Portland, OR — In response to amendments proposed by City Councilors to the City of Portland’s budget, including Council President Dunphy’s Amendment 2 which proposes eliminating funding for the Downtown Marketing Initiative, the Portland Metro Chamber sent the following message to its members on May 18th. Please direct questions and requests to Monice Wong, Media Relations Manager, at mwong@portlandalliance.com.
ACTION ALERT: Speak Out to Restore Funding to Police, Safety, and Shelters; and Save Fragile Progress in Downtown!
The Portland City Council released all budget amendments to the public on Friday, and TODAY is your ONLY CHANCE to fight what can only be described as a budget ambush.
Don't let democracy – and fragile improvements to livability and activations that attract visitors to downtown Portland – die in the dark.
Under Council President Dunphy’s leadership – the council released over 50 sweeping budget amendments and are giving citizens a single day to respond. One day. That's it. That's all the "democracy" they think you deserve.
This is not oversight. This is deliberate and not what Portlanders thought they were getting when they voted for charter reform.
When we voted to change our government in 2022, we were promised more transparency, greater representation, and real public input — not the illusion of it. The stakes couldn't be higher today because these amendments threaten to gut the hard-won progress we've made on public safety, downtown revitalization, and tackling the homeless crisis. Progress that took years of sacrifice to achieve could be wiped out.
Not on our watch.
Show up. Speak up. Make them hear you. Testify in person — or submit written testimony. Both count. Both matter.
Your voice is the only thing that will keep the fragile progress we have made on track. We urge you to use it — right now.
Below are several budget amendments of note:
- Oppose Dunphy Amendment 2
- We strongly oppose Councilor Dunphy's amendment 2. He proposes defunding the Downtown Marketing Initiative which directly funds the city’s most successful and popular downtown promotions like Bloom Tour, Pride Ride, Wild in Art's Coraline Curious Cat & Wildwood Crow Trails, PDX Pop-Up Shops, Downtown for the Holidays programming, and partnerships like Dumpling Week which are proven to generate foot traffic, rebuild public confidence, and restore economic activity and support small businesses in downtown. With downtown recovery still fragile, this is the wrong time to pull resources from efforts that are producing measurable results. This small city investment has leveraged literally millions of dollars of additional investment from private and public sector partners.
- Thanks to these critical and popular promotions monthly downtown visitors have increased by approximately 300% from 2020 pandemic lows. These clear and measurable results have continued to improve the public image of downtown according to a recent Oregonian survey of Portland voters.
- Oppose Green Amendment 2
- We strongly oppose Councilor Green's amendment 2. Self-governed shelters simply do not work. Portland has already tried this model and failed. Abandoning our most vulnerable with acute substance abuse and behavioral health needs is a fundamental failure in caring for the most vulnerable. These autonomous shelters were riddled with drugs, sex trafficking and crime. Before committing additional resources to failed programs, the city should focus on shelters and programs that work and are showing results.
- Support Clark Amendment 1
- We support Councilor Clark's amendment 1. It restores essential public safety services that directly affect emergency response, neighborhood safety, and community confidence across Portland. The amendment preserves critical programs including the CHAT Program, Station 22 Engine, replacement of Fire & Rescue vehicles, police precinct support staff, the Victims’ Services Unit, PS3, emergency management, and training resources by reallocating existing funds without increasing overall spending. These are core frontline services that residents, workers, businesses, and visitors rely on every day, and restoring them strengthens response capacity, supports victims, improves operational efficiency, and helps ensure Portland can deliver the visible, reliable public safety services that communities consistently identify as a top priority.
- Support Smith Amendment 1:
- We support Councilor Smith's amendment 1. It will add general fund resources to the SummerWorks Program which provides economic opportunity and education to communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition. It is funded by reducing the Cannabis Tax Contingency Fund.
Thank you for your efforts to keep our government accountable to its citizens and support Portland's economic future.
Andrew Hoan
President & CEO
Portland Metro Chamber
