100 Days of Racing Against Time
As Portland's new government reaches the 100-day milestone, city leaders are under intense pressure to make headway on decades-old problems.
In a recent Instagram video, Council Vice President Tiffany Koyama Lane pushed back against a familiar political dynamic: the media’s tendency to use officeholders’ first hundred days as a benchmark of success.
“As you're hearing the media talk about these first hundred days, I want you to hear from me that I'm not able to treat my priorities as just checkboxes or lines on a résumé,” she said while waiting for the bus in the rain.
It’s a fair point. The 100-day mark is an arbitrary milestone—not always a reliable predictor of what officeholders can or will do. On the other hand, it’s just enough time to observe how elected leaders shift from campaigning to governing. After three-plus months, politicians have often scored some wins, put some things in motion, and likely hit one or two bumps in the road.
On that note, here’s Rose City Reform’s snapshot of the first hundred days.
They Changed How Policy Gets Made
The most impactful council vote so far? Arguably, it was the January 15 decision to move policymaking into committees.
Eight standing policy committees now cover everything from housing and homelessness to city finances. The idea is for smaller, specialized groups to refine bills before they reach the full council—and to solicit community feedback while drafting is still underway.
In the first hundred days, the council’s most progressive members—Candace Avalos, Jamie Dunphy, Mitch Green, Sameer Kanal, Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Angelita Morillo—have been especially quick to advance their policy priorities.
Already-passed ordinances include a call for an investigation into potential violations by Zenith Energy and a directive for staff to study social housing—permanently affordable housing that is publicly owned or managed outside the private market. A bill to ban landlords from using algorithmic rent-setting software is also before the council this month.
They kept running out of time
The ambitious committee schedule—nearly forty committee meetings to date—has stretched the limits of city staff. In an interview with OPB, council clerk Keelan McClymont said she needs two additional staffers just to keep up. The estimated cost: $300,000.
Staffing constraints and stacked agendas mean meetings sometimes end before all testifiers get a chance to speak. These issues came to a head at an April 2 council hearing on Councilor Angelita Morillo’s proposal to ban the sale and use of algorithmic rent-setting tools. The bill was one of the first to advance from the Homelessness and Housing Committee, where members had previously sparred over whether it was ready to move forward. It landed last on a packed agenda. With about an hour left before a hard stop, some testifiers who had waited for hours were told to return the next day.
At the makeup hearing, a new dispute broke out. Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney wanted the rescheduled testifiers to speak first, but her colleagues overruled her, opting instead to discuss an amendment before taking public comment.
At the end of the meeting, Morillo reflected on the experience:
“This has been a really difficult process to figure out as a new council,” she said. “To navigate this system, create policy within committees, and then move it forward to the full council. I know I’ve been intense about pushing this forward. I feel like I was elected to do a certain thing, and I feel strongly about moving quickly for my constituents and getting those wins for them.”
They began to act on housing and homelessness
Morillo represents District 3, which means she faces added pressure to get things done. Representatives from Districts 3 and 4 were elected to two-year terms, while those from Districts 1 and 2 will serve four years. The goal is to stagger future elections: beginning in 2026, all council terms will be four years, with half the seats up for election every two years.
But perhaps no one faces a tighter deadline than Mayor Keith Wilson, who has pledged to end unsheltered homelessness by year’s end.
In his first hundred days, Wilson began to act on that goal.
In January, the City of Portland and Multnomah County added 200 overnight shelter beds operated by the Salvation Army. Two months later, Wilson expanded the authority of Portland Street Response—the city’s unarmed crisis team—allowing it to transport people to services, enter public buildings, and co-respond with police or fire.
These moves are part of Wilson’s broader strategy to provide enough overnight shelter for all Portlanders sleeping outside. In a budget cycle marked by austerity, funding for that plan remains uncertain—and has prompted some of the sharpest exchanges among city officials.
