to be very clear on who we are, and cutting from the budget resources for our young people, that is just a no-no.

2:00:01We shouldn't do that.

2:00:02We've invested in this program ever since 2009, and to cut the program at the rate that we're cutting it is simply wrong.

2:00:12Okay, thank you for answering my question.

2:00:15Can we turn to our attorney and get an answer on whether there is any implication by including certain projects in the whereas clause that council is specifically supporting those projects, or whether as a whereas clause and not a resolved, those are just examples of the types of projects that could come up in the city.

2:00:42This is—.

2:00:46We're looking at Item number 3?

2:00:48Item number 2.

2:00:50In the whereas clause, a few projects are called out, and I believe the councilor's question is whether by calling out those projects and voting for this resolution, she would be supporting those projects, or whether because it's in a whereas and not a resolved clause, we could call those just examples and not a signal of council support.

2:01:13Is that correct, Councilor?

2:01:15Yeah, that's correct.

2:01:15Just making sure it's not legally binding us to any specific construction projects.

2:01:19I'm generally supportive of this, Councilor Smith.

2:01:22Our City Attorney Robert Taylor will speak to the issue.

2:01:25Hi, for the record, Robert Taylor, City Attorney.

2:01:28In the whereas clauses, those are factual or rhetorical statements that serve as background.

2:01:34They're not legally binding.

2:01:36So those would be examples of projects But they're not, they're not binding.

2:01:43Okay, thank you, Mr. Taylor.

2:01:47Is there any other discussion or are there any other amendments?

2:01:51And because we have folks in the queue, I'm looking for a nodding of heads here, um, on agenda item 2.

2:02:00Okay, Councilor Smith, I know that you'd like to keep us moving on these.

2:02:06I'm comfortable with us taking a vote on agenda item 2, and then we'll need to come back to agenda item 3 at our next meeting.

2:02:13Is that comfortable for you?

2:02:15No, it's not, but we can take agenda item 2.

2:02:19I think we need to do agenda item 3 as well.

2:02:23I'm not sure how many people have to leave at noon, but we need to take an opportunity to do it.

2:02:28We'll need to end there, but if If folks are comfortable, why don't we move forward, uh, with, uh, calling the roll on agenda item 2?

2:02:36You asked me if I was comfortable and I told you I wasn't.

2:02:39So, point of order though, is this an emergency ordinance too?

2:02:43Uh, this is a resolution, so it actually only comes before us at one meeting.

2:02:47Got it, thank you.

2:02:48Yes.

2:02:48Uh, I'll keep this brief.

2:02:52I appreciate all the work that Councilor Smith has done on this, and as I said in the Labor and Workforce Development, uh, Committee.

2:02:58I, I support it broadly.

2:02:59Um, I— my only concerns are, uh, going to be discussed in item 3.

2:03:05It's around that same clause that Councilor Green raised, uh, points about, but given the attorney's, uh, guidance, I don't think we need to talk about it here.

2:03:12Thank you again.

2:03:13I vote aye.

2:03:17Aye.

2:03:18Aye.

2:03:19Whereas a whereas is just a whereas.

2:03:21Aye.

2:03:21Clerk.

2:03:24Aye.

2:03:25Aye.

2:03:25Um, I'm going to take a point just here because this is a big vote for me, Councilor.

2:03:31Um, first and foremost, I think that my dedication to Summer Works is well proven over my career, and it goes back many years.

2:03:39Um, I remember the first year Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith secured $1 million for this program, and that was a hell of a coup.

2:03:47Uh, there are a lot of people who have There are a lot of us who have continued to support this effort from your leadership, and I'm proud to support this today.

2:03:59And I think about running the internship for one of my divisions, and out of my 6 or 7 in that first year, all Black and brown young Portland students.

2:04:13And I think about running the internship for one of my divisions, and out of my 6 or 7 in that first year, all Black and brown young Portland students.

2:04:143 Of which are still employees at Multnomah County today, one of which I had to teach him how to tie his tie, and he runs the internship program now for Multnomah County.

2:04:24But they changed the face of one of the holdout divisions, kind of the old guard division at Multnomah County, and those young students are now 10 years into a career.

2:04:38The testimony we heard earlier today Summer works, internship programs, mentorship.

2:04:44That's what happens in this program.

2:04:45That doesn't happen at McDonald's, but mentorship happens in an internship program.

2:04:50And I am so proud to see you continue this legacy on this side of the river and to reinvigorate it.

2:04:57And I am so proud to support it.

2:04:59I vote aye.

2:05:00Aye.

2:05:01Aye.

2:05:03Aye.

2:05:06Thank you, uh, councilors.

2:05:07I'd just like to say I invited, uh, State Representative Ricky Ruiz to speak.

2:05:13One of my other interns.

2:05:15Exactly.

2:05:16And Ricky Ruiz is currently state rep who is, um, on the Ways and Means Committee.

2:05:24He was one of my interns in the Summer Works Program in Multnomah County, and then he went on to Gresham to go into government relations.

2:05:33And then less than a year later, he put his name on the ballot to run for state rep, and he won the first time.

2:05:43So this is not play-play here.

2:05:46This is real.

2:05:47This is giving folks who are Black and brown and underserved from, from every color an opportunity to have an opportunity.

2:05:56Councilwoman Those of you in this room, Derek is probably the only one that knows about the old CETA program.

2:06:03The CETA program turned into the JTPA program, which is now the WIO program.

2:06:10And those federal dollars matched with our local dollars are put into this program to make sure that people who would not ordinarily and typically work in government, city government, County government, state government, to give them an opportunity to be here.

2:06:29So I am proudly voting yes for this.

2:06:34I, um, one of the first things I did in my career was work on expanding apprenticeship, and I had the opportunity after that to work on workforce policy at the state level, work directly with the Summer Works program, um, and the WIOA program that Councilor Smith mentioned.

2:06:55I am proud to continue to support that work here at the city.

2:07:02Aye.

2:07:03With 11 yes votes, the resolution is adopted as amended.

2:07:07Thank you, councilors.

2:07:09I know that our colleague would like to continue, but I also see a few people getting antsy because they have other places to be, and I promised when we scheduled this meeting that I would end us at noon so that you all could get to your other commitments for the day.

2:07:22So with my apologies to my colleague Councilor Smith, I am going to close our special council meeting, and we will pick up agenda item 3 near the top of our agenda at our next meeting.

2:07:36Is that next week?

2:07:41Um, Councilor, let me answer that.

2:07:42The meeting is closed, but our next next council meeting is scheduled for May 7th.

2:07:49Okay.