Update 12/3 2:35 pm:
In its final vote Saturday, the Charter Review Commission revoted on multiple amendments, saving proposed amendments from failing, advancing amendments straight to the voters, and bringing a new proposed charter amendment before City Council. Portland voters will see nine proposed charter amendments in the form of five or six ballot measures on the November 2024 ballot, and an additional six proposed amendments will go before City Council for final deliberation.
The Charter Review Commission members originally expected to not have enough people present Saturday to meet quorum and change any votes made during their previous work session earlier this week, but 16 of the 17 commissioners were present at the meeting and interested in revoting on several proposals.
Commission members resurrected Proposal #7, which removes a 5 percent tax cap on transient lodging like hotels and short-term rentals. The proposal failed Tuesday after several commissioners raised concerns that the tourism industry is already struggling in the wake of the pandemic. On Saturday, after further consideration, 13 commissioners voted to remove the 5 percent cap, which means the proposed amendment will go before City Council for more deliberation on whether it should be placed on a ballot.
The commission also moved forward a proposal championed by transparency advocates and local journalists to create a Transparency Advocate position within the City Auditor’s office. The commission, while supportive of the spirit of the amendment, was unnerved by how little time they had to review the specific language in the proposal and intentionally voted to send the proposal to City Council to discuss.
Commissioners also revoted on Proposal #3, which aims to clarify the city’s role in protecting and managing water, as well as Proposal #11, which aims to create an Independent Portland Elections Commission. Both of those proposals passed with enough support to go directly to the November 2024 ballot.
Here are the final results of the Charter Review Commission’s second phase of work.
Amendments that will appear on November 2024 ballot:
Proposal #1: Delete the prohibition on mandating the weatherization of structures built before September 1, 1979.Proposal #2: Clarify language to reflect the City’s existing role to protect recreational and natural resources.
Proposal #3: Clarify language to reflect the City’s existing role to protect and manage water, sewage, and stormwater.
Proposal #4: Delete vague and archaic language: “roaming the streets at unseasonable hours”.
Proposal #5: Delete vague and archaic language: “offensive” businesses.
Proposal #6: Delete outdated, burdensome, and redundant requirements for franchise agreements.
Proposal #9: Update, and make consistent, references to “protected classes.”
Proposal #10: Replace “disability” with “incapacity” when referencing an elected official’s inability to perform their duties.
Proposal #11: Create an Independent Portland Elections Commission.
Proposed amendments to be considered by City Council:
Proposal #7: Remove the 5% cap on the City’s transient lodgings tax.
Proposal #12: Create an article dedicated to environmental issues that includes environmental justice as a core value of the City, requires the City to assess the climate impact of its decisions and establishes a right to a clean and healthy environment.
Proposal #13: Establish meaningful public engagement as a core value of the City.
Proposal #14: Require the City to create by ordinance a participatory budgeting program open to all residents.
Proposal #15: Expand the right to vote in City elections to the fullest extent allowed by law.
New Proposal: Create a Transparency Advocate position within the City Auditors office.
The commission also voted to group some of the proposals together under a single ballot measures. Voters can expect to see five or six ballot measures on the November 2024 ballot, pending further review by the city attorney’s office. Similar proposals, like the amendments that suggest deleting outdated or unclear language in the charter, would be grouped together.
The Charter Review Commission will present a report on their efforts to City Council on January 19—council is not expected to debate the amendments referred to them at that time. The ballot titles and explanatory statements for the related charter amendment measures must be submitted to the City Auditor no later than January 30.
Original story 11/30, 11:34 am:
Portland’s Charter Review Commission voted to send seven charter amendments to voters in 2024 and five potential charter amendments to City Council for final deliberation Tuesday evening. The commission could technically revote on the proposals this coming Saturday, but they likely won't have enough members present to change the results of Tuesday's vote.
