A Letter from Councilor Koyama Lane on Mayor Wilson's Budget
Hello Neighbors,
This week saw the release of the Mayor’s proposed budget for FY26. In an inaugural year of firsts, this is a big one!
I’m honored to represent you and our District 3 on City Council as we work to build the budget that will be adopted in June.
As has been said many times, a budget is a moral document. I could not agree more, and not just as a beautiful statement, but as a concrete approach to the challenges of creating a budget when facing reduced revenue.
I want to express my appreciation to Mayor Wilson for his work to develop and present his proposed budget. I appreciate his thoughtful approach. Especially his amazing fundraising, over $40M, that while one-time-only, will allow the Council more time to make the hard choices needed to address the structural challenges we face now and in the future.
I want you to know that I have been engaging with the Mayor as he’s developed his proposed budget to share my values-based priorities. There are things I support in this budget and things I question or disagree with. This is as it should be!
As my colleagues know, I’ve framed all my interests for FY26 budget in terms of values. It’s why at this point in the process I don’t anticipate making any specific programs / amount of funding requests.
Value 1:
Preserve to the greatest extent possible, community-facing programs and services
SUN Schools, youth sports, Portland Street Response, and community centers are all proposed to be funded in FY26
Value 2:
The definition of public safety does not mean on-going increases to the Portland Police Bureau
There is an increase in the PPB budget in the Mayor’s proposal—it does come with the concurrent agreement the millions being spent on PPB overtime will be addressed and drastically reduced. I look forward to working with my colleagues on council to take a close look at this part of the budget.
There are two additional amendments I plan to offer as budget notes:
Vision Zero
I know that this is an area of deep interest for District Three. We approach the 10-year anniversary of Portland’s commitment to Vision Zero, with much work still needing to progress.
While I do not expect any new initiatives to be launched in FY26 given budget challenges, I do want to make sure that we’re still moving forward on established priorities, which have been rooted in research and PBOT’s Equity Matrix as well as embedding some critical frameworks into our evaluation of this work:
- Funding that ensures PBOT can both meet its critical bureau needs and continue its work on the Vision Zero Action Plan Actions and Progress milestones.
- Increasing the frequency of reporting on relevant progress milestones as we approach the end of the 2023-2025 plan timeframe
- Commitment to disaggregate ALL Vision Zero data collected and analyzed by race and ethnicity, as well as location of equity matrix zones, not simply at an overall level – for instance, pedestrian and bike crash reductions data
- Commitment to using the Equity Matrix as a component of decision making for new investments – enhancing our ability to understand if our reduction efforts are improving the disparities experienced in traffic violence by race and ethnicity;
Tribal Relations
I recently had the opportunity to hear from the Harbor Community Coalition. They raised two areas of interest:
- Changing the code to formalize consultation, not simply engagement, with tribal nations in the daily operation of City bureaus and projects
- Reinstituting the City’s co-host of Tribal Summit with the PSU Institute for Tribal Governance. Apparently, this has been done in the past, fell away during the past couple of years, and is of interest from the Coalition to restart.
I’m proposing these issues as budget notes, rather than requesting specific amounts of funding, not because I believe that they are budget neutral – there will be costs associated with taking these actions - but to make time in the coming fiscal year for designing how to address them collaboratively with the community and City bureaus in a way that allows for thoughtful understanding of associated resources as a part of the design.
I do hold the right to change my mind and make a different choice as the budget process proceeds. As always, I’m listening and want to hear from you. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow at our in-district coffee at Lane Middle School playground at 9:30, or at the District 3 Budget Listening Session at Lane MS at 11:00.
Thank you, I look forward to going through this first budget process together!
Constituent Coffee (with the kids!)
Tomorrow is our monthly constituent coffee! Join me at Brentwood Park Playground from 9:30-10:30 am. Bring your kiddos, and share your thoughts, feelings, hopes, and concerns about District 3. Help us get a headcount by RSVPing below
Budget Town Hall in District 3
Tomorrow is our last District 3 budget town hall! Join the District 3 City Councilors tomorrow at Lane Middle School to discuss Mayor Wilson’s proposed budget. Doors open at 10:30 am and the program starts at 11 am. Pizza will be provided!
Budget Town Hall with the District 3 City Councilors - Southeast Uplift
City-State Electeds Joint Town Hall
I will be joining the other District 3 Councilors as well as Representative Chotzen and Senator Pham at APANO for a town hall. The town hall will start at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, May 28. RSVP at the link below:
Joint Town Hall with Local Elected Officials
Mother’s Day March for Immigrant’s Rights
This Mother’s Day, join JACL to march for Immigrant’s rights.
When: Sunday, May 11, 2025
Time: 9 AM - 12 Noon
Where: Meet at the Japanese American Historical Plaza for speakers then march towards Terry Schrunk Plaza
PDX JACL | Happy AANHPI month! This month, let’s not only celebrate our shared heritage but also stand united against the current administration’s... | Instagram
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