The record · Transcript
Council Session — 2026-04-21
Transcript from the session's official auto-captions (20,545 words), shown in readable case and split into speaker turns. Speakers are not yet identified (colors just separate consecutive turns). Auto-captions can contain errors — check the recording for anything that matters.
Session summaryEditor-reviewed
On April 21, 2026, the Portland City Council convened and then recessed to sit as the Prosper Portland Budget Committee, receiving the agency's proposed FY 2026–27 budget and holding a public hearing under Oregon budget law. Prosper Portland staff and board members presented an overview describing total resources and expenditures, staffing reductions tied to a reduction in force, and allocations across tax increment financing (TIF) districts, the Strategic Investment Fund, and citywide economic development programs; figures presented for revenues, expenditures, and program impacts were described in detail, though some amounts were stated inconsistently across the presentation. Councilors asked technical and policy questions about accessibility of budget charts, property acquisition and rent stabilization through the Strategic Investment Fund, the transfer of the Construction Opportunity for Equity and Public Contracting (COEP) program to city procurement, cuts to an internal equity position, and funding for the Reimagine Oregon program. Public testimony followed, with more than thirty speakers—including workforce development providers, small business advocates, union representatives, and community members—addressing potential impacts of proposed budget reductions on workforce training, small business support, and construction pre-apprenticeship programs. The committee closed by scheduling a follow-up meeting for May 19, 2026, to consider amendments and vote on the final budget; any votes taken are recorded in the vote ledger.
AI-drafted from the session's auto-captions, reviewed by an editor — describes the discussion only; recorded votes live in the vote ledger. Captions contain errors.
0 I am calling back to order this meeting of the Portland city council. Welcome, everybody. We're back. Rebecca, can you please read item number three?
1 I believe we need to gavel in as the.
2 I thought I'd do that first. I, I thought we read it first and then I gavel in. I'll gavel in first. How about that, colleagues? Today is part of the fiscal year 2627 budget process is part of it as prescribed by Oregon state budget law, the prosper Portland budget committee as Portland. I'm going to start over. Who. As prosper portland's budget committee council will receive prosper's proposed budget for the fiscal year 2627 and take public testimony with unanimous consent. I will now recess this meeting of the Portland city council until no later than 4:59 p.m. And convene this meeting of the prosper Portland budget committee. Rebecca, will you please call the role of the prosper Portland budget committee?
3 Good afternoon.
4 Kanal here.
5 Pirtle-guiney here. Ryan Koyama Lane here. Morillo. Novick. Here. CClark. Here.
6 Green here.
7 Zimmerman here. Avalos. Smith here.
8 Dunphy here. In this first convening of the prosper Portland budget committee. Prosper Portland staff will deliver their proposed budget and budget budget message the fiscal year 2627 prosper Portland proposed budget was published and made available on the budget to the budget committee and the public on April 20th, 2026. I would now like to welcome dca donnie oliveira who will. Who will introduce the team.
9 Council president. Can I read the item into the.
10 Now you can read.
11 Thank you. Agenda item three. Council convenes this report and budget committee to receive the prosper Portland fy 20 2627 proposed budget and hold a public hearing document number 2020 6-142.
12 Welcome.
13 Thank you, council president. Good afternoon council. My name is donnie oliveira. I'm the deputy city administrator for the community and economic development service area. And I'm joined by prosper board chair crews, councilor. Like all city bureaus, as the prosper Portland team developed their budget, they were following the same guidance as all the bureau's related to analyzing their service levels, looking at various scenarios. In short, the presentation you'll see today outlines the same challenges as the conversations you heard earlier this morning that the city bureau's contemplated as the mayor produced his proposed budget, and they'll go into those details as you contemplate this bureau's budget. A couple of things I wanted to share for context. First, this body over the last year has discussed oversight and governance of prosper portland's finances and and operations. Those are appropriate conversations for this body to have. And I also just want to outline that this budget is a key example of how this body interacts with prosper, how you provide direct guidance through the budget to ensure that your values and goals are manifested in their operations. But I'll also note that over the over the past year, especially since this new form of government has taken on its shape and form a real partnership and synergy with prosper leadership has emerged, especially under the leadership of executive director cornel wesley. Programing within prosper has aligned with with your office's requests and goals, the administration's requests and goals, the mayor's as well as partnership across all city bureaus. And what's resulted in is programing that is reflective of a city wide vision for economic development and equitable development. In particular. I'd also like to note that over the past year, as we've aligned more with city core values and and mission, we've seen a real partnership within the service area structure. So prosper working with the bureau of planning and sustainability or the housing bureau, working with PBOT on events, the nexus there is that as our redevelopment agency, as the stewards of advanced Portland prosper is inherently invested in and the city's goals and values, their vision is directly aligned with yours in the sense that they want to see Portland thrive. They're the point where for small business, they're the point for new events and new activities happening in our city. And we want our budget to reflect what you all see for the future of the city and how they do their business. And so as you think about this today, are you listening to the staff's presentation? Contemplate where you'd like to see those advancements continue? And with that, I'd like to acknowledge, excuse me, that executive director cornel wesley is now joining us today. He had a pre-planned event. Excuse me. He's out of town. And that travel was determined long before we had this date scheduled. So he's not joining us for today, but his staff will be able to amply convey the the budget. And with that, I'll pass it over to tavo. Great.
14 Hi there. Good afternoon, council president Dunphy, vice president clarke and councilors. I'm tom cruise, the chair of the prosper Portland board of commissioners, and I'm happy to be here today. I'm joined by my fellow board member, felicia hagans, our chief financial officer. Tony barnes, economic development director andrew fitzpatrick, and interim director of development and investment amy nagy. We're pleased to be here this afternoon to present the fiscal year 20 2627 proposed budget to city council serving as prosper portland's budget committee. I'm going to kick us off and then hand it to tony to provide an overview of the budget, key outcomes and our strategic priorities. Andrew and amy will then share how those priorities show up in the programs and projects the agency leads and collaborates on with our network of partners. Andrew will also summarize the impacts related to general fund cuts that we have incorporated and the estimated impacts of those cuts. The team will highlight some of the work happening through the city's economic development strategy. Advanced Portland now completing its third year, providing a strategic a strategic framework. The budgeted resources and investments presented here align with the mayor's proposed budget and prosper portland's ten year financial sustainability plan, which guides the agency's financial and business practices in the context of declining tif revenues and and underscores the value of the flexible resources provided in supporting inclusive economic prosperity. Accordingly, the proposed investments deploy a diversity of funds and a social impact investment model to help portland's small businesses traded sector, industries and the central, city and neighborhood commercial districts to stabilize and grow through community driven, equity centered programs. Tif district action plans, small business grants and loans, and the neighborhood prosperity network. We will start off with a slide. There it is illustrating our organizational governance. I appreciate how this slide shows the agency's structure. Working with mayor wilson and dca. Olivera, our coast alignment with the Portland housing bureau and highlighting the critical role city council plays in appointments and approvals, as well as strategic policy guidance. Speaking on behalf of our all volunteer board, appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council, we are committed to working closely and collaboratively with each of you to accomplish our shared goals of inclusive growth and shared prosperity. We are open to your feedback and perspectives on how we can most effectively deliver deliver results to this community that we all love. Before I pass it to toni, on behalf of our board, I'd like to thank the members of the community budget committee, whose names you'll see shortly, as well as the many community partners and prosper Portland staff involved in preparation of this budget. We appreciate the considerable time, energy and commitment by everyone involved to refine and prioritize investments in alignment with both citywide and geographically specific priorities. Our team has worked very hard and made many difficult decisions to ensure that we created a budget that aligns with and is responsive to, mayor wilson's proposed budget. I know as a city, we have a very serious budget deficit and the challenges we face are significant. I also believe that Portland is emerging from the negative trends of the last few years, and there are signs of growth. In order to maintain this momentum, we must continue to invest in our residents and workforce, our employers and our small businesses and signature development projects. At this time. As a proud born and raised portlander and a passionate advocate for all things Portland, I've seen the city aggressively and creatively rise to overcome an array of difficulties over the years, and I am confident that we can collectively overcome the challenges in front of us. My fellow board members and I, along with our with a committed team at prosper Portland, are eager to work alongside you to ensure that our city flourishes. Thank you for your leadership and partnership, and I'll now hand the presentation over to our cfo, tony barnes.
15 All right.
16 Thank you, chair, and good afternoon. Council president, vice president, members of council. I'm tony barnes prosper, cfo. Our budget was submitted yesterday and available both on council, the council clerk's website and prosper portland's budget site at prosper Portland.us. The budget documents presented in accordance with Oregon state budget law and summarizes the details of all funds for appropriation. In addition to the 2627 proposed budget document and associated materials presented for today's hearing, we also have provided a link to each of you for our budget compendium located at prosper Portland.us backslash fund balances. This compendium provides a specific information on how prosper portland's fund balances are reserved or restricted for specific uses, and for what types of projects and programs are allocated to the fund. Balance compendium. Working together with our five year forecast that's included on page 128 of our proposed budget document, provide a comprehensive view of how our fund balances are programed over the five year forecast. For today's presentation, I'll present a budget at a high level and then hand it over to andrew and amy to provide an overview of the citywide economic development programing, tif district and strategic investment fund budgets. In summary, all funds presented presents $324 million, or $322 million net of cash transfers, $202 million and resources $202 million in expenditures and has total staffing of 94 positions. That's down from 104 positions in the current fiscal year due to a reduction in force. We're currently undertaking to align with the mayor's budget and other prosper funding constraints. Our resources include ongoing fund balance, primarily in the tif districts that are reserved for specific action plan and tif district projects. Not all resources are anticipated to be spent next fiscal year, and therefore you'll see an estimated reserve for future year expenditures totaling $111 million that will carry into fiscal year 2728 and future fiscal years of the forecast. Most resources are contained within tax increment districts, followed by the strategic investment fund and planned resources from the pdf agreements and the mayor's general fund proposal, and other resources. Of the $202 million in expenditures that make up the operating and capital budget, the majority of the planned expenditures are for property redevelopment activities with the tax increment districts, followed by housing set aside programing, citywide economic development activities followed by administration. Next slide please. This next slide highlights our business lines that andrew and amy will be presenting on the left slide illustrates citywide economic development, business lines focused on small business supports, business retention and expansion, and business district capacity building. This program relies on general fund, city general fund funding, recreational cannabis tax funding and other citywide funds received by prosper. The right side of the slide shown here focuses on capital investments and real estate management to support access to capital through lending, equitable development, real estate asset management. Those activities in support of small business, affordable commercial tenants and redevelopment activities. This programing relies on primarily tif district resources and strategic investment fund resources. Next slide please. Our budget process includes engagement with our community budget committee throughout the formation of the budget. The 15 member committee, who are appointed to a two year term by prosper's executive director, includes members who broadly represent diverse backgrounds, experience expertise to economic and community development within Portland. For more than ten years, the cbc has been been the community body that reviews prosper's general fund, enterprise zone and tif district budgets in alignment with the agency's mission, vision and values. The committee annually provides a letter to the board and council discussing their priorities and recommendations. The letter for fiscal year 2627 is included within our filed budget document, providing their findings and recommendations related to the budget, largely focused on ongoing general fund programing. This slide provides a view of prosper's primary funding sources and how the sources and uses work together. General fund delivers small business assistance traded sector job growth events and film work, workforce development activities and other citywide programing. General fund and other citywide funds work alongside the strategic investment fund, tif and pcf funding, which are programed to provide access to capital and equitable development inside and outside of tif districts. Tif expenditures reflect active and sunsetting tif district resources. The majority of expenditures are tied to finalizing district action plans and other programing, as there are limited resources in the six new districts that were established in 2024. While it's common for tif resources to be limited in the first five years of a new district, this year has been very impressive, with four of the six new districts having no tif resources, and we anticipate that trend to continue into next fiscal year. Pcef budgets represent intergovernmental agreements to administer the collaborating for climate grant support, as well as energy efficient improvements for business and industry, as well as existing five year for igas that provide small business grants for energy efficient improvements. Seif, established in the 2023 financial sustainability plan and guided by our board's financial investment policy, diversifies prosper's resources beyond general fund and tif to provide a revolving source of fund that supports future operating and capital budgets. This funding provides a unique capital resource that can be used unlike tif resources supporting commercial and business development through working capital and property acquisition programing. As with any revolving fund, the principal is intended to be repaid and reinvested over time to provide an ongoing source of capital while generating resources to augment prosperous operating funds. This slide illustrates the last two fiscal years of city general fund resources contracted with prosper Portland for economic development programing. The blue section here shows ongoing resources. The Green shows one time resources overall in nominal dollars, or has been a net 21% decrease since fiscal year 2425 due to the combination of constraints and changes in one time funding. The changes for 2627 include a net reduction in nominal dollars of $400,000 when including the addition of the proposed $1 million, one time resources for the prosperity investment program or storefront programing. However, adjusted for inflation from a current service level perspective, that's about $1.8 million less than the current fiscal year. Looking at current programing and not including the new one time funding. Next slide, please. I'll finalize the summary here by showing total expenditures by appropriation category. Summarizing total expenditures. The graph illustrates the full expenditure budget when all funds are rolled together across all the funding sources using prosper's appropriation categories that you'll see in the budget document for all funds. The categories in each fund are driven by specific projects and programs and allocations between each category. The categories will depend on specific fund constraints such as tif plans, action plans, and other guiding documents. In summary, this illustrates that 54% or $109 million is focused on property redevelopment, which includes everything from property management activities. Asset management activities, as well as grant programs for small businesses and commercial lending programs. These are contained primarily in the tif districts. Housing funds are calculated based on the specific housing set. Aside amounts in coordination with the housing bureau for the housing set aside of each district. Infrastructure programing is all within tif districts as well and focused on transportation and parks projects in coordination with city bureaus. Economic development programing is largely focused by general fund and citywide funds supporting small business supports, workforce development, business retention and expansion. And finally, administration represents staff and operations that support the implementation of all business lines. This includes hr, legal policy, as well as our facility and system, infrastructure costs, audits, and about $1 million of general fund overhead and other administrative costs that prosper provides to the city. And with that, I'm going to hand over the next slide to andrew.
