Proposed charter amendment moves forward to November, clears legal hurdle

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Multnomah County judge allowed a proposed charter amendment from Portland Charter Commission to move forward to the November ballot, surviving a legal challenge from the Portland Business Alliance.

The PBA previously filed a lawsuit, arguing the proposal violated Oregon law requiring that proposals to voters be focused on a single subject. However, Judge Stephen Bushong ruled in favor of the Charter Commission Monday writing, ”applying well-established principles of law, the court concludes that the [state] constitution does not prevent the voters from considering this measure in its current form.”

The Charter Commission previously approved a measure for the November ballot that would get rid of Portland’s commission form of government, grow the council from four to 12 members, make the council district-based with three representatives each from four districts, and use ranked-choice voting to elect city leaders.

PAST COVERAGE |Portlanders could vote to change the form of city government

All of the changes are proposed in one vote. The PBA wanted a judge to force the city to break up the recommendations from the charter commission into separate votes. The business alliance said in a statement it was disappointed in the judge’s ruling.

“Portlanders now have less choice. Our members and board will now have to weigh the unfortunate options to either oppose the measure and keep our present dysfunctional system, or to support the measure in favor of a completely improvised one that will likely lead to a different system of dysfunction. We suspect we are not the only ones that feel this way,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, supporters of the reform to overhaul Portland’s government celebrated the ruling.

“Portlanders are ready for change, and now we can focus on voter education without distraction,” said Sol Mora, campaign manager for Portland United for Change, the campaign to pass Portland charter reform. “Time is of the essence – we should not have to wait any longer for meaningful representation and a form of government that works well for everyone.”

This would be the ninth time that Portland residents have been presented the opportunity to change the way the city has been governed. The last challenge came in 2007, according to the City of Portland Auditor website.

You can read the opinion of Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Bushong below: