P ~ B ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ C
The voters of Portland will be asked at the voting booth in November to approve or reject eight questions as proposed by the 2020 Charter Commission. These questions concern foundational reforms to how the city is governed, formulated over the past two years by an elected council of citizens, advised by dozens of experts and community leaders, as well as hundreds of other residents. Most voters have a vague conception of this process, and some even have a general idea of what the individual questions are asking, but many voters simply do not fully grasp what the proposals are, or what would change if they were to be approved. Simplifications, caricatures, and misinformation are easy to find, but most voters would need to work quite hard to sift through everything and come to an informed decision.
‘Democracy’ is a term that’s been on the lips of a lot of Portlanders as of late, as controversy swirls around the quantity and quality of popular referenda being put on the ballot, but nasty accusations aside – we all believe in democracy. Everyone believes that Portlanders ought to govern themselves. But for democracy to function, the voters need to know what they’re voting for (and against) and be able to come to their own reasoned conclusions about how best to run our city.
To this end, that every voter in Portland should be able to make an informed decision on these questions, what follows is a thoroughgoing, top-to-bottom explanation of the 2020 Charter Commission proposals, what they mean, and why one may vote for or against each one.
This report does not intend to persuade you to support or oppose any of the Charter Commission’s proposals. It is simply a piece-by-piece breakdown of a complex set of proposals into terms the average Mainer can understand, as free as possible from the polemics surrounding it. No background knowledge is necessary, we’ll be assuming you are coming into this topic knowing nothing at all about it. If you already are mostly ‘in the loop’, much of this will seem painfully redundant, but for the many Portlanders who are completely lost in the often-opaque world of local politics, this is for you. I’d like for you to come to your own conclusions about the commission’s proposals, and make an informed decision at the ballot box this November.
As a companion to this guide, I’d recommend having open the Commission’s final report, here.
With this said, there’s a lot to cover. Let’s dive in.
The first section features a brief history of the Charter Commission proposing these reforms, who the Commissioners proposing the 2022 reforms are, and how they reached these final proposed reforms. Then follows eight sections, one each for the eight questions on the ballot. A concluding page with parting thoughts, and an opinion or two, follows last.
Preface
Background ~ What is the Charter Commission?
1 ~ The Land Acknowledgement
2 ~ Governance
3 ~ Elections
4 ~ Voting
5 ~ The School Budget
6 ~ Peaks Island
7 ~ Police Oversight
8 ~ The Ethics Commission
Conclusion & Opinion
Complete text available as PDF here.
The content is organized such that taking each section in turn will most effectively inform the reader about the interweaving complexities of these reforms. However, each section is capable of standing alone, so certainly feel free to read them as independent articles breaking down the individual reforms.
This has been a monstrous endeavor for we who have put this together. What has taken the Charter Commission two years to research, debate, contemplate, distill, draft, and finalize, we have tried to present to you as completely as possible while cutting no corners. It’s our hope that this can be a valuable resource to help our city, which we all love, to make the most prudent decisions about its future. With the size of this project, it’s a statistical impossibility that no errors made it past the rounds of review. If you detect any such errors, please do not hesitate to contact us so that it may be corrected as soon as possible. I will ensure that you are publicly credited for any such correction, unless you’d prefer to remain anonymous.
A note on capital letters: While “city council” or “councilor” can refer to any such body or person in any locale, the use of capital letters, as “City Council” or “Councilor” will always signify that of Portland. The same is true for “Charter” / “Charter Commission” / “Commissioner”, “Mayor”, and “School Board.” Lowercase letters are used for generic charters, commissions, or mayors, but the Portland Charter, Charter Commission, and Mayor are designated with capitals.
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Next Section: Background ~ What is the Charter Commission?
Preface
Background ~ What is the Charter Commission?
1 ~ The Land Acknowledgement
2 ~ Governance
3 ~ Elections
4 ~ Voting
5 ~ The School Budget
6 ~ Peaks Island
7 ~ Police Oversight
8 ~ The Ethics Commission
Conclusion & Opinion