17 Thanks, tony. Good afternoon, council president, council vice president, city councilors. For the record, I'm andrew fitzpatrick, and I proudly serve as the director of economic development at prosper Portland. I'll provide you with a brief overview of the city wide economic development programs that tony just mentioned, which are made possible by the city's general fund. With your support, all of these programs are designed and implemented to meet the objectives of advanced Portland to drive inclusive growth, support equitable household wealth creation, revitalize our central city and neighborhood business districts, and connect portlanders to quality jobs and future ready sectors. As tony mentioned, the general fund remains a critical resource for these business lines because it funds ongoing programs which are offered citywide and include things like technical assistance, which cannot be paid for with tif funds. In terms of our business lines, I'll start with the business retention and expansion area on the left side of this left side of the slide. First, in terms of business retention and expansion, we support the growth of our key sectors to drive quality job creation for portlanders and industries like athletic and outdoor and Green cities. We advance equity through Portland means progress to help employers offer accessible employment and internship opportunities, and intentional procurement and local spending with underrepresented communities. And we work closely with regional partners like gpi and business Oregon to market the city and attract investment and talent that bolster our tax base and our quality of life. This work has resulted in 52 business expansions or recruitments in Portland, created over 600 new living wage jobs for portlanders and brought in 250 about $240 million in new private investment to our city over the last two years alone. This supports the tax revenue that underpins our city's general fund. Next, in the small business support space, we operate the inclusive business resource network, which connects entrepreneurs to culturally specific business advising, financial resources, new marketplace opportunities, and professional services like legal and accounting. Our one year old office of small business provides navigational support to businesses for permitting and other city services, and connects businesses to other community resources. We work with new startups as well as multi-generational Portland companies across the city. Together with ibn, we are serving more than 1600 small businesses each year. Our office of events and film offers financial and technical assistance to events and film producers to showcase portland's cultural landscape and capitalize on economic activity, from diverse programing and local production. Last year, we provided support for 43 events, which drove more than 782,000 visits to the city and leveraged more than $9 million in industry investment to support workforce development. We partnered with work systems, inc. Who's here with us today to deliver adult and youth workforce training programs. We also offer a workforce navigator program that is connected to our neighborhood prosperity network program. In a typical year, about 1700 participants receive workforce training through these programs, with 71% being people of color. And finally, we offer assistance to our city's seven neighborhood prosperity districts, as well as all business districts across the city. By providing capacity building workshops, direct technical assistance, and offering grants for marketing events and placemaking investments. This initiative, just approved recently $150,000 in grants, which is our continued commitment to business districts across the city. After shifting funding away from venture Portland last year. Next slide please. The office of small business was created with general fund resources one year ago as part of the advanced Portland strategic plan, and in response to a need for better centralized access and service to our city's small business community. The figure on the left represents businesses served across council districts by the office of small business, which is a product of our intentional outreach and marketing efforts, office hours, and engagement in many different community events in each of your districts. And on the right you can see, you can also see the wide array of different assistance that's been identified by small businesses. In terms of city bureau referrals, though, we have a lot more work to do. We value the cross bureau collaboration, bringing down silos, which we have built over the last few years. Over the last year, I should say, to strengthen our city's responsiveness and customer service to small businesses. Next slide please. The mayor's proposed budget results in the reduction of five general fund funded positions at prosper Portland, which is a 16% net reduction in force of all general fund positions at our agency. The program cuts in the proposed budget to workforce development and the inclusive business resource network will mean 700 to 900 fewer portlanders will be served by workforce development programs, and 175 fewer small businesses will be supported annually. The provision of $1 million in new, one time funding for tenant improvement grants will provide access to about 22 small businesses that take on new storefront leases, leverage private investment to reactivate vacant storefronts and encourage street level vibrancy. Next slide, please. Most of our general fund program offers have absorbed reductions in the last three fiscal years, and some of this has been mitigated due to one time resources that have been available with this graph demonstrates is the funding levels that are in the mayor's proposed budget across program offers and fy 2627, and specifically the braiding of general funds with other funding resources like pcf, sif, the community development block grant program from the federal government, and recreational cannabis tax dollars. This is our effort to leverage general fund dollars with other funds to form coherent programs that maximize community impact across the city. And now I'll hand this over to my colleague amy nagy, who will speak to our work with tif districts and with the strategic investment fund.
18 Great. Thank you. Andrew. Good afternoon, council president, vice president, city councilors. For the record, my name is amy nagy, and I currently serve as the interim director for development and investment at prosper Portland. As andrew mentioned in this next section, I will go ahead and provide an update on the upcoming fiscal year's proposed budget for the tif districts with key project highlights as well as activities surrounding the six new tif districts. I will close with the investment strategy for the agency's strategic investment fund, also referred to as sif. Next slide please. This slide provides a reminder of where council districts overlay the tif districts. It shows where tif plans, action plans and resources are available to invest in each member's area. So, for instance, in district one houses gateway space, Lents town center, as well as east 205. District two includes cully interstate corridor as well as the new lloyd holladay. District three encompasses 82nd as well as the central east side, and district four is west side and north macadam. In this current fiscal year, this council approved the tif district action plan and appointed community leadership committees to co-create action plans for the three new east Portland tif districts, which are now underway. Next slide please. This chart shows all planned investments in each of the tif districts by category, including both economic development and affordable housing. In total, we anticipate investing $124 million in the next fiscal year, which also includes the housing set aside. Larger investments will be focused in the more established districts, as tony mentioned, where the resources are already concentrated. But this does include cully. As we also mentioned, there is that delay in tif generation within the six new districts, and so therefore, that we have limited resources for them in the next fiscal year. The details of planned investments are on page 128 of your budget document that has the five year forecast for all of the tif districts. Next slide please. Advance. Portland is the city's economic development strategy. It frames the agency's investments to deliver on inclusive and sustainable growth. The tif district action plans and key projects are nestled within the plan's objectives. Previously, our budget presentations to you all included detailed information on planned activities within each tif district. But to save time today, I'll focus on key highlights aligned with our objectives. And then I'm happy to provide any more detailed information to you all upon request. All of the tif districts, there's core work that is done and that includes supporting small and traded sector businesses, as well as property owners and community based organizations. We maintain ongoing community engagement and coordinate with bureau partners on district specific initiatives and investments to create healthy and connected neighborhoods. In addition to our core work highlighting just a few of the projects that are focused on creating more of a vibrant central city. Following your approval of the spring tao last week, we're moving forward with the mixed income housing project that will produce 230 units on parcel six of the broadway corridor, which has been a long time city priority, and we thank you for that. We are also pursuing additional middle income housing through office to residential pilots, as well as supporting the implementation of this master plan, which will unlock development and opportunities for future housing as well as job creation. Looking ahead to our neighborhood commercial districts, prosper will be continuing to collaborate with fb and our partners at the williams and russell community development corporation and northeast to deliver on the community's vision for a business hub that supports wealth creation and housing options via affordable rental units, as well as homeownership opportunities. We'll also stay in close connection with our district one councilors on neighborhood activations, housing projects and business support. And gateway 92nd and herald project will commence construction, bringing another 200 units of new new housing online in the lens town center, and we will make resources available to tenant commercial vacancies along key corridors in that area as well. Additional investments will continue to support entrepreneurs of color through access to capital, affordable commercial spaces, as well as our targeted grant programs. We'll continue to support a diverse construction industry through our project investments. Next slide please. The community leadership committees or clcs, as we refer to them for the new. Three east Portland tif districts have begun developing their respective action plans using the co-creation model developed in cully. Prosper and hb are co-leading this effort on behalf of the city, and we started with two joint meetings with all of the clcs to launch the process and have since transitioned into district specific discussions. We have allocated $352,000 across both prosper and budgets to support the planning process in these districts. Additional funding will be available for implementation once the action plans are adopted, we expect to return to you all in early 2027 with those draft action plans for your review and adoption. The table on this slide in the upper left shows projected tif funding levels, starting with a five year forecast. These projections will be updated as we receive information from the state, particularly on utility assessments this summer, that will impact tif revenues and will have a better sense of what will be available for investment over the next couple of years. In the upcoming fiscal year, however, resources will continue to be allocated at the 55% split for economic development and 45% for affordable housing. Next slide, please. Following council's direction in June 2025, prosper Portland and fb began convening community stakeholders in the central city known as our working groups, to develop the five year action plans for those three new districts, known as central eastside corridor, lloyd holladay and the west side. We've noted previously, based on the recent data from Multnomah county, the current outlook for the revenue in central city tif districts projects no tax increment growth through, at a minimum this fiscal year. As a result, finalizing the action plans for the tif districts has been paused until tif resources can become available. Prosper Portland did identify a modest amount of program income available from concluded or sunsetting tiff central city tif districts to cover expenditures for the first year of program priorities in order to maintain the economic development momentum in each of these districts, funds will be invested in alignment with each district working group's priorities. So, for instance, in the west side will be issuing this through grants to activate the public realm and continue to improve the foot traffic that we've been seeing recently in lloyd, we will be supporting small businesses, retaining them in the district, as well as particularly working with the lloyd mall tenants to find suitable spaces for them in the district and support that with grants. And in the central east side, we'll continue with grants supporting small businesses, retaining large employers, as well as leveraging previous investments to activate public realm near omsi, we will need to assess the resources for the following fiscal year and continue to coordinate with our central city working groups as we anticipate tif will be delayed, particularly in downtown, for several years. Next slide please. So as we shift to the anticipated investments through the strategic investment fund, also referred to as seif, I want to briefly recap its purpose, its uses of the funds as well as governance, and especially just for those who are a little less familiar with it. As tony previously mentioned, in 2023, the prosper board adopted a financial sustainability plan that created sif and that was to diversify the agency's funding resources in response to declining tif revenues and to stabilize our operational resources over time. The sif is capitalized with program income. This is primarily proceeds from property sales and loan repayments. These funds are invested through loans and strategic property acquisitions that generate net operating income. That income is reinvested into the fund to support new projects and cover the agency's operating and capital costs. The sif is lending and property acquisition tool that's available to support geographies outside of tif districts. As a reminder, tif is limited to up to 15% of the city's geography at any given time, so our ability to invest outside of tif districts is very critical. Part of our economic instruments. For this to work, the fund must stay revolving, meaning investment should generate returns so they can be reinvested over time. In 2025, the board updated the financial investment policy to establish additional guidelines for how funds are deployed. These resources are used for business and commercial lending, acquiring income, generating real estate, and renovating those properties to keep them marketable and well managed, and covering some of the administrative costs needed to carry out these activities. Grants and infrastructure projects do not revolve by their nature and therefore are not eligible for to be funded through sif. In alignment with the city charter and the citywide policy, you all serve as prosper's budget committee, ensuring that sif investments align with the city goals and policies. And ultimately, you will approve our budget. All potential sif investments are made in a manner consistent with the agency's existing financial investment policy that is approved by the prosper Portland board. Next slide please. So, as shown here, sif investments are aligned with broader city goals around economic and housing development and support the multiple kind of policy frameworks that we have in this city. And those include advanced Portland, the housing production strategy that is led by bureau of planning, planning and sustainability, the social and limited profit housing models that are led by the Portland housing bureau and council's recently adopted unified housing strategy. Again, sif funds are flexible and can be deployed citywide, including for uses that are not tif eligible, such as providing working capital for small businesses or loans to purchase commercial property. As part of the four year investment strategy, there is $21 million that's allocated for our lending activities. Of that, 11 million of that 11.5 million is being used to expand access to capital for private and community borrowers, for working capital to purchase equipment and make real estate investments. The remaining 9.5 million is dedicated to middle income housing developers. We recently put a notice of application for those who have shovel ready projects, but are seeking to close their financing gap, and we are now receiving those responses. In addition, $28 million is being invested through prosper's real estate team to acquire income generating properties. This includes commercial buildings whose spaces can be leased at stable rents, as well as middle income housing properties that generate income. In both cases, prosper can help stabilize rents by limiting returns, demonstrating the kind of market models that this council and partner bureaus are seeking to advance. Overall, sif is a tool to support our shared goals, helping businesses invest, grow and more importantly, remain in the city and increasing and stabilizing housing. So I will now hand this over to my commissioner Higgins, to close out the presentation.
