Portland City Council AM Session 07/29/26

6:11Good morning, everybody.

6:12I'm calling to order this meeting of the Portland City Council.

6:15It is 9:31 on Wednesday, July 29th.

6:20Keelan, could we please call the roll?

6:21Good morning.

6:22Koyama Lane.

6:24I'm on a rerouted bus, but I am here.

6:28Murillo.

6:28Here.

6:30Novick.

6:31Here.

6:32Clark.

6:32Here.

6:33Green.

6:34Happy to be here.

6:35Zimmerman.

6:36Here.

6:37Avalos.

6:39Smith.

6:40Kanal.

6:40Here.

6:41Pirtle-Guiney.

6:42Here.

6:42Good morning.

6:44Ryan.

6:44Here.

6:45Dunphy.

6:46Here.

6:47And can we please read the rules of decorum for the chamber?

6:51Good morning.

6:52Welcome to the Portland City Council.

6:53To testify before council in person or virtually, you must sign up in advance on the council agenda at www.portland.gov/council/agenda.

7:02Information on engaging with council can be found on the council clerk's webpage.

7:07Individuals may testify for 3 minutes unless the presiding officer states otherwise.

7:12Your microphone will be muted when your time is over.

7:14The presiding officer preserves order.

7:17Disruptive conduct such as shouting, refusing to conclude your testimony when your time is up, or interrupting others' testimony or council deliberations will not be allowed.

7:26If you cause a disruption, a warning will be given.

7:28Further disruption will result from ejection— result in ejection from the meeting.

7:32Anyone who fails to leave once ejected is subject to arrest for trespass.

7:36Additionally, council may take a short recess and reconvene virtually.

7:40Your testimony should address the matter being considered.

7:42When testifying, state your name for the record.

7:44Your address is not necessary.

7:46If you are a lobbyist, identify the organization you represent.

7:49Virtual testifiers should unmute themselves when the council clerk calls your name.

7:53Thank you.

7:54Thank you very much.

7:56Well, first and foremost, I'd like to, uh, thank the hard workers at Multnomah County who are out there repairing the Hawthorne Bridge and the Morrison Bridge this morning during rush hour.

8:05I hope it gets worked so that folks can get here on time tomorrow.

8:09Our first item on the agenda is agenda approval.

8:11Colleagues, is there any— are there any requests to amend the agenda, to reorder items, or reschedule an item to a future meeting date?

8:19Nope.

8:20Do I have unanimous consent to approve the agenda?

8:23I do.

8:23The agenda is approved.

8:25Keelan, can we please call public communications?

8:30First up, we have John Hollister.

8:33I don't know, they're just all closed.

8:38Took me an extra half hour to get here, so— Welcome.

8:47Go ahead and introduce yourself for the record.

8:50My name is John Hollister.

8:54Um, I don't know if one of you guys can make a motion to— I talked to the guards ahead of time, and I have a Native American friend that would be more than happy to come in like 7:30 in the morning and smudge this room, because the energy here, I'm just feeling it, it's palpable.

9:14And so just a suggestion.

9:16Um, what what I'd like to do is go back in time and to, to talk about an event that happened on Friday, October 10th, 2008, during a John McCain presidential campaign town hall in Lakeville, Minnesota.

9:37An older woman at the mic said, I can't trust Obama.

9:41I have read about him and he's an Arab.

9:44John McCain immediately interrupted and took the microphone back.

9:47He replied, no, ma'am, no, ma'am, he's a decent family man.

9:50He's a Muslim.

9:51Citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's not what this campaign is about.

9:59The phrase, we don't do that, is often used online to describe McCain's reaction, but it's not the exact words he used in that famous exchange.

10:08The actual words were, no ma'am, followed by his defense of Obama's character.

10:13Over the years, many people have paraphrased the moment as McCain essentially says, we don't do that here, because he refused to tolerate personal attacks on false smears against his opponent.

10:24There was also another memorable campaign event in which McCain told the crowd, I admire Senator Obama and his accomplishments.

10:34I want everyone to be respectful because that's the way politics should be considered in America.

10:41He said that after members of the audience booed Obama's name.

10:47That October 10th, 2008 exchange is widely remembered as one of the defining moments of the 2008 presidential campaign because McCain publicly corrected one of his own supporters rather than allowing a false or derogatory claim about Obama to stand.

11:05God, wouldn't that be just— wouldn't that be awesome if we could do that?

