Adena Long Resigns as Director of Portland Parks & Recreation

Portland Parks & Recreation Director Adena Long has resigned from her position after she was placed on administrative leave last month.

The city placed Long on leave after an intense budget season in which Long’s leadership of the parks bureau and administration of the roughly $50 million annual Parks Levy were questioned by several members of the City Council.

Long has served as director since 2019. The city did not immediately provide the terms of her severance agreement.

The announcement of Long’s resignation comes the same day as a council meeting during which the body will discuss and vote on referring a Parks Levy to the November ballot that would increase the property tax rate to $1.40 per $1,000 of assessed value. The current Parks Levy, a property tax of 80 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, expires next year. That means city voters must pass a new levy in November or the bureau risks losing critical funding to keep its operations going.

Long and other parks leaders have warned for the past year that without a substantial increase of the current levy the bureau would be forced to make deep cuts to its programs and parks maintenance.

City leaders negotiated with the Portland Metro Chamber for weeks this spring on the size of a new Parks Levy that the business chamber wouldn’t oppose; the chamber had threatened an opposition campaign if it thought the levy were too high. Chamber and city negotiators settled last week on $1.40—the number the council is set to discuss and vote on today.

Long said in a statement that the bureau had during her tenure “created accessible third spaces for Portlanders to learn, play, express themselves, and connect; managed green open spaces...provided meals and educational programs for children, offering them essential life skills and a secure environment” and “contributed to the city’s economic growth, and played a role in community revitalization.”

Deputy city administrator Sonia Schmanski will serve as interim parks director while the city searches for Long’s permanent replacement.