Notice is hereby given that a ballot title for a measure referred by the City of Portland Charter Commission to qualified voters at the November 8, 2022 General Election has been filed with the Elections Office of the City of Portland on July 6, 2022.
An elector may file a petition for review of this ballot title in the Multnomah County Circuit Court no later than 5:00 P.M. on July 15, 2022.
The ballot title is as follows:
BALLOT TITLE
Caption:
Amends Charter: Changes the structure of Portland’s government
Question:
Should City Administrator, supervised by Mayor, manage Portland with twelve Councilors representing four districts making laws and voters ranking candidates?
Summary:
The Charter Commission proposed a measure to change Portland’s government.
Currently, Council is one Mayor and four Commissioners elected citywide. Council makes laws. Mayor and Commissioners directly manage bureaus. Portlanders vote for one candidate per office in May primaries, possible November runoffs.
If measure is approved, City Administrator – supervised by Mayor – would manage daily operations, including hiring, firing and supervising most bureau directors. Council makes laws. Mayor would not be part of Council, but could break tie votes on non-emergency ordinances. Independent Salary Commission would set elected officials’ salaries. Council would expand to twelve Councilors and seats would shift from citywide to four new geographic districts – created by Independent District Commission – with three Councilors representing each district. Voters would rank candidates in order of preference, with Councilors elected by district using single transferrable vote ranked choice voting and Mayor and Auditor elected citywide using instant runoff ranked choice voting. Ranked choice voting eliminates primaries. Cost estimate is 0.9 to 8.7 million dollars annually. Other provisions.