The record · Transcript
Council Session — 2025-05-19
Transcript from the session's official auto-captions (14,335 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
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee session, held Monday, May 19 at 9:30, opened with roll call, a statement of conduct, and recognition of National Public Works Week, including a read proclamation describing the Public Works service area's scope and the planned July 2025 addition of Portland Parks and Recreation. The committee then considered appointment and reappointment of two members to the Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission, with background provided on that commission's history, structure, and complaint-handling process; one appointee spoke by video and one commissioner participated remotely. No members of the public signed up to testify on this item, discussion followed, and a vote occurred, with outcomes recorded in the vote ledger. The committee next took up a resolution reaffirming commitment to the Vision Zero Action Plan and convening a cross-bureau task force, including historical and current traffic fatality figures, though some statistics were stated inconsistently across speakers. Numerous members of the public testified, describing personal losses, infrastructure concerns, funding priorities, and requests for accountability and community input. Discussion followed among committee members regarding budget amendments, staffing, and funding mechanisms tied to Vision Zero, and a vote occurred, with outcomes recorded in the vote ledger. The session closed with discussion of transportation budget priorities, including proposed budget notes and amendments, before adjournment.
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 This is your favorite. School.
1 Okay. Oh, she will not be okay. We'll probably still call her name, but.
2 Yeah, and actually, this is one.
3 Oh, sure.
4 Sure, we'll call him up. Okay.
5 A quick question.
6 Yeah. What's up?
7 Oh.
8 Good morning. I call the meeting of the transportation and infrastructure committee to order. It is Monday, may the 19th at 930. Clare, diego, could you please call the roll?
9 Koyama Lane here.
10 Morillo here.
11 Green here.
12 Smith, here. Clark, here.
13 And, claire, can you please read the statement of conduct?
14 Good morning, and welcome to the meeting of the transportation and infrastructure committee to testify before this committee in person or virtually. You must sign up in advance on the committee agenda at Portland council agenda slash transportation and infrastructure committee. Or by calling 311. Registration for virtual testimony closes one hour prior to the meeting. In person. Testifiers must sign up before the agenda item is heard. If public testimony will be taken on an item. Individuals may testify for three minutes unless the chair states otherwise. Your microphone will be muted when your time is over, the chair preserves order. Disruptive conduct such as shouting, refusing to conclude your testimony when your time is up, or interrupting others testimony or committee deliberations will not be allowed. If you cause a disruption, a warning will be given. Further disruption will result in ejection from the meeting. Anyone who fails to leave once ejected is subject to subject to arrest for trespass. Additionally, the committee may take a short recess and reconvene virtually. Your testimony should address the matter being considered. When testifying, please state your name for the record and address is not necessary. If you are a lobbyist, please identify the organization you represent. And finally, virtual testifiers should unmute themselves when the clerk calls your name. Thank you.
15 Thank you claire. Before we get into the agenda, we do have a very exciting agenda today. I just want to acknowledge that this is national public works week, if you didn't know it already. So as we begin the meeting today, I just want to acknowledge the beginning of this week. It means a lot to many of the people who are in this room, the people who work with us, who care about our city and who benefit from a very strong infrastructure. So this year, the theme is people, purpose and presence. I think that beautifully captures what drives our public works professionals here in Portland. And I would say for the committee as well. But public works is not always a part of the government that gets the headlines. Obviously, as I said, it's not the sexiest thing to do, but it's the part of government that shows up in real life that touches every person in Portland every single day, whether it's clean water coming out of the tap, the storm sewer system that protects public health and the environment, or a safe sidewalk to school. It's the people behind these systems who bring our city's policies and priorities to life. The city of portland's public works service area reflects something we all know to be true. Our infrastructure systems are interconnected. Portlanders experience them as one, and it's our job to plan, invest and deliver accordingly. As chair of this committee and as city councilor, I see the work of public works not just in policy briefings or committee hearings, but in the daily lives of my constituents, our constituents. And none of it happens without our public works professionals, the planners, the engineers, the inspectors, the maintenance crews, and many more, many of whom are working outside right now in the rain, in all weather, making Portland work. So as we kick off national public works week, I want to say directly thank you to everyone for your presence, your purpose, and your service to our city. We see you, we value you, and we are committed to continuing to support and invest in your work. Now, I would like to invite dca donna powell up to the podium. She's going to read mayor wilson's proclamation honoring national public works week. Welcome.
16 Thank you, councilor Clark. And council for recognizing for recognizing national public works week as the deputy city administrator overseeing portland's public works service area. I want to begin by acknowledging something that many of our public works professionals already know. In public works, we are in the business of keeping things boring. When the water flows, the streets are safe and the toilets flush and the day unfolds without interruption. Nobody blinks. And that's the brilliance and quiet power of public works. But we at public works know what it takes. Often our work begins before the city wakes and continues long after it sleeps. The planning, the precision, the early mornings, the late nights, the grit behind the success. We plan, we build, we fix, we lead and we serve. And we make Portland work. And we make it look easy with invisible labor and intentional calm. We do it with excellence, commitment and heart. Happy national public works week to those in public works service. And now I have the honor of reading mayor's proclamation for national public works week. Whereas public works infrastructure such as clean drinking water, reliable transportation, wastewater management, resilient stormwater systems and other essential public facilities is essential to the daily lives, safety and well-being of portland's residents. And whereas public works professionals are essential to portland's livability, ensuring that critical infrastructures are maintained, rebuilt and protected to the daily efforts of engineers, lineworkers, project managers, maintenance crews and support staff who work tirelessly to sustain portland's quality of life. And whereas, public works professionals work tirelessly behind the scenes 24 hours a day, seven days a week, demonstrating expertise and commitment to maintain and improve the systems that allow portlanders to access clean water, travel safely, and live in resilient neighborhoods even in the face of climate change, population growth and economic pressures. And whereas public works professionals embody the value of people, purpose and presence, meeting the needs of portlanders with compassion and precision, building for the future while preserving our shared resources and remaining steadfastly present during the emergencies and everyday services alike. And whereas public works professionals are committed to community service, equity and safety, leading portland's efforts in climate resilience, infrastructure innovation and sustainable development that benefit current and future generations. And whereas, the public works service area serves as the backbone of portland's infrastructure, comprising the Portland water bureau, the bureau of environmental services, and the Portland bureau of transportation, each of which plays a vital role in delivering core services that all portlanders rely on every day. And whereas these three bureaus collectively manage, 90% of the city's built assets, represent 50% of the city's budget, and employ 33% of the city's workforce, ensuring safe, clean, reliable services for over 1 million people, including clean drinking water, effective wastewater treatment, flood management, and the maintenance of safe and efficient streets, bridges and transit infrastructure. And whereas, beginning July 1st, 2025, Portland parks and recreation will join the public works service area, further expanding its impact on community livability and resilience through sustainable parks management, Green infrastructure projects and community engagement. And whereas public works is not just infrastructure, it is people working with purpose, standing with presence, advancing portland's progress every day, whereas it is in the public interest for all residents of Portland to recognize the vital role that public works plays in the daily lives, and to understand the critical importance of sustainable infrastructure investments. And whereas 2025 marks the 65th annual national public works week, sponsored by the American public works association, recognizing the dedication and contribution of public works professionals. Now, therefore, I. Keith wilson, mayor of the city of Portland, Oregon, the city of roses do hereby proclaim the week of may 18 to 24, 2025, as national public works week in Portland and encourage all residents to recognize, celebrate and thank the dedicated professionals who keep our city moving, clean, connected and thriving. Thank you.