Every 10 years, the Portland City Council convenes a group of 20 volunteers to review and possibly amend the city’s charter, which functions as Portland’s constitution. The current Charter Review Commission, which began its work in December 2020, opted to use this review to make significant changes to the charter. During the first phase of their work, the commission proposed a new form of city government and a new voting system for citywide elections, which was approved by nearly 60 percent of voters in the November 8 election.
The second phase of the commission’s work, which kicked off in June, included reviewing possible changes to environmental justice and voting rights in the charter, as well as considering charter amendments proposed by city bureaus and offices. The commission, which has since slimmed to 17 members, developed 14 proposed amendments during the phase two process, many of which garnered support from members of the public.
The commission was originally expected to vote on the amendments this coming Saturday. However, the vote instead took place during a Tuesday evening work session because of an expected lack of quorum on Saturday. The city won't consider the vote final until after Saturday's meeting. If at least 15 of the 17 commission members voted for a proposed amendment, the amendment will appear on a ballot in 2024. If a proposed charter amendment received between 11 to 14 votes, the proposed amendment must be sent to City Council for final deliberation. If City Council determines that the amendment should go before the voters, they can place the amendment on a ballot in any year of their choosing.
The seven amendments approved to go directly to the voters are related to updating old or unclear language in the charter and removing policies that get in the way of the city’s climate goals.
Here are the amendments making their way to a ballot in 2024:
Proposal #1: Delete the prohibition on mandating the weatherization of structures built before September 1, 1979.
Proposal #2: Clarify language to reflect the City’s existing role to protect recreational and natural resources.
Proposal #4: Delete vague and archaic language: “roaming the streets at unseasonable hours”.
Proposal #5: Delete vague and archaic language: “offensive” businesses.
Proposal #6: Delete outdated, burdensome, and redundant requirements for franchise agreements.
Proposal #9: Update, and make consistent, references to “protected classes.”
Proposal #10: Replace “disability” with “incapacity” when referencing an elected official’s inability to perform their duties.
It has not been determined whether the amendments will all be different ballot measures, or if some amendments with related topics will be combined. More detailed explanations of all of the proposed amendments and their related charter revisions can be found in the Charter Review Commission’s progress report.
The commission sent five more substantial proposed amendments to City Council for review, including creating an independent elections commission, allowing the public to determine how one percent of the city’s general fund is spent in the annual budget, and expanding voting rights to noncitizens if allowed by law.
Here are the proposals that will go before City Council for further deliberation:
Proposal #11: Create an Independent Portland Elections Commission.
Proposal #12: Create an article dedicated to environmental issues that includes environmental justice as a core value of the City, requires the City to assess the climate impact of its decisions and establishes a right to a clean and healthy environment.
Proposal #13: Establish meaningful public engagement as a core value of the City.
Proposal #14: Require the City to create by ordinance a participatory budgeting program open to all residents.
Proposal #15: Expand the right to vote in City elections to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Portland City Council can choose to deliberate, amend, and vote on the amendments at anytime. There is no deadline by which council must consider the proposals.
Two proposals failed to gather enough support from the commission to move forward at all. Proposal #3, which would have clarified the city’s role to protect and manage water, sewage, and stormwater, collected only 10 votes. Proposal #7, which would have removed a 5 percent tax cap on transient lodging like hotels and short-term rentals, also only collected 10 votes. Supporters of the proposal argued that prescriptive tax caps should be determined by city policy not the charter, while members of the local tourism industry believed that lifting the cap could potentially harm tourism while the industry is still recovering in the wake of the pandemic.
The commission ran out of time to discuss a last-minute call from transparency advocates and local journalists to appoint a Transparency Advocate within the city’s Ombudsman's office, although the commissioners showed interest in including the proposal in their list of recommended topics for the city to consider addressing through policy and other non-charter changes.
The Charter Review Commission will meet one final time on December 3 to discuss the commission's report on the chart process, which will be presented to City Council and the city auditor.
This story has been updated to clarify that the vote is not technically final until after the December 3 meeting.
