For the first time under the city’s new form of government, Portland City Council could soon exercise its authority to investigate official acts by city staff.

Councilor Mitch Green filed a resolution December 16 seeking to launch an investigation to determine why nearly $21 million in funding collected by the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) between 2021 and 2024 went undisclosed in the months leading up to a budget adjustment in November. Councilors Candace Avalos and Angelita Morillo co-signed the resolution.

If passed, the resolution would require the city administrator to release public records regarding the unspent surplus funds by early February, and require the council president to schedule an oversight hearing by the end of that month. The new city administrator, Raymond Lee, takes office at the end of this year.

A draft of the resolution obtained by the Mercury said the City Council was first notified on August 8 that it would need to address a budget deficit during the Fall Technical Adjustment Ordinance (TAO) in November. That’s the city’s semi-annual budget adjustment process intended to account for a surplus or shortfall in funding after the full fiscal year’s budget process earlier in the year. The city’s $8.6 billion budget went into effect July 1, and the City Council sustained tense discussions over how to address a roughly $18 million shortfall for the remainder of the 2025-26 fiscal year.

But the $21 million in unspent PHB funds was not disclosed to city councilors during that discussion. Now, they want to know why.

The draft resolution notes that recent reporting on the funds has “raised significant public interest in the timeline related to the fund discovery, its relation to TAO development, and why City Council was not notified of these funds prior to Council consideration of the TAO.” 

The resolution comes less than two weeks after the Mercury reported that the former PHB director, Helmi Hisserich, sent a memo to city councilors December 4 outlining the months leading up to Mayor Keith Wilson and his administrative staff’s decision to place her on administrative leave, leading to her resignation weeks later. 

Hisserich is not mentioned in Green’s resolution, but her memo raised questions about how the city’s administration, led by the mayor, shares information with the city’s legislative body.

In her December 4 memo, Hisserich said her boss, Donnie Oliveira—the deputy city administrator of the city service area that oversees the bureau—told her not to disclose the money she found through an audit she requested in June. While Oliveira and Hisserich disagree on the amount of money he allegedly told her to keep quiet about, Oliveira was aware of nearly $12 million in unspent funds as early as August. The other $9 million was reportedly reserved for PHB’s Rental Services Office, which collects the funds found in the audit.

The City Council has not yet used its investigative authority under the new city charter. But it does have explicit power in its government structure to investigate the conduct of city officers, employees, and agents, as well as compel evidence and witness testimony under oath.

“Willful false swearing in such investigations and examinations shall be perjury, and punishable as such under the laws of the State of Oregon,” according to the charter.

Green said he first sought support for the resolution from councilors via a procedural maneuver allowing them to immediately add an item to the next meeting’s agenda if the regular deadline has passed, so long as it is approved by nine-twelfths of the city council. Green came up short, receiving eight of the votes needed to add the resolution to the December 17 meeting.

Councilors Eric Zimmerman, Dan Ryan, Olivia Clark, and Steve Novick did not sign on to add the resolution to the December 17 agenda, according to a press release from Green’s office.

“I’m proud that seven of my colleagues and I recognized the need for oversight here and stood prepared to perform the duty the charter demands,” Green said. “This is an essential function of this body. How we don’t have 12 out of 12 on this is beyond me.”

Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney’s office said she has not yet reviewed the resolution, and it will either be posted the Thursday before it goes to a committee, or the Friday before a full council meeting.