17 Thank you dca. Very well said and thank you to the mayor. If he's listening wherever he is. I appreciate what you said about the quiet power of public works. I think we oftentimes take for granted all the many thousands of people who are working for us in the dark, in bad weather and keeping everything running. So we appreciate you and we're all proud to be working with you. So thank you so much. So, colleagues, we have three items on our agenda today. First, we're going to consider appointees to the mount hood cable regulatory commission. And we're going to learn a little bit about that commission. Then we're going to hear from councilor Koyama Lane. She's going to introduce the resolution for vision zero. Very exciting. The much anticipated and celebrated this morning. We're excited about that. And we have quite a few people signed up to testify. And then if we have time available, we're going to talk just amongst ourselves as a committee about our budget priorities related to transportation and infrastructure, if we feel up to it. So with that, diego, could you please read the next item?
18 One appoint assad, but for a term July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2028 and reappoint leslie goodloe for a term to expire June 30th, 2028 to the mount hood cable regulatory commission.
19 Thank you. So this item comes to us from the bureau of planning and sustainability, which oversees the work of the mount hood cable regulatory commission. So I'll hand it off to laura from baps to get us started. Good morning laura.
20 Good morning. Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and share some slides that we prepared for the committee. All right. Okay. So good morning. As was mentioned, we are here today on a matter with the mount hood cable regulatory commission. My name is laura dyer. I'm a compliance analyst in the community technology division of the bureau of planning and sustainability. But I have a hybrid role at the city, like some of my colleagues, where I am also part time staff to the cable regulatory commission, also known as mh. And I also do regulatory compliance and operational support work for that body. And as mentioned, we're here today to seek appointment of two commissioners to that body to represent the city. So here is our agenda for today. We will give the committee some background about the mh crc, as well as how we recruit commissioners to that body. I have two candidates before the committee whose names were mentioned. Commissioner goodloe unfortunately had an emergency arise this morning. Had hoped to be here in person. She does, I believe, have the zoom link now. So hopefully we'll be available to the committee for questions through zoom. Our other appointee, assad, but had a work conflict with this time. And so I do have a prerecorded video from him that I will attempt to present. The committee also does have the full biographies of both of these individuals and the materials provided to you, and hopefully we'll be able to answer any questions you may have. We'll wrap up with the approval needed and of course, answering any questions. So on to the background. So the mhc is a quasi governmental body. It was created by an intergovernmental agreement in 1992. It is comprised of Portland, Gresham, troutdale, wood village, fairview and Multnomah county jurisdictions. It is run by volunteer commissioners who are appointed for three year terms. The purpose of the body is to regulate cable services under a franchise agreement, as well as administer public benefit resources and assets from that franchise agreement. The commission holds regular public meetings for commission business, and there are three seats for Portland on the commission. So two of those representatives are the ones we are discussing today. Each of the other jurisdictions have one seat on the commission, and that is due to the size of the jurisdictions represented. So we talked a little bit about the responsibilities, but just to talk about the folks. So as I mentioned, this body regulates the cable industry and access to the right of way by cable companies. So in our jurisdiction currently, that is in the commission's jurisdiction that is currently ziply fiber and comcast or xfinity. The commission advocates for the jurisdictions at a regional, state and national level on cable communications policy. Another important area of their work, as mentioned, is public benefits tied to the franchise agreements, and these ensure community access and accountability. So the commission also oversees community technology grants. Those are focused on digital inclusion and efforts targeting video production in that space. The commission also supports the peg or public, educational and government access media through funding and infrastructure. We have two local access providers and channels, or a variety of channels that are created through those access providers, also known as the community media centers and those names that will be familiar to this committee are opensignal and metro east. Lastly, the commission is responsible, with the support of staff, for negotiating and enforcing those cable franchise agreements. So one of their matters is reviewing escalated consumer complaints, which are handled through 311, as well as ensuring that all of the other obligations, legal and financial under the franchise are met by the cable operators. Our last slide on background today is about how we how the commission recruits the goals and process they use to do so. So not every commission commissioner will necessarily have a deep body of each of these things, but these are what we look for as a whole when the commission is being staffed. So established residency in the jurisdiction represented a demonstrated interest in local governance and community benefits and understanding of the cable industry. Broadcasting and media experience. We're also looking for commissioners who can contribute a breadth of perspectives and lived experiences to the commission. The commissioners are recruited through the representative jurisdictions, and those jurisdictions are how each commissioner is appointed. So the bodies of those jurisdictions manage the appointment process with support from commissioners, staff like myself, community media centers and local government leaders. The candidates are typically interviewed by the chair of the commission. The chair of our commission is julia degraw. Before they moved to the appointment process, and that has occurred. One of these appointments is a reappointment. So a serving commissioner, but the new appointee has been has met with the chair and is well known to her. And we're very excited about his potential for service. So at this point, I do want to turn to the appointees themselves, which are the heart of this matter. And so we have first is commissioner Goodloe. Commissioner goodloe first was appointed in 2022, and we are seeking a reappointment for another three year term. Commissioner goodloe has lived in Portland since 1971. She's a licensed social worker, and she has been a public employee since 1992 and currently employed by the city's housing bureau. She has made significant contributions to the commission during her prior term of service. We have just wrapped up a comcast franchise renewal negotiation process, and our commissioners were key in ensuring that we could get the best deal possible for our local residents. And as well, commissioner Goodloe has chaired the equity committee of the mhc during her tenure, as well as committing numerous volunteer hours. As I mentioned, these are volunteers. There's a heavy meeting schedule. They often participate on the board of director meetings of open signal and metro east, as well as attending community events related to digital inclusion and video production. So we really thank them for their service. I don't know if commissioner Goodloe. Oh, I do see commissioner Goodloe, so I will pause and turn it over to her to say a few words.
