PAGE 2 | May 17, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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Laborers Local 483 fights to stop cuts to Portland Parks and Rec
Laborers Local 483 is in an all-
out fight against proposed serv-
ice level cuts that would result in
layoffs and closures of commu-
nity recreation centers in Port-
land. Local 483 represents about
1,000 City of Portland workers
in bureaus that maintain roads,
sewer, and parks.
Under Mayor Ted Wheeler’s
current proposed budget for the
fiscal year that begins July 1, the
Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment would get $3.8 million less
than it needs to maintain current
staff levels. The mayor proposes
to shut down the Sellwood Com-
munity Center and Columbia
Pool, outsource the management
and staffing of the Community
Music Center, Laurelhurst
Dance Center, Multnomah Arts
Center and the Fulton and Hill-
side community centers; and lay
off about 50 front line recreation
center staff, including lifeguards
and swimming instructors.
An earlier version of the pro-
posed budget had a $6.3 million
shortfall, but the mayor moved
funds around after fierce push-
back by community members
who use the recreation centers.
Local 483 hired economist
Peter Donohue to look at the
city’s finances. A longtime skep-
tic of the city’s budget process,
Donohue concluded that the city
has the money if it repurposes
unspent funds and dips into re-
serve funds slated for internal
services like fleet and facility
maintenance.
Local 483 members and staff
also spent three days phone
banking members of the public
who use the community centers
to let them know about the cuts,
encouraging them to turn out for
a May 9 public budget hearing.
Portland City Commissioner
Joanne Hardesty is pushing a set
of budget amendments to pre-
vent the layoffs and closures, but
at press time, no other commis-
sioners had come out in support
of her amendments. Hardesty
proposes to repurpose $1.5 mil-
lion in funds that the current
budget allocates to police posi-
tions that have been vacant for
some time. She also proposes to
put some new spending on hold,
including funds for a police
body camera pilot project, his-
toric preservation at Mt. Tabor, a
water taxi feasibility study, and
planning for a proposed James
Beard public market.
In dollar terms, the Parks
budget is actually rising: The
mayor’s proposal raises bureau
Recreation center users of all ages turned up at a May 9 budget hearing at
the World Forestry Center to oppose service cuts.
budgets for inflation and then
asks them to make a 1 percent
cut. But that formula has a big-
ger impact at Parks, because the
city agreed two years ago to rec-
ognize a union for seasonal and
casual workers, and transition
for them to regular, fully bene-
fited positions at wages of $15
an hour. Given that context, the
budget proposal amounts to cut-
ting staff in order to pay for
those raises.
Portland City Council will
vote May 22 on the final budget.
STOP THE CUTS
Local 483 is asking supporters to
appeal to Nick Fish, the commis-
sioner in charge of Parks and Rec, to
halt the cuts: 503-823-4682 or
nick@portlandoregon.gov
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