19 Council president Dunphy, vice president Clark, members of the council, thank you so much for having me. I'm lisa higgins, I'm a volunteer on the prosper board. I live in the 82nd avenue tif district in district one. Shout out to my district and I work for the service employees international union, which is a labor union in Oregon. I'm here in my day job. I advocate for an economy that actually works for everyone. And so it's a very good fit for the prosper board. So I want to call your attention to the this outcomes and impact slide showing some of the results that prosper Portland and its network of partners has generated over just the past year alone, leveraging the general fund allocation. With your partnership, we have produced these results in what is an extremely challenging economic period. I think you've heard some of the challenges that amy outlined in the tif districts. These outcomes reflect an agency that needs that needs to be nimble, accountable, and as these numbers show effective, more than 1600 portlanders are served by workforce development programs. Nearly half of the 181 business clients prosper Portland helped get access to capital, identify as black, indigenous or people of color, and prosper. Portland provides 37 million in loans and grants, providing access to capital to 181 businesses and non-profits, 65% of those served by the office of small business and inclusive business resources network are people of color, and there are 95 employees. Many of them are represented by their union. Ask me. This is a small but mighty team and they are passionate about their work in the city, and I believe these results really speak to the hard work that they've put in over the last year to create something and make something happen. It's fair to say you allocated critical resources, and this agency has delivered real results. And I'm keenly aware of the significant budget issues that you're going to be facing as a city that will all be facing as a city. And I know that you all will have very difficult decisions to make over this period of time. I will say that further reductions to prosper Portland general fund allocation beyond what the agency has incorporated in alignment with the mayor's budget proposal, will have some negative impacts. Further reductions will mean less money for highly impactful programs, additional staff cuts, and fewer residents and business owners accessing these programs and services. I'm going to urge you to maintain the general fund support for prosper Portland, which will enable the agency to continue to deliver the results and improvements, and I'm happy to answer questions now or later.
20 Thank you all very much, colleagues. As with this morning, I want to prioritize public testimony today. I believe there's more than 30 people signed up for testimony. Are there at this time. Any truly technical questions regarding readability, accessibility or otherwise ensuring we have the capacity to engage today and then we will have time at the end after public testimony for more discussion. Councilor Green.
21 I do have a purely technical question. Thanks for being here, guys. There was a series of bar charts that had colors that were difficult for me to tell. Slide 16. There's a greens there, and I think what I'm seeing, is it correct to assume that the larger Green is redevelopment and the smaller Green is property management? Yes. Okay. I wanted to make sure that's what I would expect to see. But maybe my eyes are failing me these days.
22 Yeah, you're right. The greens are very similar. We can work on that.
23 Probably in accessibility. Someone. I hope you guys are not cutting when you engage your your budget. Thank you.
24 Thank you.
25 Thank you. Councilor Green councilor Kanal.
26 Thank you council president. Thank you for the presentation. Since we're on this slide anyway, can you maybe just speak a little bit more to the property management side and what exactly that looks like in this context? And in the west side, for example, is the place I think we're seeing the biggest chunk there.
27 Absolutely. Councilor so the property management identified by the I think it's the kind of smaller Green portion on the bar chart represents the cost of, of maintaining assets. For example, there's a more significant portion in the west side district. That is where union station operations live. So what's not shown on this is the offset, which is the revenue which is included in the budget document for each fund. Most many properties have a revenue component that offsets the operations, but this illustrates the expenditure side as part of the appropriations to run those assets. So union station, there are other operating assets such as. Several garages like station place garage, right adjoining union station, but also properties held for redevelopment, such as the us post office, former site for broadway corridor that's contained in west side as well.
28 Thanks. It sounds like. Just to clarify, amy, I think it was who went over the the lloyd piece. You said that lloyd will be supporting small businesses, retaining them in the district. And just to clarify, district in this context means lloyd district. The tif.
29 District, the lloyd holiday tif district.
30 Got it. And then last question is of the cif money is only is the $9.5 million the only amount that is being used for property acquisition in the residential space? It was the bottom right of that slide.
31 So there is right. Angela, do you mind going to that slide? It's going to be 21. Yeah. Right. So the nine and a half on the bottom right would be going through right as prosper acquiring properties.
32 And that's the only portion of this that is acquisition of residential properties.
33 Residential. Correct. And so the what you see above in the 18.5 is what has been set aside for commercial properties for to support business.
34 Thanks.
35 Council vice president Clark.
36 I'd just like to ask a follow up to councilor Kanal question. So the properties that you're acquiring, who owns them? Are they going to our housing bureau or what?
37 We would own them. So they would they would join our real estate portfolio. We already have a kind of a range of types of properties in our portfolio. We have not acquired any actual middle income as of yet with seif, but that is what we would be. We've been looking at different properties. Now. They're owned by private by private owners now that are putting market, that are putting buildings on on the market.
38 Are we doing that in coordination with the housing bureau or or is this something new for prosper.
39 Well, it's it's twofold. Yes. We're in close coordination with the housing bureau. These would be middle income, which is outside of the housing bureau's purview. So these are those that have income between 80 and 120% ami. Whereas as you know, the housing bureau focuses on 60% and less.
40 So I just wasn't aware that prosper is actually involved in house in ownership of housing.
41 Well, we actually already own we have lens, we have lens commons in the lens town center that we developed and continue to own and operate. So we have experience in doing it. And it's an opportunity again, to, we find to maintain the housing units and stabilize the rents.
42 Thank you.
43 Thank you, vice president Clark councilor Ryan.
44 Thank you, council president. Good to see everyone from prosper Portland. Thank you for that presentation. Attachment alert. So did you mentioned the repair and restore grants and I just didn't hear it.
45 We did not mention them in the presentation per se.
46 But it's in there.
47 It's. Yes, they're in there as as part of our budget.
48 Needs to end this. Okay. Do you have a dollar amount? This is a technical question.
49 I'll have.
50 To dialog with you after this.
51 I need to get back to you on that.
52 Okay.
53 Thank you. Yep.
54 Appreciate it.
55 Thank you. Councilor. Ryan. Rebecca, can we please move to public testimony?
56 You can we have 30 people signed up to testify. A reminder to folks in person. You can see the timer on the screen in front of you online. You'll see it in zoom. There will be a chime when you have 30s left and one when your time is up. And we're going to go in groups of five. We'll start with the first five. Casey barnard, deanna d'souza, frozen rayfa jaweed aria and tiana hammond.
57 Welcome, folks. Come on up. Please introduce yourself for the record. Share your pronouns if you're so inclined. And everybody has two minutes for testimony.
58 Should we begin in order?
59 Sure.
60 Okay.
61 Thank you.
62 Great. Greetings, everyone. Thank you for the time today. My name is casey barnard. On behalf.
63 So inclined. And everybody has two minutes for testimony. Hey that's me. That's weird.
64 I am I identify as she her.
65 Hold on just a quick second while we figure out what is happening with technology.
66 My name is casey bernard.
67 I'm sorry. I want to check with broadcast to see what the problem is.
68 Hey. That's me.
69 Okay.
70 Good to see you.
71 That's weird. I am.
72 I identify as she her.
73 Oh.
74 Hold on just a quick second while we figure out what is happening with technology.
75 Bernard. Sorry. Check with broadcast. Yeah. That's me. Okay. That's weird. I am I. Identify as she her. Oh.
76 Hold on just a quick second while we figure out what is happening with technology.
77 Bernard. Sorry. Check with broadcast. Yeah. That's me. Okay. That's weird. I am I identify as she her. Oh.
78 I figure out what is happening. Oh, it's still going cool. Yeah.
79 Sorry. Let me check with broadcast. Okay.
80 It is.
81 It's weird. I am I identify as she her. Oh.
82 I figure out what is happening. Oh, it's still going cool. Yeah.
83 Okay. I am identifying her. Oh.
84 Just a second. Let me figure out what is happening. Oh, it's still going cool. Yeah.
85 Okay.
86 Oh, it's still going cool. Yeah. That's good.
87 I think we're good to go.
88 All right. Sounds like we are back. Thank you, everybody, for your patience while we worked our way through a technical problem. Please start over. Welcome.
