Webinar: Police Oversight Update

Watch the video of our webinar on the new Community Board to investigate police misconduct

On  October 11, the League of Women Voters of Portland presented a Zoom webinar on “A new Community Board for Police Accountability.” The speakers and the moderator were members of the Police Accountability Commission (PAC). The PAC spent thousands of volunteer hours planning the details of how this new community board will operate. The final plan carries out the requirements in the charter amendment that voters passed in November 2020 by almost 82%.  A representative of the U.S. Department of Justice  also spoke.

Listen to the  podcast of this event by clicking here.

Schedule for replays of this program on cable TV:

LWV Info on Charter Reforms

By M.O. Stevens – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10470949

The League is working hard to make sure the charter reforms that voters passed in November 2022  will make Portland’s government and elections better.

Our new page on City Charter Reform links to resources explaining ranked choice voting and the decisions being made now about our 2025 city government. We’ll be adding more resources as these decisions are finalized. Stay tuned!

It’s Time to Get Ready to Vote

Most voters’ ballots arrived in the mail by May 4. Election Day is May 16.

Your vote matters. We have election resources to help you get ready to vote.

This Special District Election is about local measures and candidates. The results will affect local government policies, services for our communities, and taxes to support those services.

Check out our May 2023 Special Election webpage which connects to written explanations of the three Multnomah County  ballot measures. In addition, you’ll find links to candidates’ answers to questions, videos of Voter Forums and candidate interviews for the major races, and podcasts of those forums and interviews.

The measures would: create a new tenant resources program funded by a capital gains tax; finance expanded public safety programs for Gresham with a new tax levy; and renew the Portland Children’s Levy. Also:

    • You can watch or listen to a forum on Multnomah County Measure 26-238. This would create a 0.75% capital gains tax to pay for legal services for tenants facing eviction. Pro and Con speakers present their arguments for and against this measure.
    • Voters throughout Multnomah County will be voting on the candidates running for all the positions on their local school and community college boards. We have recordings of interviews with some of these candidates. There is also a forum in which the candidates for the Portland Public Schools Board from Zone 3 answer questions. One of these candidates, Derrick Peterson, has since withdrawn from this race.
    • We also have a forum for voters in Southeast Portland , who will be electing a new Multnomah County Commissioner for District 3. This seat formerly was held by Jessica Vega-Pederson, who is now the County Chair.

All the candidates running in Multnomah County were offered free opportunities to answer questions for VOTE411.org and to participate in short recorded interviews. They have until Election Day to enter their answers on VOTE411.org. We have posted the recordings of the interviews.