Portland City Council votes this week on Mayor Wilson’s $8.5 billion budget—and it’s shaping up to be a nailbiter.
With big personalities and competing priorities on the line, sparks are likely to fly before councilors land on a final plan.
“I’m expecting there to be some heated debates,” says Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney. In her estimation, more than 80 amendments are on their way to the dais.
Wednesday, May 21, is not the final budget vote—that comes June 18—but it’s when councilors will make the bulk of decisions about where Portlanders’ tax dollars will be spent. According to both of our guests, Portlanders can expect spirited conversations around Mayor Wilson’s proposed cuts to parks, his flagship overnight shelter plan, and whether the Portland Police Bureau should take the same reductions as other bureaus.
Even so, Pirtle-Guiney believes the budget will pass with seven or more ayes.
“My intention is for us to not need to use that tie-breaking power that the mayor holds. At the end of the day, I think we will get to a budget that the majority, maybe even a strong majority of the council, can support,” she says.
“The things we do in Portland, we do well.”
Eric Zimmerman, chair of the council’s Finance Committee, says he has strongly held positions, such as protecting funding for public safety and trimming what he calls “bloat” from city bureaus. He’s also prepared to compromise.
“Budgets are a negotiation, right?” Zimmerman reflects. “It takes a little give and get, and that's okay.”
Both guests predict that the council will get into some philosophical questions, such as whether the city should fund homeless and shelter services—a job typically done by the county—at the expense of core functions.
“It’s frustrating to me that we are making up for decisions that the county is making,” Pirtle-Guiney says, “and struggling over how to fund really important things that only the city can provide, like well-maintained parks.”
Zimmerman says he wants to avoid a budget that “just takes everything down a few notches” rather than making tough decisions about where to focus resources.
“What I would like to see is a budget that says, ‘The things we do in Portland, we do well. We do them at a high level of quality. But there are some things in Portland that maybe we're not going to do anymore.’”
“Please do not be scared to come tell us what you think.”
Just as the mayor must propose a balanced budget, the version approved by the council on Wednesday must also stay in the black. Zimmerman says city staff will provide real-time accounting of how amendments impact the budget during the session. After that, councilors and analysts will have just under a month to finalize the numbers before the June 18 vote.
Want to follow along? The agenda page for Wednesday’s meeting includes a livestream and sign-up link for public testimony. And while addressing the council can induce some stage fright, Pirtle-Guiney says Portlanders should shrug off those worries.
“We are twelve Portlanders just like you,” she says. “Please do not be scared to come tell us what you think. The more we understand what you think, the better job we can do creating policy for the city.”
Stump Talk is produced and edited by Jon Garcia of Lake Productions.