89 I'm a little nervous. Well, thanks for having me. My name is casey bernard. I identify as she her. I work for work systems, the local workforce development board. I'm here today to thank you for your ongoing partnership and investment in portland's workforce, and to urge your continued support for the community opportunities and enhancements program, otherwise known as coop, or coep, which is the city of portland's primary long standing investment in the construction workforce. C o e p is the designated 1% construction workforce funding established to expand access to construction careers for people of color and women, and to align infrastructure investments with workforce equity goals. Three through c o p the city funds work systems community construction training program, a regional construction career pathway system that supports job seekers connecting to quality careers and advancing the city's commitment to the construction career pathways project c two, p two and the regional workforce equity agreement are w e a. We learned in the proposed budget that c o p administration is moving from prosper Portland to the city procurement team, and we'd like to learn more about the impact and the long term investment in this effort. C o p currently provides $1.3 million annually to construction workforce services through ktp, more than half of the total regional construction workforce investment.
90 30 more seconds again.
91 Okay. Any gap or destabilization in this funding would greatly disrupt our service providers and the community members they serve. That includes seven construct trusted community based organizations central city concern, constructing hope p o I c Portland youth builders, laborers community services agency, Oregon tradeswomen and the urban league of Portland. They provide expert career coaching pre-apprenticeship training connections to registered apprenticeship and retention support. They have 18.5 dedicated staff. They're highly experienced and they serve more than 300 community members who, the majority of whom reside in the city of Portland. Thank you for your consideration and this really important program.
92 Thank you very much.
93 Yeah.
94 Great. Good afternoon, council president Dunphy and city councilors. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is diana d'souza and I'm the community programs manager at work systems, the workforce board for Multnomah in Washington county. I'm here representing work systems in the Portland economic opportunity program known as eop Portland, which is funded by prosper Portland. I'm here to share how the economic opportunity program is transforming lives by connecting portland's most underserved residents with the tools and supports they need to find stability and meaningful employment. Thanks to funding from prosper Portland, we've been able to provide vital employment services through eop Portland for over ten years. We have the honor of partnering with central city concern, erko, our just future, southeast works and trash for peace to deliver a crucial training and employment services to city of Portland residents. Last year alone, eop Portland served 620 participants, 60% identified as bipoc. Nearly a third have prior justice involvement. Over half were public assistance recipients and 23% were homeless. Eop Portland focuses on people facing barriers to employment. Residents with low income housing instability, prior justice involvement, those in recovery, and immigrants and refugees. Eop Portland offers long term, relationship based career coaching and support services like phones, work, clothing and transportation assistance, and job training funds. These wraparound services are what make success possible. As a result, 85% of participants exited with jobs not subsidized placement, but real employment. Over half landed in career track roles and 57% advanced gaining wages and higher and benefits. This is more than job placement. This is economic mobility and action. Eop Portland works with participants to move from crisis to self-sufficiency, growing our local economy. I respectfully urge city council to fully restore and protect funding for youth and adult workforce development programs like eop Portland and the budget. Thank you for your time and commitment to building an inclusive and equitable Portland.
95 Thank you very much. Don't be polite. Yeah.
96 I think.
97 Good afternoon, council member. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is frozen. I am a career coach for eu program. I want to share the program from coach's perspective through our partnership with the work system and support from prosper Portland, we do more than fill a job opening. I have seen how difficult.
98 The mic, please. Sure. Thank you.
99 I have seen how how difficult it is to maintain housing without a stable income. It is not only about paying rent, it's also about ongoing stress, uncertainty and how quickly circumstances can change. What makes eop different is we are not just helping people to find any job, we are connecting them to career track opportunities to offer a career growth. They kind of living wage roles. They prosper. Portland and work system strive create for the inclusive local economy. The result of this approach speak themselves. Right now the program has a 90% employment rate. As a coach, I work alongside my participants throughout the entire process. I see the challenges, but I also see the true breakthroughs when they participants secure a steady job with the room grow and everything begin to shift, they're no longer just surviving. They are become a part of our city economic fabric again. They can pay rent, avoid eviction, and start thinking beyond immediate survival. You can see their confidence return and begin to believe their ability to move forward. I have watched participants move from worrying about where they will sleep, to earning a steady paycheck, or finding a place to call home. The kind of stability is not coincidence. It's happened because programs like eop partnership, they power them, support people at every stage. Thank you for your time. I hope you will continue to support eop so more people can have the same opportunity. Thank you.
100 Thank you so much.
101 Hello. Good afternoon everyone. My name is tiana hammond. I'm the deputy director at pc with our work opportunity training team. I would like to take a moment to read two letters from parents of the youth we serve at pc through our programs funded from prosper Portland through work systems, the first letter reads. My life changed drastically when I received a late night call from Portland police. They had my 15 year old son detained in juvenile. My heart dropped. I went to court the next day dreading seeing my son in handcuffs, but to my surprise, a team of people met me in that courtroom. This team truly became family. They made me in court every two weeks to time to visit my son, and even helped me advocate to get him a new jcc who became became like family as well. My son needed mental help. They got him connected to wraparound services. We met every week and yes, it was a long road. He even did inpatient treatment for three months, but he graduated high school last year. He has worked two internships to develop his skills, build his confidence, and he is now thriving as a successful young black man in society. Without programs like that, that prosper Portland fund through work systems. I don't know where my son would be, the second letter reads. I would like to express my deep gratitude to pick for their instrumental role in jeremiah's academic success, especially given her learning challenges. We enrolled jeremiah in ninth grade, drawn by the smaller classes. We believe it will provide an ideal environment for her to thrive. Her 10th grade year was the most demanding, but pike offered unwavering encouragement during the pandemic pandemic. The staff's dedication truly shine. Jeremiah reciprocated by consistently attending her online classes, even on days when she was the only student logged on, staff remained fully committed to teaching and supporting her. Ultimately, jeremiah's perseverance paid off. She successfully graduated a testament to her dedication in poi community. Moreover, pike's commitment has extended beyond graduation. She continues to receive training, life skill coaching, job placement assistance to ensure a seamless transition into the workforce workforce.
102 Thank you very much.
103 Thank you.
104 Thank you, members of the council. My name is aria and I serve as a career coach with the next gen youth workforce program at irco, in collaboration with work system and funded through prosper Portland. I have worked in this role for the past year and a half, and I'm here today to speak in strong support of continued investment in youth workforce programs, youth workforce programs play a critical role in supporting disengaged and dropout young people as they pursue training and employment. Many of the youth we serve face barriers such as limited work experience, financial instability, or a lack of access to career guidance. These programs provide a structured pathways that help youth build the skills, confidence and long term economic stability. A next gen program we currently serve 119 active participants. Over the past year, 63 youth completed occupational skills training in high demand industries including healthcare, construction, it, manufacturing, and customer service. These credentials open doors to higher quality job opportunities and improved earning potential. We also placed 37 youth into paid internships last year, many of whom were entering the workforce for the first time. As a result of these experiences, approximately 15 participants secured their first jobs, demonstrating how early work exposure leads directly to employment outcomes. To support participants access, we address barriers by wraparound services and help with licensing and certification fees. We also focus on foundational workforce skills such as resume writing, interviewing, communication, teamwork and problem solving. Investing in youth workforce programs is strengthening local economies, reduces unemployment, and supports public safety by creating productive and engaged community members. Thank you for your time and consideration.
105 Thank you very much. Thank you all for being here today.
106 Thank you.
107 Andrew mcguff, danny garcia, shelley hack and you may delegato. Giuliana. Elegant.
108 Welcome folks. Come on up. Introduce yourselves. Feel free to share your pronouns if you'd like. And you have two minutes. Take it away.
109 Thank you so much, councilors. Good afternoon. My name is andrew mcgoff and I'm here on behalf of work systems, which is the workforce development board for the city of Portland, Washington and Multnomah county's. I'm here to oppose cuts to the workforce program supported through prosper Portland, as proposed in the mayor's budget. I want to begin by concurring with the prosper Portland community budget committee and independent advisory board, who formally recommended against cutting workforce development programs. After multiple meetings and careful review, the committee concluded that reductions in workforce funding would have deep and lasting impacts, particularly on community based organizations. Organizations serving portland's most vulnerable residents. The committee's recommendation is clear workforce investments must be protected. As you've heard, work systems manages three workforce programs in partnership with prosper Portland. These programs are not standalone. They are coordinated partnership supported by multiple investments and multiple funders, including city, regional, state and federal resources. By working together, we increase funding, broaden access, improve services and strengthen results. City dollars are essential. A part of this partnership when they reduced or destabilized far more than local services are lost. Investments in our workforce is economic infrastructure. It matters in good times and bad, helping employers grow in strong economies and preventing households from slipping into crisis in downturns. It generates tax revenue, reduces pressure on emergency systems, and one is, is, and is one of the most effective tools we have to combat homelessness and eliminate generational poverty. I urge you to follow the prosper Portland community budget committee's recommendation and protect workforce investments as a core city priority. Thank you for your leadership and consideration.
110 Thank you very much.
111 Hello, my name is danny garcia. I am a next gen career coach with Portland opportunity industrialization center, also known as p o I c. I started my journey with them back in 2016 when I became a high school graduate from the rosemary anderson east campus. During that time, I was enrolled in the nextgen program. As a participant, I was introduced into the workforce program through nextgen, hired into an internship as a earthquake researcher over at lewis and Clark college, I saw the benefits of internships and how these internships helped my form my life, and how I could use those tools and help others. So then later in 2018, I decided to apply over at pc and eight years later, I am here standing before you, showing you firsthand how they have given me the tools to overcome my barriers and continue helping others overcome them as well. Here with me, I have one of my current participants who will share her story.
112 Hi, my name is adrianna campbell. I'm an internship. I have internship because of p l I c. I was passionate about working with kellie's custom hat wigs and didn't know how to start. Pc helped me with barriers such as getting ids, license and any other fees that I needed. I got paid while I was while I had. I get paid while I have this internship. Sorry, this internship means I have a mentor at powick as well as at kellie's custom hat wigs and it helps get. I get value work experience which is also helping me further my career.
113 Thank you guys for taking your time and taking into consideration prosper portland's budget. We hope that you understand how essential these programs are for us, for the youth, for our communities, and continue to help us during this time.
114 Thank you.
115 Very much.
116 Thank you both.
117 Good afternoon.
118 Council president, vice president and councilors. My name is shelley hack and I'm the president of afscme local 3769, which represents the staff of prosper Portland. I've been with the agency for over 20 years. During my tenure, I've been fortunate to experience significant change in the organization as it reshaped its mission to emphasize shared prosperity and equitable wealth creation. In true collaboration with our public, private, and community partners. In the spirit of collaboration, our union has worked with our new executive director, cornel wesley, and his team, as well as our board, to craft a budget that is responsive to the feedback and guidance we've received from the mayor and councilors. This budget represents a mere 1.5 cent per $1 of general fund resources invested in economic and workforce development. At a moment, that investment is more important than ever before, I respectfully challenge you to consider whether or not this is adequate to support our small businesses and trade sector businesses in Portland. This budget prioritizes service delivery and makes very has made very difficult choices about what staff and programs are impacted. Prosper just completed a round of layoffs notifications that included a total of nine filled positions impacting six represented and three non-represented staff. Additionally, another four vacant or retiring positions have been eliminated. These cuts equate to an elimination of over 16% of our enrolled membership. As you proceed with your budget deliberations, my ask is that you that the city does not impose additional cuts to the prosper budget, and that you engage in a dialog with our union? If you have questions or are contemplating changes to that budget, whether you're deliberations include budget increases or decreases, I'm eager to have the conversation with you about what impacts those changes will have on union staff.