21 Welcome.
22 Good morning. My apologies for not being there in person. I provide medical transportation and prescription pickup for my 87 year old neighbor, and she needed a prescription this morning, so I planned on being there. That being said, thank you so much for this opportunity. I have enjoyed my time on the mhc, the important work of the grants provided to community organizations for media and video production, for organizations and communities that would not have access to either equipment or or video production space. And I just have think that this is very important, and I am honored to be selected to continue to work with the mhc. Thank you.
23 Thank you, leslie, thank you for your service.
24 So I do also have that prerecorded video that I would like to try to play. I have joined with audio because I think we'll have to have audio on for you to hear the video. So bear with me here as we attempt to make some local videos work here. Okay. So apologies.
25 Thank you adam to give.
26 You some my.
27 Thank you. Yeah.
28 Yeah. That's. Okay.
29 Sort of advocate entrepreneur and. Hi everyone. My name is assad butt and I'm a Portland based sort of advocate, entrepreneur and media professional. I live right now in northwest with my wife and daughter, have been in Portland since 2018. I wear a lot of hats. Most recently I run the metro region innovation hub. It's a local organization here in town that helps entrepreneurs across the region access resources to help them grow their startups. I've been working in the startup space for quite a while, running and building and operating accelerator programs and incubator programs across multiple sectors. In 2020, here in Portland, I actually became an entrepreneur again myself, running or launching a media company called rafaelian, where we focused on elevating diverse voices through podcasts and films, and released my first movie just last year. So pretty exciting times, but I still do while I'm still while I'm currently working at the at the hub full time, I still do some work supporting filmmakers and creators on the side. And then yeah, I'm just really excited to join the a. Mh. Really, as a creator and consumer of content, you know, really hoping that it can help advocate for fair practices and help protect consumers, especially as the landscape is changing and changing so fast. So happy to meet with any of you at any time and answer any questions that you might might have. And thanks for your consideration. Take care.
30 Thank you. Laura.
31 Of course.
32 Did you have any further comments?
33 I don't have any further comments. I would just reiterate that we are here today to seek appointment of these two individuals, and happy to answer any more questions the committee may have.
34 Thank you. Diego, has anybody signed up to testify today?
35 No one has signed up to testify.
36 Okay. Thank you. Colleagues, I feel we're very fortunate to have these two people who are highly qualified and great experience to be willing to dedicate their volunteer time to the commission. Any comments or questions? Councilor Green.
37 Thank you, madam chair, and thank you for bringing these appointments forward. This is a really important commission. I just want to say my heartfelt gratitude to commissioner Goodloe for their work on getting this comcast agreement across the line. I mean, I think that was a really good deal given the state of play on that. And so that just shows. So I'm a strong yes on that reappointment. And, you know, helping your neighbor out. I think that's also just speaks to your public service thing. I'm also very curious to know, I don't think the chair is on, but I wonder, were there any notes from julia degraw on her interview with with assad?
38 Yeah, what she shared with staff. And thank you. Appreciate that. Counselor Green. She shared with staff that she's really excited. Based on assad's in-depth industry experience and bringing some new energy to the commission. So now that we have this franchise renewal underway, the commission is going to be doing some strategic planning work over the next couple years. As was mentioned, there are a lot of changes happening in how people receive television, and those have impacts on this revenue stream and our community media centers. And so we will be working hard, both as staff and the commission, to plan for those. And so she really wants to ensure that we have strong support on the commission and that mr. Butt has time to come up to speed. And so she was extremely pleased that we were able to find this individual. And they have just been extremely responsive, full of energy and are very connected to many of the types of work that we are already doing in the community. And so we she she is just very excited about bringing this new individual on and hopefully getting them up to speed in the coming months and appreciate the committee's time. Unfortunately, she was also traveling for work today. She she very much wants to be here whenever she can. So, but a strong supporter of both of these appointees and really just excited to have some new perspective and as much energy as possible going into the important work we'll be doing over the next couple of years.
39 Thank you. I think generally I would defer to the chair after they've gone through that vetting process with, of course, my own critical lens. But I did do some research and I like what I see with mr. But I think there there's an opportunity to diversify this commission and elevate some media projects that frankly need that right now as we enter a very scary time with respect to speech and, and that sort of thing. So I think I'm also leaning a yes on on mr. Butt as well.
40 Thank you, councilor Green. Councilor Smith.
41 Thank you, madam president. Madam chair, I appreciate the presentation today and I enjoyed hearing about these two candidates. And I appreciate you providing a very succinct, rich background and detail on the history of what these two candidates have done. I do support both candidates, and I look forward to meeting with the commission in the future. I and my staff will be spending some time this summer looking at options for establishing publicly owned utilities in Portland, and I'm sure you all will have some information and ideas to share based on your experience. But those are future conversations. But I just want you to know that I do support this resolution. And thank you very much.
42 Thank you, councilor Smith. I just have a quick question for leslie goodlow. Can you hear me? Thank you again for your service. Really appreciate it. I was just curious if you could tell us a little bit and maybe laura could help out here, too. The volume of citizen complaints and the nature of the complaints that you receive.
43 Well, I there's only a couple that I recall in the last month or, I mean, I'm sorry, the last fiscal year and we had one that came present. So the staff review them at their level, and then they bring the ones that can't be resolved to the commission. So we've only had a few in my tenure that reached our level. So probably less than ten.
