Portland City Council (Oregon)

Last updated
Portland City Council
Seal of Portland, Oregon.svg
Type
Type
Leadership
Mayor
President of the Council
Structure
Seats5
Portland City Commission 2022.svg
Political groups
  Democratic (5)
(Officially Nonpartisan)
Elections
At-large
Last election
November 8, 2022
Meeting place
PortlandCityHall.jpg
Portland City Hall
Council Chamber
Portland, Oregon 97204

The Portland City Council, (officially the Portland City Commission), is the legislative body of the City of Portland in Oregon and forms part of the Government of the city.

Contents

Portland runs on a commission form of government, the largest city in the United States to do so. The council is composed of five members, referred to as Commissioners, which includes the Mayor, each elected at-large for a term of four years. One of the Commissioners elected to be the ceremonial President of the Council. There are no term-limits for Commissioners and Commissioners are all officially nonpartisan. [1]

Commissioners are each assigned to run and oversee various city Bureaus (eg. Police, Fire, Environmental Services, Water). These assignments are occasionally switched around with the exception of the Police Bureau of which the Mayor is always Commissioner based on tradition.

The City Council convenes on Wednesday mornings and Wednesday afternoons in the council chamber on the second floor of Portland City Hall, and meetings are open to the public. [2]

In 2022, Portland voters approved a ballot measure that amends the City Charter and changes Portland's form of government. This will go into effect on January 1, 2025. Under the new form of government, approved by voters in 2022, Portland will operate under a unique system. The mayor will no longer be a part of the city council, and instead of five at-large positions, the council will have twelve districted seats. Three councilmembers will each represent one of four districts, each with approximately 160,000 residents. [3] Special elections will also no longer be used to fill vacancies in the council. [4] The elections will continue to be officially nonpartisan. [5] The first election for this new form of government will take place on November 5, 2024.

Current members

PositionNameElected
Mayor 180421-N-UK248-023 (41616137742) (cropped).jpg Ted Wheeler 2016
1 Carmen Front Porch Headshot (narrow crop).jpg Carmen Rubio 2020
2

(President of the Council)

Dan Ryan1 (cropped).jpg Dan Ryan 2020
3 Rene Gonzalez 2022
4 Mingus Mapps (cropped).jpg Mingus Mapps 2020

Districts

Beginning in 2024, the council will be districted as follows: [6]

DistrictGeography and neighborhoods
1The eastern part of the city, primarily everything east of Interstate 205 all the way to the city's eastern border with Gresham, as well as Portland International Airport: Argay, Centennial, Glenfair, Hazelwood, Lents, Mill Park, Parkrose, Parkrose Heights, Pleasant Valley, Powellhurst-Gilbert, Russell, Sumner, Wilkes, and Woodland Park.
2Most of North and Northeast Portland north of Interstate 84 and west of 82nd Avenue: Alameda, Arbor Lodge, Beaumont-Wilshire, Boise, Bridgeton, Cathedral Park, Concordia, Cully, Dignity Village, East Columbia, Eliot, Grant Park, Hayden Island, Hollywood, Humboldt, Irvington, Kenton, King, Lloyd District, Madison South, Overlook, Piedmont, Portsmouth, Sabin, St. Johns, Sullivan's Gulch, Sumner, Sunderland, University Park, Vernon, and Woodlawn.
3Most of Southeast Portland south of Interstate 84 and west of Interstate 205, as well as a small sliver of Northeast Portland east of 47th Avenue and south of Prescott Avenue: Brentwood-Darlington, Brooklyn, Buckman, Creston-Kenilworth, Foster-Powell, Hosford-Abernethy (includes Ladd's Addition), Kerns, Laurelhurst, Madison South, Montavilla, Mt. Scott-Arleta, Mt. Tabor, North Tabor, Richmond, Rose City Park, Roseway, South Tabor, Sunnyside, and Woodstock.
4All of Portland west of the Willamette River (Northwest, Southwest, and South sextants) as well as a small area on the eastside: Arlington Heights, Arnold Creek, Ashcreek, Bridlemile (includes Glencullen), Collins View, Crestwood, Downtown, Eastmoreland, Far Southwest, Forest Park, Goose Hollow, Hayhurst (includes Vermont Hills), Hillsdale, Hillside, Homestead, Linnton, Maplewood, Markham, Marshall Park, Multnomah (includes Multnomah Village), Northwest District (includes Uptown, Nob Hill, Alphabet Historic District), Northwest Heights, Northwest Industrial, Old Town Chinatown, Pearl District, Reed, Sellwood-Moreland, South Burlingame, South Portland (includes Corbett, Fulton, Lair Hill, Terwilliger, and the Johns Landing and South Waterfront developments), Southwest Hills, Sylvan-Highlands, and West Portland Park (includes Capitol Hill).

