Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty UPDATE, 6 pm: City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has addressed the false accusations in a press release, again calling for an investigation. “Today began with an unnecessary burden put on my office to disprove a completely false accusation. Now the Portland Police Bureau has admitted what we knew all along – […]
City Hall
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UPDATED: Mayor Wheeler Pepper Sprays a Member of the Public During a Confrontation
Mathieu Lewis-Rolland Update, Jan. 26: The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) has identified the target of Mayor Ted Wheeler’s pepper spray as Cary Cadonau, a local real estate lawyer and heir to the Alpenrose Dairy company. In a police report made public this afternoon, and first reported on by the Oregonian, PPB officer Matt Miller said […]
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Mayor Wheeler Announces Bureau Assignments for 2021 City Council
COSMONAUT / GETTY IMAGES Mayor Ted Wheeler has released his much-anticipated bureau assignments for Portland city commissioners in 2021. The decision—one of the rare executive powers of a Portland mayor—offers a peek at what roles Wheeler wants his freshman commissioners to take on in the coming year. Here’s the breakdown: Comissioner Jo Ann Hardesty Hardesty […]
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Exit Interview: Commissioner Fritz Reflects on 12 Years in Portland City Hall
Commissioner Fritz, speaking at a 2015 event Portland Office of Equity and Human Rights City Commissioner Amanda Fritz’s twelfth and final year in City Hall hasn’t gone as she expected. But 2020 hasn’t gone as predicted for anyone. For Fritz, a city leader who enjoys community engagement far more than the average politician, the year […]
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Following Election Setbacks, Portland Progressives Plot Path Forward
Portland City Hall K Marie There was plenty to cheer Portland progressives on election night: City voters passed measures for universal preschool and authorized the establishment of a new police oversight board, while voters across the state decriminalized possession of small amounts of narcotics and authorized the use of therapeutic psilocybin. But in other races, […]
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Split on $18 Million in Police Cuts, Portland City Council Delays Budget Vote
Racial justice protesters stand in front of the Justice Center in June 2020. Steve Humphrey In a typical year, Portland City Council’s fall budget monitoring process is a low-stakes opportunity for commissioners to make minor adjustments to the city’s annual budget, which is approved in late June. But 2020 is no typical year. Nearly 500 […]
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Mayor Wheeler Skips Police Reforms in Fall Budget Adjustments
{{ image:1 }} The police reform promises touted by Mayor Ted Wheeler as integral to creating—and passing—the city’s annual budget in June have taken the backseat in his latest budget adjustments. On Tuesday, Portland City Council met to kick off the annual fall budget monitoring process (or “Fall BMP”), a time for commissioners to review […]
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Portland Lifts Ban on Duplexes, Triplexes, and Fourplexes
SOLODKAYA MARI / GETTY IMAGES After years of debate, Portland City Council has passed a policy overhauling the city’s residential zoning rules to allow more housing within city limits. The Residential Infill Project (RIP) will lift Portland’s decades-old ban on building “middle housing”—duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes—in the vast majority of the city’s neighborhoods, where current […]
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UPDATED: Dan Ryan Elected to Portland City Council
Dan Ryan and Loretta Smith on the August 11 special election ballot. Multnomah County Elections UPDATED: August 12, 9 am — Portland voters have elected political newcomer Dan Ryan to serve as their newest city commissioner. Ryan had collected 51 percent of the vote Wednesday morning, with 98 percent of ballots counted, leading competitor Loretta […]
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City Council Considers a $114 Million COVID-19 Relief Proposal
Cosmonaut / Getty Images Portland City Council previewed a plan Wednesday to distribute $114 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds across city programs that support businesses, renters, and communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The funding from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was granted to the city in late April, […]
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Hall Monitor: Crossing the Line
Federal officers stand in downtown Portland the night of July 11. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland Hall Monitor is a regular column on issues related to Portland City Hall and its influence on the community it serves. ___ In his past three years in City Hall, Mayor Ted Wheeler has proudly positioned himself as a leader in the […]
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RACC Equity Shake Up: The City Decides to Spread the Grant Fund Wealth
Meg Nanna Portland’s community arts fund—partially financed by the faithfully bemoaned Arts Tax—is about to get a little more equitable.