44 I'm happy to add some context to that. That is part of the role that I perform for the commission as well. Thank you, commissioner Goodloe. That's exactly our process. But all the complaints are captured on. So we use the 311 calling center. And then we also have a database through 311 that allows us to track the complaints. And we actually produce reports that the commission sees each time we meet about the volume. Those complaints are typically supposed to be resolved within seven days. So we track not only the volume of complaints, but whether they are being resolved in seven days and what zip code they originate from. And the subject of the complaint. And I would say so we are I just produced a report for we're actually meeting the commission is meeting this evening. And so I just produced a report in the last since we last met in March, there have been four new comcast complaints. Only ziply fiber has very few subscribers left. And so we mainly hear comcast complaints. I can tell you the nature of those complaints usually have to do with getting through to a human to make changes to service, or to resolve a complaint about how the service is being provided. And I will say that we have had great partnership with our providers in using that service. We the database, once the call is logged, automatically generates an email that goes to the individuals at that at those two cable providers who resolve complaints. So it's sort of an automatic escalation process. I've actually even used the process once myself. And I did disclose my role when I did that, but it was extremely quick to get a resolution. So I think this is a wonderful service that we're able to provide locally.
45 Great. Sounds like a good system. Thank you laura. Colleagues, if there are no further comments, I would be happy to entertain a motion for the appointment of assad and the reappointment of leslie goodloe to the mount hood cable regulatory commission to full council, with a recommendation that the appointments be confirmed.
46 So moved.
47 Second.
48 Thank you.
49 Thank you very much for being here today and for helping us out. Let's see. So the clerk sorry, sorry. Can the clerk please call the roll.
50 Koyama Lane I.
51 Morillo I.
52 Green.
53 Smith I.
54 Clerk I.
55 With five I votes the report is referred to full city council with the recommendation that the attendees be adopted. Appointed. Excuse me.
56 Thank you. Diego. Diego, can you now read the next item?
57 Item two reaffirm council commitment to the vision zero action plan and convene across bureau vision zero task force.
58 Great. Thank you. I'm going to hand this off to my colleague, councilor Koyama Lane.
59 Thank you so much. Good morning. Chair Clark, vice chair Morillo and members of the transportation and infrastructure committee. I am very grateful for the opportunity to bring before you this morning a resolution that reaffirms our city's commitment to vision zero. Next slide. Vision zero holds the basic goal to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. No person should die or be injured from simply going about their day, from just moving around their neighborhood throughout our city. These are our streets and we have a responsibility to make them safe for everyone, regardless of what part of Portland they live in, how much money they make, what mode they're using at any given time, and to make them safe for all ages. Upholding Portland as both an age friendly city and a great place to raise a family, I bring this resolution forward to the ask that we, the leaders that Portland community members have elected to act in their best interest, that we reaffirm our commitment to vision zero. And actually, this did come out of an ask from a community member during public testimony who asked us to do this. This commitment states no person should die or be incapacitated from simply, simply going about their day. Protecting human lives is core to vision zero, the goal to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries on Portland streets. To truly understand the importance of this reaffirmation, we need to understand our historical context to this work. Portland first committed to vision zero in June of 2015. We're almost at the ten year mark. In 2015, 37 people were killed in traffic crashes on our streets here in Portland. So next month will be the ten year anniversary of this adoption. And I think we all know we have a lot of work to do. As we approach the ten year anniversary of the first adoption of vision zero, we see a horrifying and unacceptable 57% increase in traffic deaths on our streets in the past decade. In 2024, 58 people were killed in traffic crashes on Portland streets. The most recent deadly crash occurred on 80th and powell last week, according to the city's vision zero dashboard. Just in the last ten years, there have been 23 reported crashes involving vulnerable road users within seven blocks of tuesday's fatal crash that just occurred. We know these are not numbers. These are our neighbors, family members, coworkers, friends. They're also not accidents. 50% of deadly crashes occur on streets with four or more lanes, and over 40% of deadly crashes involve speed. We can make different choices. As policymakers, we have the opportunity to make those different choices, and that is why I'm putting forward this vision zero resolution. We are a new city council, and I feel it is important that we come together and reaffirm the city's vows to vision zero and commit to making traffic safety a priority. This is really heavy. It should feel heavy. And it's also important to remember that this can be joyful work to. The core action of this resolution is convening a vision zero task force was actually reconvening a vision zero task force to better collaborate on this work. Uplifting accountability, increasing the frequency, deliverables, and enhancing cross collaboration. I envision this task force as a container to build a shared understanding of vision zero goals across bureaus, engaging community advisory groups and community experts, many in this room, to help inform an action plan that saves lives. Next, you will hear from a few of our many community members who are committed to vision zero. I am so very grateful for them, to them, for their work and their presence here today. And to all of you for your consideration. Thank you, madam chair.
60 Thank you. Councilor Koyama Lane I think we all so much appreciate what you're bringing forward today. So let's call up the speakers. We have cassie wilson, 1000 friends of Oregon, stacy triplett from aarp. Please come up. David salle, families for safe streets, zachary lauritsen from Oregon walks. And lauren mccue from the bike bus. Welcome, everyone. We're so glad to see you here this morning and to hear from you. Looking forward to your statements. Oh, I'm sorry cassie.
