While the 2024 presidential election has most of the media attention, don’t forget that the Portland mayoral elections are also on November 5th. This election is important as some very major changes have developed in the Portland government set-up.
This year, Portland instituted major changes to the mayoral structure, imitating cities like New York City and Houston. The new mayor-council form of government is the second most common in cities in the US.
In this new layout, the city council, made up of 12 councilors, 3 from each district in Portland, will become a fully legislative body, rather than the hybrid legislative-executive body that it was previously. This means they will focus on passing laws, setting policies, and gathering input from the community to better the community.
The city council’s agenda will also be changing so the council will move away from focusing on administrative issues within the budget. Instead, the council will focus on budget changes and approvals, revenue decisions like imposing taxes and raising rates and fees, making laws, and receiving and accepting reports.
A new addition to the city council are the council committees. The council committees are made up of 4-7 people, including one to two councilors from each district. The Council President, elected by the councilors within the council, will assign each of these committees to a specific issue for them to discuss.
These issues will be ones of community interest, and the meetings will be held publicly so community members can be present. Community members also can give their input on the issues during these public meetings.
The mayor will become the executive branch, appointing a city administrator and accounting for administrative issues. They will oversee the execution of the laws and city management.
Another important note on the Portland mayoral elections is that the ballots no longer list the party of the candidate. The idea behind not listing political parties of politicians is that hopefully voters will read into policies and make decisions based on who they think is best for Portland.
Links to Articles with More In-Depth Information:
https://www.portland.gov/transition/government/changing-roles/city-council
