January 14, 2005
'Oregonian' Sees Test Of City's Form Of Government
Bureau Innovation Project As 'Strong Mayor' Experiment (Told You So)
Although not for the first time, last night we argued that Mayor Potter's so-called Bureau Innovation Project would be viewed through the lens of questioning the City's commission form of government.
Lo and behold, an editorial in today's Oregonian suggests that very thing -- even going so far as to disingenously claim that supporters of commission government in Portland "acknowledge that it's considered obsolete".
That bogus statement aside, the editorial does mark at least a rhetorical shift on the paper's part, in that it admits (for the first time that we've seen, at least) that there may be ways to reform Portland's government without resorting to the abandonment of the commission form. "But it's possible a change in the city's form of government may not be needed," says the editorial, "if Potter succeeds in updating the city's bureaus as he hopes to do."
If the city is as dysfunctional as some claim, this project should make it obvious. It's also possible that Portland's form of government doesn't matter as much as the people running it. With a jolt, a tuneup and high expectations from a new mayor, perhaps Portland's government can be made to work as well or better than any other city's.
While it remains to be seen if this slight editorial shift is only a temporary shift in rhetoric, and despite our support for commission government, we obviously agree with the paper that the Bureau Innovation Project is a defacto "strong mayor" experiment.
It's early yet in this revived discussion of the City's form of government, and we haven't yet finished the research we want to do in order to more fully present our own position. But we'll take this opportunity to pitch one of the issues we believe needs to be on the table.
Namely, the question of whether or not Portland's tradition of institutionalized public and neighborhood involvement (which many people expect to be strengthened under this new Mayor and City Council) is an element which significantly distinguishes us from other cities which have gone on to abandon commission government.