Newsletter: Save Our Services comes to City Council this week

Dear Neighbors,

I shared a few weeks back there would be a final opportunity to save core services for Portlanders, and this Wednesday's Council Meeting is it.

We'll be hearing the Save Our Services ordinance on July 15th starting at 6 p.m. and it will be voted on July 22nd. This ordinance will prevent cuts to frontline workers and critical programs that Portlanders rely on.

Our parks are green sanctuaries that provide peace, joy, and connection.

From free summer lunches for young people, movies at dusk, free tennis courts surrounded by roses, and much more, our parks facilities and recreation programs are some of the easiest and best investments we can make for the health and wellbeing of all Portlanders.

Despite our best efforts during the budget cycle to restore funding, not nearly enough was allocated back into the mayor's budget to maintain current service levels.

Even the Parks and Recreation Board weighed in during the budget to share that the impacts of these cuts will be real and visible, meaning more unmaintained, degraded parks while also creating medium and long-term financial risks.

It is especially egregious to cut funding after the passage of the voter approved Parks Levy, which promised that if we pay higher taxes that our parks would be maintained at current service levels.

I'm introducing the Save Our Services budget ordinance with Councilors Candace Avalos, Angelita Morillo, Sameer Kanal, and Tiffany Koyama-Lane to restore frontline services eliminated in the FY 2026-27 budget and protect workers that we simply cannot afford to lose.

This includes critical Parks maintenance and operations staff responsible for maintaining thousands of acres of natural areas, trails, community gardens, and facility infrastructure.

It also includes the Senior Center Project, 311 customer services representatives, unarmed public safety officers, advanced life rescue teams, and more.

I cannot accept a reality where we let our parks wither, and I know many of you feel the same. During my budget survey, parks were one of your top priorities that you wanted the city to continue to fund. Now is the time to defend it.

I hope you will make your voice heard one more time, even just a few words of support can make a difference.

We can do this together.

In Solidarity,

Councilor Mitch Green 

Last Chance to Give Testimony

With termination notices already sent out, the Portland City Council doesn't have much time before critical City workers lose their jobs and Portlanders lose their services. At the July 15 full Council meeting, councilors will be asked to decide whether to save positions and key programs or continue a City restructure (realignment) that we know will be far more costly in the long run.

Tell your councilors:

"Please join your colleagues and vote yes on the Save Our Services ordinance. We need to save jobs across City bureaus that the Mayor cut in his realignment approach before these losses become more costly. I support restoring Advanced Life Support (ALS) Teams, Public Support Safety Specialists (PS3s), Parks and Recreation maintenance and programming, Relay Janitorial services, and PDX 311. These are resources and programs that we rely on. The budget season is over, but your job's not done. Save our services!"

Register to testify on this ordinance