Protecting Portland’s Progress and Keeping Our Promises

Hi everyone, 

Today, City Council will consider a major amendment to the Fall Technical Adjustment Ordinance (TAO), the budget process we use each fall to make technical changes to the budget we pass in the spring.  

I’ve heard from lots of you about this amendment–a rare level of engagement for what's typically a pretty routine, technical fix ordinance. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to reach out. I’ll cut to the chase: I think you’re right to have concerns. 

This amendment goes far beyond technical adjustments. It introduces new cuts and new programs that haven’t been through our normal public budget process, nor introduced in committee. We have a budget hole to fill and debating the best way to fill it is important, but we need to be thoughtful and careful in how we do it–especially in these challenging times. Let’s not forget that the backdrop of our local challenges is a federal government willing to rush cuts to core services and pit food assistance against affordable healthcare. I expect that kind of zero-sum budgeting from Washington, D.C., but not from Portland. And I certainly wouldn’t expect these tradeoffs to come packaged alongside new spending proposals at a time when we face cuts and will need to make even more reductions in the spring. 

Yet this amendment does both: it makes sweeping cuts that put services and staff at risk, and introduces new spending proposals and programs outside of the transparent process that we promised Portlanders with this new form of government.  

I am voting no on this amendment for two reasons. 

1) The impact of the cuts. As policymakers responsible for a large city budget, I think we should be focused on filling the budget hole responsibly: protecting the essential services Portlanders count on and safeguarding the City employees who deliver them. We have a proposal from our professional staff that fills the budget hole and accomplishes these progressive goals. 

2) Process. We passed a balanced budget in June after months of public engagement, hearings, and tough decisions. The amendment being proposed this week would overturn parts of that budget without the same transparency or community input. That’s not the accountable government I promised my District. 

If passed, this amendment would cut funding for programs Portlanders rely on, including: 

• Prosper Portland: Reduced funding for local small business support and BIPOC entrepreneurs, just as we’re finally starting to see signs of recovery. 

• Impact Reduction Program (IRP): Cuts to programs that manage campsites and public spaces without any direction on resource priorities, leaving less money for neighborhoods outside of downtown.  

• Parks and Recreation: More than $1 million in cuts, coming just one week after voters approved a parks levy based on our promise not to reduce funding, putting public trust at risk yet again. 

Critically, these and other cuts could put 100 city employees’ jobs at risk. 

I actually agree with many of the concerns my colleagues have raised about our budget, and I think some of the policies they’re proposing are worth taking up in the committees they chair. But meaningful change requires planning, transparency, and community input. Portlanders deserve a government that takes the time to get it right, not one that makes sweeping changes on short notice. I’m willing to work with any of my colleagues on their concerns, but we have to do it with integrity. 

I urge my colleagues to stay focused on what this process is meant for: stabilizing our budget, keeping our promises, and protecting the progress we’ve made in Portland. 

Thank you for staying engaged and for holding all of us accountable to the values that make Portland strong. 

In solidarity,