The City of Portland’s volunteer Government Transition Advisory Committee’s (GTAC) final recommendations to new City leaders represent their heartfelt contributions to the success of our new form of government. At its March 19 evening meeting, Portland City Council listened to a presentation of the committee’s final report and recommendations, heard public testimony, and voted unanimously to accept their report. The report was the committee’s capstone project after two years of service.
Advisory body urged council to prioritize certain actions
To realize the full potential of the charter reforms, the committee envisions the need for continuing commitment by both the executive and legislative branches to ongoing work in the following areas:
- Find efficiencies in the new form of government during this budget cycle and ways to continue the transition work.
- Launch a citywide strategic planning process and schedule.
- Create a citywide, systematic approach to community engagement.
- Refine procedures for the ongoing collaborative work between the legislative and executive branches.
- Develop a workplan to implement the GTAC recommendations.
Presentation to council elevated priorities
The chair of council’s new legislative Governance Committee, Council Vice President Tiffany Koyama Lane, welcomed Committee Co-Chairs José Gamero-Georgeson and Fred Neal to the dais.
“This important volunteer committee was tasked with ensuring effective and efficient implementation of charter reform, engaging the public and providing strategic research and advice to the city,” said Council Vice President Koyama Lane. “Last week we welcomed GTAC to the Governance Committee for a robust and targeted discussion on both policy movement and budget development and how community can participate in both.”
Neal made introductory remarks before launching the presentation.
“GTAC members represent a cross-section of Portland, and we are united in involving Portlanders in the successful transition of our government,” said Neal. “The transition to a new government has been remarkably successful. The signature features of the charter amendments, a ranked-choice voting election, new council districts, and the replacement of the commission form of government with a mayor, a city administrator and a legislative council have been implemented.”
Gamero-Georgeson and Neal then covered the highlights of the report during their 20-minute presentation with additional committee members on standby in the newly renovated council chambers, ready to serve as subject matter experts if needed.
Council discussion focused on the City’s community engagement efforts and constituent relations
While the council has already adopted some of the GTAC recommendations to begin their legislative year, they posed additional questions on their roles, committee rules, public participation, and the need for improved coordination between executive and legislative branches.
Committee member Gamero-Georgeson re-emphasized the committee’s guidance on community engagement:
“Charter reform provides an opportunity to redefine what community involvement looks like here in Portland, as well as shift the public opinion of the city itself,” said Gamero-Georgeson. “The new government needs to take full advantage of the new government structures and take proactive care that it does not default to the bad habits and poor practices of the past.”
Gamero-Georgeson continued with “Our general guidance is this: Adopt a thoughtful, unified and well-coordinated approach to community engagement. Crucial to this work is the review and reform of the City’s overall approach to advisory bodies in the context of the new form of government, district representation and a renewed emphasis on system-wide community engagement. It is also crucial for council to implement procedures and manners of communicating with constituents and increase and improve district communications and constituent relations.”
In the report, the GTAC’s recommendations to new City leadership span the five topic areas listed below:
- Engagement with City government
- Budget and budget engagement
- Council and council committees
- City administrator recruitment
- Voter education
Read the final report for full detail on these recommendations.
The members of the Government Transition Advisory Committee appreciate that the city administrator responded in writing to many of the GTAC's recommendations and hopes a similar model will be used for other advisory bodies. The GTAC hopes the City continues to make progress on the recommendations and that the Governance Committee insist on regular updates.
GTAC by the numbers
- Conducted over 75 public meetings.
- Researched 20 peer cities to identify promising practices of good government.
- Gave 141 community presentations.
- Collected 601 survey responses.
- Conducted five community listening sessions.
- Offered five policy discussions and 16 briefings for City staff.
Over its almost two years of work, GTAC members contributed more than 4,000 hours to the City's transition.