11:10Not who's my daddy.

11:12Not, not the, the, uh, um, not to fuck yourself in the heart.

11:18The, the, um, it's— come on, people.

11:20It's— let's, let's get some work done.

11:23Oh, by the way, I've talked to some inside people about, um, the Moda Center.

11:28Don't worry about what you do.

11:29They're already gone.

11:30There are groups, there are owner groups in Nashville and Kansas City.

11:36They're bidding and just can't wait for you guys to mess it up.

11:40But great job on getting the lawyer from, from Seattle that lost it for, uh, um, for Seattle.

11:46So great job, guys.

11:47Keep it up.

11:48Thank you.

11:48And have a great day.

11:54Next up, we have Jack Dickinson.

11:58Welcome.

12:00Introduce yourself for the record.

12:033 minutes.

12:04My name for the record is Jack Dickinson.

12:08Councilor Smith, last week at one point you interrupted one of your colleagues to imply that she was threatening the mayor.

12:14If we're talking about threats, I think it's worth remembering that last year you threatened to shoot multiple people who crossed over this desk.

12:26I constantly see you interrupting people with points of order that are not in fact points of order.

12:33Point of order.

12:34There's no point of order during a public communication.

12:35He's allowed to address individuals.

12:38Interesting that you played into my exact next prepared response.

12:47You constantly bring people up, city staff up here, not to ask them questions in good faith, but in an attempt to extort a very specific wording out of them that you then use as apparent justification for a vote you have already made.

13:01When I hear you say you don't like giving up your power easily, and I square that with how I see you behave yourself, the conclusion that I'm left with is that you don't care about preserving Councilwoman Smith's ability to represent District 1.

13:14You care about preserving Loretta Smith's ability to represent District 1.

13:15I don't care about preserving anyone's ability to represent District 1.

13:20I think people who know me would describe me as a patient person, but over the past year and a half, I am frankly at my wit's end.

13:29And my frustration is not just with you.

13:30It is predominantly with you.

13:32But like, Councilor Murillo, I really don't know what you were going for last week.

13:37I think I would like to have a serious conversation about whether or not Councilor Smith is abdicating her role as a city councilor to serve as a spokesperson for Keith Wilson.

13:46I think that's a fair point.

13:47But that conversation has just become nigh impossible to have in good faith because you've poisoned the narrative well with the daddy comment.

13:57There are just too many distractions coming out of this body.

14:00There are times when I'm listening to these meetings online and I have to take off my headphones or pause for a minute because I don't have the bandwidth to deal with a 4th grade classroom.

14:11Ultimately, if we're talking about this kind of stuff within the context of decorum, Councilor Avalos was absolutely right last week.

14:18This is the responsibility of the council president to deal with.

14:21And if you're not prepared to handle that responsibility, don't jump in at the 13th vote.

14:28I don't think there is a world in which either Elana Pirtle-Guiney or Sameer Kanal would have allowed it to get to this point.

14:36And I think if there's going to be— If you're willing to levy the rules of decorum against the people who come here who only have 3 minutes a month to speak.

14:48I think we can do a better job of, of doing that amongst yourselves.

14:52So thank you.

14:53Thank you very much.

14:56Next up we have Diane Sussman.

15:01Welcome.

15:02Please introduce yourself for the record, and you have 3 minutes.

15:04Yeah, my name is Diane Sussman, and I live at 1005 Southwest Park Avenue.

15:10I'm not a registered lobbyist for any organization, nor do I represent any group.

15:15Thank you.

15:16Other than the miserable sweat-soaked people battling our every summer heat, I wonder for years why Portland, which considers itself something of a green giant, so profoundly lags California and Washington State in this regard.

15:29One millennial who grew up here said that Portland made a big push on environmental programs in the '90s, then it just stopped, and we've been patting ourselves on the back ever since.

15:38So I have 3 modest proposals.

15:41First, require businesses to keep their doors closed when temperatures are 85 degrees or higher and they are running the AC.

15:48New York City has such a law, and San Francisco has such a law and doesn't even need it.

15:53It's galling to see places like Anthropologie, CB2, and CaroCo cool their stores to refrigerator temperatures and keep their doors open.

16:01We all depend on the grid.

16:03It's unconscionable to think that this kind of waste can exist side by side with people who have no AC.

16:07Thank you.

16:08And whose very lives are at stake.

