Updated at 6:08 pm to include current and advertised salaries.

Mayor Keith Wilson announced Monday that the city’s search for its first long term city administrator is down to three finalists, after sifting through nearly 100 applicants.

“Portland’s new city administrator will lead on process improvements, helping our organization run better, faster, and leaner,” Wilson said in a November 17 video statement. “Last but not least is the political know-how for getting things done in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.”

Michael Jordan, who was appointed by former Mayor Ted Wheeler in 2024, has been serving in an interim role as the city transitioned to a new form of government this year. The position did not exist in Portland’s previous government structure, and Jordan played a major role in that transition. Jordan is retiring at the end of the year.

The city administrator is a powerful position in Portland's government. The city’s top bureaucrat is responsible for overseeing the city's day-to-day operations, strategic planning, and managing four deputy city administrators that direct four service areas—City Operations, Community and Economic Development, Public Safety, and Public Works. The city administrator also implements policies adopted by the City Council, oversees an $8.6 billion budget process, economic development initiatives, collaborates with public safety bureaus, and is the central coordinator in a crisis event.

Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said the city administrator has a lot to hold in a position with essentially three bosses: the mayor, the City Council, and the public.

“We’re lucky to have multiple very different candidates who could be very successful in this position,” Pirtle-Guiney said.

The three finalists are Maurice Henderson II, a former chief of staff to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler; Raymond Lee III, the city manager of Greeley, Colorado; and Valerie Washington, the assistant city administrator of Fort Worth, Texas.

Henderson was Wheeler’s chief of staff from 2016 to 2018, when he left the city to become the chief operating officer at TriMet. Prior to that, he worked at the Portland Bureau of Transportation and for Virginia governor Tim Kaine. In 2019, Henderson left TriMet to join the e-scooter company, Bird, then the civil engineering company HNTB.

Lee was the interim manager of Greeley in 2021, and has been in the permanent role since January 2022. The city has a $586 million budget, and a population of 109,000 and growing, according to 2020 US Census Bureau data. Lee resigned from his position in Greeley on November 10, effective December 2, to “explore new opportunities.”

Washington was the deputy director of public safety in Indianapolis, Indiana from 2012 to 2016 before taking on her role in Fort Worth. The city manager made a number of staffing changes earlier this year in the first few months on the job, according to the Fort Worth Report. Washington stayed on the job alongside four other assistants.

As Portlanders get a clearer picture of who might be running day-to-day operations at City Hall, the dynamics of that leadership remain to be seen. The City Council and Jordan, the interim administrator, have clashed on some occasions as the young government works out the kinks in how it operates. 

Now, the City Council has some input on confirming one of the three finalists. But community engagement was largely concentrated in earlier parts of the process, through a community survey in August 2024, which helped formulate recommendations from the Government Transition Advisory Committee.

Councilors briefly interviewed each of the three finalists on Monday, and they will provide feedback through a survey to Strategic Government Resources, the Texas-based recruitment agency tasked with executing the hiring process.

Pirtle-Guiney said the hiring process engaged the public on the front end to ensure the city was recruiting people who could be a good fit, and there will be space for further public involvement when the City Council’s confirmation hearings begin in December.

“There will of course be time for the public to share with us their thoughts on the individual, and on what we need to make sure to hold that person accountable to as they begin the job,” Pirtle-Guiney said.

Some city councilors say they want to ensure the candidate will be collaborative with both the mayor’s office and the City Council, not simply rubber stamp the mayor’s agenda. The position serves at the mayor’s direction, but plays a vital role in how quickly, or slowly, the City Council’s legislative agenda is enacted.

Councilor Mitch Green said the next administrator should be a public servant, not someone with political ties to old Portland politics.

“I’m not interested in someone who is a corporate fixer,” Green said.

Pirtle-Guiney said she hopes the next person plays a large role in ensuring the new city government is responsive to Portlanders while leading the community, alongside the City Council and the mayor.

“This feels like the next big step in creating the culture for how we run our city,” Pirtle-Guiney said. “I hope whoever it is, who is our final candidate, comes ready to take that on with us.”

The role is particularly important in the face of funding cuts from the state and federal governments.

“We certainly need someone who likes excitement,” Pirtle-Guiney said.

Jordan's current salary is $314,912, and the advertised salary range for the new role is $284,148.80 to $393,078.40.