Your Voice, Your City: Portland City Council Budget
As we enter 2025, we have some big decisions to make in a period of uncertainty. Both the County and City have large budget deficits, so prioritizing spending is critical.
On the streets, the NWCC Humanitarian Team has seen inconsistent focus on getting the unsheltered homeless to a safe living environment and not having adequate police and prosecutorial services to focus on drug dealing and use, vandalism and crime. This has caused many of our members to actively voice their concerns about the lack of community security, livability, and business success.
While NWCC is working hard for our members and the Pearl District community with humanitarian and security issues, the true solutions lie with the County and the City prioritizing resources to do what strategically works, measured in outcomes, and where accountability matters. If the County and City were to add, instead of cutting budgets, to the homelessness measures (County) and the Portland Police Bureau (City), then your membership dollars that currently focus on those issues can and would be distributed towards other improvements for our community such as businesses development, activation and beautification of the Pearl District. The less the city spends on building up the police force to be able to answer basic 911 calls, the more individual groups across the city, such as NWCC, need to spend filling those gaps. Which takes away from the opportunity to grow rather than just maintain.
This is where your voice matters. Through my work with NWCC and the city, I am able to bring up many of the issues and ask for changes, but our city officials need to hear from their voters directly. Below are a few ways to get involved.
The city is holding a budget process meeting to help inform the public on how their process works. As the City’s budget process progresses, community input will be invited. Learn more about these opportunities at www.portland.gov/budget/join.
District 4: Budget Introduction Meeting
Join District 4 Coalition to learn about the City budget!
January 27, 2025, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, 434 NW 6th Ave., Suite 202
You can also connect directly with your three city council members for District 4 (which includes the Pearl District) to give your thoughts on what the budget should include and where cuts would drastically impact your community. Our leaders need to hear all of our voices!
District 4 City Council Members:
Councilor Olivia Clark — Councilor Mitch Green — Councilor Eric Zimmerman
Our leaders need to hear all of our voices!
I encourage you to check out a blog written by Ken Thrasher, NWCC Board Chair and a highly respected member of the Pearl District community, where he has lived for many years. Ken brings a wealth of experience through his extensive resume and personal advocacy work on various measures, bills, and city initiatives. His deep understanding of the issues facing our city makes his blog an excellent resource for anyone seeking more information on key causes and challenges. Link to blog.
Thank you for your time, your voice, and your support. Please reach out if you have any questions. My email is Chase@nwccpdx.org
Chase
Chase McPherson, Executive Director