61 Sick.
62 Oh, sorry. Okay, great. So let's start with stacy.
63 Hi.
64 Good morning, chair Clark.
65 Vice chair Morillo and members of the committee. My name is stacy triplett. I'm the engagement director focused on the greater Portland area with aarp Oregon. Deaths and serious injuries on Portland streets continue to be a serious problem. Some safety progress has been made in the latest data, but levels of harm remain very high. Pedestrian fatalities, in particular, are a great concern as older adults are overrepresented in statistics, as are black and indigenous folks. Aarp Oregon testified in support of the vision zero action plan in 2016, and continues to urge progress on crashes and implementation of the latest progress report. Actions. As of 2024, aarp Oregon has over 80,000 members in Portland and has long recognized the performance of the transportation system as a critical element of creating age friendly communities due to the disparate income outcomes for vulnerable users that we're seeing. Portland is a part of the age friendly network. Indeed, being the first member from the state of Oregon, this network of age friendly communities is made up of those who strive for communities where people of all ages and abilities can thrive, have safe, secure and comfortable homes, and can get around easily and very importantly, safely, regardless of what mode they rely on so they can leave lead engaged, connected, and purposeful lives. Sounds like a Portland we want. To me, more can be done as we foster age friendly communities by focusing on this work that provide a range of safe, affordable, and reliable transportation options to allow older adults to reduce their reliance on driving for transportation. By ensuring that walking and biking are safe, viable, accessible, and pleasant transportation alternatives. We live up to improving Portland at every age. Furthermore, aarp has a vested interest in improving the safety of streets for pedestrians and older drivers. Typically, older adults were outlived their ability to drive by 7 to 11 years. Among older adults living at home, most maintain driver's licenses, but driving declines with age for sure. For those aged 75 and over, nearly 20% of all adults and 25% of women do not drive at all. And there's other local data that that confirms that as even higher. We support this reaffirmation of the city's commitment to achieving vision zero, and look forward to cross bureau collaboration, producing the momentum toward this age friendly outcome. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this critical matter this morning.
66 Thank you so much this morning, david, would you like to go next?
67 No, I'll pass it down the line here. Okay.
68 Do you want me to go.
69 All right.
70 What do you want to go next? Okay.
71 Zachary lauritsen at Oregon walks to see everyone. Here we are today and for many, many years, lots of choices have been made that have arrived to today. And one of the things I wanted to start with was to say, it's not your fault, it's not your fault. But that's the hand you've been dealt is where we are today. And so what we are asking for today is you take that hand and we and we do something with it. So that's the first thing. It's not your fault. Let's go. Okay. We recognize also that this won't change anything. This this resolution won't change anything. It will be actions that change something. And so I've had conversations with many of you personally. I think you all are on board. You understand what's going on. But I will say I do not think all of your colleagues know the gravity of the situation and the political energy and will it will take. And so I hope we come out of today, you will have the energy to go to your colleagues as ambassadors to say, we need you on this journey, and it's going to be hard. In fact, this is not easy. This work is not easy. If it was easy, it would have been done right. And so we built a transportation system that is intentionally made so vehicles can go far and fast. That's what we built. And so now we're asking for the hard work of saying we're going to change that. And that starts today, I hope with you all. And then going to your colleagues. And I also want to say there's no mystery here. We know why this is happening. We know the interventions that are needed. You have a staff at PBOT, the vision zero team, that have a well of knowledge that we need to tap into and empower them so that they are not just consulting around the edges, but they are actually core and central to the plans and the things that we actually build. We have that knowledge here. They need the money and they need the political cover to do it. They need the money and they need the political cover to do it. And so I want to give you three examples. One, and it's not just PBOT. Pcef is committed $41 million to the city fleet to buy decarbonized vehicles, electric vehicles. Well, what we buy matters giving them the direction and the political cover to buy small vehicles, to buy light vehicles, to buy vehicles that have vision clearance, to have vehicles that that have automatic braking, that have vehicles that track the data of the drivers to see if they're following the speeds, if they're braking too fast or accelerating too accelerating too fast. Those are an example. The budget work is very dynamic, so maybe this has changed, but there was a proposed budget to reduce the vision zero by $277,000. And I know you're getting asked for money from every direction, but if we're serious about this, we don't cut vision zero. We just don't. And we find that money somewhere else. The third thing is on 82nd avenue. Here is a chance to walk the walk right now, which is if we can put full transit lanes all up and down 82nd avenue, it slows down vehicles, it enhances people on the bus. It makes the pedestrian and cycling experience better. This is a concrete example where you all need to give leadership and political cover to our PBOT leadership and say, we're going to do this because we care about this, we're prioritizing this. These actions will make some people mad. Slowing down vehicles will make some people mad, enforcement will make some people mad. But these are the kind of things that are needed. In fact, I will even say enforcement might make me mad, right? But you got to do it. You've got to do slower streets. You got to do automated enforcement everywhere so that we have changed the system that we live in. And so today is the beginning of a journey, and I hope you have the political courage today to pass this and then be ambassadors to your colleagues and really invest and make a change. This was the hand you were dealt. And now it's the question is, how do you play that hand? Thank you.
72 Thank you, zach, for your strong testimony. I appreciate it. Lauren, would you like to go next?
73 Yeah. Hi. Lauren mccune from bike bus pdx. Good morning, committee members. Thank you for inviting me to speak today. My name is lauren mccune. I'm here on behalf of bike bus pdx, a collection of bike bus leaders across the city. I'm the parent of a kindergartner and a bike bus captain at abernathy elementary in southeast Portland. Bike busses organize groups of kids to ride their bikes together to school regularly. By fostering camaraderie and providing a sense of security, the bike bus encourages kids to embrace cycling as a joyful social and independence giving activity. Getting kids on bikes not only reduces traffic congestion and carbon emissions, but creates healthier and more empowered members of society. Back in 2009, Portland city council approved our 2030 bike plan, aiming for 25% of trips to be made by bike by the year 2030. Cycling and Portland in general had assumed a cultural mantle. In fact, these years saw Portland launch its first bike busses like the beach school bike train. We didn't know it at the time, but the glory days of cycling in Portland were on their way out and riding has consistently declined. At the same time, we've seen many increases increases in traffic violence, increases in car trips and miles traveled, increases in vehicle size and cost, increases in transportation emissions, increases in failing roads and deferred maintenance increases in folks experiencing houselessness. Increases in loneliness and isolation. Coming back from the pandemic, portlanders reached back into the storied past and relaunched the bike bus in the united states in 2022. The movement caught on and there are now almost 20 bike busses here in Portland and hundreds across the city. Here in Portland, we've seen the movement spread to the city of Portland staff, local employers like OHSU, and community events like Sunday parkways and pedal palooza. Now, bike busses work for one reason because people are awesome. When citizens have the tools and environment to make better choices, we will make better choices. But our transportation system often pushes people to make choices we know are actively harmful to our bodies, our communities, our kids, and our planet. When our abernathey bike bus launched in 2022, it had a couple dozen riders. Fast forward to may of 2024 and we had hundreds. There is incredible latent demand for bike riding. I mentioned the story because you already have surveys that back up these claims, yet the consistent and widespread demand for bike, better bike and transit infrastructure is deprioritized. When PBOT insists on a full year of public engagement for a single diverter or value engineers greenway changes out of halsey, we always point to a lack of funding, but no amount of money is sufficient. Our car centric transportation system has an insatiable demand for more more pavement, more speed, more fuel, more money, more lives. Our vision zero commitment must be paired with a commitment to reduce vehicle miles traveled. If not, we have to ride faster just to stand still. So we ask that portland's renewed commitment to vision zero renews also our vision. Our vision to be the greenest city in north America with the best biking, walking and transit and doing those things safely to build a city where driving reflects its true cost to society. So our residents instead walk, bike and take transit. We can't do this with the status quo, and we can't do this without each other. I know I speak for bike bus pdx when I say we're ready to ride together. Thank you.
