Portland City Council

A City Council-appointed commission all but approved a final plan Wednesday night to divide Portland into four geographic voting districts. A final vote Monday is expected to kick off a particularly unique election season.

Nearly three years after Portlanders overwhelmingly voted to establish a new system to address police officer misconduct, the details of the new oversight body are coming into focus.

Members of the commission say much of their attention has been focused on defining “communities of common interest.”

Several Portland nonprofits, businesses and advocacy groups are urging the city’s elected officials to fully fund and expand Portland Street Response, the city program that sends mental health workers — instead of police — to 911 calls related to people having behavioral health crises outside.

A draft proposal by the five-person salary commission proposes a pay hike for officials elected to Portland’s new form of government in 2025, which will expand the size of City Council from four to 12 members.

Portland leaders will consider updating the city’s publicly-funded campaign finance program Wednesday in preparation for an unprecedented 2024 election.

The ordinance bans camping on public property from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and introduces stricter rules on camping during all other hours. “These reasonable restrictions are a step in the right direction towards a revitalized Portland,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said before voting Wednesday.

The Portland City Council heard hours of testimony about a controversial plan to ban tent camping across the city for much of the day.

The agency that oversees Multnomah County’s homelessness response is at risk of losing key support from one of its founding members: the city of Portland.

The Portland City Council voted last month to indefinitely table a proposal from the city auditor to create a new transparency advocate position. Instead, they passed a different transparency resolution introduced by Commissioner Dan Ryan.