Welcome Mike O’Rourke

Lory presentation City Transition Updates.

• Lory advisory committee member.

• Used to vote for one candidate moving to rank candidates, will happen for all the candidates.

• Citywide elections for 3 members from 4 districts, Lori showed us a map of the 4 districts. The river divides the city with 2 districts on each side. Districts are determined by population with the goal of having districts even in population.

• The Charter is the city constitution. Looking at other districts that made amendments, they voted for them with a 58% approval.

• Got feedback from the public through comments and meetings with the community.

• There is a 3 phase transition.

• Timeline 15 people working full-time in transition.

• The mayor set up an advisory committee – to ensure efficiency and effective implementation.

• Voter education will be important, candidates will do some of the education along with 3 nonprofits.

• Not sure if there is a maximum number of terms per member.

• Next vote all 4 districts will vote and in two years districts 1 and 2 will vote.

• Lory will provide a website will all the information about districts.

• Form of government

• The charter will move us from 5 city councils plus 4 commissioners and the mayor to 12 city councilors, a city manager and one additional position. (I can’t remember that position.)

• Initial salaries have been agreed upon and an independent salary commission will set the salaries every 2 years

• City organizational structure

• The website and newsletter have more information and they are open to comments.

• It is not defined how the districts will be balanced.

• The idea of having 12 city counselors is to represent their districts, they should have their constituents’ needs in mind.

• Differences in the budget were the earlier understanding of the staffing needs that have changed.

• San Diego, Boston, and Minneapolis are some of the cities that made a similar transition.

Some of the questions from the board members to Lory:

1. How does this new form of government interact with and benefit businesses?

How the new form of government will interact with and benefit business is something we can comment on theoretically, but many future decisions and circumstances will also impact this broad topic. Under the new mayor-council form of government, all bureaus will report to a professional city administrator who, with the executive mayor, will be accountable for public service provision to Portlanders, including businesses. As part of this change, the city will be organized based on service areas to improve internal collaboration and community outcomes. One of the proposed service areas is focused on community and economic development.

In addition, the expanded 12-person council will be elected by district with three representatives representing each of the four geographic districts. This increased geographic representation by elected officials will enhance the abilities of local businesses to advocate for their particular needs.

For transparency and continuous updates on this transition, businesses can sign up today to receive the City of Portland's transition newsletter. You'll receive emails approximately once a month highlighting updates on the transition and opportunities to provide feedback.

2. How do businesses advocate for a candidate in their district?

This is a bit harder of a question to answer as we (City Staff) avoid giving advice on how to campaign and in some circumstances are legally barred from doing so. There are a number of ways that a business can advocate for a candidate, but they do need to make sure they are aware of both City and State laws in regard to campaign finance regulation and political advertisements. The Secretary of State has several manuals available here which are relevant to their regulations. What I would recommend to any business is that they speak directly to the candidate they wish to advocate for and determine the best way in which they need support. This also ensures that the candidate will be aware of any in-kind contributions that are taking place, which they would be required to report. And it gives the business an opportunity to get more clarification on how they can advocate for that candidate within the confines of campaign finance regulations, since a candidate is often more likely to have attended training and researched these specific laws.

3. What was the voter turnout for November 2022 (charter amendment)?

You can obtain voter turnout information directly from each county (Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington), but it is generally easier to read the synthesized report that the Auditor’s Office submits to the City Council following an election which can be read here.

For the November 2022 General Election, 308,069 Portlanders cast a ballot out of 461,461 registered voters at the time of the election (66.8% total voter turnout). Of those ballots cast, 283,480 voted on the charter amendment (26-228) or 61.4% of registered Portland voters

4. What if there are only 3 candidates running in a district?

In the City Council contests, candidates must still receive 25% of the vote plus one vote to be elected. Because there is still the opportunity for write in candidates the election and the vote tabulation will remain the same

5. What other cities have gone through a transition to this form of government in the last 10 years?

· In 2020, Baltimore City Council voted to change their City Charter to add a professional chief administrative officer (similar to a city administrator) to report to the mayor in their mayor-council form of government.

· In November 2021, Minneapolis voters approved an amendment to the City Charter to adopt an Executive Mayor – Legislative Council form a government, very similar to Portland’s charter change.

· In 2013, Seattle voters approved district-based elections and representation for seven of their nine council members.

· In 2020, Beaverton voters approved a City Charter change to appoint a city manager to oversee the city’s day-to-day operations, expand their city council from five to seven members, and shift the role of council to be a primarily legislative body.

6. Does a candidate need to remain in their district for the duration of their term?

Candidates for a Councilor position must also reside in the district they will represent. According to the charter: “Beginning in the November 2024 election, a Councilor elected from a district must have resided in that district and been a registered voter in that district for a period of not less than one (1) year immediately preceding the election. If any officer shall be elected without such qualifications or shall cease to have the same, the office shall immediately become vacant.”

7. How many terms can a councilor remain in office?

The charter does not limit the terms a councilor remains in office.

Find more information about the City of Portland Transition here.