Author: Ashley Keenan

After a long march, the city budget was teed up for debate and passage at the June 3rd City Council Meeting. With just Pious Ali…

On the evening of May 20th, 2024, a surprisingly quick meeting sped through two high-profile decisions and efficiently dispatched a number of minor matters. In less than two hours, the City Council approved the School Budget and sent it on to the voters, overruled their subordinate commissions to clear the way for demolishing 142 Free Street, and formally established the polling parameters for the June election.

The City Council chambers were packed full to speak on two pressing matters – the annual budget for Portland Public Schools and the Portland Museum of Art’s request to demolish the building at 142 Free Street, formerly the Children’s Museum. The Mayor also undertook a time-saving procedural reform to business licenses, representatives of the restaurant industry registered complaints about downtown parking limits, and procedural confusion abounds.

In a very brief and mostly uncontroversial meeting, the City Council met on Monday, April 22nd to knock out a variety of minor items. Though this meeting was efficient, (if not for public comments it might not have even lasted half an hour,) the council also teed up a very busy night for its next session in May.

On Monday, March 18th , the City Council discussed and disbursed tens of millions of dollars’ worth of grants, funds, subsidies, improvements, and more. These plans, all separate from the general budget process, included CDBG funds for community services, FAA grants for the Portland Jetport, Capital Improvement Plan authorizations for infrastructure and maintenance, and a new application process for affordable housing programs. Not every grant applicant was a winner, however, and many more – including one Councilor – were frustrated with the opacity of city spending.

An unusually brief City Council meeting – just over half an hour – took place on Monday, March 6th. A number of straightforward items, (described by one commenter as “thin gruel,”) were efficiently dispatched, including two separate windfalls for the maintenance and improvement of public cemeteries in Portland. The night passed almost without any conflict to speak of, until the inconvenient timing of a solar eclipse threatened to ensnarl the city’s budget process.

On February 26th, 2024, the City Council dispatched with several large-ticket items, including a $1.2mm loan to save an affordable housing project and a major…