Agenda Tracker: November 20th, 2024
$400K excessive force settlement with PPB... City Investment Policy... DOJ Settlement Report... Transgender Day of Remembrance... World AIDS Day... Urban Growth Boundary Expansion... and more!
Dear Readers,
I’m doing a little finetuning over here at Street Wonk, which I’ll write about in a separate issue, but the first change you’ll find is the section heading at the top of this newsletter. The Agenda never felt quite right to me, as I’m covering three agendas, and I wanted the title to be more self-explanatory.
Before we dig into this week’s lineup, here’s a quick follow-up on two controversial items that came before Council in the last few weeks. First, the good news—Portland City Council pulled the item that could have ended the Joint Office of Homeless Services agreement with Multnomah County. Unfortunately, they did not heed the call of community members and at least four incoming City Councilors and approved extending the controversial contract for Clean & Safe with the Portland Metro Chamber. Booo.
This week’s agendas include a lot of housekeeping, settlements, budget adjustments, and voter-approved amendments, so the pickings are slim. That’s likely to be the case through the end of the year. Speaking of which, there will be no Agenda Tracker for the weeks of Thanksgiving or Christmas, as all sessions have been canceled. This means the final Portland City Council meetings will be on December 18th and 19th, and Multnomah County and Metro on December 19th. I’m ready to ring out the old and ring in the new, how about you?!
Yours Truly,
Chloe
Portland City Council
Wednesday, November 20th, 9:30 AM
Time Certain
995 (9:45am): Appoint and reappoint members to the Portland Committee on Community-Engaged Policing (Report) From the City website: “PCCEP is a group of 13 community members who are independent from the City and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). Our work includes independent assessment of the implementation of the DOJ Settlement Agreement and gathering input and exchanging information about PPB policies and practices.” Learn more, apply to join, and check out upcoming events here.
Regular Agenda
1007: Direct Portland Parks & Recreation to prepare a resolution for City Council to consider in January 2025 to refer a five-year local option tax levy for the May 2025 General Election to fund park maintenance, deliver recreation programs, and care for natural areas, water quality, and urban forest (Resolution) It’s a never-ending struggle to maintain our parks and support our parks programming. Will voters approve yet another funding measure?
1014: Pay settlement of Dustin Ferreira bodily injury lawsuit for $400,000 involving the Portland Police Bureau (Emergency Ordinance). It’s fitting that the City of Portland will be accepting the latest status report on the DOJ settlement (see Item 1020) the same week they’re authorizing the largest excessive force settlement resulting from the 2020 protests.
1015: Create the NE 11th Ave and Columbia Blvd Local Improvement District to construct sidewalk, Oregon Humane Society driveway relocation and mast arm traffic signal improvements, and relocate public utilities south of NE Columbia Blvd to enable the elimination of frontage improvement requirements for NE 10th Ave, NE Baldwin St and NE Russet St (C-10075) (Emergency Ordinance) I’m happy to see some much-needed improvements will be coming to this highly inadequate and unsafe intersection.
1018: Adopt City of Portland Investment Policy (amend FIN 2.14) (Resolution). The City’s investment policy has been a hotly debated issue in the past, but I haven’t heard much about it this time around. Have the sustainability and ethical concerns been resolved? Corporate investments make up 35% of the City’s portfolio.
Prohibited industries are: Integrated Oils, Crude Oil Production, Oil Sands Production, Oil Pipelines & Storage, Petroleum Refining & Marketing, Petroleum Retailers & Wholesalers, Oilfield Services & Equipment, Oilfield Drilling & Drilling Support
Small Arms
Alcoholic Beverages
Casinos & Gaming
Correctional Facilities
Security Services
Wednesday, November 20th, 2:00 pm
No Session ScheduledThursday, November 21st, 2:00 pm
1019: Authorize Agreement between the City, Portland Streetcar Inc, and 1535-A1 LLC for public benefits related to the Montgomery Park Area Plan (Ordinance) I’m thankful to see the conversation around community impact and benefits advancing when it comes to transportation development projects.
1020: Accept 2020 Critical Assessment Phase Two Report from Independent Monitor, LLC, provided pursuant to the Settlement Agreement between the United States and City of Portland (Report) A four-year lag time is mind-boggling, but then again, this was one of the most complex and overwhelming challenges I encountered while on Council.
Multnomah County Board of Commissioners
Thursday, November 21st, 9:30 AM
Regular Agenda
R.1: Proclaiming November 20, 2024 as Transgender Day of Remembrance (Proclamation) Here are some helpful suggestions for how to support transgender awareness.
R.2: Proclaiming December 1, 2024 as World AIDS Day 2024 (Proclamation) Check out the United Nation’s Take the Rights Path to end AIDS as a public health threat.
R.5: Increases Federal/State Fund by $11,384,732 and reduces Supportive Housing fund by $4,190,523 (Budget Modification) So, it’s a net gain in funding, but it’s unclear from the materials provided why they have to reduce the Supportive Housing Fund by more than $4M and what will be done with it.
R.6: First Reading of Ordinance Requiring Owners of Certain Facilities in Multnomah County to Provide Financial Assurance Mechanisms for Costs and Damages Caused by the Spill or Release of Oil, Liquid Fuel Products and Hazardous Material (Ordinance) Multnomah County heard a presentation on this issue earlier this month, now they’re considering an ordinance. You can read the responses to several questions raised by the board here.
Metro Council
Thursday, November 21st, 10:30 AM
Resolutions
Item 24-5442 For the Purpose of Awarding 2040 Planning and Development Grants. Congratulations to Albina Vision Trust on receiving a 2040 Planning and Development Grant!
Ordinances (First Reading and Public Hearing)
Item 24-1520 For the Purpose of Expanding the Urban Growth Boundary to Provide Capacity for Housing and Employment to the Year 2044 and Amending the Metro Code to Conform Those interested in our Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) might want to tune into this meeting.
Wonk Out
Multnomah County considers new requirements for CEI Hub operators (Street Roots)
Fossil fuel risk bond programs: A policy innovation makes headway in the Pacific Northwest (Brookings Institution)
Supportive Housing Services measure helped thousands leave homelessness for housing in Multnomah county last year, annual report shows (Multnomah County)
Counties release annual Metro supportive housing services fund reports (Metro)
Transportation Benefit-Cost Analysis: Developing an Oregon-Specific Framework (Transporation Research and Education Center/PSU)
Public Land in Public Hands: Housing, Transit, and Thriving Communities (PowerSwitch Action)
Business Group and Service Providers Reach Agreement on Changes to Homeless Services Tax (Willamette Week)
City of Portland set to pay largest settlement over allegations of excessive force by police during 2020 protests (The Oregonian)
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Digging the Agenda Tracker!