June 10-11, 2026 Council agenda (regular and special meetings)

A push to protect frontline jobs and reverse city budget cuts died on a 6-6 tie, as Portland's council spent its June 10 session unable to agree on how to fund fire rescues, parks and worker layoffs before its budget deadline. (03:16:49)

The "Services First" amendment fails on a tie

The centerpiece fight was Green-Avalos-Morillo 1, called "Services First," moved by Councilor Mitch Green (District 1). It would have funded 96 positions across multiple bureaus — including public safety support specialists, Advanced Life Support teams, parks maintenance and janitorial workers, and a new Office of Immigration Affairs — and paused a core realignment process that would lay off 46 employees. Green said the mayor's budget cuts almost 80% of public safety support specialists and that competing plans cut parks maintenance by $6 million, risking renewal of a parks levy worth nearly $450 million. He pointed to a stated $45 million the city expects from the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers, which the city's website says "could go towards the $120 million the city would invest in the Moda Center." (02:31:00)

Councilor Angelita Morillo (District 3) said the pause was needed to engage labor properly and called the alternatives "the Temu versions of our amendment." Councilor Candace Avalos (District 1) said dollars are available today to prevent the cuts. Opponents argued the amendment relied on one-time money. Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney (District 2) said it "punts every hard decision" and reverses nearly every cut except to managers. Councilor Steve Novick (District 3) warned it would use two years of Portland Clean Energy Fund interest in one year, deepening next year's shortfall.

Chief Financial Officer Jonas Beary told the council the proposal "increases risk to future stability" and "punts responsibility... to a future council," and said fund balance and contingency levels had already dropped below what rating agencies recommend to keep the city's AAA rating. The amendment failed 6-6 — ayes from Councilors Sameer Kanal (District 2), Tiffany Koyama Lane (District 3), Morillo, Green, Avalos and Council President Jamie Dunphy (District 1); nays from Pirtle-Guiney, Councilor Dan Ryan (District 2), Novick, Vice President Olivia Clark (District 4), Councilor Eric Zimmerman (District 4) and Councilor Loretta Smith (District 1). (03:16:49)

Six tries to fund fire rescues, none adopted

Restoring three fire rescue units — reduced to peak-hour staffing in the mayor's budget — drew six separate amendments. Two were withdrawn and three failed. Pirtle-Guiney-Novick 1 would have restored Rescue 19 by cutting $142,146 from nine council office budgets — a net $92,146 cut per office after restoring a prior one-time $50,000 reduction — while excluding District 1. Novick said "voters will be paying attention" to office budgets, citing a KGW interview. Morillo objected that Minneapolis staffs its council operations with over 40 people against Portland's 11, three of them vacant, and Kanal called it inefficient, "a $1.2 million cut to save $550,000." It failed 5-7. (02:30:34)

A later package, Pirtle-Guiney-Novick 4, paired all three rescues with $1.7 million to restore police training and an extension of laid-off employees' pay into early August and healthcare through the end of August. Chief of Police Bob Day called the training money "a Band-Aid on what is still going to be a very severe cut year," describing risks to Vision Zero traffic investigations and de-escalation scenario training and noting lawsuits against departments "start with failure to supervise and failure to train." Green said, "There is not time for me to get to yes on this right now," and moved to recess for the day; that motion failed 3-8 with one absent, and the amendment then failed 3-8 with one absent. (03:34:39)

The last rescue proposal, Kanal-Koyama Lane 10, would use opioid manufacturer settlement funds to restore all three units, backfilling the Bybee Lakes and Grand Recovery shelters and trimming a planned North Portland shelter expansion. Mayor Keith Wilson appealed against it, saying shelters already took a 30% cut and warning against "false choices." The council ran out of time and deferred the vote to June 11. (03:57:00)

Clark's public safety package and the charter question

Clark 2, a scaled-back $7.6 million public safety restoration drawn from an unspent set-aside in the Public Safety Accountability Commission, failed 5-6 with Smith absent. Clark asked City Attorney Robert Taylor to confirm on the record that it did not violate the charter; Taylor said the charter requires the commission receive 5% of the police operating budget, which would still be appropriated, and unspent money could later replenish the fund. Kanal read a charter section on the board's independent judgment and voted no, saying it interfered. (03:21:21)

Conduct on the dais

Smith moved to recess so amendment sponsors could combine their plans, saying "we're in a standstill right now"; the motion failed 2-10. During Zimmerman's exchange with Taylor over funding council offices at different levels — which Zimmerman called "anti-democratic" — an unidentified voice on the record said, "That's called institutional racism." Smith also moved to withdraw all three of her own budget amendments and told colleagues to "stop eating our own" and stop "grandstanding in an election year." Green said the charge that his amendment was an "election play" was "deeply offensive."

Items approved and public testimony

The consent agenda passed 12-0. (00:24:06) A technical amendment aligning the budget with the arts tax passed 12-0; Revenue Division Director Thomas Lanham said a 42% arts tax increase raises $1.15 million and adds two limited-duration staff for one implementation year, with the $3.5 million for the arts community unchanged. (01:46:09) The state shared revenue certification, tied to $19,496,999 split between fire prevention and police patrol, was continued to June 17.

Five people spoke in open communications: on a PBOT concrete island planned at NE Killingsworth and 35th Place that a resident said neighbors were never consulted on, on eliminated parks positions, on campsite cleanup funding, and on public safety. Dozens more testified on the budget, overwhelmingly against realignment layoffs. Isaac McLennan of the Portland Firefighters Association said restoring all three rescues would cost $1.65 million. A Revenue Division worker presented 74 petition signatures to save one colleague's job. PCEF-coalition speakers, including Alan Hipolito, asked the council to find $5.9 million to keep the fund's climate plan whole.

What's next

The budget hearing recessed to June 11 at 9:30 a.m., where the council took up Kanal-Koyama Lane 10 first. Items 6 and 7 — the state revenue sharing resolution and emergency ordinance — were continued to June 17 at 6:15 p.m. A councilor and Dunphy both flagged that the emergency ordinance will need 9 votes that day, which they called risky. Written testimony remains open until the budget vote.