Partnership for Common Sense Government - “No” on Charter Reform
Following are notes from this conversation between Partnership for Common Sense Government and members of the Portland Party and others in attendance. PCSG supports a ‘no’ vote on the proposed city charter reform measure.
PCSG does not believe current proposed changes will work
They support a change in the current form of government
Everyone in PAC has government policy experience; no special interest money
Proposed changes
City Manager
Mayor - not on council / not a tie-breaker
4 Districts; 3 Reps per district
Rank Choice Voting
25% of votes needed to win
Lack of accountability
Incumbents would easily win re-election
Confusing to voter - could have 30 people on one ballot to rank
$43.8 million estimated cost for first 3 years of transition
Not clear on what salaries would be after that; salaries and staff sizes would be determined by another new committee after vote passes
Currently council members get around $700k for staff budgets, which should be greatly reduced without bureau oversight needs
Mapps working on bringing a proposal forward to city council if vote fails in November
Hoping Ryan and Wheeler would be on board for 3 votes to pass
Could be possible in May 2023
Ballot alternative announced now?
PCSG not interested in pursuing; talking with Mapps and hoping council will solve the issue that way
Messaging is all-or-nothing with voters right now
Alisa will talk to PCSG and Ulysses PAC (Mapps’ PAC) to see if they can work on countering that message
Charter Commission cartoon pushes message that we have to do this now or wait another 10 years
PCSG feels district representation could be better
Yes to city manager
Yes to districts, but single member
6 Portland Public School districts; could be as easy as using those
Studies show 5-9 representatives is recommended number
“Charter” is a word most people aren’t familiar with to understand what they are undertaking
Representative government might be a better way to word it
We’ve been promised this repeatedly but not delivered
Districts (more than 4) would increase accountability
Let’s get ‘back to basics’ - most of us thought we were voting on a basic question regarding the form of government
Strong mayor / city manager / etc options, not all of the other stuff they lumped in
Stabilize / clean / analyze - add other items as we see positive changes
Nothing changed after April proposal and final public comments flooded in begging to separate
What is the local media’s position on this? PCSG tracking; not sure if media has taken a side
No logical message to voting yes or no out there right now
Figure it out yourself
Complex - we need a simple message
Portland Party - we’ll have alternative ballot measure(s) ready so you can feel secure in voting no
Partnership for Common Sense Government is raising money now for PAC messaging
Event 9/6 - please feel free to join to ask further questions from PCSG!