16:09We may not be able to provide AC fast enough to people who need it, but we can at least apportion it wisely.

16:15Back it up with a hotline number that people can call for repeat offenders.

16:20If businesses don't comply, let them serve as cooling centers.

16:23I'd love to sit on CB2's fine couches in 98-degree weather.

16:28Make one downtown city-owned garage EV only and free for the first year.

16:33Install chargers and stripe spaces for smaller cars.

16:36Recoup some of the revenue by ticketing the scofflaws in year 1.

16:41In year 2 and beyond, charge an amount that covers for the energy use of charging stations plus an additional parking fee.

16:48Require all new hotels and multifamily housing to install free EV chargers in their buildings and garages.

16:54Expand composting to multifamily housing, not just single-family homes.

16:58Seriously, which type of housing generates more compostable materials?

17:02The type with a lot of people in one building or those with a few people in one building.

17:06Make the program enticing by letting residents pick up free city-made compost for their gardens several times a year.

17:13Palo Alto does that.

17:14It's a virtuous payback system that makes people look upon such programs fondly.

17:19Hype the program further by leaving out bags of city-made compost complete with cute city label at all community gardens.

17:26Thank you.

17:27Thank you.

17:28Thank you very much.

17:31Next up we have Annette Johnson.

17:37Hello.

17:38Good morning.

17:383 minutes, right?

17:40Yeah, so I'm gonna make it quick.

17:41Please introduce yourself for the record and you have 3 minutes.

17:43Annette Johnson.

17:43I go by Nettie.

17:46Um, I'm a lot of things.

17:47I, I worked on the bridge and stuff.

17:49I'm a flagger.

17:50Um, I'm disabled, been disabled since '08.

17:55Was homeless, heroin addict, prison, all that, right?

17:59I got 22 years clean, and I'm making my way in life as a productive member of society.

18:06And a lot of my family members tell me, don't make— tell people this one statement, 'cause it makes me look ignorant.

18:15But when I found out that Blacks were slaves, I was in the Redding jail, and the girl, Black girl, told the white guard, if you didn't like us here, don't bring— you shouldn't have brought us here.

18:25I said, she didn't bring me here.

18:27I-5.

18:27I-5.

18:29And she said, well, they brought your ancestors.

18:31And then I— she— and then she realized I didn't know.

18:34Fast forward, I'm in District 4.

18:37There's homelessness all up on Woodstock.

18:40There's vacant apartments on 73rd and Foster.

18:42People need places to live.

18:44They don't have the access for somebody to come out there and show them how to give the application the way I did in order to get here.

18:55As a vendor at Street Roots, I meet all kinds of people on Woodstock, and I stood for Keith Wilson.

19:03I thought Portland needed a change.

19:06But the one thing I'm advocating for, and this is on another level, is interpreters for Black people.

19:12Like, we need an interpreter.

19:14Like, sometimes we speak with our hands or we speak whatever, and it's misunderstood.

19:19But if you go back to the history of slavery, that relationship was always misunderstood.

19:25And when the lady here from District 4, Angelita, spoke to this lady here, Loretta Smith, I believe— no, that's not Loretta Smith, is it?

19:34Are you?

19:34Okay.

19:36It hurt me.

19:37You know, I have a Black daughter.

19:39I have Black people, college graduates.

19:41They want to be somebody, right?

19:44And it's mathematically impossible for a white man to birth a Black woman.

19:50So either her understanding is not up to this standard here, because you guys are making a fool of yourself.

19:58You look foolish to the city.

20:00And if you drive down the street, aluminum foil covers the streets of Portland.

20:05Why isn't that important?

20:06There's about 10 people dead in the morgue this week from fentanyl overdose.

20:12But this city want to talk about Donald Trump.

20:15I don't care who's the president, really.

20:17But that statement, I wish you would give her an apology, and I wish y'all get it together.

20:22Thank you.

20:23Thank you very much for being here.

20:26Oh, don't forget your sunglasses.

20:28Oh, those are expensive too.

20:30Shit.

20:31Hell, I worked 2 days for these.

20:34Have a good day.

20:352.

20:37Next up, we have Galena Easterly.

20:45Galena Easterly.

20:49Our alternate today is Pastor Robin Wisner.

20:59I, uh, I find myself uncomfortable sitting here.

21:08The reason why is because I'm a Black man in the city of Portland, and I want to state this because it was stated about somebody's daddy, the daddy of Portland.

