phone: 503-823-3589
Email: nick@portlandoregon.gov
1221 S.W. 4th, Room 240, Portland, OR 97204
Strengthening Transparency and Accountability of City Advisory Bodies
May 11, 2017 at 10:17 AM
May 11, 2017
This afternoon, Council unanimously approved a Resolution brought by Commissioners Fish, Eudaly, and Fritz to increase the transparency and accountability of City advisory bodies.
The Resolution directs the City Attorney to work with the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, Office of Equity and Human Rights, Public Involvement Advisory Council, and others to develop a package of updates that will return to Council this fall for debate and adoption. Today’s action follows a Council work session held on April 4th to frame the issues and to solicit Council feedback.
The package includes a comprehensive inventory of City advisory bodies, a uniform application (including mandatory conflict of interest disclosure), training materials for both staff and community members, standard bylaws, and a survey to gather feedback from community members.
Local government works best when we consult with the community we serve in a substantive, thoughtful way. That relationship must be based on mutual trust, mutual respect, and shared expectations.
Increased transparency and uniform standards will serve to increase the integrity and impact of advisory body recommendations, and give members enhanced confidence in the value of their service.
Thank you to Commissioners Fritz and Eudaly for their partnership, to the City Attorney’s office for their leadership on this issue, and to members of the community who took time to share their thoughtful feedback both ahead of and as part of today’s hearing.
The Weekly Catch
May 12, 2017 at 12:37 PM
Uber
Portland City Council votes to subpoena Uber over 'Greyball'
Elliot Njus in The Oregonian
Council subpoenas Uber over evasion software
Jim Redden in the Portland Tribune
Portland Will Subpoena Uber. Whether It'll Succeed Is Anyone's Guess
Dirk VanderHart in the Portland Mercury
City of Portland escalates fight with Uber
Malia Spencer in the Portland Business Journal
Portland approves Uber subpoena
Katy Sword in the Oregon Business
Timbers
Portland Timbers' stadium expansion, tax break for the team draw City Council support
Jessica Floum in The Oregonian
Portland City Council approves Providence Park stadium expansion
Jeff Carlisle in ESPN FC
In Other News
St. Johns Bizarre shows off quirks, charm
Lyndsey Hewitt in the Portland Tribune
Changing History at Mt. Tabor Park: A Project Update
The Portland Water Blog
Cruise-in keeps Avenue of Roses Parade spirit alive
David F. Ashton in East Portland News
Watch: 'Grimm' star Silas Weir Mitchell talks about latest role at Portland Center Stage
Kristi Trunquist in The Oregonian
Support Johnson Creek's revival
Steve Law in the Portland Tribune
Welcome Amira Streeter!
May 16, 2017 at 10:11 AM
May 16, 2017
Join us in welcoming Amira Streeter to the Fish Team as our new Policy Director!
Amira was born in our nation’s capital and calls Gaithersburg, Maryland her childhood home. As a U.S. Foreign Service brat, Amira grew up living and travelling all over the world – Russia, Indonesia, China, India, Nigeria, and Germany, just to name a few! In 2010, Amira moved to Portland to attend Lewis & Clark, Northwestern School of Law for their prestigious environmental law program. As an undergrad, Amira attended Skidmore College, where she studied environmental science, dance, and art.
Amira is excited to return to public service, having worked for Lew Frederick in the Oregon Legislature and the City of Portland for the Equitable Contracting and Purchasing Commission. She has worked in the private sector on environmental and energy projects and for non-profits on policy on community development, social equity, and environmental issues. She is involved with various environmental organizations including the Oregon Environmental Council, Sierra Club, and the Environmental Professionals of Color.
She mostly recently served as Policy and Advocacy Director for the Urban League of Portland.
On her days off, Amira enjoys watching movies, crafting, and playing with her dog, Lula, in parks throughout Portland.
City Council Approves Budget
May 17, 2017 at 4:16 PM
May 17, 2017
This afternoon, Council approved the City Budget for the upcoming fiscal year. In June, City Council will formally adopt the budget. Nick’s full statement during the vote is below:
“Mayor and colleagues, I’m very pleased to support this budget.
This has been an unusually collaborative and collegial process.
The budget before us today addresses many of the issues I care most about and includes targeted and strategic funding for our shared priorities.
In particular, I want to highlight that it:
• Directs a $50 million down-payment on Build Portland, a bold initiative the Mayor has proposed to tackle our backlog of street maintenance and repair.
• Invests significant new funds in Vision Zero, affirming our belief that one death on our streets is too many.
• Continues our commitment to partnering with the County to fight homelessness in our community. And I want to acknowledge the Mayor’s early work to build a strong partnership with County Chair Deborah Kafoury – that relationship is vital to the success of our work.
• It continues investments in highly-performing programs that support our neighborhood small businesses.
• Supports the Rose Festival, Portland’s official festival.
• Continues to show discipline with ratepayer dollars, focusing on basic services like resilience and water quality. And this budget continues General Fund support for improvements at the historic Mt. Tabor reservoirs, work we’re doing in partnership with the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association.
• We have partially restored funding for the arts, funded the first-ever performance audit of the Regional Arts and Cultural Council, and continued to fund the Portland Film Office.
• This budget funds new Park Ranger positions in East Portland to work upstream with the community to solve problems.
• Finally, this budget launches a program I’m very excited about called Project Search, which brings the City together with a non-profit to provide work opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. We’ll be piloting this in the utility bureaus starting this summer.
Mayor, I want to thank you for leading what has been a very collaborative and transparent process with your colleagues. I also want to recognize your staff – Maurice and Kristin in particular, my Council colleagues, Andrew Scott and his incomparable team, and my own staff for their hard work.
And lastly, to all those who attended forums, sent emails, came in for meetings, and made their voices heard—thank you. Your advocacy has led to a better budget for our community.
Aye.”