I'm the Council VP, council discusses committees, and Saturday is my first Constituent Coffee!
Happy New Year! I'm sending everyone a warm hello as I write my first newsletter as an official City Councilor. This will be a short-ish one, but I wanted to get something out this week using our new city email.
Proud to be the Council Vice President
Well, I'll start with an update from your Portland City Council. On January 1, I officially became a sitting Councilor. On Thursday January 2, the council met in the brand-new chambers and voted for our Council President and Vice President. We elected Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney as Council President, and I was elected to serve as Council Vice President!
While being Council VP wasn’t something I originally had thought about, I've gotten right to work and really haven't looked back. What I truly want most is for this Council to WORK WELL for the people of our city. I have been enjoying working with Councilor Pirtle-Guiney and all my fellow councilors. I promise you I am going to do my small part in bringing the best from this group! Follow us, pay attention, let us know your thoughts, pitch in whatever way you can - it will take ALL of us to improve all of our living and working conditions!
Discussing Committees This Week
This week, you can expect us Councilors to look at some proposals for our Committees. That means we will be in a public meeting discussing the names of committees, topics they cover, and how many Councilors will be in them— the next step will be discussing who will potentially lead these committees as Chairs, Co-Chairs, or Vice Chairs. It's a really creative process and it's been a lot of fun to workshop different options. Honestly, I’ve been able to lean into using my teacher brain with this, which feels great. My hope is that we can agree on a committee structure that gives all constituents confidence and enthusiasm that we can do great things together. If you want to follow along, we'll be meeting in the Council Chambers this week, Wednesday Jan 8, at 12:30 PM. You can find the link to watch here or on the YouTube channel called eGov PDX. I'll probably have more to say before any kind of decision is made - stay tuned.
Upcoming Constituent Coffee
Finally, I wanted to remind everyone that I will be holding my very first constituent coffee this coming Saturday, January 11, starting at 9am at Oblique Coffee - 3039 SE Stark St. I'll talk a little bit about goings-on in our new council and what I'm working on. Then I'd like to spend most of the time hearing from attendees about what's on your mind - related to our work, our community, our neighborhoods. If you can't make it this month, don't worry, I intend to hold these monthly, perhaps the 2nd Saturday of the month.
I've heard from so many Portlanders since being in office - it's been a real delight and we have a lot of work to do. Thank you all and I hope you and yours are able to appreciate good times together during this chilly and dark part of the year— when the light occasionally shines through brighter than ever.
Warmly,
Teacher Tiffany
Link to sign up to my newsletter:
https://www.portland.gov/council/districts/3/tiffany-koyama-lane/newsletter
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