City Council elects Dunphy as president after bitter stalemate
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Jamie Dunphy, who represents District 1, is your new City Council president. Photo: Courtesy of the city of Portland
After more than a dozen rounds of deadlocked votes spanning the past week, the Portland City Council elected progressive Jamie Dunphy as its president Wednesday.
Why it matters: The ideological split on the council — between the six-member progressive caucus, known as Peacock, and everyone else — had arguably never been more stark than during the electoral impasse.
- The division could be a harbinger for how the body decides on larger issues this year.
The latest: Dunphy was reluctantly nominated by Councilor Sameer Kanal, the preferred nominee of the progressive wing, after the stalemate appeared to be unbreakable.
- Kanal then took his name out of contention to clear the way for Dunphy to assume the presidency with nine votes.
What they're saying: "This is not something I've been seeking or that I am excited about," Dunphy said after he was nominated, noting he would step back from the progressive caucus and would not seek a second term when the next president is chosen in 2027.
- "I will use this role to distribute power, not collect it. I don't want this to be a yearly ritual of battle lines," he said. "We agree far more than we disagree."
Catch up quick: At their Jan. 7 meeting, Kanal and Elana Pirtle-Guiney, the incumbent, each garnered six votes through nine rounds of voting.
- Kanal is a member of the progressive caucus, though he said he would step back from the group if elevated to the presidency, and its members remained steadfast in their support of him.
- The body was unable to break the deadlock and recessed after more than six hours of debate, which turned contentious and personal in the final hour.
The council reconvened the following day, but the meeting was abruptly adjourned after councilors received news that two people had been shot by federal immigration agents in East Portland.
- Several more rounds of voting produced no clear consensus on Wednesday — with several councilors describing the situation as a "crisis" — before Kanal nominated Dunphy.
Zoom in: One of Dunphy's proudest achievements of his first year in office, he said, was reforming the city's noise code to make sure it was enforced fairly and transparently.
- As president, Dunphy said he'd like to see the number of committees cut and for the vice president to take a strong leadership role.
The bottom line: With leadership finally decided, the council can move on to the business of the city, which includes addressing homelessness, the housing crisis and another looming budget crisis.