Portland City Councilors tentatively approved a budget that patches gaps in parks maintenance with police funding. The decision came just under the wire after a 12-hour Wednesday meeting — but not without fireworks.

“I have never seen a city council be so giddy to cut public safety,” said Councilor Eric Zimmerman. “This is serious stuff.”

With a midnight deadline to approve a balanced budget and more than 120 proposed budget amendments on the table, the 12 councilors were forced to rush through funding decisions — and left many on the table. They saved the most controversial proposal until the last 30 minutes.

The amendment, jointly led by Councilors Candace Avalos and Angelita Morillo, moved $1.9 million in new funding Mayor Keith Wilson had earmarked for the Portland Police Bureau into the Portland Parks and Recreation’s maintenance fund — which Wilson had proposed cutting by $7 million starting in July.

“This is not about reducing police effectiveness,” said Avalos. ”It is about a balanced approach to public safety that includes well-maintained parks where families feel safe gathering.”

Wilson’s $1.9 million proposal was meant to speed up officer recruiting and training, but not create new jobs.

The police bureau has struggled for years to swiftly hire new officers. And even after being hired, it takes new recruits 18 months to complete training. Currently, about 90 of the 877 available positions in PPB are vacant.

Both Avalos and Morillo argued that, because PPB currently has funding for these vacant positions, it doesn’t need the additional money. They pointed to a recent poll, commissioned by Councilor Steve Novick and Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney, that showed Portlanders would prefer cuts to police over parks.

PPB Chief Bob Day couldn’t say how withholding the dollars would specifically impact his department, but “it will be a reduction in services.” He took offense to the decision.

“Clearly, some of the councilors don’t respect or trust the responsibility given to me in the role of chief of police,” Day said, pointing to the recent effort he’s put toward officer recruitment.

Parks Director Adena Long was more certain about how the $1.9 million would be spent in her bureau.

“This funding supports critical tasks like restroom cleaning, graffiti removal, roof repairs and maintenance of dog parks, playground, trails, lighting and more,” Long said.

She added that the cuts laid out in Wilson’s proposed budget “will directly impact public safety.”

The funding amendment passed 7-5, and it illuminated preexisting political rifts on the new council. The five councilors who voted against the amendment said the proposal unfairly pitted parks against police.

“This is absolutely a false choice,” said Councilor Olivia Clark, before voting in opposition of the amendment. Councilor Dan Ryan called its passage “devastating.” Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Council Loretta Smith, and Zimmerman also voted against the proposal.

Novick, who’s been vocal about his interest in funding parks programs before police, initially appeared hesitant to back the amendment. He said he had spoken with someone from the Portland Metro Chamber who warned that the powerful business lobby may pull its support for the city’s parks levy renewal if City Council cuts police funding to pay for parks. The Parks Bureau budget relies on voters renewing the five-year levy later this year.

“I told them, ‘That’s very interesting,’” Novick said.

“So, what I am hearing is that apparently the Portland Metro Chamber gets to run this town and tell everybody under vague threat what we can or cannot do with our budget,” Morillo shot back. “Come on, Novick.”

He supported the plan.

The decision came after a marathon meeting, where councilors also approved and axed other parts of Wilson’s proposed $8.5 billion spending plan. While some of the other hot-button items were punted to a June meeting, many notable amendments got a vote.

That included a plan to increase a fee on rideshare companies from 65 cents per ride to $2 per ride. And a $5 increase to the cost of playing a 9-hole round of golf at a city-owned course. The council green-lit more spending for the city’s public campaign financing program, small business grants, city council staff and pedestrian safety projects. They also approved a $120,000 cut to each of their council offices.

Councilors additionally approved a plan to use $1 million of the $7 million in golf program reserves on citywide park maintenance. Yet some questioned whether it was the right moment to dip into the program’s so-called “rainy day fund.” Councilor Sameer Kanal pushed back.

“If this is not a rainy day, I don’t know what is,” said Kanal. “It’s pretty rainy.”

Councilors entered the budget cycle facing a $65 million shortfall and $25 million in additional, unfunded costs to pay for Wilson’s ambitious shelter plan. Wilson proposed using short-term funding, state dollars, pay freezes, fee increases, layoffs and significant program cuts in Parks and Permitting bureaus to send a balanced budget for councilors to consider earlier this month.

Councilors, who are still less than six months into their position in the new government, spent the past weeks crafting amendments to Wilson’s spending plan. Not all of them passed Wednesday’s vote.

Councilors rejected a controversial plan to withhold around $13 million from Prosper Portland, the city’s economic development program. That plan, introduced by Councilors Jamie Dunphy and Mitch Green, suggested that the bureau tap into their small business loan fund to cover the cut. But the volunteer board that oversees Prosper Portland signaled that they’d likely vote to cut the program’s operating fund — and eliminate more than 30 jobs — before using the loan dollars to backfill. While the proposal failed, several councilors expressed skepticism about the Prosper Portland board’s authority and the city’s economic development work in general.

“We need to have a serious conversation about the relationship of the city with Prosper,” said Avalos.

Councilors also rejected proposals to put $3.4 million toward the city’s new police oversight board, spend $350,000 on budget analysts, and use $1 million for a youth workforce training program.

The lengthy meeting put the challenges of the newly expanded council on full display. The council has struggled to make time for public comment at meetings since entering a new governance structure in January. Wednesday’s meeting was no exception. Only half of the more than 200 people who signed up to testify on the budget Wednesday were able to squeeze into the two hours allotted for public comment.

Many came to speak about proposals that never were heard, due to additional time constraints. That included a proposal to close two facilities run by the Parks Bureaus — the Multnomah Arts Center and Community Music Center — to save nearly $2 million. Several also spoke out against a plan to lay off dozens of urban forestry staff to save parks funding.

Aside from the nearly $2 million redirected from police to parks, the package of amendments approved Wednesday do little to change Wilson’s overall budget. In all, his proposed budget cuts 180 positions across city bureaus, and adds 150 new positions in various programs.

The 90 or so amendments left undiscussed Wednesday will be heard at council’s next budget meeting on June 11. Councilors can also suggest new amendments at that meeting, including ones that tweak proposals approved Wednesday.

The council will hold its final budget vote on June 18. It goes into effect July 1.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/22/portland-budget-council-votes-use-new-police-funding-maintain-parks/