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PORTLAND, Ore. — Jan. 1 marks the start of Portland’s new form of government, with Mayor Keith Wilson and 12 council members beginning their terms.
Olivia Clark, a new city council member, told KGW that she and others want to start fast.
“I think we’re going to start the budget process early,” Clark said. “We’re not going to wait for the mayor to hand something off, I think we’re going to do our own process.”
Portland voters approved sweeping changes in November 2022, ushering in ranked-choice voting, geographic districts, an expanded 12-person city council, and a council-manager model of government where a city administrator and six deputies will oversee departments and bureaus.
“The mayor plans to bring a lot of actions to us right away as well,” Clark said before her swearing-in. “He’s told us that he’s not going to wait around.”
The major government changes bring high expectations for results. The new city council — in a revamped and expanded chambers — will need to quickly sort out logistics before addressing their priorities.
“Give us a little bit of patience at the beginning,” said Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney before her swearing-in. “We’re going to need to spend that first meeting or two really getting ourselves set up as a body, so that we can ground running.”
Clark and Pirtle-Guiney are reported to be two of the leading candidates vying for the position of city council president. Clark listed public safety as a top priority.
“We need more community safety, we need a feeling that we are safe,” Clark said. “We are so far behind in the number of police officers that we have in the force.”
Pirtle-Guiney said she will prioritize long-term solutions for the city, including the homelessness crisis.
“We need to end unsheltered homelessness,” Pirtle-Guiney said. “We also need to make sure that we’re paying attention to where those folks who are living on the streets today are 10 and 20 years from now.”
Mayor Keith Wilson, who’s made big promises for his first year in office, said the new city government will get off to a fast start.
“Collaboration and coordination with our council is key,” Wilson said. “We have 12 wonderful leaders. I’ll be that 13th and the 13 of us are going to work together for all Portlanders.”
The new Portland City Council will hold its first meeting on Thursday in the redesigned council chambers, where the body is expected to elect a council president and vice president.
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