Downtown Portland Clean & Safe contract renewed for 5 years
Portland OR October 7 2021 Portland city commissioners voted Wednesday to allow the Downtown and Old Town enhanced service district to continue to exist with a new five-year, $25 million Clean & Safe contract to provide extra security and trash removal within the district.
The deal means the city will collect fees from downtown property owners to pay for armed and unarmed security guards, additional Portland Police Bureau officers, sidewalk cleaning, holiday lights, a staff position at the district attorney’s office, economic development, lobbying and administration costs.
The contract was approved with a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty voting no.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said he thinks the new contract is a step in the right direction, paving the way for continued conversation.
Among the changes from the previous contract: Security guards will wear uniforms that make them easy to distinguish from police officers, only 25% of them can be armed and they will be joined by a new three-person mental health team. Additional transparency measures will also be required including increased reporting of Clean & Safe activities and spending to the city.
“I believe we all have the same goal here,” said Commissioner Carmen Rubio. “I want to move forward (with the new security and labor agreements) while addressing the outstanding systemic issues…along with (transparency), these issues were things that were top priorities from the start. These changes need to be implemented right now.”
In response to the heated discussion over the past six months regarding district funding and how security guards have historically treated unhoused individuals living downtown and in Old Town, the new service contract has some modifications. The new contract is supported by various community members and organizations including District Attorney Mike Schmidt, New Avenues for Youth, the Oregon Historical Society and the Portland Parks Foundation.
In addition to new uniforms, a limit on carrying guns and the new mental health team, a system will be created to allow people to submit complaints about Clean & Safe workers. Security guards also must hand out a business card with details on how to report complaints to each person they interact with. The number of Portland police officers will be reduced to four from the current six.
Hardesty, who didn’t support the new five-year contract, proposed that the current Clean & Safe contract be extended for just one year while the city took a deeper look to address citizen concerns.
“Should people with more money be able to buy more access to justice?” Hardesty asked, prior to voting no. “We could have and should have done better.”
A group of 35 organizations, including Street Roots, the ACLU and Stop the Sweeps, submitted a letter to the city urging commissioners to support Hardesty’s proposal.
“An equitable, inclusive public process with collaborative outreach—especially to our most marginalized community members—is the only way to generate the informed, quality input we need to plan for a prosperous and revitalized Portland we can all be proud of,” the letter stated.
The city will conduct a review of all three service districts in the city, including the Lloyd and Central Eastside districts, and the organizations that manage them. If changes are made to city code after the audit is complete, then the contract with Clean & Safe will be re-negotiated, said Geraldene Moyle, senior project manager for the city’s office of management and finance. However, the review could take up to two years to complete, Moyle said.
City commissioner Dan Ryan highlighted the need for that review by introducing an amendment prior to the vote that stated as part of the review, the city will “specifically examine issues related to the governance of enhanced service districts, the use of private security to patrol public areas, guidelines for establishing new enhanced service districts and the inclusion of condominiums and other residential properties as property management fee payers.”
More than 400 downtown businesses and residents fund the Clean & Safe program that covers nearly 213 city blocks. Some residents believe the fees they pay are excessive and repetitive to fees they already pay to the city for the same services.
John Maher, president of Oregonian Media Group, is volunteer board chair of Portland Business Alliance and does not receive any financial compensation for the position. Clean & Safe is overseen by a separate board and contracts with the business alliance for services.
OregonLive
