At their May 10th “Town Hall” meeting at Lane Middle School, new Portland City Council District 3 Councilors Angelita Morillo, Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Steve Novick listened and responded to residents of their district

Although the official City of Portland Budget Hearings, now over, didn’t include any meetings in Southeast Portland, the trio of Portland District 3 City Councilors hosted a “Town Hall” in their district on Saturday morning, May 10 in the Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood at Lane Middle School.

As the 60 attendees arrived, enjoyed pizza, and chatted, District 3 Portland City Councilors Morillo, Koyama Lane, and Novick individually talked with THE BEE about a popular topic – their “first 100 days in office”. This, recognizing it had actually been 142 days since they were sworn in on December 19, 2024; and 128 days since their first official meeting of the Portland City Council on January 2, 2025.

Councilor Angelita Morillo

“Starting off, I think it’s a little different because this is a new form of government, and there was a lot of figuring out of the different Council rules,” Angelita Morillo remarked. “Things like, how to get things out of committee; and, what the committee structures and assignments are going to be.

“After the budget process, I think a lot of councilors will be starting to bring policy ideas forward,” Morillo said. “For example, I brought a policy idea about banning ‘algorithmic software’ for rent pricing. I’m really interested in pursuing that, after the budget ends.”

About her work, Morillo commented, “I personally really love doing this; I think the community’s been really receptive, and are excited about having districts, and having more access to elected officials who represent them specifically.

“Having worked under the ‘old’ form of government, I saw the dysfunction under that structure, and I can say this is a huge improvement!”

Councilor Steve Novick

Beginning his comments, Councilor Steve Novick reminded that he had been on the Portland City Council under the past form of governance.

“Indeed, I’ve done this job – but it’s very different job now,” Novick told THE BEE. “Instead of four of us, five if you include the Mayor, under the old system – now [we have twelve, and] there are committees, which are useful to dig deeper into issues.

“It’s also different in that we don’t have Bureau assignments – which mean we’re not focused entirely on our Bureaus – and, we can spend more time thinking about everything that matters to the city, so I prefer the new system.”

His most important focus now, Novick said, is the budget. “We’re working to get it ‘right’. As of now, the Mayor is relying pretty heavily on cuts to Portland Parks & Recreation maintenance. I’m fighting to make sure that we have a budget that does not gut parks maintenance.”

Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane

Introducing herself as “Teacher Tiffany”, Koyama Lane started off, “I believe I’m the only one on the Portland City Council that really is coming in as a political outsider. I’ve been a public school teacher for the last 16 years. “In the fall I was teaching third grade at Sunnyside Environmental School; and a new teacher took over when I was elected to the Council,” she told THE BEE.

“For me, a lot of it has been learning about the culture of City Hall. And now everyone is on the City Council is working under a brand-new form of government. We have a chance to reject some of the old ways of doing things, and have an opportunity to adopt new ways.”

Koyama Lane said she was also adjusting to her expanded role in the City Council. “I was elected unanimously to be the Council Vice President; it feels awkward at times. Sometime I’m sitting up there on the dais and wishing we could loosen up a little bit more, or say things a little bit more directly, and not in an elaborate and confusing way.

Some of her favorite times, so far, are out of the office – like holding a “constituent coffee” in person, or online. “Before the meeting today I was having my constituent coffee, outside, on the playground here!”

Meeting their constituents

As the meeting got underway, each of the three Portland City Counselors gave a brief self-introduction. In the give-and-take, the budget ideas and other concepts brought up by attendees included:

• Cut the police budget, especially overtime and attendance at non-essential events/meetings
• Preserve funding for SUN schools
• Don’t cut Portland Parks & Recreation’s maintenance and “City Nature Program”.
• Fully-fund Portland Street Response
• The most popular topic — at least six people asked that the Council not cut funding for the Neighborhood Program at Civic Life (which includes District Coalition Offices (DCOs) and Neighborhood Associations, and the Community Small Grants program that DCOs manage).  The cuts proposed there, specifically, are: to the base funding for DCOs, elimination of the insurance that all DCOs and NAs need, and elimination of the Community Small Grants program ($360k in all).

Other topics were broached, including concern about the need for much more street maintenance in Portland – and also, concerns about how the federal government is eroding constitutional rights, about which the Portland City Council has no control.

THE BEE has covered appearances by the new City Council members in Southeast Portland in both Districts 3 and 4 – the two districts which THE BEE serves parts of – and are encouraged that the new District form of city government does seem to be reaching out to more areas of the city than previously, particularly here in Southeast Portland.