PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The Portland Charter Commission will hold a third public hearing Tuesday evening to discuss changes to the city’s form of government.
Portland is the only major U.S. city that uses a commission-style government. The city wants to change that and wants voter feedback on what a new government structure should look like.
On March 31, the commission preliminarily agreed on a package of reforms to advance to voters. The package includes three major changes:
First, allow voters to rank candidates in order of their preference, using ranked choice voting.
Second, develop four new geographic districts with three members elected to represent each district, which would expand the city council to a total of 12 members.
And third, create a city council that focuses on setting policy and a mayor elected citywide to run the city’s day-to-day operations, with the help of a professional city administrator.
The hearing will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. People can attend in-person or stream it live on the City of Portland’s website.