Commissioner Dan Ryan named Culture and Livability Commissioner

Press Release
Published

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: T.J. Mchugh • TJ.Mchugh@portlandoregon.gov

Darion Jones • darion.jones@portlandoregon.gov

Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan receives bureau assignments, including the Arts, Office of Community and Civic Life, Office of Equity and Human Rights, and Portland Parks & Recreation

Mayor Wheeler announced new assignments for City Commissioners and Bureaus Clusters, naming Commissioner Dan Ryan as Culture and Livability Commissioner effective Jan. 1 2023.

Tuesday, January 3, 2023, I’m excited to delve deeper into my new City bureaus, Portland Parks & Recreation, Office of Equity & Human Rights, Civic Life, and the City’s Arts Portfolio—assignments I have asked the Mayor for. I am also grateful for the opportunity to continue leading the Safe Rest Villages program through 2023. 

Over the last two years, I’ve worked across council offices, bureaus, and governmental agencies with community members, nonprofits, and businesses to bring forward solutions that address Portland’s top priorities: public safety, houselessness, and economic recovery. Those will continue to be our priorities as we move forward. 

I am a bridge builder, and I will continue to champion ideas and initiatives that move Portland forward.   

As a seasoned executive, I have a history of building community systems in schools that overlap with parks and neighborhoods—my insights and experience are a natural fit for Parks and Recreation, Neighborhood Associations, Civic Life and Arts. 

I know how vital the relationships between the Community and Portland Parks & Recreation, Portland’5 Centers for the Arts, and the Regional Arts and Culture Council are for the economic stability and vibrance across our 94 neighborhoods. 

I will keep the voice of the community centered at the forefront of our work operationalizing equity at the Office of Community and Civic Life and Office of Equity and Human Rights. We will continue to advance the removal of systemic barriers to fair and just distribution of resources, access, and opportunity, starting with issues of race and disability. 

As leaders, we must move into collaborative action, and measurable results for those our systems have historically failed. We must build generational wealth. 

I have directed my staff to be both curious and bold during this time of transition and build our 90-day work plan with metrics, for the next two years. I am excited about the work ahead.