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During a seven-hour “priorities-setting” discussion on March 7 led by a Texas consulting firm, Portland city councilors spoke mostly about hopes and dreams, despite facing a difficult budget year in which they will likely be forced to cut millions from current programs and services.
Little, if any, discussion addressed the difficult question of what councilors would seek to cut when faced with a general fund budget shortfall that’s estimated to exceed $100 million. When asked to list “success measures” for each of the six overlapping top priorities set early on in the retreat (public safety, housing-homelessness, the economy, core services/delivery systems, sustainable infrastructure, and quality of life/transportation), councilors instead gave answers of varying scales and specificity.
Take public safety, for instance. Councilors tossed around such success measures as improving 911 and police response times, solving crimes, disaster preparedness and the ability to rebuild after a natural disaster, sending the right responder to the right call type, increasing public trust, and doing no harm.
Speaking on background to WW, councilors shared differing thoughts about the retreat. Some said the discussion was too superficial and unrealistic given the city’s actual budget constraints. Others said it felt productive, even if only because it forced councilors who disagree to sit down and talk to one another. And some said the facilitators knew too little about the depth of divisions on the council to actually push it toward hard conversations.
The city could not immediately provide a cost estimate for the retreat, saying it’s awaiting the final bill from the contractor.
