After reading several articles about the Portland Charter Commissions’ proposed recommendation for stronger mayoral powers in developing the city’s budget, it appears to me an obvious, and recent important fact, is not being given much weight.
The city of Portland received an upgrade from Standard & Poor’s to a coveted AAA rating on Thursday, April 21st. Jon Jennings, Portland’s City Manager from June 2015 until November 2021, certainly deserves some credit for the city’s financial stewardship that led to this upgrade. A recent Press Herald article stated, the AAA rating saved Portland between $520,000 and $780,000 on a past week’s $51.9 million municipal bond sale. That’s money that can be put to better uses than paying interest on the city’s debt.
One wonders, given the vitriol between Jennings and Portland’s erstwhile Mayor Strimling, what Portland’s budgeting process would have been like if Mayor Strimling had the powers now being proposed by the City Charter Commission. Would Portland still be receiving a AAA rating? The city manager certainly should receive directions for the city’s budgetary priorities from the mayor and city council, however, crafting a financially viable city budget is something that requires years of experience and strong analytical skills. Skills that most mayors do not possess.
Perhaps 15 former Portland Mayors and current Mayor Kate Snyder are correct in their advocation of rejecting the proposed strong executive mayoral powers in the current version of the city charter. As the old cliché says, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”
Sam Rosenthal
Portland
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