Government of Portland, Oregon
Encyclopedia
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, a city in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, is based on a city commission government
City commission government
City commission government is a form of municipal government which once was common in the United States, but many cities which were formerly governed by commission have since switched to the council-manager form of government...
system. Elected officials include a Mayor, a City Council, and a City Auditor. The mayor and commissioners (members of City Council) are responsible legislative policy and oversee the various bureaus that oversee the day-to-day operation of the city. The auditor is responsible for ensuring that the government operates in good faith.
Each elected official serves a four year term, without term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
s.
Current City Commissioners are: Dan Saltzman (re-elected in 2006), with Amanda Fritz
Amanda Fritz
Amanda Fritz is a retired registered psychiatric nurse and politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. Before being elected to Portland's City Council in 2008, Fritz was known as a neighborhood activist, a critic of City Hall, and a seven-year member of the Portland Planning Commission...
(elected in November 2008), Randy Leonard
Randy Leonard
Randy Leonard is a politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. He is currently a city commissioner in Portland, serving his third term on the Portland City Council.-Career:...
(re-elected in November 2008), Nick Fish (elected in May 2008), and Mayor Sam Adams (elected in May 2008). The Auditor is LaVonne Griffin-Valade.
Form of government
In May 2007, Portland citizens rejected a ballot measure which would have changed city government to a strong mayorMayor-council government
The mayor–council government system, sometimes called the mayor–commission government system, is one of the two most common forms of local government for municipalities...
system. Similar changes have been proposed and rejected several times over the years.
History
The Portland Charter was the subject of much debate circa 1911–1912. Rival charters were drafted by four different groups, including the "official charter committee," appointed by the mayor; the "people's charter committee," constituted under the auspices of the East Side Business Men's Club; another citizen's committee which drafted the Short Charter; and the "people's committee," led by W.C. Benbow, which drafted the Benbow Charter. The Short Charter was unusual in that it would have used Bucklin votingBucklin voting
Bucklin voting is a class of voting systems that can be used for single-member and multi-member districts. It is named after its original promoter, James W. Bucklin of Grand Junction, Colorado, and is also known as the Grand Junction system...
to elect the mayor and implemented interactive representation
Interactive representation
Interactive representation is a proposed governance system in which elected officials have the same number of votes as the number of people that voted for them. It was proposed in Oregon in 1912 by William S. U'Ren and in Virginia in 2001 by Bill Redpath....
of the people through the commissioner system; each commissioner's vote would have been weighted according to the number of votes he received in the election. The city council appointed a committee to draft a compromise charter. This charter, along with the Short Charter, were defeated in referenda. The following year, the city council submitted another charter to the people, which was accepted.
Notable former commissioners
- Jim Francesconi, defeated in his bid for Mayor in 2004, was appointed to the Oregon Board of Higher Education in February 2007. He has also reopened his private law practice, notably representing Warner Pacific CollegeWarner Pacific CollegeWarner Pacific College is an urban, Christian liberal arts college located in Southeast Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1937, the college is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities...
. - Gretchen Kafoury
- CongressmanUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Earl BlumenauerEarl BlumenauerEarl Blumenauer is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1996. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of Portland east of the Willamette River. A native of Portland, he previously spent over 20 years as a public official representing the city.-Early...
served on the Council before running for the House. - Mildred SchwabMildred SchwabMildred Schwab was an attorney and politician from Portland, Oregon in the United States. She served as City Commissioner from 1973 to 1986; she was appointed to fill the vacancy created when Neil Goldschmidt was elected mayor, and was reelected three times. Her brother, Herbert M...
Elections
City Council seats, as well as the City Auditor, are non-partisan, elected positions; each carries a four-year term. As with all non-partisan positions in Oregon, candidates face off in a primary electionPrimary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
(typically in May of even-numbered years); if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers face off in a runoff
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
election (typically the following November.) Three Council seats, including the Mayor, were up for election in 2008; the other two seats, and the Auditor position, were up for election in 2010.