74 Thank you so much, lauren. Great testimony. And david, now your opportunity.
75 Thank you. Excuse me. Thank you, chair and members of the committee. I really appreciate you allowing me to be here today. And on behalf of vision zero and families for safe streets, I am just honored to be here. My name is david sale and I am a member of families for safe streets of Oregon and southwest Washington. And at this moment, I want to just take a second of silence for a lady that was killed in Washington state. She was hit at 100 miles an hour in a 45 mile an hour zone. Her name was kimberly butler. I'm here today representing families for safe streets in support of your renewal. Renewed commitment to vision zero. My daughter danielle was forever 22. And a college student in Vancouver, Washington, working towards a nursing degree. She graduated high school as a cna and was had a passion for helping the elderly and people with dementia. She also did a lot of work with disabled people that couldn't take care of themselves, and had a passion for that. At the time, she was working at a care facility in a cna role and had goals of becoming a flight nurse. After completing her nursing degree. She is extremely talented and a very kind, intelligent and remarkably beautiful. On April 24th, 2020, 1015 years ago, danielle was with four of her friends in a crosswalk in downtown Portland on broadway and glisan. They were crossing the street on a Green light in a crosswalk. And after 15 years, I still get this emotional. A TriMet bus took an illegal left hand turn from her right hand curb Lane. Crossing two lanes of oncoming traffic and struck them halfway across the street in the crosswalk. That crash killed two people and injured three others. Known as worst tragedy in TriMet history. The consequences of that tragic day forced me to start the transit safety alliance and begin working with vision zero and families for safe streets. I need to find out how I could put myself between that bus and my daughter, and the only thing I could really come up with initially was a training of that operator and how they do business. As you know, vision zero started years ago, and it's kind of went by the wayside, which was very discouraging to people like me who belonged to the worst club in the world. And. Vision zero is designed to provide ambassadors throughout the nation to help our local communities who suffer from traffic violence, whether it's an injury or a death of a family member or whatever it is, we're there for them in emotional support and we're there for them in welcoming them, welcoming them to that crappy club we belong to so that they understand there's more people out there that suffer from the same things they do in some sense or another. Speed enforcement is a mandatory tool to be proactive in this reactive world we live in. We need to be more proactive in the infrastructure. We need to be more proactive in road design and how these things come together as one. And we need the support of all these first first responders that come to these things. A little clip from which I'm not even going to read, but you can just imagine what the first responders went through at that crash. And my daughter's there were over 30 witnesses. I talked to a gentleman that actually held my daughter's hand as she passed away. I talked to the very first fireman that was on scene that lifted that bus off my daughter and her boyfriend. I had a strong relationship at one time with the other family members who suffered. Jenny hamel died. She left a son behind, and her family, the other two, two of the other victims were a brother and sister of jenny, and they watched that bus drive over her and back over her and witnessed the thing 100%. So it's not just the end result victims, it's everybody that's out there that had to witness it. And the poor conditions, the poor decisions that driver made that night affected hundreds and hundreds of people, not to mention the people that worked on this investigation. The behind the scenes police, traffic investigators. So please pay close attention to vision zero because it's up and coming still and we will not stop until we fix a lot of these situations. And thank you for referring to these as crashes, because they're not accidents, they're preventable. And when they're preventable, they're crashes. Thank you so much for listening. We appreciate this resolution. It's the first step. As our colleagues have said, this is only the first step. Your action is what's going to help. And we've seen how it does help throughout the world. Barcelona, spain, where it was, where it originated in sweden. I mean, it's just amazing what this program can do. And we need your support. Thank you so much.
76 Thank you, mr. Salle. Thank you so much for coming today and for sharing about your daughter. You may remember I worked at TriMet at that time, and I will never forget the horror of the accident. And I'm so sorry for your loss. But I also want to say I appreciate your activism. I appreciate what you do for other families who face the same circumstances. So thank you so much for what you're doing. Really, it's an honor to your daughter. Thank you so much.
77 Thank you so much.
78 Diego. I think we have other people who have signed up to testify. Thank you all for being here. And please don't leave. You can leave the dais, but I think there are other people who are going to be coming up to testify those names. And I think we may have enough time for two minutes for each person.
79 David.
80 David benig, followed by lois levine.
81 Are you gonna.
82 Feel free to come up together? Thank you for being here.
83 Thank you.
84 Thank you. My name is david benig. I'm registered with the city as a lobbyist for bike loud pdx, which I also serve on the board. And when I've been in this council in past councils, I've often been here to talk about the things we were failing at, the things that were going wrong, and for good reason. Because, as councilor Koyama Lane has said, we were failing. You know, we made this commitment ten years ago and then saw more and more people die. So I want to thank this committee both for making that recommitment and for the work that you've been doing. I know the councilors here have been doing work to make sure that that every part of Portland has sidewalks people can use, have been keeping an eye on the budget to make sure that there is funding for automated camera enforcement, and have sent representatives to neighborhood meetings where where those those most recent people were killed along powell. So thank you for all of that. That said, you know, in response to this proposal, I know I've seen skepticism from people who follow this, people who care about safe transportation. I think that's because all of us have seen seen work groups and task forces and advisory committees, and a lot of us have served on work groups and task forces and advisory committees. And then seen those recommendations not followed or not funded. Our current mayor, before he was, before he was mayor, spent hours and days on a workgroup for a safer powell and I think would agree that not much changed since then. So this this this resolution. Thank you for bringing it. And it's a necessary step. And as the other folks have said, you know, it is a first step. And the hard part will be when there are tradeoffs, when there are funds that can be used for safer streets or for something else, when there are, when there's street space that we can use to keep traffic flowing or to give more space to people for people to walk safely. So that's just what I want to ask all of the council and all of you here is that when there are those those choices, not just that we have a task force looking at vision zero, but that they're empowered to make hard choices and have the support of council when those come up. Thank you.
