Portland Police Bureau officers at a crime scene. (Photo courtesy of Portland Police Bureau)

Mayor Keith Wilson is hopeful the City Council will restore $1.9 million to the Portland Police Bureau budget when it considers the final version of the next $8.5 billion city budget on Wednesday, June 11.

Wilson said an amendment is being prepared to restore the last-minute reduction approved by the council when he spoke at the Portland Metro Chamber’s 2005 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 4.

“The vote will happen next week and I’m hopeful it’s going to move forward,” Wilson said of the most contentious item in the budget that must be balanced and approved before the July 1 beginning of the next fiscal year.

A special meeting of the council has been scheduled to take additional public testimony on the next Portland budget at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10. The tentatively approved budget will be posted on the council’s webpage on Friday, June 6. The final vote is scheduled the day after the new hearing.

The council can make minor changes to the budget on June 11 before the final vote. One contentious issue remains a $1.9 million transfer from the Portland Police Bureau to Portland Parks & Recreation that passed on a 7-5 vote shortly before the midnight deadline for tentative approving the balanced budget on Wednesday, May 21.

The $1.9 million had been requested by Mayor Keith Wilson to help PPB fill 90 vacant positions. He said increasing public safety is necessary to continue the city’s post-pandemic economic recovery.

After the vote, Wilson said, “We’re looking at how the decision to remove $1.9 million in proposed PPB funding may impede our efforts to recruit a next generation of law enforcement first responders who will represent and serve our community, as well as the critical missions that get pounds of fentanyl and human trafficking victims off our streets. Any option that repairs, restores and revitalizes Portland is on the table, including jurisdictional partnerships and collaborations on the crucial public safety issues our community has asked us to solve. We’ve made improvements, but we can’t let our continuing high crime rates, response times, and livability issues go unaddressed.”

The council continued to discuss the transfer during a Wednesday, May 28, work session on the budget. It included a detailed explanation of how funds budgeted for vacant positions currently are being used to pay for overtime, preventing them from being used to hire new officers.

The work session happened at the same time as a protest opposing the PPB funding transfer in East Portland. It was held by Future Portland, a grassroots volunteer organization that supports safety and livability, included speakers representing both Portland and Gresham community groups and residents.

“I think the mayor, very wisely, chose to try to address the staffing issue that took us three decades to build. The city grew but the number of police officers serving it declined. So, I think we should follow his lead. I think it’s a shortcoming that needs to be addressed because one of the fundamental tenets of community is that when you need help, there are people around you to offer it,” KOIN 6 News reported Eli Arnold, a former Portland police officer, as saying.

A group with opposing views showed up and spoke in favor of the additional parks funding, however.

“I want you to remember this, every year Portland Police and police departments across the country keep asking for more and more money. The United States has the highest number of people in our jails and prisons of any country in the world. If funding our police made our communities safer, we should be the safest city and country in the world,” Sandy Chung, director of the ACLU of Oregon, was reported as saying.

More information on the June 10 meeting can be found at portland.gov/auditor/council-clerk/events.