Portland City Council fights, feuds and fails its way to not electing its own leader

After nearly eight hours of tense, wide-ranging debate, Portland City Council failed to elect a new council president at its first meeting of the year on Wednesday.

The meeting wrapped at 5 p.m. after nine rounds of deadlocked 6-6 votes, which pitted current council president Elana Pirtle-Guiney against fellow District 2 Councilor Sameer Kanal.

The standoff demonstrated how, despite a year of working together under a new form of government, the new councilors still struggle to compromise on critical issues.

The meeting began as a discussion over leadership style and good governance, with councilors split on familiar political lines. The six members of the city’s progressive caucus (or, “Peacock”) voted to support fellow Peacock member Kanal, while the six more moderate councilors sided with Pirtle-Guiney.

Although Mayor Keith Wilson is allowed to cast tie breaking votes in most council decisions, city attorneys say that rule doesn’t apply to the council president vote.

Councilor Jamie Dunphy nominated Kanal, arguing that Portland City Council could benefit from a leadership change each year.

“I believe that by rotating leadership, it helps ensure that no single style of governance becomes the default or entrenched,” Dunphy said. “We’re building a shared institutional framework that will serve the council body for years and decades to come.”

Councilor Loretta Smith nominated Pirtle-Guiney, saying the city needed stability.

“She has consistently demonstrated an ability to listen to the needs of our constituents and advocate for solutions that foster growth and inclusivity,” Smith said.

Portland’s council president is responsible for presiding over meetings and setting council agendas, meaning they determine when other councilors’ policies come to a vote.

Both Kanal and Pirtle-Guiney laid out similar visions on how they’d operate in the role. Both said they’d focus on improving transparency and oversight in the council’s second year.

But despite hours of debate and back-and-forth, one thing was consistent: No councilors were willing to change their vote. As the afternoon wore on the discussion devolved into personal attacks and accusations.

Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane, who has worked as the council vice president alongside Pirtle-Guiney for the past year, accused Pirtle-Guiney of icing her out of leadership conversations and being hostile towards colleagues.

“There is a pattern from our current council president of berating people of color and those in subordinate positions inside this building,” said Koyama Lane. The 12-person council, which represents four geographic districts, is the most racially diverse in the city’s history.

Other members of the progressive caucus said they felt like Pirtle-Guiney had unfairly de-prioritized votes on council items introduced by Peacock members — an accusation she rejected.

Kanal, the first Asian American man elected to city council, received his own critiques. Councilor Eric Zimmerman said Kanal had demonstrated “juvenile, disruptive” behavior at council meetings by drawing meetings out with questions about administrative process. He said that as the co-chair of the council’s Community and Public Safety Committee, Kanal ran meetings poorly.

“I think that there’s a temperament it takes to sit in this chair,” Zimmerman said. “The temperament that I expect of the president is not a temperament I think you hold.”

Councilor Olivia Clark also raised concerns about Kanal being the subject of an open state ethics investigation for potentially violating state public meeting laws earlier this year.

“As we air all of our grievances,” she said, “I wonder what the public would think about electing a counselor as president who’s under investigation. I just want to throw that out there.”

These more targeted complaints did little to move Wednesday’s vote forward, instead leading councilors to accuse each other of racism and immaturity.

“I think this got to a really ugly place, and I’m very, very angry,” said Councilor Angelita Morillo.

After a ninth round of voting ended in a stalemate, councilors agreed to sleep on the decision and reconvene Thursday at 2 p.m.

The electoral standoff was reminiscent of the council’s inaugural council president vote last January, which also took nine rounds of voting over two hours to conclude. Councilor Mitch Green cast the tiebreaking vote in that election, breaking away from his progressive allies to support Pirtle-Guiney over Councilor Candace Avalos.

“I compromised, and I did it at the risk of some relationships and I did it knowing full well that many of my supporters and my base were gonna be really disappointed in me,” Green said Wednesday, urging councilors to join him in electing Kanal.

“As we’re going into this conversation, we’re talking about unity, compromise, togetherness. Remember that every single person at this dais can compromise.”