119 Thank you.
120 Thank you very much. Council president, council vice president, councilors. For the record, my name is uma delgado. I serve as the vice president of hcm 3769, which as she mentioned, represents the members of prosper part one. The mayor's proposed budget makes hard choices in response to the moment we find ourselves in. In anticipation of that budget, our management has already laid off approximately a 10th of our workforce, including more than 10% of our union staff. That is, in the literal sense of the word, a decimation of our workforce prosper. Part one proposed budget is responsive to the feedback that we've heard from your offices. It eliminates filled positions and it prioritizes service delivery. Some will say that these roles are not mission critical, but I want to say here on the record, all of these positions matter to me. They represent procurement, I.t, hr, our entire equity team. Excuse me? People who have dedicated decades of their life to the ideal that we could build a better economy for all portlanders. Their expertise, hard work and dedication cannot be replaced. This morning, you heard from members about the challenges that exist throughout this ecosystem. Many of those members are asking you to restore their funding, and I hope you do. But our ask is just slightly different. Our ask is simply that you keep continue making this investment in portland's economic future. Further cuts will detrimentally impact our capacity to deliver services at a time when our economy needs it the most. Portland invests roughly a quarter of what seattle does in economic development. These are challenging times, but given the stakes, I would ask that those of you who support labor lean into your values, protect union jobs, and if you feel that you must make cuts that will impact my members, at least be willing to have a conversation with our union about what those cuts will entail. Thank you.
121 Thank you very much.
122 Hello. My name is juliana elegant and I work in the office of small business. I'm one of the small business liaisons for districts two and four, and I'm a proud member of hcm local 3769. I'm here to share my perspective as you make difficult decisions around the city's budget and prosper portland's budget. I started at prosper Portland about a year ago and I was very excited to join. I grew up watching my father give his heart and soul to city government and the city of Salem, and I was excited to make a difference in Portland, my city that I love, and follow the example that he set. My fellow prosper portlanders are hardworking and mission driven colleagues, whether they're supporting Portland panorama, sharing resources with the exclusive business resource network, or holding office hours in coffee shops around the city, they bring their heart to their work. If I send a question late at night, I receive a flurry of responses from the team that same evening. They want to make sure that we're providing service to the businesses as soon as possible. And the Portland small businesses that we work with are equally impressive. Their passion, drive and creativity leave me in awe. I feel honored when they're willing to tell me about their fears and frustrations, and they shared more than a few tears about the challenges that they have been facing, such as inflation, security concerns, reduced foot traffic and ice activity, just to name a few from the past year. The emotional burden that comes with supporting these small businesses is a weight that is proper for me to carry as part of my job. However, during the year that I've worked at prosper Portland, I have had real concerns that I would lose my job three separate times last spring, last fall and again this spring. The extra weight has an impact and as someone who started recently, I'm in a vulnerable position. If we find that we need to make cuts to service delivery. You have a skilled and dedicated workforce that are striving to improve Portland daily and continue to continue to be a part of the solution. Please remember to value that important resource as you make hard decisions. Thank you so much for your time.
123 Thank you very much, charles.
124 Charles clay, rana usman, mike vanier, kathleen bailey, graham. Morris.
125 Folks, come on up, introduce yourself for the record. Share your pronouns and you have two minutes. Thank you very much.
126 Good afternoon. My name is charles clay. I'm the director of the opportunity center at 42nd avenue for Portland community college. And I manage the nextgen grant, which a youth program with three wonderful career specialists. One of them to my left here. I'm here today to urge you to protect the funding from this grant and for prosper Portland. So many young adults encounter serious obstacles to employment and personal stability, ranging from housing insecurity to access to education and have previous justice involvement. Next gen removes these barriers, providing the empowerment and clarity needed to pursue a successful career path. When we look at a budget, it's easy to see numbers on a page line items for personnel operating and indirect. I see faces, futures and a stronger community. This funding is not elective. It's a lifeline for many youth we serve. For many of our youth, these programs are the only safe spaces they have. They are the bridge between the struggling student, a person with little hope and direction to someone that they can trust who believes in them. Cuts in funding will balance the budget, but it will cost our city far more tomorrow. We know that every dollar invested in youth development saves us significantly in future costs. So, for example, I have a participant, jane, who was enrolled into the nextgen grant us, who was at risk of dropping out of high school. But with encouragement, she completed her high school diploma at franklin high school, and she was interested in early childhood education. So she completed an internship with early learning works preschool for all, and successfully started at Portland state university to complete a degree in elementary and special education. This would. Mentoring, encouragement, and support from next gen. When we cut youth programs, we aren't just saving money, we are withdrawing our investment in the next generation of leaders, workers and neighbors. Our young people are watching to see if they are a priority. Let's show them that we are. Thank you for your time and your service to the community.
127 Thank you very much.
128 Good afternoon councilors. My name is rana zaman. He him and I'm the executive director of Portland youth builders pyb for short. For over 30 years, pyb has served low income communities of color. Find success. Pyb has been a recipient of funding from its inception, which began in 2020. Since 2020, over 200 youth have been have benefited from pre-apprenticeship training and career services made possible by co-op and ktp funding, with a vast majority of the people served coming from poor neighborhoods comprised of people of color, coep and ktp. Funding has been critical to pibs ability to build and expand capacity for our bridge construction pre-apprenticeship training program, which allows us to provide quality training services and directly support people we serve in gaining living wage jobs. These jobs help break generational income disparity and the cycle of poverty for the individuals and the communities in the city of Portland. Pyb has also exceeded our enrollment goals every year. We were a part of this program, which highlights the need for these support dollars as a program pyb of the 200 people we have served have a completion rate close to 90%. Over 111 of these people were placed in industry jobs, and close to 60 of these folks have been placed in union and nonunion apprenticeship. The c, o, e, p and ktp dollars are a reminder that the city of Portland supports and cares about poor neighborhoods and the people who live in them. By providing funding to community based organizations like pyb, it allows us to find ways to break, as some of my students call it, generational curses. These dollars support pyb indirectly helping folks who believe they were destined to be poor find pathways towards poverty. I ask that the city council keep co-op and ktp funding intact during a year of budget cuts, and by doing so, you will be taking a stand and directly supporting communities and neighborhoods that feel forgotten and ignored.
129 Thank you.
130 Mike is online. You can unmute and go ahead.
131 Thank you. Excuse me. Good afternoon, council president and members of the city council. Thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is mike vannier. I'm president of omp, the Oregon manufacturing extension partnership. We are a nonprofit private public partnership management consulting firm working specifically with manufacturers to help them grow, compete and, and and, and innovate. I am here in full support of, of, of prosper portland's business advancement team, specifically their general fund allocation. This is not an expense. It's a high performing investment that drives growth jobs and, and creates long term. Economic resiliency. Let me share a quick story. Pan's mushroom jerky, a southeast Portland company, gained national attention during a shark tank appearance that that success created strained through prosper Portland and omp. They implemented a a lean manufacturing philosophy that that built a foundation to, to, to scale the results manner. That's over $2 million in retained sales, quadrupled their production capacity, expanded to major retailers, added 2000 new new retail partners. Omps partner with or omps partnership with prosper Portland. For over 20 years. Just in the last five years alone, that's over 200 consulting projects with over 99 different manufacturing companies, many of those less than 2020 employees. These these companies were paid report over 350 million in economic impact and 2000 jobs retaining or or or or or investing in a prosper Portland mitigates the risk of fewer new jobs and weaker economy. I strongly encourage you to maintain this vital work and investment. Thank you for the consideration.
132 Thank you very much.
133 Hi, my name is kathleen. She her pronouns. I'm a next gen career coach and a resident of district one. I'm going to tell you about a task I have on my calendar every week. It's an hour that I block off to check in, and the reason why I have that on there is to check in with my caseload, my youth, my participants. And the reason why I do that is one of the first people I worked with had a lot of barriers when I met her. She ended up going through the dental assistant program with support from us. And she, you know, faced some hard backs, a lot of test anxiety. So I googled guided meditation and we learned how to do that together. And when I went to her graduation, one of the things she said to me was, you always checked in on me. And so I realized like what that meant, right? Like it wasn't that we gave her money to take her test and it wasn't that we bought her scrubs, it was that there was somebody that was checking in with her. And so I learned a lesson from that. And when I speak with someone that's interested in our program and we talk about what they want their life to look like, I say, who's on your team? And it never fails to break my heart. How many people say nobody. So. That's one thing that is not, you know, you can't say that with a number. How important is it to have someone check in? But I will leave you with this question. When you were starting out, who was checking in on you and where would you be if they didn't? Thank you.
134 Thank you very much.
135 Oregon. Hi, I'm graham morris, executive director of the japan America society of Oregon, commonly known as jasso. I'm here today to encourage you to support the full funding of prosper Portland. Jasso is a statewide nonprofit based in downtown Portland with the mission to support business and develop community by strengthening the us-japan relationship. We represent over 1100 members and 130 corporations, including many japanese businesses and us companies that do business with japan. Within city limits, we operate 20 programs in business, education and culture. Prosper Portland and the business advancement team is a key partner in our economic development program. This program leverages $4 for each dollar. Prosper contributes in partnership with the state, the port travel Portland and our own operating funds. Any call or inquiry from japanese business agency or government entity that comes into any partner's office is automatically transferred to us at jasso, we discuss the needs on the japanese side, build an itinerary that fits their goals and host their visit. This includes private meetings
136 With prosper staff. Separately, we send out a newsletter in japanese on the latest in traded sector activity by industry sector and highlight opportunities in the city of Portland, which goes out to over 1200 business contacts in japan, plus tour agents in japan that host business group tours to the us. In less than two years. Since we started, we've hosted 15 groups and three city of Portland businesses have received specific opportunity to expand sales. One additional company is close to signing an agreement to open their new us headquarters in the inner east side warehouse district. Prosper has been a main protagonist in getting this program up and running with us, and I highly recommend their work in international trade development with japan to you. Conversely, a reduction in funding will directly decrease this service. Thank you for supporting this initiative.
137 Thank you all so much for being here.
138 Mara rico, julie mitchell, ricardo lopez, skylar hall, adriel pearson.
139 Hello, counselors and community members. My name is mariko and I am executive director of treasured piece, where I help manage the Portland economic opportunity program. I'm here today to ask you to protect funding for youth and adult workforce programs in the budget to the economic opportunity program. We don't just provide services, we walk alongside people during some of the most difficult moments in their lives, helping them find stability through employment. This quarter, we supported someone navigating expungement after losing their job unfairly through consistent support. The access to unemployment benefits, rebuild their confidence and secure a full time position as a senior maintenance manager with something as simple as a bus pass and work close, they were able to show up ready and proud on their first day. Another participant came to us while experiencing an abusive home situation, and I was suddenly locked out of their housing with coordinated support. We helped them quickly secure safe housing so they could keep their job. Just last week, they were recognizing as an employee of the week, and just last week we were with a single mother of three who is about to begin an lpn program. When she first came to us, she was doing everything she could to just survive. Today, she's starting nursery school, moving into a new home, and building a career. A career that will sustain her family. This story shown that what happens when people are given a real chance? When we invest in workforce programs, we are strengthening families, stabilizing housing, and building a more resilient community. I urge you to protect funding for youth and adult workforce programs in the budget, because this work is not just about support, it's about economic and community. Community impact. Every person who gains stable employment trends. For communities and economy. When we invest in people, we're investing directly in the future of Portland. Thank you for your time and commitment to our community.
