Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has wasted little time tackling his campaign promise to end unsheltered homelessness. Within weeks of taking office, Wilson pledged $28 million to swiftly open 1,500 new shelters by December, and announced funding plans for several other shelter projects.

But the foggy funding plan for this proposal, landing alongside news of a vast budget shortfall, has given city councilors and city staff pause.

“I’m concerned he’s adding to the deficit without talking to council,” said Councilor Loretta Smith. “It is administrative overreach. They have the same problem in Washington, D.C. right now. It’s just like reallocating resources without going to Congress.”

In the weeks since unveiling his sweeping shelter plan, city councilors and staff learned that Portland’s projected $100 million budget deficit – a number meant to express the amount of money the city needs to maintain current operations – includes Wilson’s new $28 million plan.

“This shelter plan is not a current city service, it’s just something from the mayor’s wish list he’s telling us needs funding,” Smith said. “That’s not how this works.”

Wilson initially told councilors that the proposal won’t worsen the city’s budget crisis. And he maintains that he will locate funding outside city coffers – from the state, federal, or other local municipalities – to pay for his program.

“I do not believe it’s going to be just a Portland lift and we’re getting indications from multiple jurisdictions that they’re in it to help us out,” Wilson said in a Monday interview with OPB’s Think Out Loud.

But including the cost in the city’s panic-inducing budget gap gives councilors unease.

“I’m disappointed to learn that the cost of Mayor Wilson’s proposed nighttime shelters was lumped in as part of a deficit that council feels obligated to fund,” said Councilor Candace Avalos, who is the chair of the council’s Homelessness and Housing Committee. “As we establish the relationship between our new branches of government, transparency is of utmost importance.”

The new structure of Portland’s city government has created a new divide between the city’s administrative and legislative branches. Under the previous structure, city council members served as city bureau managers and oversaw their budgets. The mayor would propose the city’s annual budget, but it couldn’t pass without a majority of the council’s support. Since the structure changed in January, budget management lies in the new city administrator’s office, which is overseen by the mayor.

One thing hasn’t changed in this switch: White the mayor drafts the annual budget, the funding plan requires city council’s approval to go into effect.

Councilor Sameer Kanal said it’s hard to feel informed about the budget if the administrative branch isn’t being transparent about its deficit.

“We can’t be kept in the dark,” Kanal said. “At the same time, the mayor is elected citywide to ask the city to do anything he wants with the budget. But we can say no.”

News that Wilson’s shelter plan may be a contributing factor to looming budget cuts across city departments has city staff worried.

Kari Koch is the president of the City of Portland Professional Workers Union, a union that represents about 800 workers across city departments. Its members include communications workers, budget staff, and technology specialists. The union is currently negotiating its first contract with the city.

Koch said the vague information around the budget deficit, coinciding with labor negotiations across several city unions, feels like a “scare tactic.” She worries her members’ jobs may be cut before their contract is signed to fund Wilson’s shelter proposal.

“We are all concerned about our houseless neighbors,” Koch said. “At the same time, you cannot layoff the staff that provide the services Portlanders need, want, and are required to have in order to fund the mayor’s campaign promise.”

Smith, one of three councilors representing much of east Portland, places some blame on City Administrator Michael Jordan. who has decades of experience overseeing budgets as the former Chief Operating Officer of Oregon and Metro Regional Government.

“I give Wilson a little pass because he’s new, but [Jordan] is very educated on the process,” Smith said of Jordan, who has decades of experience overseeing budgets as the former Chief Operating Officer of Oregon and Metro. “He needs to have the mayor’s ear.”

Councilors voted to extend Jordan’s contract to January on Wednesday, but not without questioning him about improving transparency between his branch and the council. He acknowledged the tension.

“I think we are finding that there’s a significant amount of ambiguity about how we’re going to relate to each other and how information is going to flow,” he said. “I am grateful for the opportunity.”

Jordan will release a budget recommendation, which will include guidance on Wilson’s shelter plan, later this month.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/06/portland-councilors-staff-raise-transparency-concerns-around-mayor-wilsons-shelter-budget/