Public Comment Sought for Proposed Amendments to City Charter

On March 31, 2022, the Portland Charter Commission preliminarily agreed on a package of reforms to advance to voters. All 20 charter commission members supported the package, which would recommend three major changes:

• Allowing voters to rank candidates in order of their preference, using ranked choice voting
• Four new geographic districts with three members elected to represent each district, expanding the city council to a total of 12 members
• A city council that focuses on setting policy and a mayor elected citywide to run the city’s day-to-day operations, with the help of a professional city administrator

The commission will release the drafted charter amendment language on May 3. The public hearings are opportunities for community members to provide input on the proposed amendments. The commission will provide an educational presentation at the beginning of each public hearing on the proposed amendments and upcoming steps in the charter review process. For more information, visit: www.portland.gov/omf/charter-review-commission.

The public comment period closes at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 30. The public may comment via:

• Email to [email protected]
• Phone call to 311
• In writing to: Office of Management and Finance, Charter Review, 1120 SW 5th Avenue, Room 901, Portland, OR 97204