17
rid:H!M44Jnews
S howing
I nitiative
A petition to restructure the
Portland City Council reflects
one man's quest for better
government by Timothy Krause
t’s often hard for people that are on
the inside of the establishment to
stand up and be changed,” Robert
Ball says. "You have to have someone
who has the interest, the resources,
the desire and the belief in an idea.”
Ball thinks he is that someone. And the
establishment he wishes to change is the Port
land City Council. This gay reserve police cap
tain and real estate investor filed a petition
June 12 with City Hall on behalf of the Good
Government Committee seeking to change city
government into a council-and-mayor format.
“Portland is the largest city in the United
States that continues to operate under the com
mission form of government,” says Ball, chief
petitioner for the initiative. “As our city grows
and becomes more diverse, it is important that
we, as citizens, are involved in council decisions.”
Ball, 35, traces the roots of his civic activism
back to Jan. 15, 1995, when he was held up at
gunpoint outside the home he and his life part
ner share in Northwest Portland. He decided
public safety was an important issue and began Robert Ball says his plan will improve diversity,
to volunteer at the local community policing and division of powers
office. He soon joined the police reserve pro people is a natural conflict. It’s the climate not to
gram, where he has had the opportunity to see question another commissioner’s business. We’ve
city government from the inside.
had a history of known turf battles, but this [peti
Ball considered challenging Mayor Vera Katz tion] will allow all of our bureaus to work under
in last year’s election. Before his campaign got one common, united vision.”
off the ground, however, a business opportunity
The Gcxxl Government Com
arose to renovate the Pearl Districts historic mittee’s initiative seeks to divide
Marshall-Wells warehouse building. His profes the policymaking and administra
sional career led him from seeking office to sell tive duties into distinct branches.
ing lofts, but certain issues continued to res City Council members would set
onate with this young politician.
policy, while the mayor, no longer a
“One of the things that came to me was that member of the City Council, would
people were feeling more disconnected with administer professionally managed
City Hall,” he states. “So, I started to research city bureaus.
why we are having this disconnect.”
The amendment also increases
He began reading everything he could about the number of council members to nine. Two
city administration and representative govern council members and the mayor would continue
ment. At his own expense, he traveled to cities to be elected at large. The remaining seven
such as San Francisco, Denver and Phoenix to members would be elected by districts roughly
study model administrations in action. After more equivalent in population. The districts initially
than a year of investigation, Ball established the would be drawn by the council but would be
reviewed with every feder
al census or annexation.
Greater diversity among
city commissioners is an
ormer council clerk Cay Kershner writes on the city’s Internet
other anticipated benefit,
site at www.ci.portland.or.us; "[Portland’s] commission form of
says Ball, who cites recent
government differs from most municipal governments in that its census data revealing 25
members (four commissioners and the mayor) serve both as the city’s
percent of Portland resi
legislative body and as administrators of city departments, individu
dents are ethnic minorities.
ally overseeing bureaus and carrying out policies approved by the
District elections not only
council while wearing its legislative hat. The assignment of depart
would encourage wider geo
ments and bureaus is determined by the mayor and may be changed
graphic representation but
at her/his discretion. Council members also act in a quasi-judicial
also would foster other
capacity when hearing land-use and other types of appeals.”
demographic
diversity.
Rather than a large, city
Good Government Committee and finalized an
wide campaign, elections within a district would be
outline for a new municipal government featuring smaller and less expensive.
what he describes as separate but balanced powers.
“Politics used to be going out, shaking hands,
"Many of the limitations of our elected offi talking about issues, meeting people and under
cials are not because of their not wanting to do a standing what their concerns are,” Ball says.
great job but because the system does not allow “We don’t have that in our city. We get a flier in
them to," he says. “Having to run several bureaus the mail or what we see on television. This will
and do the best job that they can do representing be an opportunity for somebody who doesn’t
il 1
have as much money to
run, because the cost of
elections will be less.”
And he sees this diversi
ty extending to Portland’s
sexual minorities communi
ty simply by increasing the
opportunity to participate.
“This initiative will
give all minorities a better
chance to be on our City
Council,” he suggests. “1
think we’re very close to
having a member of the
LGBT community on our
City Council. 1 would
anticipate that, with a
greater number of opportu
nities, we would see more
diverse representation.”
For the petition to
appear on the May 2002
ballot, 26,095 valid signa
tures must be gathered by
Jan. 21. Ball indicates the
committee will use a com
bination of paid and volun
teer signature gatherers,
many of whom will go door
to door.
“We have a plan to get
there," Ball states confi
dently, “and the reaction so
far has been fantastic.”
The Good Government
Committee's plan included
a strategic decision not to
reveal the petition to the
local representation public before it was filed
with the city. Ball explains
he wanted to prevent any misconceptions until its
content was finalized. Although he is meeting
with each of the commissioners, he recognizes the
petition might have come as a surprise to some.
“They listened, and I felt that was great,”
Ball says of the city’s elect
ed officials. “You’ve got to
believe that they want to
do what’s right for the
community.”
Commissioner Jim Fran-
cesconi says he has yet to
examine the petition in
detail but comments: “I
believe our current system
is very responsive to the citizens and has worked
very well for years. But I also believe it is difficult
to stick with a strategic plan and that the council
could be more diverse.”
Commissioner Dan Saltzman says: “One defi
nite impact is that citizens would have a local rep
resentative from their area of Portland on the City
Council. It could be argued, though, that on a nine-
person council, these council members’ ability to
influence policy would be more limited than the
current five-person structure. The council members
would also lose their current ability to enact direct
administrative controls over city bureaus, which
may be a good thing. The proposed changes would
heighten the management qualifications of the
mayor as well, since that position would be the chief
executive of the city government.”
Commissioner Charlie Hales declined to
comment. At press time Commissioner Erik
Sten had yet to meet with Ball and Katz’s office
had not returned calls. jm
"I think we're very close
to having a member of
the LGBT community
on our City Council"
—Robert Ball
D ifferent S ince 1913
F
Further information about the GOOD GOVERN
MENT COMMITTEE and its petition is available
online at www.fiortlandgixxlgov.org or by calling
503-226-4663.
TIMOTHY K rause is a Portland writer and editor.
He can be reached at timkrc^millerucom com.
M r . M an ' s C leaning
M ichael
R obert
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