Portland councilors push budget changes ahead of final vote

Catch up quick: Mayor Keith Wilson's $8.5 billion budget, released last month, would cut 150 jobs and reduce funding for police, parks and homeless services.

• It wouldn't close community centers or fire stations and would avoid cutting police officers, but it would seek cuts to the parks bureau.
• Wilson has framed his budget cuts as necessary to keep the city solvent while protecting his top priorities.

Zoom in: Among the amendments, several councilors proposed restoring funding to a St. John's fire station. The mayor's budget threatens to remove the only fire truck serving surrounding neighborhoods.

• Several amendments would also make changes to spending from the Portland Clean Energy Fund, which supports projects and organizations that fight climate change but has been consistently tapped as a cash reserve when city money gets tight.
• Other amendments would preserve jobs for frontline workers such as victim advocates and volunteer coordinators by cutting management and administrative roles.
• Councilors are also seeking to restore funding for arts programs, after-school activities and programming for seniors.

You can read all 52 of the councilors' proposed amendments here — and just be happy it's not last year, when there were more than 125 proposed amendments.

Friction point: Wilson said in an email encouraging the public to testify in support of his budget that some of the amendments were "troubling efforts to dismantle the progress we've made."

What's next: Councilors spent all day Monday listening to public testimony on the amendments.

• They'll use Tuesday and Wednesday's council sessions to deliberate ahead of a final vote next month.