Total Recall campaign The campaign to recall Mayor Ted Wheeler has one month left to turn in the required signatures necessary to prompt a recall election. At the rate the “Total Recall” campaign has been moving, however, it’s not certain they’ll meet that deadline. The campaign kicked off the first week of July with a […]
City Hall
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Mayor Wheeler Recall Campaign is Lagging Behind
Alex Zielinski The campaign to recall Mayor Ted Wheeler is falling behind. In a Wednesday press release, the Total Recall campaign explained that it has only collected 5,926 signatures from Portlanders who support the recall in the first 26 days since its campaign kicked off. That leaves the group with just over 50 days left […]
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As Portland’s Transportation Commissioner, Hardesty Lets Equity Lead
Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty Mason Trinca / Getty Images Last summer, during the height of the city’s racial justice protests, City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty asked Mayor Ted Wheeler to allow her to oversee the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), a position that Wheeler held at the time. Her call went unanswered. Instead, at the beginning […]
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City Hears Opposition to Continuation of Downtown Clean & Safe’s Contract
Barbara Weber speaking at a rally prior to Tuesday’s public hearing. Alex Zielinski As Portland seeks to “rebuild” downtown after the pandemic shuttered businesses, there’s little mention of what that means for the many unhoused Portlanders who reside on downtown blocks. If the city simply hopes to return to the status quo, this means that […]
Posted inHousing
City Will Sweep Laurelhurst Homeless Camp This Week
A row of tents on SE Oak, on a block adjacent to Laurelhurst Park. Alex Zielinski After months of simmering tension regarding the growing houseless encampment at Southeast Portland’s Laurelhurst Park, Portland City Council has approved a plan to evict campers by the end of the week. Early Monday morning, staff with the city’s Homelessness […]
Posted inHousing
Here Are Where the City’s New Houseless Villages May Be Located
A map of all potential city properties that could be selected to serve as Safe Rest Villages. Google Maps In the face of rising homelessness across Portland, the city has proposed creating a number of sanctioned campsites for unhoused people across the city. The sites, dubbed “Safe Rest Villages,” are expected to serve as alternatives […]
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Hall Monitor: Frustrated by Portland Bureaucracy? Keep an Eye on the Charter Commission.
COSMONAUT / GETTY IMAGES Hall Monitor is a regular column on issues related to Portland City Hall and its influence on the community it serves. There are no fewer than five city bureaus in Portland that are responsible for trash cleanup in public spaces. Depending on the location, need, and availability, one of them might […]
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Tracking Funding, Cuts, and Investments to Portland Police Over the Past Year
A scene from a May 30, 2020 protest. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland [What follows is part two of a five-part series on the progress Portland has made on police reform over the past year. Read the rest here.—eds] The beginning of last year’s protests coincided with City Council’s deliberations on the city budget, a vote that determines […]
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City Council Votes Against Fully Funding Portland Street Response in 2021-22 Budget
Kathleen Marie / Portland Mercury Portland City Council voted against including funds in the 2021-22 city budget that would have allowed the city’s Portland Street Response pilot program to expand citywide within the year. Commissioners made the decision during a Thursday council meeting on Mayor Ted Wheeler’s $5.7 billion proposed city budget, which Wheeler initially […]
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What’s in Mayor Wheeler’s Proposed $5.7 Billion Budget?
MOTOYA NAKAMURA / MULTNOMAH COUNTY Mayor Ted Wheeler’s once-grim outlook on the city’s upcoming budget has grown sunnier, thanks to an assist from the federal government. Wheeler’s proposed $5.7 billion budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, released Thursday, restores funding for city programs previously on the chopping block while avoiding large-scale investments in law enforcement. […]
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City Council Takes Unified Step Towards Addressing Surge in Gun Violence
DRAFTFOLIO / GETTY IMAGES Portland City Council responded to an alarming uptick in local gun violence by unanimously passing a $6 million emergency budget package on Wednesday. The proposal finances grants for community-based organizations that work directly with Portlanders impacted by gun violence, significantly expands Portland’s park ranger program, and funds crime data collection and […]
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How to Participate in Portland’s 2021-22 Budget Process (And Why)
An actual photo of Mayor Wheeler distributing the city’s budget. Getty Images / CSA-Archive The creation and passage of Portland’s annual budget is arguably the least sexy but most impactful bureaucratic process in city government. Deep within the pages of jargon-seeped financial proposals (usually in size 10 font), bureau leaders can quietly reshuffle millions of […]