Author: Erica Snyder-Drummond

Interim City Manager Danielle West is no longer “Interim” as the Council appointed her to be Portland’s first woman as City Manager. Also at this May 15th meeting, the Council approved the School Budget to be sent to voters, and held the first public hearing on the Municipal Budget. Information on clearing the Bayside Trail encampment was shared, and a Portland Monopoly board game was approved.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, the extensive debates on the Clean Elections fund finally end in passing an ordinance, while the School Budget package gets its first reading and public hearing. A controversial voice on social media, after a challenge from the public, was appointed to the Rent Board, and the city came together to thank the late Kevin Fahrman for his Valentine’s Day Banditry.

FY24’s budgets for the city and school board were received by the City Council at this Monday’s meeting, and while the price tags were less than many assumed, the viability of the city budget has been staked on the assumption of extra state funds. Meanwhile, the establishment of a Clean Elections Fund continues to frustrate and confuse members of City Council, as complex provisions and budget concerns halted progress. All this and more in this edition of City Council Review.

Erica Snyder-Drummond reports on the council meeting of April 10th. Following the NSC-131 demonstration on April 1st, dozens of residents turned out to Monday’s City Council meeting to voice their condemnation of hate and criticism of the official response. The City Council, City Staff, and the Portland Police Department all also outlined their plans of action in the wake of this surprise attack on Portland’s residents. The City also allocated significant funds for community development and affordable housing, and City Staff shared updates on the increasingly strained shelter system under the weight of continued asylum-seeker influx.

Erica Snyder-Drummond reports on the council meeting of March 20th, a marathon session featuring an extended debate on the proposed rent control referendum in June, procedural adjustments to the citizen’s initiative process, and signs towards referendum reform.

Erica Snyder-Drummond reports on the council meeting of March 6th, featuring a contentious sale of city-owned land for a new office building, a date set for the hearing on June’s rent control referendum, and a unionization row at Shalom House.

Erica Snyder-Drummond reports on the council meeting of February 27th, featuring the approval of the city’s purchasing a new park in North Deering, details of the ongoing influx of asylum seekers into Portland, and the coordinated brigade of right-wing trolls that targeted the meeting.