Faced with a second consecutive year of major budget cuts, two Portland city councilors are looking to axe some senior management positions to save money and programs. If adopted, the proposals could deliver a shakeup to the city’s still-nascent government remodel.

“We’re calling it ‘chop from the top,’” said Councilor Mitch Green, who is proposing 20% cuts to administrative positions as one way to fill budget gaps. “In terms of the composition of the city, we’re getting a little top-heavy. I’d like to address that issue.”

Per Green’s analysis of city data, the number of managers and supervisors at the city has grown 36% since 2019, compared to a 6% increase in non-supervisory positions, which are largely union jobs. The city has not independently confirmed this trend to OPB.

He’s proposed tweaking Mayor Keith Wilson’s draft budget to restore cuts to Portland Fire & Rescue by cutting managerial positions across city bureaus. He’s not the only one. Councilor Steve Novick is also looking to fund police and fire programs by trimming high-paid staff in the city administrator’s office.

“It’s wrong to cut public safety staff and violence prevention programs in favor of expensive high-level bureaucrats,” wrote Novick in a press release Friday.

Slimming the city’s administrative positions is an issue city labor leaders have raised the alarm on since Portland first underwent its major government overhaul last year, which resulted in a new administrative structure – and many new administrative positions. In a letter to Wilson in February, before the mayor released his proposed budget, a coalition of eight city unions urged him to address this “administrative bloat” before cutting union jobs.

“The frontline workers who provide the services Portlanders expect should be prioritized over layers of administrative personnel when layoffs are contemplated, particularly given the latter’s disproportionate growth,” the letter reads.

Labor leaders say that wasn’t reflected in Wilson’s proposed spending plan, which was released last month. To fill a roughly $170 million shortfall, Wilson suggested cutting nearly 150 jobs and slashing public safety and homelessness programs to address a deep budget gap.

Nearly half of those cuts align with Wilson’s ongoing mission to trim duplicative roles across city bureaus, like technology, HR, and communications staff. Most of those “core service” positions are union-represented jobs.

City budget staff say Wilson’s proposal actually cuts more managerial roles than positions that report to supervisors. The city has not provided OPB with any requested documentation to support this assertion.

Neither Novick nor Green’s proposals would restore many of the union jobs Wilson has suggested cutting. Green said it’s meant to cut administrative positions to meet the cuts aimed at lower-level jobs in recent years.

“This is about parity,” Green said.

The range of top-tier positions he’s looking at earn between roughly $150,000 and $310,000 annually, according to city data.

Green leaves the ultimate decision on which manager jobs to cut up City Administrator Raymond Lee. And he gives him three months to do so.

Green’s proposal directs Lee to restore $3.3 million by making a 20% reduction in upper management positions across bureaus, starting this fall. His proposal notes that decisions should be made by “engaging front line staff, labor, and other stakeholders to guide those reductions.”

Green wants those millions to instead be spent on restoring Wilson’s proposed cuts to the Fire Bureau, which includes eliminating a fire engine at a St. John’s fire station and cutting an emergency medical responder position.

Wilson’s draft budget keeps all 31 Portland fire stations open. But cuts to other Fire Bureau programs, like medical response, trucks and operational costs could lead to slower response times. Other public safety bureaus could see a similar outcome if Wilson’s budget is adopted as-is.

His plan suggests cutting 911 staff, unarmed officers who respond to low-level calls, gun violence prevention positions and administrative staff at police precincts.

Novick suggests cutting four positions in the City Administrator’s office — totaling more than $775,000 in salaries — to restore some of these cuts to public safety.

This office currently has three employees, including City Administrator Raymond Lee.

Lee, the city’s first permanent city administrator, says he needs four more staff to do his job of overseeing all 7,000 city employees and roughly 40 bureaus and departments. Wilson’s proposed budget funds all four jobs, which includes restoring an assistant city administrator position that was cut in last year’s budget — less than a year into creating the role. The three other proposed new staff positions would focus on strategic planning. City operations officials say all of these positions will help keep the new government running smoothly.

Lee’s current two-person staff is smaller than city council offices — where elected officials have between three and four staff each. Novick isn’t leaving those untouched, either.

Wilson’s current budget includes $17.4 million for council offices, or $1.5 million per office. Novick’s amendment would also cut $200,000 from nine council offices (he will preserve budgets for the three District 1 councilors, whose east Portland offices are far from City Hall). Novick also wants to cut a nearly $1 million proposal to expand security for elected officials during council meetings.

“The budgets for council offices are way out of line with those of other cities—and the proposed budget would add an extra million dollars for ‘security’ that we don’t need,” said Novick. “This proposal only restores a fraction of the cuts, but every little bit makes a difference.”

If adopted, Novick’s proposal would use around $3.5 million to restore some cuts to the Fire Bureau, violence prevention programs, police administrative staff, and unarmed officer positions.

Other Portland City Councilors are expected to introduce proposals to fund Wilson’s public safety cuts and chip away at administrative costs.

Councilors will discuss these and other budget amendments next week. Amendments will need the support of 7 councilors to be included in the final budget draft, which will receive a final council vote on June 17.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/14/portland-councilors-may-slash-upper-management-jobs-fund-public-safety/