Portlanders are invited to weigh in on who should become the Independent Monitor assessing the City’s compliance with a federal settlement agreement on policing.
The City and DOJ welcome community feedback on the candidates through Sunday, March 24, the final day of a 32-day public comment period, by email to monitor.hire@portlandoregon.gov.
The City and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced three finalists for the important position on February 21, after initial interviews conducted by the City and DOJ, and observed by representatives from the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice, the Police Reform, the Mental Health Alliance, the Portland Police Association, and the Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing. They are:
Crime and Justice Institute, Katie Zafft
DLG Consulting, Darryl Neier
MPS and Associates, Mark P. Smith
Profiles and resumes for each team are available for review here.
Each team participated in a community forum on Tuesday, March 12, which allowed for both in-person and virtual participation. A video of that forum is available here. The candidates each provided a 15-minute presentation of their team and their proposal, followed by a facilitated Q&A with the community.
Community members’ questions posed on-line and in person that could not be answered due to time constraints were then forwarded to the candidates for written response. Those responses are available here.
Following the forum last week, the City and DOJ conducted final interviews with each candidate and received stakeholder input. After March 24, 2024, the City and the DOJ will confer and jointly select a candidate for the Court to appoint as the Independent Monitor.
The City looks forward to moving forward in this effort and attaining full compliance with the Settlement Agreement in partnership among the parties, the amici, and our community.