140 Thank you very much.
141 Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to speak before city council in support of continued workforce development funding for work systems, inc. My name is julia mitchell and I serve as the chief operating officer at poi. Poi has been serving the Portland community since 1967. With workforce development at the heart of our mission. Our partnership with work systems is long standing and deeply aligned. Together, we connect young people to opportunities, stability, and long term careers. Through next gen, we serve youth up to age 24, many of whom are first generation graduates, justice involved or facing significant barriers to employment. I've heard that the best social service program is a job. This is why paid work experience is funded by work systems matters. It provides career exploration and reliable income for youth experiencing homelessness. It often becomes a turning point, enabling them to secure housing and stay employed. I'd like to share a few proven outcomes when we invest, early construction trainees go straight to work, earning a living wage of $60 an hour. I heard that this week semiconductor training grads go straight to work for companies like microchip. Another outcome successfully redirecting justice involved youth toward employment opportunities. Every dollar invested yields long term returns in a stronger local workforce, increased economic stability for families and neighborhoods. In closing, work systems funding allows poc to continue doing what we have done for nearly six decades, turn opportunity into outcomes. When we invest in youth work experience, we are not just funding a program, we are investing in portland's workforce safety and economic future. Again, the best social service program is a job, and this funding makes obtaining those jobs possible. Thank you.
142 Thank you very much.
143 Ricardo's online. You can go ahead.
144 Thank you very much. Good afternoon, council president Dunphy, vice president Clark and city councilors. My name is ricardo lopez, and I am the career and economic development director with arches futures. I'm here today to speak on behalf of the economic opportunity program, of which we are part of, in partnership with work systems. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I want to begin by expressing our sincere gratitude to the mayor and prosper Portland, on behalf of our staff and participants for retaining the workforce development funding for the economic opportunity program in the latest proposed budget. Prior to the release of the budget yesterday, you know, we had heard that this funding was potentially at risk of elimination and our community was deeply concerned. I know a number of our participants who could not be here present today, submitted written testimony opposing the potential cuts. The proposal, the proposal to retain this funding is something we do not take for granted. I'm here today to respectfully urge you to protect and maintain this funding as the budget is finalized. I know the city faces some difficult decisions in this upcoming year. However, we know that the city has a strong commitment to finding and implementing solutions to address our houselessness crisis and workforce development is central to that effort. Workforce development is not separate from addressing houselessness. It is a critical part of the solution. Employment is what allows people not only to exit houselessness but to remain housed. As you heard from deanna earlier, in the past year alone, this program served over 620 participants, 85% of which exited the program with employment. Many of those participants did not simply need a job posting, they needed guidance, training and support to overcome real.
145 Barriers.
146 Which our programs provide. Many of the people we serve are living in the living on the margins. One missed paycheck or one unexpected expense away from losing their housing. Without employment, many of these individuals would either remain houseless or fall into houselessness for the first time. Our work is prevention. It is stabilization, and there's far more cost effective than emergency response. Studies consistently show that the stable employment reduces reliance on shelters, health care and crisis services. Even a nominal cut to this funding can have a real impact on the number of people we are. We are able to serve. We urge you to keep this investment whole. If we want fewer people entering houselessness and more people successfully exiting it, we must continue to invest in pathways out of employment. Thank you again for listening and hope you all have a wonderful evening.
147 Thank you very much.
148 Skyler's online. You can go ahead.
149 Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is skyler hall and I'm the vp of marketing and client relations at aimco aimco's product service. A wide variety of industries. We distribute manufactured torque tools that tighten fasteners on your car's bolts, on wind turbines, tractors, and much more. Our electric tools that primarily serve the wind and advanced manufacturing sector globally are designed and made right here in Portland, Oregon. I am the third generation. My grandfather started this business back in 1970 as a small business in Portland. Grant funding and the assistance and trade shows support that prosper Portland has provided for us over the past decade has been extremely impactful for us. Our competitors are publicly traded companies. We are the only ones in the world that make this specific type of tooling in the united states. Even more specifically Portland, Oregon. Our products are used on a global scale, and we're now proud to say that we export to over 43 different countries. We recently were awarded the manufacturing, business and workforce retention grant, funding us with $10,000, allowing us to promote associates, provide additional training, as well as hired two additional employees. The timing could not have been better with the tariffs last year and the rising costs. We were forced to furlough for six months, losing two key long term associates along the way. The additional support that prosper Portland, including trade show marketing, has been extremely helpful and necessary. In order for us to remain competitive, we provide ourselves in stating that we are small. We pride ourselves in stating that we are small, third generation family business and want to continue to be successful, provide job security for our employees and support our team. We pride. We also pride ourselves in saying that we. Not only that, we manufacture in Portland, Oregon, but remain a small family business and are committed to continuing this legacy, one that my grandfather would have been proud to see today. Thank you for your time.
150 Thank you very much.
151 Mayor and members of the city council. My name is adriel pearson and I am here on behalf of work systems, the Portland metro workforce development board. Thank you for your partnership and investment in portland's workforce. I'm here to urge your continued support for next gen, a critical youth employment program that connects youth, young portlanders to training, paid work experience and long term career paths, helping youth build stability while strengthening our local workforce. This program, year to date, has with a network of providers supported by prosper funds served, 502 youth, 4203 services were rendered to nextgen youth. An average of 67% of next gen youth were employed 180 days after their exit, or two quarters. An average of 83% of nextgen youth earned a credential. These outcomes are not by accident, but are the intentional work of partners, organizations, leaders, coaches who are committed to serving youth. To lose these funds would have a devastating impact on our partners ability to serve youth, eliminating elimination of employment services for hundreds of youth, the loss of career coaches and youth specialists at erko new avenues for youth, Portland youth builders, Portland community college, pcc leverage funding that is only available by unlocking the youth. The utilization of city general funds. Please consider the value of this program and the harm that eliminating funds will do. I urge you to restore these funds so that next gen can continue to thrive. Thank you.
152 Thank you very much. Thank you all.
153 Vivian lackey, karanja cruz, gavin deventer, charles monico, laura. Damon.
154 Welcome. Come on up. Whoever's first, I don't remember.
155 Hello, Portland city council. My name is vivian lackey. I work at central city concern at the employment access center on second and Burnside. I've been a part of the employment services there for 12 years, and also a part of the economic opportunity program. I'm here to voice the importance of protecting funding for the youth and adult workforce programs within this budget. Thanks to Portland economic opportunity program and work systems partnership, which supports our downtown homeless folks and getting jobs. Employment support is more than a resume, interview prep, career goals and building employer relations. It takes multiple services and understanding the whole situation and complications of homelessness. One on one career coaching involves discovering the barriers to employment and solve or work around them, so employment can be successful. Barriers are many job gaps. Disabilities, criminal background. Education support needed, language barriers. Domestic violence. So many problems. Not easy to solve on their own. We simultaneously begin accessing other resources services at central city concern that we can connect people to, such as treatment and health care and counseling and housing. With both housing and employment, they begin to find self-sufficiency and come away from using snap Oregon health plan and living on the sidewalks. I start paying taxes. Being a consumer. Some are actually buying homes. Many are able to start saving and buying their first car. We have been operating on a waitlist at our office program for the last six months. People are walking in from the streets and they're wanting help to get a job. We are in extreme high demand. The needs such as transportation assistance, tools, clothing, computer access, and many things we can offer. Because of the Portland economic opportunity opportunity program. Through work systems, employment helps people become housed and support keeps them housed and employed. They both work together. Thank you.
156 Thank you very much.
157 Karen cruz.
158 No, I'm charles.
159 Gavin is online. Gavin, you can unmute and go ahead.
160 Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is gavin. I'm the director of programs at livelihood northwest. I've spent 14 years in business development in partnership with the city of Portland through the inclusive business resource network, or ibon. Over the years, the ipr and its program predecessors directly funded our support for many of the businesses that have become some of the most recognizable names in Portland, including henry higgins, boyle bagels, Portland garment factory, ota tofu, betsy and aya, dragonfly chai and ruby jewel, as well as some of the current up and comers you may already recognize, such as hot mama salsa. With a new manufacturing facility in southeast Portland, the freaky but true peculiarity a truly Portland experience for locals and visitors alike. Sinister coffee with a new location in downtown Portland. Tattoo 34, the only native owned tattoo shop in Portland, santo domingo taqueria, who purchased their building and opened a second Portland location, Portland creative framing, with two Portland locations and missionary chocolates with their new amazing location at the airport, the ibn serves these businesses along with more than 600 others, including workforce development participants who wish to pursue entrepreneurship with the deep budget cuts proposed, which of these businesses should we stop supporting? Which ones does our city no longer need, and which of today's innovative startups might never have a chance to thrive? Livelihood northwest is just one of 15 nonprofit local organizations that currently make up the ibn, each offering complementary services and cross referring to one another daily. Across this network, demand already exceeds capacity in an economic downturn. Entrepreneurship creates opportunity, jobs and tax revenue. If small business and equity remain. Priorities in Portland, I respectfully urge you to preserve the 20 plus year investment that the city has already made in our amazing and creative Portland entrepreneurs and fund, the ibn. Thank you.
161 Thank you very much.
162 Charles.
163 Good afternoon, council members, council president, vice president. My name is charles manigo. I am the construction coordinator for the Portland opportunity industrialization center. I've been with them for approximately nine years or so running that program, and we have been working in conjunction with work systems over the entirety of that time. And prior to receiving these specific funds, we had served approximately 125 youth coming through northeast Portland. But with these funds, primarily, we were able to expand our network and move out into the greater Portland metropolitan area. And more than doubling the amount of folks that we were able to serve, totaling approximately 420 that we've served with, 350 getting jobs into living wage careers within the trades. I think that these funds are not just important, but they're a lifeline. As a journeyman carpenter, I do understand the volatility of our current workforce. And if we don't do something to keep implementing and growing and building the workforce within the trades community, we will lose it because the pacific northwest isn't your typical trades worker climate. So if we don't continue to invest in our community, if we don't continue to invest in the next generation of trades workers, we will lose that workforce. And what that means is right now, we're battling against folks from the midwest, because all of our folks from the midwest are coming here because you can't go more than two miles without seeing a crane in the city. And that's very, very important to me. I want to make sure that we're able to keep dollars here in Portland, in the pacific northwest, because that also, as you guys know, will infuse our workforce. So if we lose these funds, yes, we'll be losing building a stable workforce, but we'll also be losing community and we'll also be losing resilience, which is something that these programs are really building. So I really, really challenge you guys to think long and hard about what the future of this investment will be to the ones who are going to be running and making decisions for us moving forward. Thank you.
164 You're good to go.
165 Good afternoon councilors. My name is laura damon. I'm the executive director at livelihood northwest. For more than 20 years, I've been in business development supporting Portland small businesses. And today we continue that work as a long time partner in the city's inclusive entrepreneurship system, also known as the ibn. I want to acknowledge the difficult position you're in. The budget reflects real constraints, and we understand that. But I want to be clear about what's at stake here for the small business community. Under the proposed budget, the city estimates 175 fewer small businesses served, reduced technical assistance and the potential loss of 2 to 3 partner organizations. And that's at a 10% reduction. A larger cut in the budget would substantially deepen those impacts. Those aren't abstract numbers. Those are real entrepreneurs. As you just heard from my colleague gavin, who won't access advising capital or the support needed to stabilize or grow their businesses. At livelihood northwest, we support over 800 entrepreneurs a year statewide, 86% of those are economically disadvantaged, 66% identify as bipoc, 83% women or gender expansive. For every $1 invested in our programs, we generate $30 in local economic return. I want to repeat that for every $1 invested in technical assistance business support programs, we generate $30 in local economic return. This is an economic infrastructure. It's our pathway to jobs, business stability and tax revenue in the city. So I ask you directly if there are reductions, who will do this work? Who will replace the capacity of the 2 to 15 organizations or the 20 skilled fte that are doing this work on the ground? I'd ask that you work with us prioritizing, sustaining the programs, the partners and models that keep this system working. Small businesses need an ecosystem of support, and without it, our local economy weakens livelihood. Northwest has been doing this alongside the city for close to 30 years, and we welcome the opportunity to continue to do so. Thank you for your time, your leadership and your investment in the Portland small business community. We appreciate it.
