PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — On Jan. 3, Mayor Ted Wheeler announced the newly arranged and redistributed bureau roles assigned to city commissioners ahead of the City of Portland’s voter-approved transition to a vastly new district-style of government.
Wheeler said that his executive order to shuffle the bureaus into five service areas will help the city transition to the new system of government in 2025. At that time, the reformed charter will give bureau oversight currently held by city commissioners to a not-yet appointed city administrator.
“This shift will help improve how the city manages and oversees bureaus and will ease our full transition to a city-administrator-management system over the course of the next two years,” Wheeler said.
Under the new grouping, Portland’s bureaus have been organized under the following categories: Administration, Public Safety, Community and Economic Development, Public Works, and Culture and Livability.
“Today marks an important step toward the creation of five service-focused city areas that will create the basis for how the future city administrator will lead bureaus in 2025, overseen by the Mayor,” Wheeler said. “Over the next two years, we will continue working with commissioner staff and bureaus to help make city-offered services more integrative. I have met with each commissioner several times over the last few weeks to discuss service areas, including newly elected Commissioner Rene Gonzalez.”
The annual assignments have been appointed to the city council in the following order:
Mayor Ted Wheeler: Administration
- Office of Management and Finance
- City Budget Office
- Office of Government Relations
- Office of the City Attorney
- Portland Police Bureau
- Joint Office of Homeless Services
Liaison Responsibilities:
- League of Oregon Cities
Commissioner Carmen Rubio: Community and Economic Development
- Portland Housing Bureau
- Bureau of Development Services
- Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
- Prosper Portland
Liaison Responsibilities:
- Venture Portland
- Home Forward
- Visitor Development Fund Board (with Mapps)
- Travel Portland
- The Gateway Center
- Workforce Development Board
- Portland Mall Management, Inc.
- Portland Film Office
- Metro Policy Advisory Committee
- Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission
Commissioner Mingus Mapps: Public Works
- Portland Water Bureau
- Bureau of Hydroelectric Power
- Bureau of Environmental Services
- Portland Bureau of Transportation
Liaison Responsibilities:
- Portland Aerial Tram Board
- Portland Streetcar, Inc.
- Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation
- Rose Festival Foundation
- Royal Rosarians
- Fair & Moral Claims Committee (with Ryan)
- Visitor Development Fund Board (with Rubio)
- Local Public Safety Coordinating Council (with Gonzalez)
Commissioner Rene Gonzalez: Public Safety
- Portland Fire & Rescue
- Fire & Police Disability & Retirement
- Bureau of Emergency Communications
- Portland Bureau of Emergency Management
Liaison Responsibilities:
- Liaison Responsibilities
- Regional Disaster Policy Organization
- Local Public Safety Coordinating Council (with Mapps)
- BOEC User Board
Commissioner Dan Ryan: Culture and Livability
- Office of Community and Civic Life
- Office of Equity and Human Rights
- Portland Parks & Recreation
Liaison Responsibilities:
- Regional Arts and Culture Council
- Metropolitan Exposition and Recreation Commission
- Portland’5 Centers for the Arts
- Multnomah Youth Commission
- Multnomah County Animal Control
- Portland Children’s Levy
- Pioneer Courthouse Square
- Portland Parks Foundation
- East Portland Action Plan
- Fair & Moral Claims Committee (with Mapps)
Portland voters approved the new city charter in November. Starting in 2024, Portland will switch from 5 citywide council seats to four districts, each represented by three City Council members.