Since being assigned the Office of Community & Civic Life, Commissioner Ryan has worked hard to reset the Office and ensure it returns to its core mission of being an objective convenor between our community and the government. He understands the benefit our 94 neighborhoods and is pushing for a strong connection between them and the City. Since the draft of the new city organization was shared, there have been many questions about the future of the Office of Community and Civic Life.
It is important to note with the new organization, the Office of Community and Civic Life is not being eliminated. The Office has been elevated via the Portland Solutions model. This move was in direct response to neighborhood associations and DCOs and provides more direct access to teams who actively manage some of the most pressing concerns in the city.
I wanted to share with you some additional insights:
Under the new form of government approved by voters, Portland will be structured into 4 districts. In order to better align to the new form of government, our District Coalition model will also evolve from 7 coalitions to 4. The funding to coalitions will remain the same, with the funding moving from 7 current coalitions being reinvested to the 4 new ones. For each of the 4 district coalitions, there will be a corresponding neighborhood Coordinator housed in the Office of Community and Civic Life. This point person for the district will be there to help the neighbors navigate the city structure to be more responsive.
The City recognizes that Civic Life’s programs are important and provide a valuable way for Portlanders to engage with their government. In the current draft organization chart, DCOs will be housed in Portland Solutions under the Mayor’s Office and the Immigrant & Refugees, Advisory Bodies, Diversity & Civic Leadership, and Multnomah Youth Commission programs will be under the Office of the City Administrator. The Commissioner has asked that the Immigrant and Refugee program move to align with the DCO’s.
Portland Solutions is designed to provide place-based solutions to livability challenges happening in each neighborhood. Livability issues include homelessness, street response, graffiti, and litter. Portland Solutions will integrate programs that work on livability issues under one umbrella. Assigning Portland Solutions to the Mayor’s Office or the City Administrator’s Office will allow the City to respond to Portlanders’ needs quickly and with fewer administrative and bureaucratic barriers.
The Office of Community and Civic Life is it’s own entity under the Portland Solutions 3 department group, and this program will either remain in the Mayor’s office or report within the City Administrator’s office.
As directed by City Council, on September 12, 2023, Michael Jordan, the City’s Chief Administrative Officer, released a draft organizational chart to change how the City is run to align with voter-approved changes to the government. It was created based on months of research and engagement with City leadership and employees. This new chart is a draft and is subject to change.
The Chief Administrative Officer will bring the draft organizational chart to City Council for vote on Oct. 19. Before the Oct. 19 presentation and vote, the public is invited to learn more about the draft organizational chart and provide feedback. The City’s Charter Transition team and Chief Administrative Officer will hold a virtual community information session to go over the draft organization chart on Sept. 27, from 6 – 7 p.m. You can sign up here.
From now until Sept. 30, 2023: The public is encouraged to provide public comment on the City of Portland Draft Organizational Chart by Sept. 30, at 11:59 p.m. You can also send an email directly to transition@portlandoregon.gov. Comments received after this date will be forward to City Council for their information.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions. For all organization feedback, please use the links above.