Portland had adopted a publicly-financed election system
Clean elections
"Clean Elections" is a term used to describe a particular system of government financing of political campaigns, in which the government provides a grant to candidates who agree to limit their and private fundraising efforts and limit their campaign-spending.- In the United States :Clean Election...
for all six positions. This law allowed candidates to qualify for public funding of $145,000 if they could gather 1000 contributions of five dollars each by a certain date. (For Mayoral candidates, 1500 contributions of $5 are required, and the amount granted is $160,000.) In 2006, the first year the law went into effect, two candidates availed themselves of this system: incumbent Erik Sten, and Amanda Fritz (in her challenge to Dan Saltzman.) Sten won in the primary, barely clearing the 50% threshold; Fritz lost in the primary, but went on to win a seat utilizing publicly-financed election money in 2008. The November 2010 elections saw Portlanders rescind their support for this publicly-financed election system.
Public transportation
Public transit within the city is primarily the responsibility of TriMetTriMet
TriMet, more formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon...
, not the city government, but the Portland Streetcar
Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. It is currently a single line that is almost long and serves some 12,000 daily riders, but a second line is expected to open in 2012.As with the heavier-duty MAX...
and Portland Aerial Tram
Portland Aerial Tram
The Portland Aerial Tram is an aerial tramway in Portland, Oregon, carrying commuters between the city's South Waterfront district and the main Oregon Health & Science University campus, located in the Marquam Hill neighborhood. It is the second commuter aerial tramway in the United States...
are exceptions; both are owned by the city. The aerial cableway is managed by Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University is a public university in Oregon with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland and a smaller campus in Hillsboro...
(OHSU), but the city was heavily involved in its planning and funded about 15% of its construction cost, as part of the development of the South Waterfront
South Waterfront
The South Waterfront is a high-rise district under construction on former brownfield industrial land in the South Portland neighborhood south of downtown Portland, Oregon, U.S. It is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the United States...
. The city also pays 15% of the aerial tram's operating cost, under an agreement with OHSU.
Portland Streetcar
The city is owner of the Portland Streetcar system, and most of the planning and development of the 2001-opened system have been led by the city's Office of Transportation, in coordination with MetroMetro (Oregon regional government)
Metro, formerly known as Metropolitan Service District, is the regional governmental agency for the Oregon portion of the Portland metropolitan area...
and TriMet
TriMet
TriMet, more formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon...
. The city contracts with TriMet to provide operators and maintenance staff for the streetcar system, and TriMet pays a portion of the line's operating cost. Certain administrative and planning functions are handled by employees of Portland Streetcar Inc. (PSI), a private non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
public-benefit corporation whose board of directors report to the city's Transportation bureau and whose budget comes from contracts with the city. PSI subcontractor Shiels Obletz Johnsen provides the system's Chief Operating Officer and Community Relations Manager. Six positions are held directly by city employees: General Manager (part time), Manager of Operations and Safety, Manager of Maintenance, Assistant Manager of Maintenance and two vehicle and stop
Tram stop
A tram stop is a place designated for a tram to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, but because trams operate on rails, they often include railway platforms, especially if stepless entries are provided for accessibility...
cleaners.
Related government entities
Portland is the county seatCounty seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Multnomah County, and the core of Metro
Metro (Oregon regional government)
Metro, formerly known as Metropolitan Service District, is the regional governmental agency for the Oregon portion of the Portland metropolitan area...
, a regional government primarily concerned with land use planning
Land use planning
Land-use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy encompassing various disciplines which seek to order and regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus preventing land-use conflicts. Governments use land-use planning to manage the development of land within their...
. Both of these government entities have a strong impact on Portland policy. Portland is also governed by the government of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and the federal government of the United States
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
.
Federal and state representation
The United States Postal ServiceUnited States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
operates post offices in Portland. The Portland Main Post Office is located at 715 Northwest Hoyt Street.