Reflecting on this year's budget work

Hi everyone,  

Yesterday, Portland City Council formally adopted the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget, which will go into effect July 1.  

I came into this budget process with a list of must-dos. To fight for working families. To preserve the promises we made to voters in the Parks Levy. To identify pathways to compromise that move our City forward while budgeting responsibly. To add back a few untenable cuts in the most fiscally responsible way I could find. 

I followed through on each of these commitments.  

Some of this was accomplished through standalone amendments. Pirtle-Guiney 1 restores a portion of workforce programming cut in the Mayor’s proposed budget using savings from my own office budget to fill a part of the funding gap. These programs help Portlanders get the training they need to get back to work, and hopefully find a job that pays enough to afford to live in our city. Pirtle-Guiney 2 restores after-school programming in the three community centers impacted by cuts in the Mayor’s proposed budget – all in District 2. These are programs working families rely on, and as all of us with kids know, every day after-school care is closed is a scramble.   

Some of this was accomplished through supporting my colleagues. I was proud to offer my support and co-sponsorship to Morillo 1, restoring cuts to Summer Free For All, Ceasefire, the Office of Violence Prevention, Portland Street Response, and Community Health Assess and Treat (CHAT). These are all critical programs that keep kids fed and healthy in the summer, keep our communities safe, and support Portlanders who are struggling most. I was also proud to identify options to restore full fire service to St. Johns through the return of the Station 22 fire engine, and while it was ultimately my colleague’s amendment that passed, I am relieved we found a path here. 

Some of this was accomplished by knowing when to say no. I voted against any draw on future Parks Levy dollars. Those draws would have inevitably meant cuts to core programs in just a few years or asks for big increases again when we renew the levy. We must preserve the integrity of this ballot measure that you all were generous enough to support.  

Finally, some of this was accomplished through diligent efforts at compromise. I knew that making any positive, impactful change to an incredibly bleak budget would require broad support across the dais. I also know that more eyes and varied perspectives make better policy.  

That’s why I brought forward what I hoped would be compromise proposals – more than the eleven other Councilors combined – to try to bridge the divides between us, find solutions where everyone saw a problem but couldn’t agree on an answer, and to do our mutual work of serving Portlanders.  

Pirtle-Guiney 12, which became Pirtle-Guiney-Avalos 1, protects the integrity of the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) – restoring PCEF funds to Climate Investment Plan-approved programs, without making any cuts to the Public Environment Management Office (PEMO) where the Mayor had allocated these funds in his proposed budget, despite the majority of the office being likely ineligible for PCEF monies. I had previously voted against Councilor Avalos’s amendment to pull PCEF dollars from PEMO, which provides things like basic sidewalk cleaning and storefront and neighborhood support, because it resulted in a straight cut to the office. I value the impact that many of PEMO’s programs have, so I brought forward an alternative proposal that ensured we could pull PCEF dollars without cutting deeply into PEMO’s work. I was proud to earn my colleagues’ support.  

Not every path to compromise was successful – an amendment package I brought forward with my colleague Councilor Steve Novick, which attempted to limit cuts to core services and City jobs without destabilizing City finances, failed at the dais despite multiple efforts to reach an agreement with our colleagues and hours of negotiations to find a path forward.  

Throughout this budget process, I’ve worked to keep my head outside of City Hall and its fractious politics and with all of you – the folks walking the streets of District 2, going to work, taking your kids to school, visiting our parks, and bringing Portland to life each day – and the way our City's spending affects you. 

That's why it's so important to me that I connected with you all leading up to the budget and continue to do so as I consider the work we did – holding or participating in five in-District events relating to the budget over the last three months and conducting an online budget survey. It’s also why I brought forward the most amendments of any Councilors to restore cuts to critical public services and jobs. 

At the end of the day, this is not a great budget – it couldn't be with the cuts our community faced. But our inability to reach compromise that would have preserved some key work at the City (and the jobs of people who do that work) is unforgivable. While we restored Station 22, our inability to reach compromise on public safety services in other parts of the city is dangerous for those communities. There are cuts I think we could have made to some of the Mayor’s investments that we just can’t afford at this time.  

But while this budget process didn’t preserve everything I fought for, I am reminded every day of the Portland I am working towards – one where families thrive, and everyone who works here can afford to live here – and the value of showing up each day to make this vision a reality.  

Thank you for keeping me grounded. The work continues.  

In solidarity,