In March, Peak Insights released a poll showing only 34% of Portland voters approve the work of the City Council – a drop of 17% since the last poll in 2022 – while 51% expressed disapproval. This highlights a governing body that has lost its way.

Yet, like any living body, Portland City Council can be brought back into balance. It’s time to vote in pragmatic, thoughtful, non-ideological councilors who can work with Mayor Mark Dion to tackle the big-city problems that have beset our small town. I don’t think it’s too big of an ask to have councilors who listen and acknowledge their constituencies – district-wide and city-wide.

An August City Council meeting showcased the disconnect between councilor and constituent.

An amendment for a $20 minimum wage (Order 25-24/25) was brought to the floor by councilors Sykes, Phillips and Trevorrow. More than 50 people from in and around the service industry testified against the measure. Very few spoke in favor of the wage hike. This referendum had already been rejected by voters in 2022. Yet Sykes, who spearheaded the action, was adamant that a $20 minimum wage was necessary – all despite hours of testimony stating the opposite from employers that would pay it and employees who would receive it. Sykes went as far as labeling the testimony misinformation, citing the presence of a restaurant lobbying organization as proof.

This is one vignette of many that illustrates why voters give the City Council a thumbs down. We only need to go back a year to when outgoing councilors Trevorrow and Rodriquez tried to ram through Order 68 to allow camping in every corner of public property in Portland. This was voted down by the council, and hours of public testimony tipped heavily against the extreme order.

Unbowed, the two councilors tried to slip in Order 68 again a month later, trying to avoid public comment and override public sentiment. We do not have a democratic council when several councilors refuse to acknowledge voter input, shove in last-minute amendments, govern by emergency (everything needs to be funded now) and flout every single last ethical consideration they are bound to by their oath of office.

Instead of encouraging encampments, we need governance and problem solving around addiction and mental illness. Instead of minimum wage increases, we need to focus on supporting our business community and breaking down barriers for entrepreneurs, so business owners thrive and can afford to pay their workers high wages.

Ideological councilors don’t serve a constituency, they serve their hardened positions. This brittle approach to democracy doesn’t work. It does not have to be this way. There are three Council seats at play this fall, District 1, District 2 and At-Large. This is an opportunity, for you the voter, to bring balance and fresh energy to the Council.

It matters who is on the City Council. They vote on our city taxes, they vote on the school board budget, they create the agenda and hence the vision (or non-vision) for the city. Let’s aim higher. Vote for candidates with integrity, financial acumen and a willingness to listen to the voter.

Nov. 5 is the day. Vote. And, it bears repeating, you get what you vote for.