Today, Mayor Wheeler announced the new assignments of City Bureaus beginning an overhauled process of grouping City Bureaus into five service areas: Administration, Public Safety, Community and Economic Development, Public Works, and Culture and Livability. The bureaus within each service area will report to the same Commissioner-in Charge, as assigned by the Mayor.
“Today marks an important step toward the creation of five service-focused city areas that will create the basis for how the future City Administrator will lead bureaus in 2025, overseen by the Mayor,” said Mayor Ted Wheeler. “Over the next two years, we will continue working with commissioner staff and bureaus to help make city-offered services more integrative. I have met with each Commissioner several times over the last few weeks to discuss service areas, including newly elected Commissioner Rene Gonzalez. This shift will help improve how the city manages and oversees bureaus and will ease our full transition to a City Administrator management system over the course of the next two years.”
Under Portland’s current form of government, the Mayor is given the duty to assign city bureaus to each City Commissioner. This follows a recent Executive Order signed on December 30, 2022, which went into effect January 1, 2023, to assign bureaus by service area.
MAYOR TED WHEELER - Administration
Office of Management and Finance
City Budget Office
Office of Government Relations
Office of the City Attorney
Portland Police Bureau
Joint Office of Homeless Services
Liaison Responsibilities
League of Oregon Cities
COMMISSIONER CARMEN RUBIO - Community and Economic Development
Portland Housing Bureau
Bureau of Development Services
Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
Prosper Portland
Liaison Responsibilities
Venture Portland
Home Forward
Visitor Development Fund Board (with Mapps)
Travel Portland
The Gateway Center
Workforce Development Board
Portland Mall Management, Inc.
Portland Film Office
Metro Policy Advisory Committee
Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission
COMMISSIONER MINGUS MAPPS – Public Works
Portland Water Bureau
Bureau of Hydroelectric Power
Bureau of Environmental Services
Portland Bureau of Transportation
Liaison Responsibilities
Portland Aerial Tram Board
Portland Streetcar, Inc.
Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation
Rose Festival Foundation
Royal Rosarians
Fair & Moral Claims Committee (with Ryan)
Visitor Development Fund Board (with Rubio)
Local Public Safety Coordinating Council (with Gonzalez)
COMMISSIONER RENE GONZALEZ – Public Safety
Portland Fire & Rescue
Fire & Police Disability & Retirement
Bureau of Emergency Communications
Portland Bureau of Emergency Management
Liaison Responsibilities
Regional Disaster Policy Organization
Local Public Safety Coordinating Council (with Mapps)
BOEC User Board
COMMISSIONER DAN RYAN – Culture and Livability
Office of Community and Civic Life
Office of Equity and Human Rights
Portland Parks & Recreation
Liaison Responsibilities
Regional Arts and Culture Council
Metropolitan Exposition and Recreation Commission
Portland’5 Centers for the Arts
Multnomah Youth Commission
Multnomah County Animal Control
Portland Children’s Levy
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Portland Parks Foundation
East Portland Action Plan
Fair & Moral Claims Committee (with Mapps)
Oversight of the Small Donor Elections Program is set by City Code 2.16.190, which will be amended in early 2023.
Note on Portland Voters Approve Charter Change
On November 8, 2022, voters approved Portland Measure 26-228, which amended the City’s Charter by establishing a mayor-council form of government, establishing the role of a City Administrator, creating four new geographic districts with three councilors representing each district, and electing City officials using ranked choice voting.
With this new form of government taking effect in January 2025, City Council has two years to implement these charter changes, including transitioning how City bureaus are administratively managed to align with and prepare for City Administrator oversight and improve service delivery to Portlanders.
During the two-year implementation window, the City must continue to focus on addressing major challenges citywide, specifically regarding homelessness and public safety. The work listed above represents three essential drivers of change: preparing for better governance, improving service delivery and bureau management, and addressing Portland’s most challenging problems of homelessness and public safety.