Comment 42230

By Seth Bullock (anonymous) | Posted June 20, 2010 at 16:46:10

Two other striking differences about Portland:

1. It's more politically efficient than Hamilton. We have a mayor and 15 ward-specific councillors. In Portland, "the Mayor, four Commissioners and the Auditor comprise the City's six elected officials. The Mayor and the Commissioners together make up the City Council. The commission form of government differs from most other municipal governments in that its members have legislative, administrative and quasi-judicial powers. All City Elected Officials are elected at large on a non-partisan basis and serve four-year terms. Elections are staggered, with the Mayor and Commissioners No. 1 & 4 elected one year and the Auditor and Commissioners No. 2 & 3 elected two years later. The staggered election schedule avoids a complete change of elected officials in any one year, except under unusual circumstances."

http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?&a=9178&c=27481


2. It has a regional governmental agency called Metro that is apparently the only directly-elected metropolitan planning organization in the United States. Metro's in charge of land use planning, urban growth boundary, transit strategy, etc. that prize sustainability and neighbourhood quality of life. It's governed by a council president elected region-wide and six councilors who are elected by district as well as an auditor elected region-wide.

http://www.oregonmetro.gov

I suspect that both of these measures are an integral part of the success strategy that leads to documents such as the one you're swooning over. Combined, those two bodies are smaller than Hamilton's council. Our shoelaces are tied together.

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