At a time of great heartache for many of our neighbors, what I have seen over and over again, is a city that banded together and looked past our differences to support one another.
In the last few months, I have been on Zoom calls and meetings with thousands of you. I’ve heard every single feedback. I’ve heard every single concern and expression of gratitude. My fellow commissioners have as well.
That’s why we drafted this resolution, to communicate our collective values.
Today, Portland City Council unanimously adopted a resolution on our resilience values. As we begin to map out longer-term actions to help Portland, we believe we will emerge from this crisis even stronger than we were before the pandemic hit.
This resolution states the Council’s intent to use every public dollar to achieve long-term goals and leverage other funding and financing sources, while simultaneously centering the City’s climate and equity goals.
The text of the resolution is available here.
This resolution affirms and enshrines existing community-driven values that will remain a top priority through our COVID-19 response work and longer-term recovery. It is a values framework that will serve as a benchmark to guide us in every decision we make going forward.
This resolution is possible because of our community partners’ hard work to turn our deeply held values of climate action, environmental health, civil rights protections and equity, into City-adopted resolutions, Ordinances and Plans. Examples of what this resolution accomplishes include:
- Outlines City Council's role in the COVID-19 response, linking the ECC and other Bureau efforts with City Council in a public hearing setting;
- Aligns City Council's COVID-19 response with City Council's adopted values and goals in existing plans and policies;
- Clarifies outcomes that Council wants to see in the COVID-19 response (equity and climate change, in particular);
- Adopts a citywide COVID-19: Equity Toolkit;
- Creates an expectation of a regular, public update to Council about the City's COVID-19 response; and
- Fosters hope and social cohesion to co-create a more just, secure and resilient Portland with community- and mission-based organizations and Portland residents.
We created a social media toolkit here. Please help us share the word.
The resolution is the culmination of feedback from many of our community partners since COVID-19 hit Portland. These values reaffirm our collective beliefs and the resolution will be the framework in which we make every major decision on resilience, response, and investments in our community.
It is vitally important that as we better understand the economic impact and the needs of our community in the years ahead, we don’t lose sight of our values.
That is what this resolution does.
And from this space, we move and lead.
I hope you are all safe and healthy.
Thank you for your helping keep us all safe. Thank you for your incredible patience and resolve during this time.
This is our city, this is our home, and we will come out of this stronger and more resilient.