PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland City Council reversed course Wednesday on a controversial plan to reallocate nearly $5 million in funding that had been promised — but not yet delivered — to the organization Reimagine Oregon.
The organization formed during the summer 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd, and is made up of multiple Black-led organizations, community members and activists.
During the city council's regular spring budget adjustment process last week, Commissioner Mingus Mapps introduced an amendment to hold back a $4.89 million chunk of cannabis tax revenue that had been set aside for Reimagine Oregon, freeing it up to be spent elsewhere.
The amendment passed on a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Dan Ryan and Rene Gonzalez voting with Mapps, and Commissioner Carmen Rubio and Mayor Ted Wheeler voting no.
The council voted in 2020 to use cannabis revenue to make an annual $1.9 million contribution to Reimagine Oregon, according to OPB, with the intention that the organization would use the money to invest in the Black Portland community — but none of the accumulated $4.89 million has been delivered to the organization yet.
The council's move to revoke the unused funding drew harsh criticism from Reimagine Oregon and several prominent Black Oregon leaders.
In a post on its website, the organization called the decision a "breach of trust" and argued that Ryan had remained committed to getting the funding out to Reimagine Oregon as recently as January.
The spring budget adjustment came back for a second reading at the council's Wednesday meeting, and Commissioner Carmen Rubio introduced a new amendment to repeal the Mapps amendment from a week earlier, putting the funding back in line to go to Reimagine Oregon.
Rubio said the previous week's vote "shouldn't sit well with any of us," and she faulted the city for the failure to get the funds delivered, noting that many of the city staff involved in the work in 2020 have since departed.
"Over the past two years, this work hasn't moved forward as quickly as we'd all originally hoped, and part of that responsibility is on us," she said. "The city hasn't shown up in a consistent way to support Reimagine in moving the work forward."
Ryan indicated that he had changed his position from the week before and would support Rubio's amendment, and it ultimately passed on another 3-2 vote, with Ryan joining Rubio and Wheeler in voting for the repeal. The council then passed the overall spring budget adjustment, adding an emergency clause to eliminate the need to bring it back for an additional reading at a later meeting.
