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In April, the city of Portland solicited bids for the Portland Clean Energy Benefits Fund, or PCEF, a program funded by a tax on large retailers that directs resources to Portlanders most impacted by climate change, specifically low-income residents and communities of color in treeless neighborhoods.
The city sought nonprofit contractors to help develop its “capacity building program,” with as much as $2.5 million available over five years. More than 90 providers responded, seeking business with the city. Capacity building, a term of art, is work that improves a nonprofit organization’s operational abilities.
But on Aug. 27, bidders got an email from the city’s senior procurement specialist, Thor Haglund, who wrote that the request for proposal had been canceled.
“Dear Proposer, following Mayor Wilson’s Executive Order issued on July 31, we are canceling [this] request for proposal,” Haglund wrote in the email, a copy of which was shared with WW. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and recognize the significant time and effort you invested in preparing your proposal. As the Mayor has emphasized, the city remains firmly committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of our work.”
With that order, Wilson sought to ensure that all of the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs would not violate President Donald Trump’s January decree that cities violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would lose federal funding. Favoring some races and genders over others violates the act, the Trump administration said.
An updated RFP will reopen at a later date, Haglund wrote.
Wilson issued his July order to protect $350 million in federal funding that the city receives. Wilson mandated that the city edit the descriptions of its programs to keep them from becoming targets of Trump’s anti-DEI push.
Despite the order, Wilson says he’s committed to preserving the city’s equity initiatives and ensuring that they serve the communities most in need. Just a small subset of programs would need to be tweaked, Wilson has said. PCEF, passed by Portland voters in 2018, is one of those because of its mission.
“At least 50% of the fund’s energy efficiency/renewable energy projects should specifically benefit low-income residents and communities of color,” PCEF’s website says.
At least one other request for proposal, issued by the Portland Water Bureau for electrical pump improvements, was rescinded because of Wilson’s executive order, city spokeswoman Alison Perkins said. A cancellation letter dated Aug. 6 states that the project would be “reposted at a later date with no change to the scope of work, but there will be changes to the procurement language.” That program has no relation to PCEF.
Perkins in an email says that the city is “working to move as quickly as possible” to amend the PCEF solicitation and that it “will be reposted shortly.”
