Councilors Pirtle-Guiney and Novick draw a line in the sand: The Protecting Portland's Progress amendment that would save jobs and services without mortgaging Portland's future

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Councilors Elana Pirtle-Guiney and Steve Novick are introducing "Protecting Portland's Progress," a proposed amendment to the City's budget that limits cuts to core services that Portlanders depend on and retains critical City employees without raiding reserves, destabilizing City finances, or mortgaging the City's future for short-term politics. Pirtle-Guiney and Novick contrast their proposal with a competing proposal by Councilors Green, Morillo, and Avalos - an obvious election-year play that pretends no difficult decisions will ever have to be made.

Portland is facing a budget shortfall of more than $160 million, and the Mayor's proposed budget cuts City jobs and services to fill the gap. Protecting Portland's Progress acts to preserve crucial jobs and services, including for public safety, with key restorations including 12 Public Safety Support Specialists (PS3s), three Portland Fire rescue teams and vehicles, and funding for robust public safety training. Without additional funds, Police Chief Bob Day has said, numerous critical training programs will be at risk - including training in crisis de-escalation, responsible crowd control, and safe driving. The Green-Morillo-Avalos amendment does not restore any funds for this critical training, which is necessary to hold the Portland Police Bureau to the standard Portlanders expect.

In addition, Protecting Portland's Progress addresses mistakes and missteps made by the Administration in its recent move to cut costs, which were raised as top priorities to address in this budget by City employees who are closest to the work and best able to identify these problem areas. The amendment would restore some positions that were slated to be cut as part of a "core realignment" effort, but which City unions and City administrators agree would add additional risk - such as cutting Bureau of Transportation employees who actually help bring in money to the Bureau.

Councilors Novick and Pirtle-Guiney are also proposing to extend employment through August 3rd and healthcare benefits through the end of August for all employees laid off in this budget. This will smooth the significant cuts the budget requires, both for Portlanders relying on service delivery and for City employees.

Council began introducing amendments to restore jobs and services in May. A previous effort to restore cuts to public safety, introduced by Councilor Olivia Clark and co-sponsored by Councilors Novick and Pirtle-Guiney, borrowed funds from the Community Board for Police Accountability (CBPA). When the Clark amendment failed 6-6 at the dais, Councilor Pirtle-Guiney brought forward two scaled-back proposals, both of which also failed in a 6-6 gridlock. Other proposals were brought forward over the course of deliberations that pulled from reserve and contingency, which several Councilors, including Pirtle-Guiney and Novick, were uncomfortable with.

Now, Councilors Green, Morillo, and Avalos have put forward an amendment that will draw heavily on unbudgeted interest dollars to fund a wish list of proposals regardless of future consequences. While Novick and Pirtle-Guiney agree that a limited use of those dollars is defensible, the $16+ million amendment risks destabilizing Portland's finances and causing even more difficult cuts next year.

"It's critical that Council starts acting as real leaders now, instead of spending money we don't have to avoid making difficult choices," Councilor Steve Novick said. "We consulted with labor. We restore dangerous cuts. But when a family loses a source of income, they know they have to reduce expenses. They do not - as the Green-Morillo-Avalos amendment does - spend their entire savings account before making any move to reduce spending. Our proposal combines respect for labor and concern for the City's financial needs."

"After weeks of competing proposals, this amendment is the result of the diligent effort of compromise," Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney said. "Every single member of Council has voted to restore cuts to public safety. Almost all Councilors seem to share concerns about the structural problems with core realignment that labor has raised. Now is the time to choose a path that allows us to address the most pressing concerns while acting as responsible stewards of Portlanders' tax dollars. We invite our colleagues to join us in supporting this proposal."

Protecting Portland's Progress will be considered by the full City Council on Wednesday, June 10, at the first reading to adopt the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget.