PDX FOR ALL.
PDX4ALL recognizes that Portland’s government, i.e. a mayor and four City commissioners, has not represented the majority of Portlanders for decades. It has existed unchanged for over a century. It is not built for access and inclusion. As our population has grown, our representation has disproportionately not kept pace. The time for change is now. It is time to have our government reflect our people, our places, and our values.
Once every 10 years we form a Charter Commission to study our government structure and make recommendations. This year the Commission will provide Portland voters with an informed ballot measure that will improve our access to our government while centering equity and accountability.
PDX4ALL’s mission is to reach as many voters as possible to share what is at stake with this vote on November 8th. We want to build awareness to help every resident understand the value of representation, accountability, and a government that works for all of us.
Portland City Council History.
Portland adopted an “at-large” City council model in 1913. In an “at-large” system, Council members campaign citywide, which is expensive! This limits the ability of candidates with less funding to run for City Council. Upon election, our Council members represent the entirety of the City, as opposed to specific districts, further limiting representation for Portlanders.
One of the direct results of this outdated model is that for over a century we have been represented by well-funded Council members who are predominantly white and male. These men have largely hailed from the Westside of Portland thereby vastly underrepresenting communities of color, female and non-binary candidates, and the entire Eastside of the city.
The at-large City Council was designed for the small town that Portland used to be. Today, Portland is the 28th largest city in the nation and requires a government structure that serves the needs of all the people.
While other large cities expanded the number of council members as their populations grew, Portland has not. Currently, our four City Council members say they feel stretched thin to meet with constituents, leaving many Portlanders feeling shut out. Many feel our form of government creates silos, avoids accountability, and lacks transparency.
Our City Council members are charged with overseeing multiple City bureaus and in our current structure the Mayor can change bureau assignments at any time.
This poses several challenges:
Lack of Expertise in
City Council
Our council members generally do not have the required expertise to manage the bureaus they oversee. While other cities recognized this problem long ago and responded by updating their government structure to include city managers in positions of authority, Portland has not.
Inconsistent Leadership
Leading to Lack of Consistency
The Mayor determines which Council members will manage City bureaus. This issue is exacerbated by the four-year election cycle when the Mayor is free to reshuffle bureau assignments. This can be problematic and costly. For example, if a bureau such as the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is in the middle of a 10-20 year planning cycle, bureau staff can be subjected to changing priorities which can cause delays and make it next to impossible to plan strategically.
Lack of Accountability with At-Large Representation
We have no way to hold commissioners accountable for their performance in managing their assigned bureaus.
In summary, our government structure is outdated and not performing for the needs of all of our residents. So how do we change it? Vote Yes on November 8!
