Portland City Council settles on council president in contentious first meeting

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Thursday marked an important first day on the job for Portland's new City Council as the 12 members voted on who would serve as the council's president.

But the meeting got off to a rocky start after an initial tie vote became a game of tug-of-war among several electees.

After the first round of tie votes, Loretta Smith representing District 1, called for the mayor to be a tie-breaking vote and argued with the city attorney over what the charter allows.

"Thank you City Attorney Taylor. That is your opinion. That is your legal opinion,” Smith said. “But the opinion of the charter is very clear. It gives no exceptions.”

She motioned to her fellow councilors to allow Mayor Keith Wilson to settle it, but after debate, her motion failed.

The battle for the presidency first began with a tie between Candace Avalos of District 1 and Olivia Clark of District 4. Then after an apparent impasse, District 2’s Elana Pirtle-Guiney was nominated into the mix, and the meeting became a roller coaster from there.

Overall, it took three hours, four calls for recess, and nine rounds of voting for the council to come to a majority vote for Pirtle-Guiney.

”We had four opportunities to vote on different things: two rule changes, the president and vice president—and on three of those four opportunities we saw unanimous vote the first time, so I think there are a lot more similarities between us than differences,” Pirtle-Guiney said. "We had a messy process this morning."

District 4’s Mitch Green was the sole counselor to switch his vote for the sake of reaching a resolution, even though he was the one who initially nominated Avalos for president.

“I was strongly in counselor Avalos’ camp from the beginning,” Green said. “I held out as long as I could. But then I realize that we were not going to resolve this unless somebody made a movement.”

The council president has a significant role in setting the legislative agenda, presiding over council meetings, and ensuring they run smoothly. They also step in if the mayor is absent, but do not have the same executive powers. They’ll take on a leadership role of being the spokesperson for the city council as well as setting its priorities.

"I didn't initially step forward to run for president, and my name got put forward, both before today and again today when my colleagues decided that I could be somebody who could carry the the role of bringing people together," Pirtle-Guiney said.

Although the decision for president was contentious, voting for the council’s vice president was not. Councilors unanimously voted for Tiffany Koyama Lane from District 3 as VP. She’ll also fill in for the president in the event of the president’s absence.

“I like to build bridges and I like to root my connections in genuine relationships,” Koyama Lane said, as she thinks her skills as a school teacher will help bring her fellow counselors together.

On Wednesday, Portland’s new council replaced the five-member commission that governed the city until last month. A voter-approved ballot measure in 2022 changed Portland’s bureaucratic structure from a commission form of government to a representative form of government.

Now 12 councilors lead the city in representation of four districts throughout the city. The city councilors are not in control of individual bureaus, as commissioners were in the previous form of government.

Instead, the elected city councilors will focus on creating laws while individual bureaus will be controlled by a city administrator under the mayor’s office.

"I do think all 12 of us really are here to work together," Koyama Lane said.