21:22I will start here, and I usually don't do this.

21:25People who know me well, I've supported— I think I've met everyone here on this council and supported everyone on this council.

21:36So me to stand here and give you a correction or try to speak to you as if I'm a moral authority or someone to tell you what's right or wrong, I think you already know that.

21:46But I do have to stand for what traumatized me, what sent me through an area when I heard about the Daddy of Portland, my daddy.

21:59I termed this Say It Loud.

22:01I'm Black and I'm proud.

22:04Who was the first man to set foot on the North Pole?

22:09Matthew Henderson.

22:12A Black man.

22:14Who was the founder of blood plasma and director of the Red Cross blood bank?

22:21Dr. Charles Drew.

22:23A Black man.

22:25Who invented the world's first stop light stop and gas mask.

22:31Garrett Morgan, a Black man.

22:34Who made the first clock to give time in America and wrote the first almanac?

22:41Benjamin Banneker, a Black man.

22:46Who was the founder of the city of Chicago in 1772?

22:53Jean-Baptiste A Black man.

22:57Who was the woman who led countless slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad?

23:04Harriet Tubman.

23:05A Black woman.

23:08Who served as the First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 and was American Attorney in Arthur?

23:17Michelle Obama.

23:18A Black woman.

23:20Who was born in 1966 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is an American politics and businesswoman who is a member of the Portland City Council District 1?

23:32Loretta Smith, a Black woman.

23:35Before I leave, I would like to say these last words in a protest.

23:41Say it loud!

23:43I'm tired of the fraud!

23:47Say it loud!

24:00I'm a Black man in the city of Portland.

24:05Thank you for your time.

24:11That completes communications.

24:15Thank you.

24:20Councilor Morillo.

24:23Thank you, Council President.

24:25Thank you to folks that have come and testified about this.

24:28And I just wanted to take a moment to say that I agree with the people that have come to testify, that I agree, I think things got pretty heated last week, and I was doing it sort of in service of saving some of the employees that had come to Councilor Smith.

24:44Thank you, Mayor.

24:45I want to thank everyone who came out to our offices, who were worried about the services that were going to be cut, and also the very real humans that we work with who are not going to be working with us any longer, who are not going to be serving Portlanders.

24:55I also want to take a moment to clarify that I, I don't know if this makes it any better, but I will say I was not directing my comment to Councilor Smith.

25:06I was making a comment generally about someone invoking a different patriarchal authority to come and settle disputes for the council rather than us working it out amongst ourselves after I repeatedly came with extremely large compromises for the ordinance.

25:24It was in no way about Councilor Smith.

25:26She was repeatedly interrupting me, so I ended up speaking to her directly through those interruptions.

25:32But I do want to take a moment to clarify that because I think the meaning and I did want to take a point of privilege to clarify that.

25:44I don't think that necessarily makes my actions better.

25:46I was talking about the vast majority of moderates on council who I think were using the mayor when I really wanted them to work with us and compromise with us and negotiate with us.

25:56But I understand how that would have been taken by certain members of the community and how that is interpreted.

26:01And I certainly never intended to use the mayor in that way.

26:02Thank you.

26:03Wanted to give that impression, neither to the community members nor to Councilor Smith, because while we disagree at times, I do have immense respect for a lot of the work she does and how she fights for the community.

26:14And sometimes we do get frustrated with each other, but I know at the end of the day she is trying to fight for District 1, and I have immense respect for that.

26:22So I just wanted to say my piece on that, and thank you to the folks who came and gave feedback.

26:26I am taking it to heart.

26:27Thank you, Councilor Morillo.

26:29Councilor Smith.

26:32Council President, I'd like to take a point of, you know, personal, um, yeah, privilege.

26:42Yes.

26:42So this whole thing has kind of shook me up a bit.

26:48I was going to speak this morning, but you all know me.

26:59Um, when people mislead you, I try to set the record straight.

27:03I disagree with Councilor Murillo.

27:07I asked the question, who are you calling daddy?

27:12And she said, he's your daddy, not my daddy.

27:17That was what was said.

27:18So she did say that the mayor of this city was my daddy.

27:22I did not say that.

27:24Um, and to come here this morning and try to re-explain what she said— it's been all on the news all over the United States.

27:35My mother called me about it yesterday.

27:38And so whatever you do when you make a mistake, you have to say what the mistake is.

