I have had the privilege of living in six great cities: Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, Indianapolis, New York, and Dakar in Senegal. Although I earned world-class degrees in the Minneapolis and Boston areas, my most cherished accomplishments were helping reunite runaway youth with families in Chicago, organizing with community youth organizations to march in Black Lives Matter protests in Boston and the Twin Cities, and empowering queer and black Muslims to feel liberated and accepted in the their communities. I fell in love with Portland the minute I met it, and plan to make it my home. For that reason, I want to be District 2’s charter commissioner.

My experience showed me flaws in each city, but nothing as glaring and shocking as Portland’s unelected, appointed city manager, who occupies a position originally supported by the 1920s Ku Klux Klan.

Portland is not a firm that needs to be “managed” but a city that must be fairly governed. The arguments for council-manager systems are fundamentally anti-democratic. The arguments are unconvincing in Portland, where voters are trustworthy and have shown a willingness to replace mayors.

Portland’s city manager office is demonstrably unaccountable. It has helped shape a housing market that is increasingly unaffordable. The manager appoints the police chief, who presides over an unrepresentative and disconnected police force. Many residents work low-wage jobs and struggle to make rent. Our unhoused neighbors, disproportionately of color, feel unheard, as recent protests show.

We need a city that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.

Mouhamadou Diagne
Portland

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