PORTLAND, Ore. — A historic change is coming to Portland in just about three weeks. A new mayor will take office, along with 12 members of the city council instead of just four commissioners. The city's current and future mayors met with reporters Thursday for a briefing on the transition that's underway.
Mayor Ted Wheeler and Mayor-elect Keith Wilson both said that the transition is going smoothly. Wilson already has an office in the city building, and said he's been included in a number of meetings and briefings as he gets up to speed on the inner workings of city government — an entirely new experience for the political outsider.
Under the new form of government, Portland's mayor and city administrator will direct city employees in day-to-day duties, with the help of six deputy administrators. Meanwhile, the city council will act as a legislative branch and control the budget.
Wilson was asked Thursday whether he's worried that the new city council members, many of whom were elected on progressive platforms, would cooperate with his plan to end unsheltered homelessness through overnight shelters in his first year, accompanied by a more proactive enforcement of the ban on street camping.
"I've had seven meetings with the 12 so far, long meetings, so we can develop a relationship, and also, I can gain an idea of their ideals, their ideology," Wilson said. "Not one of them have said that leaving Portlanders on the streets is something that they want to do or that they accept. In fact, many of them said, 'We're behind you 100%. Let's go. Onward.'"
When it comes to the city's new bureaucratic structure, a sort of "soft-launch" began this past July, with deputy city administrators taking control of the bureaus — now organized into different service areas — instead of the elected commissioners having charge of them. The idea was to work out any kinks during the months before the official changeover on Jan. 1.
Wheeler spearheaded that transition and said that it's been going smoothly, all things considered.
"We're farther along than I thought we would be at this point in the transition process," he said. "It has gone better than I expected, with fewer hitches than I expected, and with support — both to our internal organization and externally in the community."
Members of the new city council will be sworn in Dec. 18.
And as the end of the year approaches, Wilson said he has made a major decision on where he will focus his attention, in large part leaving behind his place in the business world.
"I will be departing from (trucking company Titan Freight) as the CEO," he said. "And what that looks like is a host of different options, so we're going to be reducing. Being the mayor of Portland is a full-time job and then some. And we are not going to compromise this by having a foot in both worlds."
Portland's acting city administrator, Michael Jordan, will stay on until the new budget takes effect July 1. Wilson said this will give him valuable insight, since Jordan has worked as a senior leader for several governments and oversaw Portland's transition this past year.