Portland City Council has confirmed the city’s first long-term city administrator under its new form of government. The confirmation of Mayor Keith Wilson’s pick, Raymond Lee, marks a new chapter for the city’s government and the end of an era overseen by former Mayor Ted Wheeler’s choice for the city’s top bureaucrat.

Confirmation of Lee comes roughly three weeks before current City Administrator Michael Jordan is set to retire. Lee was confirmed in an 11-0 vote, with one absence.

A central piece of the discussion during the confirmation hearing was how Lee views information sharing between the administrative side of the city’s government, led by the mayor, and the legislative side, led by the City Council. Multiple councilors told Lee they expected him to build trust between the two bodies, which they said has been lost in the first year of the city’s new government structure. Lee made a point of acknowledging that tension throughout his hearing.

“I see the city administrator role as a service role and ensuring that I'm serving not only our mayor but our elected body as well,” Lee said.

Lee added that he expects to have open dialogue with city councilors both in person and through committees, before they reach the full council. 

The city administrator position did not exist under Portland’s bureau form of government. But voters changed the city charter in 2022, introducing ranked-choice voting, an administrative branch led by the mayor, and a legislative body made up three city councilors in each of four city council districts.

Councilor Candace Avalos said the East Portland district she represents has long felt disconnected from and distrustful of City Hall, and encouraged Lee to pilot ideas to build trust across the community and those serving in government.

“If you can be successful in getting East Portlanders to be a part of the process, your decision making, to feel like their values and ideas are being heard and reflected in those decisions, that's going to make a big impression not only on Portlanders, but on us who are trying to help usher that voice into City Hall,” Avalos said.

Mayor Wilson said in a press conference after the vote that Lee had committed to meeting with councilors monthly to bring consistency after three years of implementing a new government structure.

“(Lee) said he's going to have a sit down, relational meeting with every councilor every month,” Wilson said. “That relationship is critical to build the confidence and trust in the organization that will breed transparency.”

Lee previously served as the city manager in Greeley, Colorado. There, he created a housing and homelessness solutions department, something Wilson touted when he announced Lee as his pick last month. According to the city of Greeley’s website, the department has served roughly 1,000 people since it was created in 2024, with a quarter of them remaining housed for at least 24 months.

Multnomah County has reported seeing some 1,400 people becoming homeless each month, with 1,000 of those being new people engaging with homeless services for the first time. Asked how he expects his approach in Greeley to support both Wilson’s plan and the projects the City Council is currently working on, Lee said he believes Wilson has done a good job of adding shelter beds to get people off the streets. He added that city staff used Greeley’s housing first model to get people housed, but it also built temporary shelters—something Wilson is laser-focused on.

“That's some of the same philosophy,” Lee said. “I want to be able to help the mayor achieve the things that he's trying to achieve from a homeless standpoint, and us sitting down and really mapping out, what's phase two? How do we move forward ensuring that we are giving every Portlander an opportunity to have shelter over their head at night, and getting them connected to services.”

In his first 90 days, Lee promised to meet with city staff and with the community, laying the groundwork for a strategic plan and finding areas to grow.

“I don’t want to have knee-jerk reactions as it relates to the things and comments that I hear from the organization overall and from the community,” Lee said. “I want to be able to take that in and be able to digest that, and strategically plan.”

Lee will begin his new role December 29, with an annual salary of $370,000. The City Council authorized the Bureau of Human Resources director to offer an employment agreement to Lee in a separate, 11-0 vote Wednesday, with one absence.