27:47You can't change it.

27:47Councilwoman Smith, I'm sorry.

27:49The words are out there.

27:50And you did say your daddy and looked at me.

27:55You didn't say moderates.

27:57You didn't say anything.

27:58I asked the question, who are you calling daddy?

28:02And you said he's your daddy, not my daddy.

28:05Go back and look at the tape.

28:07So you can't come and explain.

28:09You just make it worse.

28:11And so when I'm in a situation like this, this whole explanation is It's given me additional hostile environment because it's not the truth.

28:24I don't have any problem with accepting anybody's apology or recollection of something because sometimes we get it wrong.

28:35But I do appreciate the people who came here today who really were traumatized by it.

28:45And the statement was disrespectful to my dad, who passed away of cancer, who his last few days he was, he was in a lot of pain.

29:03And to disrespect him and my mother and my family To flippantly, for a quick laugh and social media content, it wasn't worth it.

29:24I didn't like it.

29:25It's toxic.

29:27And I feel like I'm on a— instead of being on a very honorable city council, I feel like I am sitting on a reality TV show, a really bad reality TV show.

29:41And I am a Black woman.

29:45I have a degree from Oregon State University.

29:49I'm a former business owner.

29:52I'm a mother and I'm a grandmother.

29:54And I do not deserve to be disrespected and mistreated like this.

30:01Thank you, colleagues.

30:08Our next item on our agenda is our regular update from City Administrator Lee with regard to status of the ongoing response to federal interventions in the city.

30:17City Administrator, any updates?

30:19Yes, Council President.

30:21The litigation is continuing over the writs of review.

30:25Our City Attorney's Office is conferring with opposing counsel on a briefing schedule and hearing dates as well.

30:33We will update the City Council once we have our next steps of the hearing dates and those things will be set.

30:40As a reminder, on June 26th, PP&D posted an administrative rule related to the facility for public comment.

30:51That public comment period has now closed as of July 26th.

30:57PP&D received 21 comments during the public comment period.

31:04Staff have reviewed the comments and are preparing the final version.

31:09We expect to have that final version shortly.

31:12Council can expect more information from Director Kooch coming soon in a council update.

31:19Thank you.

31:19Thank you very much, City Administrator Lee.

31:22Uh, Councilor Kanal.

31:24Thank you, Council President.

31:25Thank you, Administrator Lee.

31:26I wanted to ask, um, in the context of conferring, um, prior to your starting as city administrator, our attorneys agreed to a— um, or sorry, not necessarily our attorneys, the city agreed to an extension.

31:42And I'm just wanting to make sure that we're not providing any additional time throughout this process as we confer with our opposing I don't believe so, but I'll have that conversation with our city attorney and follow up with council on that.

31:56Okay, thank you.

31:57Thank you, Councilor Knell.

32:01Keelan, can we please call item number 4?

32:07Item 4, document 2026-217, consider appeals of the Design Commission's approval of a voluntary Central City Master Plan review and adjustment review for the Lloyd Center Central City Master Plan LU25-09130.

32:25Thank you very much.

32:26Colleagues, as a reminder, these appeals are pursuant to the Design Commission's decision to approve a Central City Master Plan at the Lloyd Center site.

32:35On July 8th, this body voted 10 to 1 to tentatively deny the appeals and uphold the Design Commission's decision with technical changes to condition of approval C.8.C.

32:45Councilmember Herbold.

32:47I would now entertain a motion to deny the appeals and uphold the Design Commission's decision with the technical changes to the condition as previously stated.

32:59Anybody want to move that for me?

33:00So moved.

33:01Thank you.

33:02Second.

33:03Councilor Ryan moves, Councilor Clark seconds.

33:06Colleagues, is there any further council discussion?

33:13What the vote is.

33:15Yes.

33:17Can we clarify, we are voting affirmatively to deny the appeal and uphold the hearing officer's decision on the master plan?

33:28Okay.

33:30And the new conditions.

33:31Okay, colleagues.

33:33So Keelan, can you please call the roll?

33:41Yeah, um, just, just a second.

33:43Give me one minute.

33:44Okay.

33:44And I'll check.

33:52Um, okay.

34:01Oh yeah, Councilor Koyama Lane had, uh, previously, uh, What's the word?

34:07Yeah, she had removed herself from the—.

34:09Great.

34:10So we are good.

34:11Yep.

