Ballot Questions

Short description: We edited the Charter’s Preamble and added a Land Acknowledgement, honoring Indigenous people from whom this land was seized and who continue to live in our state.

Proposed summary to appear on ballot. This modification revises the existing Preamble of the Charter, restates the purpose of the city’s government and of its system of public education, and adds a land acknowledgment to address and respect Portland’s past.

Read the proposed Charter Language for Question 1.

Proposals included in this question:

Premable & Land Acknowledgement

Short description: This questions strengthens the role of the mayor as the city’s Chief Executive while establishing checks on mayoral power. It also increases the number of city councilors to 12, school board to 9, and establishes additional structures and processes for shared governance and decision-making among elected officials.

Proposed summary to appear on ballot. These modifications establish an executive mayor, allow the council to remove or censure the mayor, change from a city manager to a chief administrator, increase the number of city council seats from nine (9) to twelve (12), and make other changes relating to governance as follows:

• Creates an executive mayor and replaces the city manager with the position of chief administrator;

• Grants the executive mayor the following powers: nominate for appointment and remove the chief administrator; nominate for appointment all department head positions; exercise veto power over the city budget and city ordinances subject to council override; recommend for adoption by the city council rules that govern communications between city staff and elected officials; issue executive orders to implement council policy; and introduce legislation to the council;

• Increases the mayor’s compensation from one-and-a-half (1.5) times to two (2) times the median household income and ties city council and school board member compensation to a minimum of ten percent (10%) of the mayor’s compensation;

• Establishes the chief administrator as responsible for the administration of all departments and delivery of city services and grants the chief administrator the right to remove department heads in consultation with the executive mayor;

• Changes the composition and size of the city council by increasing the number of districts from five (5) to nine (9) and maintaining the existing three (3) at-large councilors;

• Grants the city council the power to censure or remove the mayor for cause, and to order a recall election of the mayor, by super-majority vote;

• Requires that the city council elect from among its members a chair and vice-chair, who shall organize the council into various committees;

• Provides that the city council chair shall preside over city council meetings and set the council agendas;

• Requires that the city council create a review committee that shall (i) conduct regular evaluations of the performance of the corporation counsel and city clerk and (ii) hold regular meetings with the chief administrator and department heads to understand the general working conditions and morale at city hall; the mayor shall lead the annual performance review of the chief administrator;

• Changes the composition of the school board by increasing the number of districts from five (5) to nine (9) and eliminating the at-large seats so that all members will represent a district;

• Directs the school board and city council to establish a joint committee on budget guidance, consisting of four (4) city councilors and four (4) school board members, appointed by the council chair and school board chair, respectively, to develop a proposed non-binding budget guidance document for the city council and school board;

• Directs the city council to develop and implement a participatory budget development process for the city budget that involves input from as many Portland residents as possible;

• Modifies the capital improvement program process to require the chief administrator to jointly prepare with the superintendent a five-year capital improvement plan; and

• Modifies the vacancy provisions for the city council and school board to require a special election if the vacancy occurs more than six (6) months prior to the next municipal election. If the vacancy occurs within six (6) months prior to the next regular election, the city council or school board, as applicable, shall appoint a qualified person.

Read the proposed Charter Language for Question 2.

Proposals included in this question:

• Governance

• City Council Districts

• Communications Policy

• Participatory Budgeting

• Collaborative School Capital Improvement Process

• Council & School Board Vacancies

Short description: This establishes a publicly funded Clean Elections program in the city, bans corporate contributions to candidates as well as certain foreign contributions to ballot questions.

Proposed summary to appear on ballot. These modifications establish a City of Portland Clean Election Fund to provide public campaign funds to qualified candidates for elected municipal offices, beginning in FY 2023-2024. Candidate participation shall be voluntary. The city council shall provide an independent allocation from the city’s budget each year to sustain the Clean Election Fund and the city council shall by ordinance direct that the Clean Election Fund must:

• Limit the amount of funds a participating candidate may raise;

• Be limited to candidates who meet certain requirements, such as demonstrated public support and participation in a city-sponsored forum or voter education event; and • Require that all unused funds be returned to the Clean Election Fund.

In addition to establishing the Clean Election Fund, these modifications:

• Prohibit corporate contributions to any candidate for municipal office;

• Prohibit ballot question contributions or expenditures from any entity that is substantially under foreign influence; and

• Require that all contributions to campaigns be reported to the city clerk and that the city clerk create a searchable online database of information contained in filed registration and campaign finance reports.

Read the proposed Charter Language for Question 3.

Proposals included in this question:

• Clean Elections

Proposed summary to appear on ballot. This Charter modification authorizes the city to use a proportional ranked choice voting method for elections in which more than one person is to be elected to a single office (i.e. a multiple seat election) and directs the city council to enact an ordinance to establish the proportional ranked choice voting method.

Read the proposed Charter Language for Question 4.

Proposals included in this question:

• Proportional Ranked Choice Voting

Short description: This change will make it such that a proposed school board budget will go straight to voters instead of being modified/approved by Council.

Proposed summary to appear on ballot: This Charter modification changes the current school budget adoption process by transferring school budget adoption authority from the city council to the school board. The city council has discretion to conduct a public hearing on the proposed school budget and to provide a non binding recommendation to the school board for its consideration, which the school board may or may not adopt, in whole or in part. The adopted school budget continues to be voted upon at the State-required budget validation referendum election, but if that is discontinued by the voters, the adopted school budget would be voted upon at a municipal school budget referendum.

Read the proposed Charter Language for Question 5.

Proposals included in this question:

• School Budget Process

Proposed summary to appear on ballot: This Charter modification requires the city council to maintain the ordinance it has enacted establishing the Peaks Island Council as an elected advisory body to the city council and setting forth its powers, duties, membership requirements, and other provisions.

Read the proposed Charter Language for Question 6.

Proposals included in this question:

• Peaks Island Council

Short description: This question establishes a funded, independent Citizen Police Oversight Board to replace the current Police Review Board.

Proposed summary to appear on ballot: This Charter modification replaces the current Police Citizens Review Subcommittee, established by current city ordinance, with a civilian police review board consisting of nine or more members, with powers, duties, funding and staffing as provided in the proposed Charter language and subject to city council’s enactment of procedural ordinance provisions.

The civilian police review board shall:

• Be appointed by the city council;

• Receive complaints directly from civilians for referral to Portland Police Department Police Command and/or Internal Affairs for investigation;

• Review the Department’s Command and Internal Affairs investigation reports for due process issues, including issues of fairness, thoroughness and objectivity, and may issue its own reports on those investigation repRead the proposed Charter Language for Question 7.orts; and

• Be funded, as needed by the city council, to provide for part-time or full-time staff, including a community liaison and a police liaison.

Appeals of the civilian police review board reports may be taken to the city.

Read the proposed Charter Language for Question 7.

Proposals included in this question:

• Civilian Police Review Board

Short description: This question requires the Council to establish a code of ethics and an Ethics Commission.

Proposed summary to appear on ballot: This modification requires the City Council to form an independent Ethics Commission and to adopt a Code of Ethics recommended by the Ethics Commission.

• The Ethics Commission shall have discretionary power to render advisory opinions on matters of city business and violations of public trust.

• The modification also allows the Ethics Commission to recommend the hiring of an Accountability Officer to provide education to the public and officials; to serve as an independent ombudsperson in resolution of disputes in an advisory capacity; and to provide training to city officials on ethical matters

Read the proposed Charter Language for Question 8.

Proposals included in this question:

• Ethics Commission