They sparred over a budget no one has seen
At a budget work session earlier this month, some councilors pushed back against the administration’s projection of a $90+ million shortfall. The source of tension? The figure includes $28 million for Mayor Keith Wilson’s proposed shelter plan. While the mayor and city administrator Michael Jordan have identified the plan as a funding priority, several councilors noted that their support depends on what would be cut to pay for it.
“We are not in a $92 million deficit,” Councilor Sameer Kanal told colleagues. “We have an ask for $28 million that has never been discussed by this council as a whole—as to whether or not we want to devote our funding to it.”
Councilor Loretta Smith went further, calling Wilson’s proposal a “wishlist” and warning that it could come at the expense of community programs and services for the city’s most vulnerable.
“I can’t support anything like that,” she said. Without firm numbers, Smith argued, the budget session—intended for councilors to convey their priorities—was a waste of time.
“Give us an Excel spreadsheet and tell us where this money is coming from,” she said.
Wilson’s proposed budget is set to be released in early May, with a final council vote scheduled for mid-June.
They are still figuring it out
If the first hundred days offered early clues about Portland’s new city leaders, the next hundred will offer deeper insights. A tough budget cycle will test not just what councilors support—but what they’re willing to give up.
By the half-year mark, a broader set of priorities should also begin to emerge. Already on deck: a bill from Councilors Olivia Clark, Mitch Green, Loretta Smith, and Eric Zimmerman to prioritize sidewalk improvements in Districts 1 and 4; an effort by Councilor Zimmerman to revisit Portland’s tree code; a bill from Councilor Jamie Dunphy to reform the city’s noise code; and Councilor Candace Avalos’ push for a unified housing plan across jurisdictions.
Early procedural challenges may start to smooth out. Time will also tell whether more of the back-and-forth between legislators moves behind the scenes. So far, councilors have let much of it unfold in public—what some describe as “sausage-making in public,” a nod to the reality that polished legislation tends to emerge from messy bargaining.
In the end, it won’t be journalists or political insiders who judge whether officeholders are meeting their marks. That decision belongs to Portland’s voters—the next time city seats are on the ballot.
In case anyone’s counting, that’s in 572 days.
What Portland City Council passed in its first 100 days
Approved $4.6 million in spending to expand staffing for councilors and the Mayor’s Office
Reversed a December 2024 decision by withdrawing the City Attorney’s authority to file an unfair labor complaint against the labor union AFSCME
Established eight new policy committees
Confirmed Michael Jordan as interim city administrator
Confirmed Robert Taylor as city attorney and Robert Day as police chief
Approved a lease for District 3 office space at SE Uplift, with the $63,000 cost split among the district’s three councilors
Directed the mayor to investigate potential franchise agreement violations by Zenith Energy and related communications by city staff
Ratified new three-year labor agreements with AFSCME Local 189 and the District Council of Trade Unions, respectively, adding a combined $36.2 million in spending through 2028
Directed city staff to study alternative housing models—including social housing, limited-profit housing, and cooperatives—with a report due by May 31, 2026
What Mayor Wilson did in his first 100 days
Partnered with Multnomah County to open 200 winter shelter beds, splitting a $750,000 investment
Ordered all city managers and supervisors to return to in-person work in April
Reaffirmed Portland’s sanctuary city status
Released a $28 million shelter plan to roll out 1,500 additional shelter beds, four day centers with services, and storage locations for belongings
Proclaimed February as Black History Month, April as Fair Housing Month, and March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility
Launched a joint workgroup with Gov. Tina Kotek to identify and remove barriers to multifamily housing development
Expanded Portland Street Response by authorizing teams to transport clients, enter public spaces, and co-respond with police and fire
Announced an internal restructuring, consolidating six service areas into four and eliminating two deputy city administrator positions
Directed city attorneys to withdraw the city’s appeal of a jury verdict awarding $1 million to the family of Michael Townsend, who was fatally shot by police in 2021