The Portland City Council (formerly the Portland City Commission) is the legislative body of the City of Portland in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and forms part of the government of the city. In January 2025, the city of Portland switched to a mayor–council form of government from a

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

form of government, with elections held the prior November. The half of the city council began full four-year terms, while the other half of the city council started initial two-year terms to establish a staggered election cycle. There are no term-limits for city councilors and they are all officially

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

Members

Districts

Since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, the council districts are as follows:

History

The Portland Charter was the subject of much debate circa 1911–1912. Rival charters were drafted by four different groups. One of these proposed charters was unusual in that it would have used

Bucklin voting Bucklin voting is a class of voting methods that can be used for single-member and multi-member districts. As in highest median rules like the majority judgment, the Bucklin winner will be one of the candidates with the highest median ranking ...

to elect the mayor and implemented interactive representation of the people through the commissioner system; each commissioner's vote would have been weighted according to the number of votes he received in the election. eventually, the city council submitted an entirely different charter to the people, which was accepted. The

city commission government City commission government is a form of local government in the United States. In a city commission government, voters elect a small commission, typically of five to seven members, typically on a plurality-at-large voting basis. These commission ...

form then came into use in 1913, with H. Russell Albee being the first mayor under the new system. Between 1913 and 2024, Portland ran on this commission form of government, the largest city in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to do so. The council was composed of five members, referred to as Commissioners, which included the Mayor, each elected at-large for a term of four years. One of the Commissioners was elected to be the ceremonial President of the Council. Commissioners were each assigned to run and oversee various city Bureaus (eg. Police, Fire, Environmental Services, Water). These assignments were occasionally switched around with the exception of the Police Bureau of which the Mayor had always been Commissioner of based on tradition.

2022 Charter Reform

Ballot Measure 26-228 in the November 2022 election was an amendment to the city charter that moved the city away from a commission system of government. It removes the five-person board that includes the mayor to a twelve-person board plus a separate mayor. The new city councilors will be elected using proportional multi-winner ranked-choice voting, with three members being elected each from four districts, instead of the standard first-past-the-post method. It also removes responsibility for direct management of city bureaus from commissioners to a

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

overseen by the mayor and confirmed by the council. Previous attempts to reform the city charter had been defeated seven times since 1913, including as recently as 2007. Portland is set to become the most-populated city to adopt the single transferable vote to elect city council members. The first city council elections under the new districts occurred in 2024. In preparation for transitioning management of city bureaus to a city manager, Mayor

Ted Wheeler Edward Tevis Wheeler (born August 31, 1962) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 53rd mayor of Portland, Oregon, from 2017 to 2025. A moderate member of the Democratic Party, Wheeler served as the state treasurer of Ore ...

grouped city bureaus into five related service areas. On January 2, 2025, at the first meeting of the new council, Elana Pirtle-Guiney was elected council president in a 7 to 5 vote after 10 rounds. Tiffany Koyama Lane was elected vice president unanimously.

Presidents

References