PORTLAND, Ore — Mayor Ted Wheeler will maintain his role as the Portland Police Bureau's (PPB) commissioner in 2021.
On Wednesday, Wheeler announced the city commissioners' bureau assignments effective at the start of the new year. The mayor traditionally has taken on the role of police commissioner.
Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, a longtime supporter of police reform who has criticized Wheeler's response to racial justice protests, expressed in July that she would be willing to take on the role of police commissioner.
"I demand action right now. Mayor Wheeler, if you can't control the police, give me the Portland Police Bureau," Hardesty wrote in an open letter to the mayor.
This year, Hardesty oversaw three first responder bureaus: Portland Fire & Rescue, the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management and the Bureau of Emergency Communications.
In a July interview with KGW's Laural Porter, she said "I never wanted the police bureau. But, I believe there's some logic in having all the first responder bureaus under one commissioner. And I would take it, because we are doing this transformation, if the mayor offered it."
Shortly after the interview, Wheeler responded by saying he planned to continue his role as police commissioner.
"I will continue to serve as police commissioner through this time of transformation," he said. "And I will continue to work with elected leaders from the county and the state to ensure that we are examining the criminal justice system as a whole."
Portland's commissioners will make up the most diverse city council in the city's history.
Commissioner-elect Mingus Mapps, who defeated incumbent Chloe Eudaly in the November election, will be the third Black man in city history to serve on council. He will join Commissioner Dan Ryan, who is openly gay, and Comissioner-elect Carmen Rubio, who is Latinx.
Here are the Portland city commissioner's bureau assignments effective Jan. 1, 2021:
Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty
- Portland Bureau of Transportation
- Portland Fire & Rescue
- Office of Community and Civic Life
Liaison Responsibilities
- Portland Mall Management, Inc.
- Portland Aerial Tram Board
- Portland Streetcar, Inc.
- Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation
- Local Public Safety Coordinating Council (with Mayor Wheeler)
- Public Involvement Advisory Council
- Regional Disaster Policy Organization
- Fair & Moral Claims Committee
- New Portlanders Policy Council
Commissioner Mingus Mapps
- Portland Water Bureau
- Bureau of Environmental Services
- Bureau of Emergency Communications
Liaison Responsibilities
- Travel Portland
- Visitors Development Fund
- BOEC User Board
- Fair & Moral Claims Committee
Commissioner Carmen Rubio
- Portland Parks & Recreation
- Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
- Office of Community Technology
Liaison Responsibilities
- Regional Arts and Culture Council
- Portland’5 Centers for the Arts
- Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission
- Portland Community Media
- League of Cities
- Metro Policy Advisory Council
Commissioner Dan Ryan
- Portland Housing Bureau
- Bureau of Development Services
- Joint Office of Homeless Services
Liaison Responsibilities
- Rose Festival
- Portland Children’s Levy
- Home Forward
- Multnomah County Animal Control
- Multnomah Youth Commission
- Royal Rosarians
- A Home For Everyone (with Mayor Wheeler)
Mayor Ted Wheeler
- City Budget Office
- Office of Management and Finance
- Office of Government Relations
- Office of the City Attorney
- Portland Police Bureau
- Prosper Portland
- Portland Bureau of Emergency Management
- Office of Equity and Human Rights
- Office of Violence Prevention
Liaison Responsibilities
- Regional Disaster Policy Organization
- A Home For Everyone (with Commissioner Ryan)
- Local Public Safety Coordinating Council (with Commissioner Hardesty)
- Venture Portland
- Human Rights Commission
