In a world in where ideas compete for your attention and campaigns use buzz words to make you fall in love with their proposals, it’s sometimes tough to sort the facts from the fluff.
That’s why you, dear readers, have me. Let me help you understand the only measure that Portlanders will consider on their Nov. 3 general election ballot.
Measure 26-267 is an idea brought to you by mostly out-of-state interests that would embed in the city’s constitution – its charter – a virtually un-fixable concept that would redirect 2% of General Fund expenditures each and every year forever to a special pot for new projects. It would peel $16.4 million away from the funds for firefighting, shelter beds, parks maintenance, voter-approved programs, and Portland Street Response to pay for these inessential new projects.
In August, Portland was forced to lay off 70 workers due to the budget crisis, and next year, we are facing another huge deficit that could lead to more layoffs. This measure would make the situation worse.
When a new mandate like this is proposed, it should come with its own money to fund it, but this idea just dips its hand in the till of critical services or voter-passed programs such as the Parks or Children’s levies. This unfunded mandate puts city workers’ jobs – and Portlanders’ core services – at risk.
Each new project that comes online would also have annual maintenance costs. Another new project would be added each year, piling up the costs of projects at the expense of ongoing services. Can you imagine what the accrued costs will be after a decade of this fiscal irresponsibility?
The measure’s supporters will paint a rosy picture about enhancing voter participation and greater democracy, never letting you in on the fact that the measure will exempt the program from election laws, even the ones that protect against such things as dead people voting, residents casting multiple ballots, or folks outside the city limits selecting projects. Children and non-citizens can also choose how to spend your tax dollars.
Participatory budgeting – a mouthful to be sure – is what this concept is called. In other cities that have tried it, the projects have independent resources, the cost is low, the programs can be paused during financial crises, and none have locked the funding mandate into the cities’ charters. In New York, the amount of money that a tiny fraction of residents vote on constitutes about $3 per resident. Portland’s proposal would cost $25 per resident.
If this idea were to come with its own funding source, if it were to be a pilot program, and if it were to have voter-integrity safeguards, you’d see me celebrating the idea instead of warning you about it.
A funded pilot like that was tried at the regional Metro government, and its councilors deemed the experiment a success because more people were involved in suggesting things like skateparks with bond money specifically raised for the program. Measure 26-267 is not that. Nor is it about helping our elected officials determine the annual budget at all – despite its misleading name.
Diverting $16.4 million (and a higher amount each year) imperils the budget. That money could buy six fire engines, staff 14 neighborhood community centers, double the size of Portland Street Response, or provide 1,500 overnight shelter beds – things most Portlanders see as “must haves,” not “nice to haves.” But projects are not services, so residents can’t vote for these things.
That’s why you should vote no on Measure 26-267. It’s a fact, not fluff: Our union siblings’ jobs are on the line.
Laurie Wimmer is executive secretary-treasurer of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council and chair of the Protect Our City Services campaign against Measure 26-267.