166 Thank you very much.
167 Johanna redmond, surya raj joshi, ahsan siddiqui, nicholas primm, damien crowder.
168 Welcome, folks.
169 Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is johanna redmond and I'm a career coach for the eop professional immigrant credential program. I'm here representing southeast works in the eop program's. Southeast works was one of the first eop programs back in 2006, when it was called the economic opportunity initiative 20 years ago. I want to share how impactful the eop programs are, particularly for immigrants facing unique challenges to obtaining training and opening doors to meaningful employment. I began working with a cp participant in August. She came to the program with an mba, ten years of banking experience from ethiopia, and a caregiving background from when she helped her father. She was open to going into either field. Through the eop program, we were able to pay for a credential evaluation for us equivalents. Together, we strengthened her resume, explored job options, and explored training opportunities. She started working at lemlem house adult care in November and fell in love with it. By December. She decided to pursue her cna training, and the eop program supported her with a laptop for school. When the cna program was canceled, I worked with her to pivot quickly to the mount hood community college nursing assistant program, explained the enrollment steps, shared scholarship information through which she was awarded $2,500 through the skills team at southeast works, and I helped her move through the process. The eop program was able to pay for her background check and her drug screening, which would have been a financial strain otherwise and could have derailed the whole process. She's ecstatic that she's starting classes on may 4th. This is why I urge you to keep funding eop programs like icp. These programs give people real support in critical moments, helping them turn setbacks into opportunities and move towards stable employment and long term success. When we invest in these programs, we invest in Portland residents, stronger families, safer communities in a more equitable city. I respectfully urge city council to fully restore funding to youth and adult workforce development programs like the eop program. Thank you for your time.
170 Thank you very much, sir.
171 It's online. You can go ahead.
172 Hi, city council, my name is jose. I'm a doctoral candidate at Portland state university focusing my research on workforce development. And I have worked in workforce development sector for more than a decade. I have seen firsthand how workforce programs cumulatively and community workforce navigators program like those supported through through neighborhood prosperity network in particular, can truly impact our communities. These programs do more than to connect people to for a job. They are the first entry point for communities to seek support when they need help finding a job or navigating an increasingly technical job search process that put communities of color at this disadvantage. Also, increasingly, job seekers are from the older cohort or above age 40. As our economy changes. Workforce navigators are a key node in in workforce development work. They provide culturally specific guidance, build trust, and help people navigate the system that can otherwise feel overwhelming. This kind of support is especially critical in communities that have historically faced barriers to accessing workforce opportunities, and are currently scared to trust institutions because of immigration enforcement activities. It is also the most cost effective program among workforce programs currently supported by prosper Portland, which is about $450,000 to serve 400 participants annually. Division midway alliance, which is a nonprofit, are npn with the deep community root and engagement. Recently organized entrepreneurs in action event and. And it was good to see councilor Smith and councilor Dunphy at the event. The testimony provided at the event makes it clear that how place based organizations like division alliance support local economic development, working directly with local businesses and community, cutting funding for the community workforce navigators program would mean losing a vital bridge to to to the opportunity. I strongly urge you to continue supporting workforce navigator program and npn networks. Thank you for your support. Thank you for your support and initiatives.
173 Thank you very much.
174 We're working on getting promoted. In the meantime, nicholas. Go ahead.
175 Hello, I'm nicholas primm. Good afternoon. I live in downtown Portland. I'm testifying on the the fiscal year 2026 2027 prosper Portland proposed budget specifically on how it positions the lloyd holladay tif district. I have developed a fully documented. I have developed a fully documented and well received adaptive reuse alternative to the currently approved lloyd center master plan called the lloyd commons. However, I'm not here to pitch that today. I'm here to raise one structural concern. This proposed budget confirms that the central city tif districts, including lloyd holliday, are not projected to receive new increment in the projected fiscal year and that limited residual resources will sustain planning efforts. I understand this, but what concerns me is what planning scope covers. A recent Portland prosper staff member correspondence and this meeting today has seemingly confirmed that the lloyd holladay working group does not have the scope to conduct comparative evaluation of development scenarios for the lloyd center master plan area, even though the city's own working group, page describes the group as a chartered or as chartered to identify investment priorities and recommend the district's five year action or five year action plan for adoption. The lloyd center is one of the district's primary anchors, and there's. There doesn't seem to be any public body for comparing demolition and adaptive reuse pathways for primary anchor site in a district that has been recognized repeatedly for its sustainability and urban design leadership, this budget clearly seems to have a gap that should be addressed. I respectfully ask the committee to clarify before the budget is approved on may 19th, whether the projected fiscal year planning scope for the lloyd holladay working group includes comparative evaluation of the master plan and, most importantly, adaptive reuse scenarios with the lloyd center core site. Thank you for your time.
176 Thank you very much.
177 You can go ahead.
178 Hello everyone. My name is samuel. I serve as workforce navigator at division midway alliance. I'm here to support the full funding of the economic development of prosper Portland. The workforce navigation program, funded by prosper Portland, is a critical pathway to short term and long term economic stability for communities across Portland and preventing homelessness and reducing poverty. The majority of participants are immigrants, refugees and newcomers who face significant challenges entering the us labor market. Workforce navigation provides them with structured, step by step guidance to understand employment systems, identify career pathways, assess transferable skills and develop realistic employment plans which are not easy to navigate on their own. This fiscal year, we already reached more than 100% of the program enrollment goal. We enrolled 103 clients, and only in the past four months placed 34 clients, and the job services and the ma are comprehensive and individualized, including needs assessments, alignment of career goals with market realities, identification of skill gaps, resume development, job search support, and direct employer connection. Through the placement. The may also provide services in 14 languages, ensuring timely and culturally responsive support, for example, of our workforce navigation program. Was an accountant in his home country. He spent two years in survival jobs after arriving in Portland. Through the program, he was able to restart his career and secure employment in his field. He continued to receive support to advance professionally without sustained funding. The pathway it provides to self-sufficiency would be at risk, leaving many individuals vulnerable to ongoing economic stability. Thank you for your time and consideration.
179 Thank you very much.
180 Damien.
181 Good afternoon, council president Dunphy, vice president Clark and city council. My name is damien crowder. I am the programs manager at the national association of minority contractors Oregon chapter namak, Oregon. And I'm here in support of prosper Portland for three specific programs. One is the ip network inclusive business resource networks. I don't stick with the acronyms c, o, p, which is the construction opportunity for equity and public contracting and reimagined Oregon. Namak Oregon is not just one of the partners of prosper, but we also view prosper as a thought partner as well, not just as a funder. We have been with prosper with the cco program since its inception, and we've helped over 137 businesses work on technical assistance in applying for public contracting roles. Many times people consider technical assistance similar to kind of guidance, someone through kind of a software program where it's about logistics. But one of the key aspects of technical assistance is that you're working with a person that has fears, they have anxiety, and many times people know technically what to do, but they're just too afraid to act. The number of times that we're working with a client on technical assistance, we work through drawings, plans for project, and then nothing happens because they were just too anxious to go forward. One of the things that we really want to do is make sure that we try to preserve this funding. It's not just this year in particular, but in aggregate, our programing has been cut for a few years in a row, and we're getting to the point where viability is actually a concern at this point, not just reduction in numbers. We kind of support prosper Portland and just maintaining their budget so we can just grow in the future. Thank you.
182 Thank you very much.
183 That concludes testimony.
184 Thank you all so much for being here. Colleagues. It is currently 455. We are scheduled to go until five. We have an absolute hard stop at 530. Now we'll go to counselors in the queue. And this can be technical or more specific, but we will also have additional time to speak to prosper Portland in the coming weeks. Councilor Kanal.
185 Thank you, council president. Thanks for the time. Reminder, I have a ton of questions, so I will I'm prioritizing on the fly here. I wanted to look into something that uma delegato mentioned in public testimony. And just big picture on this. I'm a little confused why the money's going up for prosper from our side, at least on the ongoing side. And I'm hearing that everything that last year was such a topic of conversation is evidently on the chopping block. And so I don't understand that. And I'm going to look into how that came to be. But my big question, right, that I want to start with is, is the entire equity team being cut? And and relatedly, is co-op being moved into procurement from the city side?
186 Councilor there was one position as part of the reduction in force that makes up the the the equity engagement, internal equity work. There was only that one position that was dedicated to that work solely to that work.
187 So there was one position that's being zeroed out.
188 Of the ten that are that that have been eliminated. That's correct.
189 Of the sorry, of the ten.
190 Of the ten total that have been eliminated. Okay. Your other question was on copy. Yes. And it is correct that that's being ended in terms of the iga with prosper Portland at the end of this fiscal year and going back to city procurement under city operations.
191 Okay. I will follow up on the the city side. On the co-op piece, I think it's I will be very interested in in why an agency with the history that prosper Portland has is looking to zero out equity. That's that's deeply, deeply concerning to me. The other question I had is related to the $9.5 million I asked about earlier. This is the non-technical part of the question. On the one hand, you mentioned that it's an opportunity to maintain housing units and stabilize the rents. On the other hand, this is the conversation that the sif is investing in things that are income generating properties. There is a contradiction there because in order to be income generating, we're going to need to maximize rents, not necessarily stabilize them. So can you speak to how us becoming a landlord helps with stabilizing the rents? If the property is supposed to be income generating?
192 Thanks. Thanks.
193 So I would say a couple of items. So one is because it's income generating doesn't mean it still can it can still hit the middle income wages and hit the 80 to 120% income while still being income generating and covering its costs. What we would be doing is while we need that generation to be coming off, so we wouldn't cover any of the gaps of that, but then we would be using that obviously to stabilize and ensure that it's an operating building. Anything beyond that gets reinvested.
194 Anything beyond the maintenance for the building.
195 Beyond the maintenance, the carrying costs of the general operations and maintenance of of the building. Correct.
196 And when you say.
197 That it's.
198 It's for 80 to 120%, am I at what percentage of their income?
199 It varies deal by deal. And so we would need to talk. We'd need to come back with you with more specifics. It just, it depends at the different what the economics are for the different buildings that we're looking at. Okay, so we're happy to come back to you.
200 Yeah, I would appreciate that. And then the other question I had is, is everything that we've been hearing about here, co-ep ibrahim ibn reimagined Oregon. Do they all fall into the economic development? 14% which are on this is I'm looking at the pie chart on slide eight. The 14% of the overall expenditures that are on economic development.
201 That's correct. Councilor that's part of that appropriation category, but that's made up of not general fund rct as well as some limited sif and tif resources that are dedicated to small business lending that falls in that category as well.
202 Okay. And does any of the city general fund allocation to prosper go towards the 54% that is property redevelopment on the left?
203 I'll come back to you on that specific question we'll look at. We'll provide a detail as far as the appropriations and the general fund, and what goes to economic development and property redevelopment. There might be a categorization of the small business and financing component within the general fund that rolls up to that category, but we'll confirm that for you.