85 Thank you. Lois.
86 My name is lois levine. I am the director of public relations at lewis and Clark college, and we are presenting testimony today because of our position as an employer concerned about safe bicycle commuting for our workforce as an educational institution, concerned about equitable access for our students and for members of the public participating in our programs. And because of our commitment to addressing climate concerns, increasing bicycling as a viable alternative to motor vehicles is key to meeting portland's and lewis and clark's climate goals, including our transportation demand management plan, which was developed in collaboration with the Portland bureau of transportation. We want to draw your attention to a key concern for bicycle commuters traveling from to and through southwest Portland. About a decade and a half ago, riverview cemetery, the city of Portland, lewis and Clark and other stakeholders created a marked bicycle route through riverview cemetery. This is a 1.6 mile route that is crucial for safe bicycle commuting, and also for recreational rides for families and individuals in southwest Portland, but this route only exists as long as riverview cemetery, a private entity, chooses to provide access to their grounds. Recently, the cemetery has begun to curtail access through their property, in part due to concerns about liability. These changes have already had a chilling impact on bicycle safety, so those past numbers of people killed or badly injured would be much higher if we hadn't had this route for the past 15 years. The city of Portland needs to recognize that a private entity like the cemetery should not be expected to continue to carry the full responsibility of providing safe bicycling and walking routes to the public, given our long and positive history of collaboration, lewis and Clark looks forward to engaging with the city and other stakeholders to forge a viable, long term solution that will ensure bicyclists and pedestrians have a safe route into and out of southwest Portland, an area where, aside from the cemetery route, there is little or no infrastructure for non-automotive travel. We also believe that with the city and the lead. Collaboration creativity.
87 As one of those people that uses that route, I appreciate what you're saying.
88 Thank you.
89 Thank you so much.
90 For being here today, diego. Do we have more people who are signed up to testify?
91 We do. Chris Smith, followed by joseph perez chris is joining us virtually. And while they get set up chair, we have eight more individuals signed up to testify.
92 Welcome, chris.
93 Good morning, chair Clark and members of the committee, chris Smith. I wear a lot of different hats in transportation advocacy. I'm part of the leadership of Portland streetcar, inc. No more freeways, and I'm a member of many of the organizations you've heard from today. All of my hats are aligned in supporting this resolution. Thank you for putting attention back on this, but I want to challenge you a little bit. Where the rubber meets the road on these issues is in budgets, and I don't envy your struggle this year with pbot's budget. But I want to point out that you also influence other budgets. And in particular, I want to point out that you have lobbyists at work in Salem right now working on the state transportation package, which is a once every 6 or 8 years thing, and their instructions from the city of Portland are the number one priority is a $2 billion freeway expansion at rose quarter. The rose quarter project will not save any lives. It might defer a few fender benders, but people don't die at rose quarter. There are ODOT programs that do greatly affect lives in Portland and statewide. Those would be programs like great streets and safe routes to school. They are likely to get a pittance in this transportation package. I urge you to change that. I know that you inherited this legislative agenda from the prior council. So when it's time for you to put your stamp on the legislative agenda, I hope you will reflect very different priorities. Thank you very much.
94 Thank you. Chris. Hello.
95 Hello. Thank you. My name is joseph perez. I hope I can use mr. Smith's extra 40s, portland's highest ranking officials, including the mayor, city council and city administrator, must make official commitments to a vision zero goal for all road users. Portland needs to identify additional actions and stakeholders to achieve zero fatalities. Portland needs a vision zero task force, preferably led by the city auditor or a somewhat stoic enterprise that will deliberately choose safety over speed and community over convenience. Portland has a capital improvement program, but it does not have a capital safety program. Portland has not assigned strategies, initiatives, targets, or timelines to any of their bureaus outside of PBOT and the police. Previous mayor and council required PBOT to cut its budget. Is it any wonder vision zero appears to be stalled? It seems antithetical to a vision zero commitment. If this city council were to tolerate or perpetuate any cuts to PBOT, their staff and their programs that improve safety on our roads. Right. So Portland should continue to carry out safety programs and safety projects with a focus on equitable outcomes everywhere, and especially on the high crash network. Many people in bureaus in Portland are stakeholders in vision zero. Portland needs a lot of people pitching in and helping, like volunteers in new york, the mayor and the transit and health bureaus and other organizations or partners. There were 63 initiatives citywide that new york city set out to accomplish in 2014. How many? How many does Portland have? 35. And all of them by PBOT except two. Pbot has 31 traffic cameras. New york city has 150 cameras, and could have 1325 by 2030. Portland city council has not invested in safer roads, so PBOT hasn't sold signs to warn people of a curve ahead or painted a crosswalk where one did not exist before. I think signs and paint are like thoughts and prayers we need to rebuild unsafe, dangerous roads and continue to follow the safe systems approach. Portland has the data and knows where the problems are, and now the city council needs to budget for the programing and projects. The proposed task force needs a budget officer.
96 Thank you joseph, I appreciate your testimony and I really would like to have one of those sweaters. You could tell me where I could get one. Thank you.
97 Yeah.
98 Diego, can we call up maybe three different witnesses just to save a little time and have everybody up at one time? Thank you.
