Portland City Council Archives

Promoting Public Involvement

Promoting public involvement is central to the Portland League’s mission. We believe our democracy works best when the public is involved in decision making.

Letter to City Council

On July 16, we advocated for more public involvement in the process of changing city code. (Click here to see our earlier post.)

Now, we are urging our City Council to involve the public when the City negotiates the next Portland Police Association (PPA) contract.

Our July 30 letter says in part:

…we recommend a robust public engagement process leading into the 2020 negotiations. …we urge you to ensure that the upcoming process involves the community so that their input will have an impact on the outcome.

Portland is a stronger and more vibrant place when its people can bring their skills, knowledge, and lived experiences to the policymaking process.

You can read the entire letter here.

A Related event

The Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform is sponsoring a forum about the contract. Here are details.

Community forum on the Portland Police Association Contract
Monday, August 26 from 6-7:30 PM
Maranatha Church, 4222 NE 12th at Skidmore.
A 20-minute presentation on background; then community input.

Prepare to Vote – 2018 Election Info!

Are you ready to Vote? Find unbiased information on candidates & issues on Vote411.org.

VOTE411.org is an online Voters’ Guide that shows you the candidates and issues on your ballot. It includes everything in our Voters’ Guide and more. There are links to videos of our forums and of talks with the candidates.

Enter your address to find out about the candidates and ballot measures that you will be voting on.

Printed nonpartisan Oregon & Multnomah County Voters’ Guides

Look for copies of the LWV voters’ guides in English and Spanish at all branches of the Multnomah County Library; the Multnomah County Elections Office; New Seasons and other stores; college, university and community college campuses; Gresham City Hall, churches, markets and many other locations.

Click on the links below to view a pdf of the English General Election guides. (Links to the Spanish guides are in the Informacion Electoral post above.)

Nov. 2018 Oregon Voters’ Guide – English

Nov. 2018 Multnomah Voters’ Guide – English

Video Voters’ Guide – recordings of candidate interviews

Click here to watch Video Voters’ Guide recordings of interviews with candidates running for office in Multnomah County. The Video Voters’ Guide recordings also are linked to each candidate on Vote411.org.

The Video Voters’ Guide includes interviews of candidates for U.S. Congress, Governor, the Oregon State Legislature, Circuit Court, and Metro, County and City offices. There are even interviews with the two candidates in the election for Judge of the Circuit Court, 4th District.

Election Forums

Watch the videos of our 2018 General Election forums. (Scroll down and click on the title of each debate in the lists below.) See the schedules for the playbacks on Comcast and Frontier channels by clicking here for the October 2 forum and here for the October 9 forum.

Sponsors for one or more of the Voter Services listed above are: Carol & Velma Saling Foundation, The Wyss Foundation, Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust, Multnomah Bar Foundation, MetroEast Community Media, Vernier Software and Technology, Neil Kelly Company, Paloma Clothing, the Sara Frewing Fund, and LWV of Portland Education Fund.

please be informed and Vote!

Nonpartisan Election Forums!

Watch these debates including both candidates for each office and pro & con speakers for each measure

October 2, 7 – 9 pm

Portland Commissioner Position3, JoAnn A Hardesty vs. Loretta Smith

also October 2:

Ballot Measure 103, prohibiting taxes/fees for “groceries”
Ballot Measure 26-201, Portland’s retailer surcharge for clean energy projects.

October 9, 7 – 9 pm

Multnomah County Auditor, Scott Learn vs. Jennifer McGuirk – in partnership with the City Club of Portland

also October 9:

Measure 105, repealing the law limiting state and local enforcement of federal immigration laws
Measure 26-199, Metro affordable housing bonds
Measure 102, allowing local bonds for financing affordable housing with nongovernmental entities

Both evenings will start at 7 pm in the Multnomah County Boardroom, to the right off the lobby of 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

You won’t want to miss watching these informative forums live in person or via the YouTube recordings on our website. Understand the issues & candidates.

Primary Election Forums! WATCH VIDEOS

View online recordings of the LWV of Portland election forums for candidates in the May 15 Primary Election. See the candidates and compare what they have to say. Be informed when you vote!

These Candidate Forums, co-sponsored by the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty, were held at the Multnomah County Board Room, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Below is list of the forums.

April 10 Forums – Four groups of candidates. Watch the videos of these forums by clicking on the links below.
- Metro President (Note that candidate Michael Langley accepted our invitation, but did not come. Therefore this video shows only candidate Lynn Peterson.)
- Multnomah County Auditor + Multnomah County Auditor, opening and closing statements only
- Multnomah County Chair + Multnomah County Chair, opening and closing statements only
- Multnomah County Commissioner District 2 + Multnomah County Commissioner District 2, opening and closing statements only

April 24 Forums – Three panels of candidates. Watch the videos by clicking the links below.

Sponsors: Multnomah Bar Foundation, MetroEast Community Media, Paloma Clothing, LWV of Portland Education Fund and Sara Frewing Fund.

More LWV News

Portland City Council Position 3 Candidate Forum

Watch and listen to the candidates for Portland City Council Position 3 as they answer questions on the issues they will face if elected.