204 Okay. I got a lot of other questions, but I see others in the queue, so I'll stop here. Thanks.
205 Thank you. Councilor Kanal. Councilor. Ryan.
206 Oh, second.
207 Thank you, council president. Thank you for being here. It was a great presentation by the staff and I really appreciate the testimony as well. These are difficult times, painful cuts out of the gate. And your advocacy was really appreciated. You all honed in on the return on investment of the investments that we put out to the community that was heard. I'm going to try to go fast because I have to leave in like five minutes. Saved by the bell. I want to first thank you, andrew, and the team for stepping up to be a partner in the storefront support program. I will be looking at how the efficiency of that partnership is coming together, so we keep having that multiplier effect. Thank you. I do have one primary request. I know this would be my request, but I've been connecting with a lot of professionals in the cannabis industry, both retail and warehouse. And they all when I meet with them, they ask this one question and I kind of stumble because I need to hear it directly from all of you. They ask about the recreational cannabis tax and what benefit it provides to them. They have really tight profit margins. You know, their cash run, they have security issues that are unique because of that. And it's been a rough a rough few years. They also mentioned that this is their own special tax, unlike their partners in other parts of the state. So they they asked me the city funds. Let's see, where do these let's see, where's my question? Can you provide some clarity today for initiatives currently funded with recreational cannabis tax funds?
208 Thank you for the question. Councilor the recreational cannabis tax dollars primarily go to my people's market, which is focused on equitable access to retail and other small business sales channels that that host two markets a year. They also now have a physical brick and mortar and pdx in the airport, as well as ibn. One of our partners there was, I think 15 mentioned by gavin earlier on his new project. And they're specifically focused on cannabis businesses, especially of people of color.
209 I think I met with someone from that team at one of the warehouses and I that's not they they tell me that they're not going specifically to cannabis. So I think that that one is a shining example of what resonates.
210 Happy to follow up with you on that. We've met with a lot of different business owners, and we can't necessarily always do direct financial assistance to them based on the industry that they're in. So we have to get creative.
211 Yeah, I'm taking this all in. Also, what are the 2627 funding amounts? And, and what initiatives do you plan on supporting this upcoming year? Is it the same that you just mentioned.
212 Through rct? Yeah, yeah. In the same buckets, my people's market and ibn primarily I'm in reimagine Oregon of course as well.
213 Okay. And does reimagine Oregon go to any bipoc or black owned cannabis organization.
214 That's the exclusive and primary focus of it is to go to businesses and entrepreneurs and nonprofits that have been affected negatively by the prohibition of cannabis.
215 Okay, I'll get those details from you as well. Sure. And you're also going to give me details on the repair grants. I can can I add one little thing here at the end? I had a wonderful afternoon last Friday on our 22nd. I was trying to make connect the dots between how I was supporting them along 42nd and how it's connected to prosper portland's cully tiff. And it is all connected, correct?
216 That's right.
217 We were there so low, but we were guided there by nia and I really appreciated it. I kept hearing though, that they were really supportive of that stewardship that they provide, and it almost sounded like they were telling stories of a neighborhood business association, like it's bringing them closer together so they all know each other because of this. So it's very, very positive. In fact, they're only consistent criticism was that they want to cross walk between killingsworth and prescott, maybe to. But other than that, it was all very glowing. So I wanted to leave you with some glowing. I'll dig in deeper with you on the cannabis tax and. And I look forward to seeing that we will have the repair grants restored. Continue to make them more user friendly, more like a grant and less like a reimbursement. People are cash challenged right now. And so sometimes the fact that their cash challenge makes it difficult to, to get those grants. So increasingly they just choose to have a board up instead of putting a window up, which doesn't do a lot for neighborhood friendliness.
218 Understood. Thanks, councilor.
219 All right. Off to the dragonboat by.
220 Thank you.
221 Thank you, councilor Ryan. Councilor Smith.
222 Thank you, council president. Thank you for the presentation. I have a couple things that I wanted to discuss and get some clarity on in terms of the reimagined Oregon money, how much of that is going to be taken out of the 2627 budget?
223 Harmless.
224 Yeah. The allocation councilor Right now in the 2627 budget is approximately $2 million of the total, 3.1, I believe, in reimagined, but we can follow up with specifics as well.
225 And that particular program is funded through the marijuana program. Correct?
226 That's right. Through the recreational cannabis tax dollars.
227 Okay. So that would mean that two thirds of the of that of those dollars are going to be removed from being funded. Two thirds of african American businesses and non-profits who serve the black community. Correct. Because that's what the, the reimagined money is for.
228 I don't believe the reduction is that at that magnitude at all, we'd have to get back to you with the specific details.
229 You said, how much, how much did you say that is being taken out?
230 I'm sorry. Councilor there's a total budget for rcd that's programed at about $3.1 million. That's in the proposed budget, in.
231 The proposed budget. And how much is taken out are you taking out?
232 There's nothing being taken out. That's that's the full proposed budget.
233 That's what I was that's.
234 What I was.
235 To reimagine is is remaining constant.
236 Okay, so reimagine is going to be kept whole. That's right. The coed program, when I was the the chair of the labor and workforce committee, we had a conversation about cobid. And I thought coed had one more year on their contract. Until 27 until 27, 28.
237 The iga with the city.
238 Yes.
239 Expires at the end of this fiscal year.
240 At the end of this fiscal year, June.
241 30th, the current fiscal year 2026.
242 And there was some conversation. I'm city life is now the new labor and workforce and councilor Pirtle-guiney is is chairing that. But the conversation that we had was that there were some issues around money enough, having enough money in the co-op, and now we're totally cutting that out.
243 I think that's a question probably for the dca of city operations and the. Procurement office in terms of because it's a it's a 1% utility ratepayer fund.
244 We were supposed to be talking about how do we restructure a new contract? Dca oliveira. And I'm trying to figure out how to keep those resources in because if we're going to create those living wage jobs, the quickest way to get a living wage job is to have folks trained through apprenticeships to become journeymen. And if we're not training those folks, when all these cranes are up in the air, who's going to they're going to go and get folks from out of state. So I don't understand how work systems is losing $260,000 and how we're not trying to reorganize in a way that makes sense.
245 Thank you for the question. Councilor. Donnie oliveira. For the record. Councilor, what we're what we're solving for right now is. Prosper's. Working with with procurement to currently sunset the existing iga, the one that we're in right now. So that'll, you know, result in a final report back to the city on how the dollars were spent and simultaneously, procurement and business operations are going to be prepared to stand up co-ep manage out of the city. So really, the only machination that's happening is prosper is being removed from a, you know, an administrative role, and that will just reside in the city.
246 So the money for work systems, the $260,000 that's coming out for the pre-apprenticeship programs. That's is that the same? Is that the same money or is it a different.
247 That's a different pot of money. Councilor that's actually a general fund reduction as proposed. The the co-op contemplation is actually now at a procurement.
248 So are we expecting. So the co-op is going to be 1% of whatever comes through for for development.
249 Correct. And councilor, I think would be most appropriate, as andrew just said, for us to work with the business operations side to get get you some information on what the plan is for for.
250 2627 yeah, I'm glad you came up here. Dca oliveira, because I want to make sure that if you could help to, to bridge that gap of information, because there's two things that I'm concerned about in this budget that I was really trying to, to make sure I understood it. It came out so late last night, so I didn't have a chance to make any calls to anybody. To be prepared for today. But just briefly going through the, the, the short synopsis, I, I got a call from andrew mcguff about the money. And if, if andrew is concerned about it, I'm certainly concerned, but I'm doubly concerned about the fact that our pre-apprenticeship programs are going to be losing particularly. I saw all of p o I c coming up here today in. Those folks are going to be not in a position to to continue those jobs and to help people in a way that's really, really meaningful. We got we got three big infrastructure projects that are here in the city of Portland, and we got to maintain those those projects with people who are from Portland. And I just want to make sure, if you could help me understand the co-op and the the money that's supposed to go to work systems offline, that would be great if you could do that.
251 Yes, ma'am.
252 On it, on prosper side, we're happy to continue to work with those same organizations that have been worked with over the last six years to make sure there's a seamless transition. A lot of those folks were here obviously testifying. And we it's our and our interest to help the city stand up a resource that's equally effective.
253 Yeah. And I saw that there's 500 some thousand dollars that are going to be removed from the entrepreneurship program that you have. And so I don't understand all these different things. And I think it's just like a shell game because then you also lifted up the. The, the street, the, what do you call it? Councilor ryan's.
254 The storefront.
255 The storefronts.
256 So did you just switch the money around?
257 We had about $2.1 million in one time that were expiring from the current fiscal year to this fiscal year. And so we're trying to solve for that expiration of the one time. And then also, of course, to live up to the direction that all of the bureaus received in terms of budget cuts across the board.
258 So for 25, for 25, 26, did you have any leftover marijuana money?
259 I'd have to get back to you on that. Councilor I don't I don't believe so.
260 You didn't have any beginning working capital from that particular pot of money when you started July 1st.
261 We'd have to go through a carryover process. But I don't I don't.
262 Carry over any of those dollars. There were no leftover dollars from the marijuana money.
263 I'd like to get back and confirm it for you, but I don't believe so. No.
264 Okay. Okay.
265 Thank you, I appreciate it.
266 Thank you, appreciate it.
267 Thank you. Councilor Smith councilor Kanal.
268 Aye, Morillo. So I actually just want to pull on one of those threads a little bit. There's $2.1 million of expiring one time money, but there's still a new $1 million, which I believe is the storefront conversation. What was funded by the $2.1 million of expiring one time money.
269 For that. So councilor, the 2.1 was identified as approximately $1 million for internal operations across different general fund programs. So that's primarily staff. And we've identified that.
270 That's kind of where the ten positions we've.
271 Been talking, five of the ten positions approximately. So that's that's about 1 million. The other million dollars was related to workforce, but that was restored as ongoing funding in the mayor's proposed budget. And that element includes about 700,000 $800,000 for workforce programing.
272 So it was replaced as ongoing.
273 That's correct.
274 And it was taken out as one time.
275 Councilor if you recall, going back a full year, the original 2.1 was ongoing, replaced with one time. And the budget note directed us to contemplate how to restore that 2.1 back to ongoing. And of course, given the budget scenario, we weren't able to replace the full 2.1. So only half is going back to ongoing.
276 Okay, that that makes sense. Okay. The other question I had, you have. There's a slide. I forgot the number. Slide 11. There's 100 businesses that are marked as assisted that are n a and 52 that are outside of Portland. Can you speak to that side of it? And also a little bit about like just trying to understand kind of how that squares with the, the broader description of it?
277 Yeah. On the, on the intake side, there could be some businesses that were simply missed as far as them putting in their own information or us collecting that from them or them perhaps just not wanting to disclose where their location is, or they could actually indeed be not physically located in Portland, but perhaps interested in moving into Portland, for example, starting a new business or relocating into Portland from outside of Portland.
278 Great.
279 Thanks for that and I will stop there.
280 Thanks.
281 Thank you. Fantastic. Because we are about to lose quorum. Colleagues, the prosper the prosper Portland budget committee has received the budget message and the budget document and taken public testimony. This fulfills the requirements of the first meeting of the budget committee under s29 4.426. We will formally reconvene to hear any amendments, vote on amendments and vote to approve the fiscal year 20 2627 budget at 9:30 a.m. On Tuesday, may 19th. The resolutions and exhibits required to approve the budget will be filed by prosper Portland on may 15th, 2026 at nine a by 9 a.m. This meeting of the prosper Portland budget committee is adjourned, and the meeting of the Portland city council is returned from recess. This concludes item three. The report has been submitted. Council and no action is to accept as required. We will now recess this meeting of the Portland city council until tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. To take public communications and continue our regular legislative business for the week. We are now in recess until 9:30 a.m. Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22nd. Thank you all for your time.
282 I am.
283 I'll be here.