Murmurs: Charter Reform Meets Unexpected Pushback

CHARTER REFORM MEETS UNEXPECTED PUSHBACK: City Commissioner Mingus Mapps launched a political action committee last fall explicitly to promote charter reform. WW has learned Mapps has reversed course and the PAC he formed now plans to air criticisms of a charter reform measure set to appear on the November ballot. Earlier this month, the 20-member Portland Charter Commission voted to send multiple reforms of city government and elections to the ballot. They chose to bundle all the reforms into a single measure. Mapps tells WW he thinks parts of the measure are “bad ideas”: “As you layer on these complications after complications…I think it actually might make our government less functional.” Mapps says his PAC will take an “educational” approach to the pushback by hosting forums to scrutinize the reform proposals. A second PAC, led by recent City Council candidate Vadim Mozyrsky and two onetime staffers of former Mayor Bud Clark, Chuck Duffy and Steve Moskowitz, is forming to launch a campaign against the measure. “We are a group of citizens who favored a change in our city’s form of government but see multiple problems with this proposal,” Duffy tells WW. “Our campaign will clearly set forth those problems and explain our reasons to vote no.”

PORTLAND OFFICIALS TRAVEL TO DENMARK: A delegation of Portland elected officials and staff went to Denmark last week to learn about that country’s efforts to decarbonize industrial businesses. The group included Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability director Donnie Oliveira, Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal, and Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang. The trip was partly funded by the Olympia, Wash.-based nonprofit Center for Sustainable Infrastructure. Public dollars paid another portion of officials’ expenses. Jayapal’s office spent $8,574.25 on her trip. Rubio’s office spent $4,822.94 for her and her chief of staff, Jillian Schoene. BPS spent roughly $3,700 for Oliveira and Janet Hammer, who works as a coordinator for the bureau on climate and sustainability standards. Metro spent $1,375 on Hwang’s trip. On June 19, Rubio posted on Facebook: “I plan to learn as much as I can so that we can build a vibrant clean industry hub here in the Rose City.”

AUDIT TORCHES FIRE BUREAU: A new 27-page city audit released June 29 paints a damning picture of Portland Fire & Rescue’s culture, saying the city’s second-largest general fund bureau (after police) “does not have a coherent accountability system.” The audit, which notes that 89% of PFR staff are male and 79% are white, found a sloppy, subjective approach to training firefighters on city HR policies and handling complaints that allege those policies have been breached. “Employees perceived misconduct investigations as inconsistent or unfair,” the audit says. “They believed outcomes were influenced by who made the complaint, who was being investigated, and who was conducting the investigation.” Investigations also proceeded glacially, were poorly documented and, even when they resulted in discipline, the audit found, took an average of 119 days for that discipline to be handed down. Fire Chief Sara Boone grudgingly accepted the audit and pledged to make improvements, but said it relied on outdated information and “does not provide balanced information about the measures we are taking to address the challenges.” Fire Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who has long battled City Auditor Mary Hull Caballero, did not respond to the audit, although Hardesty aide Derek Bradley says her office worked closely with the bureau on its response. Hardesty is out of town and could not be reached for comment.

DEVENY PLEADS GUILTY TO BILKING CLIENTS: Lori Deveny, a former Portland lawyer known for exotic hunting trophies and a fondness for poker, has pleaded guilty to a laundry list of federal felonies after admitting she bilked her clients of settlement payments for years. Acting U.S. Attorney for Oregon Scott Asphaug announced June 27 that Deveny, 56, had pleaded guilty to mail, bank and wire fraud; aggravated identity theft; money laundering; and filing a false tax return. In a 2019 cover story (“Game Over,” Jan. 16, 2019), WW reported allegations that Deveny repeatedly kept and spent insurance settlements meant for clients of her personal injury law practice. Many of Deveny’s clients were highly vulnerable, having suffered serious injury in car crashes or other incidents.