Portland City Council approved a $4.6 million plan Wednesday night to hire more staffers for councilors and the mayor’s office.
Portland City Budget Director Ruth Levine addresses City Council on January 15, 2025. Levine answered questions about how councilors could use unspent budget dollars to cover staffing costs.
Alex Zielinski / OPB
The decision had councilors trying to balance the desire of needing enough staff to meet the public’s expectations with showing fiscal responsibility amid a looming budget shortfall.
“I really hesitate to say anything because I think I’m going to sound like I’m whining,” Councilor Olivia Clark said. “But the kind of oversight that we are expected to provide over the city, it’s impossible without additional help.”
Councilors were given funds to pay for one staffer apiece when they entered office earlier this month. The mayor’s office was granted five staff members. All elected city officials agree it’s not enough to fulfill the level of policymaking and public engagement voters expect of them.
“You can’t put people first if you don’t hear their voices and if you don’t have the resources to respond,” said Mayor Keith Wilson, who commented on the proposal before councilors cast their vote. “My staffing does not yet reflect the realities of the job at hand.”
The proposal allows each councilor to hire an additional staffer, and it gives the mayor’s office three extra employees. It also gives each council office $261,000 to spend on other expenses, such as funds to establish a second in-district office or the necessary cash to host community meetings.
Councilors tweaked the original plan before voting, to ensure the $4.6 million proposal would be paid for by budget dollars not tied to any programs or operations. The city sets aside a certain amount of contingency funds each budget year that can be tapped to fill budget gaps. According to the budget office, the city has about $13 million left in its contingency fund before the fiscal year ends in June.
The proposal is a temporary fix: The funds only cover staffing and office expenses until the end of the fiscal year. Councilors will need to locate a more permanent funding source before June.
The decision comes as Mayor Wilson and councilors begin to draft the city’s upcoming budget, which is projected to have a deficit of at least $27 million. Councilors say their inboxes and phone lines have been flooded with concerns from constituents that the staffing plan will further worsen the city’s budget crisis. Testimony ahead of the Wednesday vote echoed that sentiment.
“You’ve been in office two weeks,” said David Gray, a Portlander signed up to give public comment. “How could you possibly know that your staffing needs are a higher priority than the million other things that need to be prioritized?”
The majority of councilors argued that they already felt the consequences of being short-staffed. Councilor Loretta Smith said her one staff member is responsible for everything from responding to emails to drafting legislation to attending community meetings.
“I’m afraid that he’s going to be so burnt out in the next month that he’s going to leave,” Smith said. “So I implore you all to really think about good, effective, governance.”
Others said they haven’t been able to respond to the flood of meeting requests and emails they’ve received since entering office from voters.
“That prevents [the public] from putting pressure on us as elected officials to get the outcomes that you want,” said Councilor Angelita Morillo. “That prevents us also from communicating to you what we’re trying to push and getting your help.”
Wednesday’s vote also uncovered a rift between the city’s elected officials and its bureaucrats.
Several councilors pointed to a memo drafted by Portland’s Chief Financial Officer Jonas Biery last week, which advised councilors to offset their staffing costs by making cuts to programs that focus on homeless shelters and trash clean-up.
Councilor Eric Zimmerman called the memo “terrible” for suggesting that councilors were interested in cutting critical programs to boost their budgets. He also lamented the previous city council’s choice to keep the current councilors’ staffing budgets slim.
“I think that was deliberate,” Zimmerman said. “We have been kneecapped.”
The two councilors who voted against the proposal, Dan Ryan and Steve Novick, said they didn’t feel certain such a large funding request was necessary to allow council to do its job.
“I just feel like I can’t support this package until I have a better sense of what our internal needs are and a better sense of the other budget issues we’re facing,” Novick said.
The proposal passed as an emergency ordinance, meaning that councilors and the mayor can start hiring extra staff immediately.