City Charter Section
[May 3, 1913, new secs. 17 and 18; rev. 1914, secs. 29 and 30; 1928 pub., secs. 29 and 30; sec. 29, am. May 18, 1934; sec. 30, am. May 17, 1940; 1942 recod., secs. 2‑115 and 2‑116; sub. sec. 5 added to sec. 2‑116, Nov. 2, 1954; secs. 2‑115 and 2‑116 revised and combined Nov. 6, 1962; am. May 26, 1970; am. Dec. 14, 1971; am. May 20, 1980; am. May 17, 1988; am May 18, 1994; amended May 15, 2012, effective June 13, 2012; amended by Ordinance 190204, effective December 18, 2020; amended November 5, 2024, effective December 18, 2024; amended November 8, 2022, effective January 1, 2025]
- (a) A vacancy in office exists when the Mayor, a Councilor or the Auditor fails to qualify by taking the oath following their election, or when any officer or employee dies, resigns, is removed from office, is convicted of a felony, is judicially declared to be mentally incompetent, is convicted of an offense which constitutes corruption, malfeasance or delinquency in office, forfeits their office under specific provisions of this Charter, or is elected or appointed to a different office, and qualifies, takes and assumes the duties of such different office.
- (b) If a vacancy occurs when less than one (1) year remains in the term of the person who held the office, the City Council may fill the vacancy by majority vote of the remaining Councilors, and the appointee will serve the unexpired term of the predecessor to the office.
- (c) If a vacancy occurs when one (1) year or more remains in the term of the person who held the office or if for any reason the office is not filled and no person takes office when the term of office otherwise would have commenced, the City Council may fill the vacancy by majority vote of the remaining Councilors, and the appointee will serve until a successor to the office is duly elected and is qualified to take office.
- (d) The election to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term of office must be held at the general election that is next available pursuant to state law that occurs no sooner than the one-hundred twentieth (120th) day after the date upon which the vacancy occurred. The term of office for a person elected to fill a vacancy for an unexpired term of office commences upon the certification of the election.
- (e) A person holding an elected office under this Charter may file with the Auditor a written notice of intent to resign from office on a specific future date within the unexpired term of the office. The Council then may by resolution schedule and hold the special election or elections, as provided in subsections (b) through (d) of this Section, although no vacancy has occurred. However, no candidate elected to fill an unexpired term under this subsection may take and assume the duties of the office unless and until the vacancy occurs.
- (f) In the event of the death or incapacity preventing the performance of six (6) or more Councilors due to natural disaster, calamity, accident or enemy attack, the following City officials in the order named succeed to the vacancies on the City Council: Chiefs of Staff of deceased or incapacitated Councilors, City Administrator, City Attorney, City Auditor and Mayor. In the event of the death or incapacity preventing the performance of the Mayor due to natural disaster,
calamity, accident or enemy attack, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff succeeds to the
vacancy. A Councilor or Mayor may resume performance if the incapacity no longer prevents performance - Any individual serving under this Section must have all qualifications required in this Charter for an elected official, except that an individual succeeding to the
vacancy of a Councilor does not need to reside in the Councilor’s district. Otherwise, the next qualified individual in the line of succession succeeds to the vacancy. The City Council thus constituted serves as an interim Council for the purpose of transacting necessary City business. The interim Council must as soon as practical select from among qualified citizens of the City of Portland, as defined by Section 2‑202 of this Charter, persons to serve as members of the City Council or Mayor. The persons so selected serve until the next general election. The City Council must, if the regularly elected Council President is not a member, elect one of their number as Council President. Members of the Council as thus constituted serve as Councilors by this Charter. The Council as constituted under this subsection meets in the City Hall, if possible, but may meet at an alternate location which must be designated in advance by the Council as an alternate site for the transaction of City business. In the event of martial law, the Council is organized as provided by this subsection, and it will function to the extent possible under the order establishing martial law. The provisions of this subsection are supreme in the event it is employed, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Charter or City ordinances.