34:11Thank you.

34:12Koyama Lane is absent.

34:14Murillo?

34:16Aye.

34:17Aye.

34:18Novick?

34:18Aye.

34:19Stark?

34:20Aye.

34:20Green?

34:21Aye.

34:23Zimmerman?

34:25Aye.

34:26Avalos is absent.

34:26Smith?

34:28Aye.

34:29Kanal?

34:30Aye.

34:32Aye.

34:33The motion carries with a vote of 10 ayes and 2 absent.

34:41Okay, the motion has passed, the appeals are denied, and the Design Commission's decision is upheld.

34:46Thank you all very much for being here.

34:49Can we please move to item number 5?

34:52Item 5, document 2026-205, amend partial and full exemptions of system development charges for affordable housing developments code to temporarily extend the exemption period for existing projects.

35:02Temporarily remove income requirements for homeownership units.

35:06Amend Code Section 30.01.095.

35:10Colleagues, this is the second reading of a non-emergency ordinance.

35:12Is there any further council discussion?

35:17Councilor Pirtle-Guiney.

35:19Thank you, Council President.

35:22I try to not jump in on second readings, but there were a few things I wanted to reiterate here.

35:28Because I strongly support the goal of expanding affordable homeownership opportunities, and I strongly support the goal of making sure that homes that are on the market in our city are able to sell and that we can continue to provide enough homes for people in our community.

35:51But if the programs that we create are going to mean anything, we have to be clear about how committed we are to targeting Portlanders who are truly priced out of homeownership.

36:02And when we remove income limits, we risk turning a public investment into a broad market subsidy that could benefit anybody in our city who's looking to purchase a home.

36:15That's why I brought forward an amendment last week to provide a different approach.

36:20And while we heard that there were some operational complications with that amendment, I suspect that that wasn't why most people here voted no.

36:30This council has struggled with creating homeownership pathways.

36:35We saw that when we took up our work on housing funding earlier this year, and we are creating barriers for affordable homeownership in our community by not committing to these programs.

36:53I bring this up today, I reiterate it from last week, because there were some comments last week that down payment assistance maybe isn't worth it because it doesn't go very far, and I felt the need to address that before we vote.

37:10I meet Portlanders regularly who pay rents that are higher than mortgages.

37:16They could afford the month-to-month, but while they pay those incredibly high rents, they can't save 5 or 10 or 20% for a down payment.

37:26They need help there.

37:29There's data from a 2023 Harvard study which finds that for many households, the key barrier, the primary barrier to homeownership, is not monthly affordability.

37:39Councilmember Herbold.

37:40It's not repair costs.

37:43It is the upfront down payment cost.

37:46And while I know that there are more dollars needed on a one-time basis for down payment assistance compared to, for example, rent assistance or other interventions, that same study shows that down payment assistance— $25,000 is often the sweet spot.

38:05Can be a deciding factor on whether or not a family can move into homeownership and build generational wealth for their family.

38:17This same Harvard study found that it is most impactful for Black and Latina households who have been structurally as well as financially locked out of our housing markets.

38:30We passed three million dollars in rent assistance this year.

38:32Councilmember Smith.

38:33This year, at $25,000 grants, that would have helped— or an equivalent amount to homeownership, because we don't want to lose that investment— would have helped 120 Portland families on the path to homeownership.

38:48So I understand the reason this was brought forward, but colleagues, I asked for us last week to look at the funding available within the Housing Bureau and see whether some of it could be set aside for down payment assistance in the future to ensure that even as we make changes like the one before us today, we retain our commitment to those families, particularly Black and Latino families, who are priced out of homeownership without a little bit of help.

39:23So please don't think this is the end of this conversation.

39:27My team is working on some proposals that can help here.

39:30I will be asking us in the future to look for funds again, and I hope that this is something that we are committed to as a council, even as I expect today this ordinance to pass and undermine a little piece of that commitment.

39:45Thank you, Council President.

39:47Thank you, Councilor Pirtle-Guiney.

39:48Councilor Koyama Lane.

39:50Thanks, colleagues.

39:51I'm going to vote no on this item.

39:53I want to be clear about why.

39:55I and many others on this dais talk often about the importance of being able to both afford to live and work in Portland.

40:05This—.

40:05If this passes today, then homes that are supposed to be reserved for families that make less than $128,000 will be available to folks that make more than that.

40:18When I look at that number, I think about— Councilmember Smith.

