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The City of Portland ordains:

Section 1.  The Council finds:

1. The City is a leader in adopting principles of public involvement that strive to effectively engage interested and affected persons in the decision making of the City. On August 20, 2010, by Resolution 36807, Council adopted the City of Portland Public Involvement Guidance and Principles, including Inclusiveness and Equity, Building Relationships and Community Capacity, Transparency, and Accountability.

2. Through Resolution 37144, on July 8, 2015, Council adopted Citywide Racial Equity Goals and Strategies that direct City staff to strengthen outreach and access to City services for communities of color and immigrant and refugee communities through collaboration and partnership to eliminate racial inequity in all areas of government, including transportation and to do so with urgency and accountability.

3. On October 2, 2019, City Council adopted Resolution 37450, acknowledging the role of government in addressing the pervasive disparities faced by people of color and people with disabilities, as well as its responsibility in addressing the inequitable and adverse impacts of discriminatory policies on marginalized communities and affirming the City’s commitment to ensuring that all public plans, policies, programs, and activities be designed, implemented, evaluated, and delivered in a manner that advances equity, improves quality of life, and reduces disparities.

4. Through Resolution 37492, on June 17, 2020, City Council adopted Anti-Racism, Equity, Communication, Collaboration, and Fiscal Responsibility as Core Values of the City. Through this Resolution, Council acknowledged Oregon’s history of exclusion and affirmed the City’s dedication to rebuilding trust with community through reconciliation and restorative justice.

5. It is a regrettable truth that deep and systemic disparities exist in Portland’s transportation system.

6. Guided by the City’s Racial Equity Goals and Core Values of the City, the Bureau of Transportation’s Strategic Plan seeks to reduce those disparities, advance equity, and address structural racism through the transformation of the Bureau’s relationship with underserved communities, increasing opportunity for historically underserved communities to participate in the development of policy and decision making, and strengthening staff capacity to understand, utilize, implement, and contribute to the Bureau of Transportation’s equity work.

7. In January 2020, the Bureau of Transportation’s Equity and Inclusion Team in collaboration with the Bureau’s Transportation Justice Steering Committee organized a retreat with Transportation Justice advocates and representatives from Portland-based community organizations to share their vision for a just and equitable transportation system. The Equity and Inclusion team thereafter established a project team to develop a Transportation Justice Framework for the Bureau that advances this community vision and is intended to inform all Bureau work.

8. Through this ongoing work, the Bureau of Transportation and community partners have come to recognize that fundamental obstacles to achieving equitable outcomes include the City’s overreliance on quantitative data in decision making, the Bureau of Transportation’s struggle to effectively gather, interpret, and utilize qualitative data, and the extractive nature of community engagement efforts. A better understanding and elevation of the expertise, lived experiences, and needs of underserved community members is critical to developing policies, programs, and investments that effectively address the inequitable experiences and outcomes that exist in Portland’s transportation system.

9. To address these obstacles, the Bureau of Transportation proposes to partner with the Research Justice institute (RJI) at the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) to co-develop a process-centered approach for integrating community engagement methods and relationship-centered accountability in all bureau work and decision making. The goal is to provide a clear intra-Bureau approach toward community accountability in all PBOT projects, communications, and community engagement. This work would help the Bureau allocate resources and funding toward long-term effective and sustainable equity work.

10. Through this contract, the RJI would work with the Bureau of Transportation to create a methodology and tool for relational accountability, integrating best practices and principles of data justice, research justice, and racial justice. The methodology and tool would be demonstrated through a case study to illustrate their usability, and the RJI would provide trainings to Bureau staff on application of the methodology and tool. The RJI would also provide the Bureau with recommendations for integrating the methodology and tool into decision making.

11. Contracting with the RJI at the CCC would capitalize on the expertise of the RJI as a qualified entity with specialized expertise in research and data justice practices. The RJI utilizes a specific and unique strategic framework that works to redistribute power to achieve self-determination for marginalized communities, and the RJI has effectively developed a similar proprietary methodology and tool for other public agencies that would be adapted for this project. Additionally, the RJI is part of the broader Coalition of Communities of Color, which is made up of and in part represents several communities of color in Portland; effective implementation of the proposed relational accountability methodology and tool would be contingent on the support of underserved community members and through continued relationship building with those communities.

12. In accordance with City Code 5.33.220.B.2, this ordinance authorizes a contract in the amount of up to $42,625 to allow for the development of a relational accountability methodology and tool for the Bureau of Transportation.

13. Term of agreement shall be from the Effective Date through October 31, 2023, with an option to extend the agreement if necessary to complete the purpose of the project.

14. The Office of Management and Finance recommends that a contract with the CCC be approved substantially in conformance with Exhibit “A” for a total contract value not to exceed $42,625.

15. The Bureau of Transportation has funds budgeted in FY 2022/23 and proposed FY 2023/24 for this work as part of the Transportation Justice Project within the Equity and Inclusion Program Budget.

16. The Bureau’s level of confidence in the cost estimates for this project is high; the project’s scope is fully defined (see Exhibit “A”).

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

1. The Chief Procurement Officer, or designee, is authorized to execute a contract with the Coalition of Communities of Color, in a form similar to scope attached as Exhibit “A” for a total contract value not to exceed $42,625 upon City Attorney’s Office approval as to form.
2. The Mayor and City Auditor to draw and deliver warrants chargeable to 9TR000002952 when demand is presented and approved by the CCC.

Section 2.  The Council declares that an emergency exists because a delay would unnecessarily slow the Bureau’s ability to perform its defined Equity and Inclusion Program work with necessary urgency; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.