In theory, Portland's elected commissioners would take a back seat as an appointed deputy city manager begins overseeing six new service areas.
PORTLAND, Ore. — In less than a month, the city of Portland will begin experimenting with historic change, a complete restructuring of its 7,000-person city government system. The official transition will take place on Jan. 1, but an informal transition will begin on July 1.
For city officials, the massive undertaking may be a cause for concern, but it also offers the possibility that things will finally run more smoothly in a “city that works.”
Michael Jordan is interim city manager, the man charged with changing the course that this ship of state has been on for nearly a century. In a recent interview, The Story's Pat Dourice asked Jordan what city employees, including the Portland Water Department, can expect when he takes the job on July 1.
“If I worked for the water department, would I suddenly have two or three bosses?” Doris asked. “How confusing would that be for everyone?”
“People who work for the water department aren't going to notice a big change unless they're the director or deputy director,” Jordan said. “The commissioners who have been there for over 100 years will continue to be in charge and the department will still technically report to them.”
Related: Portland official named city manager to set course for government reform in 2025
The biggest changes are coming at the top: Over the past few months, Jordan explained, the commissioners have appointed a deputy city manager, a position that will oversee Portland's six new service areas and report directly to the city manager, who is now led by Jordan. But the commissioners still ostensibly oversee departments, so the changes won't be obvious for the next few months.
“It's a little bit confusing, but essentially what I'm looking at is the commissioners in charge are delegating authority for day-to-day operations to these deputy commissioners,” Jordan explained. “They're still accountable to the commissioners in charge, and the commissioners in charge, of course, have budget authority… so it may be a little bit confusing, but I think in terms of day-to-day operations, operations, these deputy commissioners are going to be responsible.”
Under the current system, Portland commissioners each head a small portfolio of departments, and Mayor Ted Wheeler previously reorganized those departments to be at least loosely related, but under the new system, nearly all of the departments will fall into one of six new service areas, such as public works or economic and community development, that may not be directly related to their existing portfolios.
Too many cooks?
The deputy mayor's move doesn't just eliminate commissioners: Nearly every department has a director or equivalent, many of whom are longtime city employees, who will report to the deputy mayor starting July 1. That's a big change from when they reported only to elected commissioners.
“Management changes are always difficult,” Jordan acknowledged. “Now that we have a deputy mayor, what is the role of the mayor going to be, and what will that look like? So it seems like the whole management process is going to have to change.”
“And honestly, we've reported to a maximum of five elected officials in the past. And as a good manager, the first thing you do when you're assigned to an elected official is build a relationship with that elected official. That's great. But when it comes to reconciling the differences between departments and operational units that report to different elected officials, it can be very difficult.”
“So getting everybody used to the fact that we have someone in the company who can take the reins and hold everybody accountable holistically across the enterprise is new for all of us and we're all having to get used to that new way of doing business.”
City commissioners will be eliminated from the organization early in 2025, but the directors will continue to report to the new vice director. Some directors now make more than $200,000 a year. So Douris asked Jordan whether the city would still need them in the future.
“I think those are legitimate questions,” Jordan said, “and as we move forward with these restructuring efforts and look at who's responsible for what and how the various services in the city are structured and who's responsible for them, I think there will be discussions about, 'Do we need the same number of directors? Do we need the same number of offices?' and whether we can consolidate some of these with others.”
Jordan pointed to the example of the Vibrant Community Services Area, one of six new city departments, whose core will be the existing Parks Department, adding much smaller programs like the Children's Tax and City Arts programs, as well as Portland's five arts venues.
“These are all relatively small organisations, around 20 employees in total,” Jordan says. “They can be fully supported by Parks – they don't need any new HR people or IT support. They can all be integrated into our support structure so they can be supported. So by having the less large organisations work with the larger ones, we're already seeing efficiencies and they can utilise the service more easily and efficiently in-house.”
Overall, the city will look for ways to consolidate services and gradually eliminate what will eventually become redundant — the current structure of siloed departments that has grown as each department has become more independent.
“And honestly, what's more important is that we can move more efficiently, move faster, get people where they need to be in a more fluid way, which is something we're struggling with right now,” Jordan added.
Related: As the transition unfolds, Portland tries to address hidden problems within its departments.
Finding responsibility
Jordan said he thinks the new structure will bring a new level of transparency and accountability: Elected officials will no longer be ensconced in their own little corner of City Hall, but will have the power to externally scrutinize the city's performance and effect change, just as citizens have done in the past.
“With the ability for both the mayor and the City Council to fire the city manager at their own discretion — the mayor unilaterally and the City Council with a nine-vote majority — they're going to be constantly putting what elected officials want to accomplish in the city in the rearview mirror as they try to reform and operate,” Jordan said. “So they're going to be held accountable, and as a result, they're going to hold everybody else accountable to get the job done in a much more effective way than we've probably been able to in the past.”
While some members of Portland's City Council have been critical of the charter reform model that voters ultimately approved, or at least parts of it, Jordan is clear he's not taking on this role simply because it's a mandate: He wants to see it succeed.
“I'm a firm believer in what the Charter Commission and the voters wanted, and that's professional management of the city,” Jordan said, “and I think the people that were elected today didn't agree with parts of it. They may have disagreed with other parts, but I heard loud and clear that they all believe that professional management is important as the city becomes a big city and faces big city problems. And I think they believe that's the right path, and I agree.”
“It's going to be awkward at first. It's all new. We haven't changed our form of government in over 100 years. So there's going to be a lot of growing pains and a lot of pain in the change. But as I look at the trajectory of the city embarking on this transition and moving forward on a different trajectory, I see things only getting better over the next five to 10 years.”
“A lot is going to change over the next five to 10 years. The culture is going to have to change. Issues of accountability and transparency are all going to work their way through the system. The behavior of 7,000 people isn't going to change overnight, but I think the incentives will all be in the right place.”
The people who are hired to lead the city will be key — not just people who are literally hired to do the job, like whoever replaces Jordan in city administration, but people voters have chosen as their leaders.
“The mayor-city manager combination is just so critical,” Jordan said. “So if I were to give advice to our viewers, I would say, 'Pay special attention to the mayoral race.' Who's running for mayor, and who they hire as city manager, is going to be really important to our success in those first few years.”