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Portland Mayor Charlie Hales wants to reform city code to force debate on big-ticket contracts like the Bureau of Environmental Services office building that tripled in cost without City Council discussion.
Hales sent a memo to all city bureau directors on Tuesday that orders all contract increases over $1 million to be immediately taken off the City Council's consent agenda, where items considered routine are passed without debate.
"Having these matters on the Consent Agenda," Hales writes, "seems to be avoiding the in-depth review that may be appropriate as these projects go through the construction process."
Hales has also directed bureaus to flag any changes to contracts, no matter the size, after the first two. He says he wants a full policy discussion on changing city code to make these reforms permanent.
The mayor's order is a direct response to WW's revelations on how an office building for sewer engineers tripled in cost. The latest cost estimate on the project is $12.6 million.
WW reported last week how the building tripled in price with silent approval from the City Council. City Commissioner Nick Fish declared Wednesday that all water and sewer contract changes above $500,000 would be moved off the consent agenda.
Kent Craford, co-petitioner on a ballot measure that would remove the Water and Environmental Services bureaus from City Hall's control, says the reforms are too little, too late.
"These guys have totally misplaced priorities," Craford tells WW. "No little procedural tweak will address that cultural problem."
Hales' full email is below.
WWeek 2015