Author: Erica Snyder-Drummond

After bidding Councilor Zarro and Mayor Snyder goodbye at the end of their terms, and congratulating Mayor-Elect Dion, the City Council took on two controversial issues: rezoning 900 Ocean Avenue to accommodate denser development, and Order 68. This latter issue resulted in 845 pages in written public comment, four hours of spoken comment, and a debate which stretched well past midnight and ended in physical disruption and arrests.

In the first City Council meeting since the election, Portland resolves in support of statewide gun control and gains a new sister city in Kenya. Creative Portland hosts their annual meeting, and more aid for asylum seekers is desperately requested. After two rounds of failure, enough votes are finally marshaled to enact a state of emergency at the mega-shelter, allowing for expansion of beds. And a wave of support from young soccer fans in the chamber precedes approval of a deal to bring a minor league soccer team to Portland.

: After killing the plan to use a limited state of emergency at the Homeless Services Center at the last meeting, Councilor Phillips had a change of heart and asked the Council to reconsider the plan for adding capacity to the shelter at this Monday’s meeting. A parade of neighbors from the Ocean Ave area turned out to oppose new housing construction there, and updates to Portland’s rules around parking, crosswalks, and marijuana delivery were considered and passed.

Only one item of note concerned the City Council’s attention this past Monday, the establishment of a Tourism Development District, but a tsunami of slur-spewing Zoom trolls derailed the meeting. The Council spent an hour in executive session before returning to chambers, guillotining any further comments, and coming to an agonized conclusion on the future of tourism in Portland. Read all about it in Erica Snyder-Drummond’s City Council Review.

At this rare non-Monday meeting, the City Council faces a parade of vulgar racists on Zoom while being short three members. With so many absences, the Council debates the propriety of making important votes without them, and hears a tense update from the Encampment Crisis Response Team following the 9/6 clearing at Fore River. A permanent corporation counsel is also appointed, another charter reform implemented, and the new rent rate announced. All this and more in Erica Snyder-Drummond’s City Council Review.

In a packed City Council meeting – the only one in July – the municipal budget passes with the assistance of state funds, in the process instigating a heated debate over police wages. Appointment of a new Director of Public Works led into communications about homeless encampment response, the Neo-Nazi rally this past April, and property assessments. After vigorous public comment, a late-night debate over council-drafted reforms to Chapter 9 ended with the proposals being unceremoniously killed – likely for good. All this and more in this special, double edition of City Council Review.

At the City Council meeting Monday, June 26th, the Council appointed a new Police Chief – Mark Dubois – and again delayed the municipal budget while hoping for additional state funds. Commercial St. vendors plead for help over homeless crisis, councilors debate what mainland parking island residents are entitled to, and the latest round in a heated dispute over live music at The Thirsty Pig, all in this edition of City Council Review.

Portland’s HHS Department, led by Kristen Dow, shared information about her team’s closure of the Expo emergency shelter to newcomers, the creation of a new crisis response team for homeless encampments, and plans for the future. Questions about fair wages for construction workers and affordable housing impediments were discussed, and the municipal budget was delayed until the next meeting. This and more in this edition of Erica Snyder-Drummond’s City Council Review.