The future of a new police oversight board in Portland is still cloudy, after a City Council workshop to discuss the board ended with no updates for the public.

The board was approved by voters in November 2022 and will replace the city’s current Police Citizen Review Subcommittee — but only when the city completes bargaining with two Portland police unions, which started in October 2023.

Charter commissioners have said this board would replace the current committee, having more power and authority to make recommendations and receive complaints from the public.

But efforts to enact the board have stalled. A draft ordinance, which would establish more specifically what the board looks like in practice, has not been released to the public because it’s still being discussed at the bargaining table.

It’s not clear what concerns Portland officers may have about this new board. The police chief and representatives from the unions have declined to discuss the oversight board.

Monday night’s virtual workshop started with councilors debating whether to go into a private portion of the meeting to hear an update from police and city attorneys about bargaining discussions.

Councilors Kate Sykes and Wes Pelletier voted against going into executive session, saying they were concerned that they could not discuss ideas for the board or other topics in front of the public. But a majority of councilors voted in favor of Mayor Mark Dion and city attorneys, who recommended starting the meeting in private and possibly returning to the public.

They met for about two hours in private before Dion returned to the public Zoom call. He said the City Council will hold another workshop about what was discussed in executive session. A date has not been set.