40:21Fellow teachers and nurses and the people who make your coffee.

40:27I think that that was put there for a reason, and that amount was decided for a reason.

40:32When we passed the temporary SDC waiver exemption last fall, it was intended to spur new housing production.

40:40And while I understand that this change to the affordable housing SDC exemption program would make it So, you know, you can align that with the SDC waiver requirements.

40:51So both waiver programs are the same.

40:54I think it's really important to daylight the trade-offs.

40:58By waiving those income requirements, it makes it harder for families that make an average medium income to compete and purchase an affordable home in exchange for making it easier for our developers to sell.

41:10I asked multiple times for some more information about what has been tried to as in between to get those homes sold, to think about some other possible solutions.

41:23I worry that passing this today is turning our backs on the original policy goals for that program.

41:28And I also want to acknowledge that our current system of offering tax incentives to spur housing production, you know, isn't necessarily working as it should.

41:37I'm hoping that we as a body and our staff can bring forward policies to innovate and tackle our housing challenges.

41:43Councilor Loretta Smith.

41:48Thank you, Councilor.

41:57Thank you, Councilor Koyama Lane.

41:58Councilor Kanal.

41:59Thank you, Council President.

42:00I appreciate both my colleagues bringing up concerns.

42:03I wanted to start by asking, has there been— what's the degree of analysis that's been done as to the impacts of this development?

42:10To whether or not that SDC waiver has impacted anything?

42:18Not 100% sure.

42:19Let me get some, uh, housing staff here to kind of answer that question.

42:23Yeah, I think maybe it, it doesn't necessarily have to be here, um, I think today, but I, I think it might be worth, um, and, and I know, um, working with Chair Avalos of that committee, but just to try to get some some understanding of that because I have also heard the same shared concern that Councilor Koyama Lane brought up.

42:43To Councilor Pirtle-Guiney, first, I appreciate you addressing homeownership.

42:48I wanted to kind of ask, I was hoping that there'd be another amendment today, but I'm happy to hear that you're continuing to work in a different legislative sort of vehicle, and I'd like to work with you on that if that's possible because I think Last week, last meeting.

43:07Yeah, that was last week.

43:08Uh, we had a, um, a conversation that was, I think, too short on this item.

43:14Um, and now we're in a second reading, so I understand how that's working, but I would like to, to continue that conversation because I think there were 2 ideas that were related to the topic.

43:25The other was in the other amendment that was proposed that could easily be their own legislative conversation.

43:31Okay.

43:32And I'd like to make sure that those don't get lost.

43:34Thanks.

43:35Thank you very much, Councilor Kanal.

43:36Councilor Smith.

43:37Thank you, Council President.

43:38I just want to note for the record, um, Councilor, uh, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, we do have the DPAL program, which is the Down Payment Assistance Program at the Portland Housing Bureau.

43:49So it's not like we're not without any down payment assistance.

43:52And I think we even give up to $120,000 per, um, per person.

43:58And remember, we also, in the, the TAL, We put $2 million in, so we have to identify how much more money are you talking about putting in.

44:08And I don't think all of our money even got spent last year for the down payment assistance program.

44:14So I don't think there's a lack— I don't think there is a lack of policies within the City of Portland or lack of dollars.

44:24I think it's hard for people to get approved.

44:26Councilor Loretta Smith.

44:27Credit-approved, job-approved.

44:29Those are things that prevent people from getting preapprovals to actually get in a house that they can afford, because there is so much product out there at the lower level that people, they can't— they don't have a job.

44:43They don't have 2 years on their job.

44:45They don't have the right credit score.

44:48All those things that I think are a bigger barrier than having the money, because we have the money if thank you, Councilor Smith.

44:59Councilor Green.

45:02Thank you.

45:04I encourage— I'm actually— I welcome the standalone legislation that Councilor Pirtle-Guiney is hinting towards when we come— that will come before this body.

45:16I think we should have a conversation about how we prioritize eminent domain.

45:21Yes.

45:21You know, down payment assistance and other tools to make homeownership a possibility.

45:26To Councilor Smith's point, credit access is oftentimes the largest barrier.

45:32And I think if this body is serious about facilitating pathways to homeownership for the populations that we would like to serve, we need to think about stepping in as the underwriter of that credit the way the VA steps in to guarantee mortgages for veterans, the way that other bodies step in to guarantee credit risk as well.