Past councils

1971-present

YearMayorCommissioner #1Commissioner #2Commissioner #3Commissioner #4
1971 Portland mayor Terry Schrunk in Germany in 1965.jpg
Terry Schrunk
Connie McCready Neil Goldschmidt.jpg
Neil Goldschmidt
Frank Ivancie (cropped).png
Frank Ivancie
Lloyd Anderson
1972
1973 Neil Goldschmidt.jpg
Neil Goldschmidt
Mildred Schwab
1974 Charles Jordan 2012.jpg
Charles Jordan
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979 Connie McCready Former Portland city commissioner Mike Lindberg in 2012.jpg
Mike Lindberg
1980
1981 Frank Ivancie (cropped).png
Frank Ivancie
Margaret Strachan
1982
1983
1984
1985 Bud Clark 1988.jpg
Bud Clark
Dick Bogle
1986
1987 Earl Blumenauer 1997.jpg
Earl Blumenauer
Bob Koch
1988
1989
1990
1991 Gretchen Kafoury
1992
1993 Vera Katz.jpg
Vera Katz
Charlie Hales in 2011 (1).jpg
Charlie Hales
1994
1995
1996 Erik Sten
1997 Jim Francesconi
1998
1999 Saltzman 55 (cropped).jpg
Dan Saltzman
2000
2001
2002
2003 Randy Leonard at City Hall (cropped).jpg
Randy Leonard
2004
2005 Mayor Tom Potter in August 2008 (1).jpg
Tom Potter
Sam Adams (8184230107) (cropped).jpg
Sam Adams
2006
2007
2008 Commissioner Nick Fish.jpg
Nick Fish
2009 Sam Adams (8184230107) (cropped).jpg
Sam Adams
Amanda Fritz (cropped).jpg
Amanda Fritz
2010
2011
2012
2013 Charlie Hales in 2011 (1).jpg
Charlie Hales
Novick (cropped).jpg
Steve Novick
2014
2015
2016
2017 180421-N-UK248-023 (41616137742) (cropped) (1).jpg
Ted Wheeler
Chloe Eudaly (cropped).jpg
Chloe Eudaly
2018
2019 JoAnn Hardesty (cropped).jpg
Jo Ann Hardesty
2020 Dan Ryan1 (cropped).jpg
Dan Ryan
2021 Carmen Front Porch Headshot (narrow crop).jpg
Carmen Rubio
Mingus Mapps (cropped).jpg
Mingus Mapps
2022
2023
Rene Gonzalez

History

The Portland Charter was the subject of much debate circa 1911–1912. Rival charters were drafted by four different groups. One of these proposed charters was unusual in that it would have used Bucklin voting to elect the mayor and implemented interactive representation of the people through the commissioner system; each commissioner's vote would have been weighted according to the number of votes he received in the election. eventually, the city council submitted an entirely different charter to the people, which was accepted. [7] The city commission government form then came into use in 1913, with H. Russell Albee being the first mayor under the new system. [8]

2022 Charter Reform

Ballot Measure 26-228 in the November 2022 election was an amendment to the city charter that moved the city away from a commission system of government. It removes the five-person board that includes the mayor to a twelve-person board plus a separate mayor. The new city councilors will be elected using proportional multi-winner ranked-choice voting, with three members being elected each from four districts, instead of the standard first-past-the-post method. It also removes responsibility for direct management of city bureaus from commissioners to a city manager overseen by the mayor and confirmed by the council. [9] Previous attempts to reform the city charter had been defeated seven times since 1913, [10] including as recently as 2007. Portland is set to become the most-populated city to adopt the single transferable vote to elect city council members.

The first city council elections under the new districts will occur in 2024. [11] In preparation for transitioning management of city bureaus to a city manager, Mayor Ted Wheeler announced he would group city bureaus into five related service areas. [12]

See also

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References

  1. "City Government | Portland.gov". www.portland.gov. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  2. "Upcoming Council Meetings and Work Sessions | Portland.gov". www.portland.gov. 2023-08-15. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  3. "2024 Election | Portland.gov". www.portland.gov. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  4. "Frequently Asked Questions: Recent Changes to Portland Election Code | Portland.gov". www.portland.gov. 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  5. "Portland's future in governance, city organization, and facilities | Portland.gov". www.portland.gov. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  6. "Commission unanimously votes for new Portland voting district map". KOIN.com. 2023-08-17. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  7. McBain, Howard Lee. The Law and the Practice of Municipal Home Rule. pp. 598–599.
  8. MacColl, E. Kimbark (1976). "Chapter 14 – The Fruits of Progressivism, 1913–1915". The Shaping of a City: Business and Politics in Portland, Oregon, 1885 to 1915. Portland, Oregon: The Georgian Press Company. pp. 443–445. ISBN   0-89174-043-0.
  9. "Phase I: Proposed Ballot Measure Regarding the Structure of City Government | Portland.gov". www.portland.gov. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  10. "Ambitious Charter Reform Measure Appears Poised for Victory, Fundamentally Changing Portland City Hall". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  11. "Massive change coming to Portland city government". opb. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  12. "Mayor Ted Wheeler Will Cluster and Reshuffle City Bureaus Come January in Effort to Ease Charter Transition". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2022-11-14.