The city is again bidding adieu to a top administrator, this time in the area that oversees transportation, parks, water, and environmental bureaus.
Priya Dhanapal, the deputy city administrator for the city’s Public Works service area, is leaving the city on September 4, City Administrator Raymond Lee announced in a press release on Tuesday, August 25. That service area directs roughly half of the city’s overall budget, at $4.7 billion, and includes 3,000 city employees.
“Priya Dhanapal stepped into an extraordinarily complex role at a defining moment for the City of Portland,” Mayor Keith Wilson said in the press release.
Portland’s government structure changed in 2025, and Dhanapal helped transition the city’s bureau structure into the new service area model over the past two years. The city has four service areas that each oversee the day-to-day operations of various city bureaus.
“Her leadership helped bring together four major bureaus around a shared approach to serving Portlanders, while continuing to move forward critical investments in our transportation, parks, water and environmental systems,” Wilson said. “I’m grateful for Priya’s service to Portland and for the foundation she has built for Public Works to continue delivering for our community.”
The city typically pays out a generous severance package to top brass who leave the city. Dhanapal is expected to receive $221,769.63, according to city spokesperson Carrie Belding. That’s equal to 75 percent of her $295,692.80 annual salary.
Prior to working for the city, Dhanapal worked with water infrastructure systems, including in Clark County, Washington and in Beaverton.
It is not immediately clear why Dhanapal is leaving. Belding declined to provide further information to the Mercury explaining Dhanapal’s departure.
“We can’t comment on personnel matters,” Belding said. “We are unable to provide specific details regarding the conclusion of DCA Dhanapal’s employment.”
Public records obtained by the Mercury show at least one employee working in the service area emailed at least two complaints about Dhanapal to Wilson and then-City Administrator Michael Jordan last year. The complaints were submitted anonymously for fear of retaliation and “out of deep concern for the future of Portland’s Public Works Service Area.”
Two complaints sent August 1 and September 24, 2025, alleged micromanagement and bottlenecks, poor communication, lack of vision and accountability, and disconnection from the realities of staff work.
“Employees are increasingly discouraged,” the complaint stated. “Many feel their voices are ignored, their expertise is sidelined, and their work is made harder, not easier, by this leadership approach.”
Dhanapal did not immediately respond to the Mercury’s request for comment.
It’s unclear how the city responded to the complaint about Dhanapal’s management style, if at all. It’s also unclear whether the sentiment was shared by other employees within the Public Works bureaus.
Dhanapal is the latest in a series of exits by city leadership over the past year under Wilson. Last July 2025, the director of Portland Parks & Recreation left unexpectedly. In November 2025, the director of the Portland Housing Bureau resigned abruptly after Wilson placed her on leave. In February, the Bureau of Emergency Management director resigned unexpectedly. The Community and Public Safety deputy city administrator left the city in May, and the interim director of Parks & Recreation resigned suddenly in June.
Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams will serve in an interim role for the Public Works service area.