45:49That's something we can do and stretch our dollars in a big way.

45:51We haven't had that conversation yet.

45:53I'll note that I'm supporting the ordinance because I think it's really important in a stressed market to preserve the capabilities and the development capacity that you have, and we cannot afford to lose developers who have deep practice in providing affordable homeownership opportunities.

46:13And if we let that dry up, if we let those firms go into receivership or to sell off their portfolios, they will be replaced by other types of providers who are— do not have the commitment to low-income homeownership opportunities.

46:28And so those are the stakes.

46:30And I think extending the SDC waiver provides something on average of $25,000 to $30,000 of headroom for those developers to be and able to continue to do that.

46:37Thank you.

46:37So in some sense, it works the same way as down payment assistance, if that's really what the dollar is.

46:44I'll note that in the North Northeast Preference Policy discussion, the average cost of each down payment assistance was something like $300,000 per household.

46:54So that's what that— over 10 years, that's what that program spent to get people into the homes.

47:00So those are the real numbers.

47:01It's not $25,000.

47:02It's not $300,000.

47:03It's $300,000.

47:03So you're saying that the It's a wraparound of down payment assistance.

47:06And so that's our benchmark.

47:08And in a number of new Eastside TIF districts, the community-driven leadership councils who are guiding how we're going to use the affordable housing set-aside dollars are prioritizing down payment assistance.

47:22And so we have a lot coming up that we can look to when we look at the data and think about how we prioritize.

47:28But I've I welcome a comprehensive approach to this.

47:31I didn't think it was— an amendment was the space for that in this piece.

47:36I think we needed— this is not— if I was designing a policy from scratch on how to make it easier to serve these policies, this sort of SDC waiver would not be it.

47:48But these are the conditions we created when we did a waiver and didn't consider this part.

47:54And so we have to— I think we need to correct that imbalance and move forward.

47:56And I'll note that this is a temporary program anyway, so we have time to get it right.

48:02So I'll be supporting the underlying.

48:04Thank you, Councilor Green.

48:06Colleagues, seeing no one else in the queue for discussion, Keelan, can we please call the roll?

48:13Calling the roll on document 2026-205, Koyama Lane.

48:20Nay.

48:22Aye.

48:23Novick?

48:24Aye.

48:24Clark?

48:25Aye.

48:26Green?

48:27Aye.

48:28Zimmerman?

48:28No.

48:30Avalos?

48:30Absent.

48:31Smith?

48:33Aye.

48:35Kanal?

48:36Aye.

48:37Pirtle-Guiney?

48:38No.

48:39Ryan?

48:40Aye.

48:40Dunphy?

48:42Aye.

48:43The ordinance passes with a vote of 8 ayes, 3 nos, and 1 absent.

48:48Thank you very much.

48:49Can we please call item number 6?

48:51Item 6, document 2026-209, add electrical— or add electric vehicle charging systems funding code, add code chapter 26.11.

49:03Colleagues, this is the second reading of a non-emergency ordinance.

49:05Is there any further council discussion?

49:10Councilor Green.

49:13I just had to say this might be the fastest ordinance that's moved through the body.

49:16I think we had about 6 minutes of discussion last time we passed the second reading.

49:20Uh, I didn't want to let us go to vote without just noting that historic moment.

49:25Thanks.

49:25I'm going to support it.

49:27Looking forward to voting.

49:28Thanks.

49:29Thank you, Councilor Green.

49:32Colleagues, seeing no one else in the queue, Keelan, can we please call the roll?

49:37Calling the roll on document 2026-209.

49:40Koyama Lane?

49:41Aye.

49:42Morillo?

49:42Good work.

49:43Aye.

49:44Novick.

49:44Aye.

49:45Clark.

49:45Aye.

49:46Green.

49:47Aye.

49:48Zimmerman.

49:48Aye.

49:49Avalos, absent.

49:50Smith.

49:51Aye.

49:51Null.

49:52Thanks for the work.

49:53Aye.

49:53Pirtle-Guiney.

49:55Good bill, should pass.

49:56Aye.

49:57Ryan.

49:58Aye.

49:59Dunphy.

50:00Aye.

50:00The ordinance passes with a vote of 11 ayes and 1 absent.

50:04Colleagues, that completes our agenda for this morning.

50:07We are in recess until tomorrow afternoon.

50:10Thank you.

50:11See you at the work session.