99 John jacob, ben siegel, john car. John jacob is joining us virtually.
100 Welcome, john.
101 Hello. My pleasure to address council today. Thank you so much for taking the time to hear from me. I'm speaking to you partially as a neighbor from the south tabor neighborhood association. Just had a meeting this last Thursday with shelley from ODOT, with April from PBOT, and then three members, including tom mills from TriMet to describe upcoming safety and access to transit projects that are being installed on powell boulevard. We were presented about these projects, which have been in a kind of limbo for about eight, nine years. We were not even given a plan for the project. I'm I'm actually writing, tom, as I speak to you now to ask for a project plan for a project that is being built imminently. We do not know what this project will look like. There is a project on 79th and powell, which is already underway, that we are simply going to see what it looks like when it's done. And I bring up this story because I am excited that we have a vision zero task force coming to bear. I'm really hoping that this can exert the kind of pressure we need and accountability we need to see safer streets in our city, but there is definitely a problem with accountability here, and I am concerned that another task force will kind of kick the can down the road unless it is giving meaningful teeth. A budget officer, as joseph just suggested, is absolutely necessary, and there is a necessity for PBOT and for ODOT and for other agencies to give meaningful input or allow for meaningful input by community members on the projects they are building in their community. Our our co-chair, john carr, asked ODOT back in March after the tragic death of roger lee, if we could perhaps include closing bus pullouts as a part of the safety projects on powell boulevard, shelley said that they would look into it, and we were just told at the meeting on Thursday that now it is too late to change the designs. This is the kind of shutting out of community input which turns people off from getting involved in advocacy. It makes them feel unheard, and it makes them feel as though their time is being wasted. And I want to make sure that our vision zero task force is giving a meaningful avenue for community members who are not members of the transportation sphere and a nonprofit or other way to meaningfully give their input. That's crucial if we're going to see actual change. Thank you so much for your time.
102 Thank you so much, and I really appreciate your testimony.
103 Ben seigel, john carr, susan bladel.
104 Welcome, susan. I don't see the other witnesses. Diego. Are they online or. There's one? Okay, great. Why don't we start with susan?
105 Great. Good morning. Councilors chair Clark and esteemed leaders. My name is susan and I am the founder of frog ferry. And I'm here today to highlight how frog ferry aligns with the goals of portland's vision zero action plan. And I really appreciate the comments of the presenters here today. At its core, vision zero is about saving lives, ensuring that no one is killed or seriously injured while traveling on our roads. Frog ferry directly supports this mission by introducing a safe, zero emission passenger ferry system that offers an alternative to high risk transportation corridors. Waterways are a corridor. They are naturally separated and a low conflict transit environment. And by moving people off our congested roads, we can reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled. This is a time for back to basics. You've all said we're all about clean air and water and public safety. Water transit was the first mode of transit for our region for a reason. We're here. Portland is based at the confluence of two rivers. Ferries promote active transit, fostering walking, cycling, and connecting to other modes of transit. While vision zero is about more than just reducing traffic fatalities, it's about expanding our vision of what safe, equitable, and sustainable transportation looks like. Your approach moving forward is about collaboration and community engagement, and we really hope you will be welcoming community and grassroots organizations like ours. We believe frog ferry is part of that vision. It's a piece of the puzzle. You have really hard choices in front of you. I know this week and in the coming weeks, and it calls for incredible leadership, and we really need for you to make some of those difficult decisions to look at new, creative ways for portlanders to navigate around the region. Thank you for your time and your continued commitment for safer Portland.
106 Thank you susan. We have john carr.
107 Good morning councilors. My name is john carr. I live in the south tabor neighborhood and that's in district three. First, I want to share your gratitude for public works employees. They're the ones getting it done. We're talking a lot about the policy level here. But when we talk about, you know, improving infrastructure or streets or laying paint or installing things, that's that's the people who actually get it done. So I appreciate that recognition. What brings me here today are the three most recent traffic deaths on southeast powell boulevard, one involving my 86 year old neighbor, roger lee, back in March. He was a lifelong transit rider, struck and killed while crossing powell from his bus stop on his way back from a blazers game. Vision zero has brought remarkable and focused design changes to our streets, to division to Hawthorne. You see it now on 82nd, 102nd killingsworth, foster and several others. Powell needs change to. So when you look at the number of deaths and fatalities in the most recent report for vision zero, it's not zero. And I get that that can be discouraging. But the zero vision zero is not a promise. It's a vision. It's a goal. And it's a moral starting point. So I support this resolution to keep the focus on designing safer streets, not just blaming the people, not blaming the victim, not blaming the person behind the wheel, but designing safer roadways. And I encourage you to do the same and keep that momentum going.
108 Thank you john.
109 Jessica knoblauch garrett prior. I don't see jessica in the audience.
110 Welcome.
111 Oh, welcome.
112 Good morning.
113 Councilors. My name is garrett prior.
114 He him pronouns. And for 30 or.
115 40 years.
116 On this planet.
117 I've lived in black and immigrant neighborhoods. And I've seen the lack of infrastructure and transportation options lead to the harrowing number of deaths. Like councilor Smith you spoke to this morning, a little over a year now, I've served as the senior policy advisor to jessica vega peterson, and I'm here to offer our support from the county side and to addressing this crisis. We at the county were working in our east county partners. We have a safer streets all grant to trying to pull together and bring together that network of east county and the cities out there. We have an award winning and wonderful health, racial and ethnic approaches to community health or reach team, who is currently working to the with the street trust to take a look at the public health angle on how we can address this. And we also have our connection into law enforcement with the sheriff's office. And so I think one of the encouraging things you're hearing about and seeing today, and why we support this, is to disallow those walls within government departments and really take one centralized approach to this and work working with advocates in our community organizations to address this and really think about what are the big things that we've left off the table in the past to put at the forefront, to curb just the harrowing numbers where this is increasing. So thank you so much.
118 Thank you for being here. And please express our appreciation to chair vega peterson for sending you.
119 Thank you.
120 That concludes testimony.
121 Thank you diego. So committee. Open to your comments I think I see councilor Morillo has her hand up.
122 Thank you. Chair. First I just wanted to start by saying thank you so much to everyone who came and testified today. I've heard some of these stories before at other community events, and it's hard to hear them every single time. And I also want to appreciate that it's hard to come forward and say, okay, this is great. We like what we're seeing and also it's not enough and that we need to do more. And as someone who has served on some of the advisory committees at the city, I've also had similar feelings about the fact that my input sometimes felt like it didn't go anywhere. And so with that, I want to say another thing, which is that if anyone believes in community input, it's councilor Koyama Lane. And if anyone is going to stay true to her word and make sure that that input is taken into account and that we are going to actually make material changes, it's councilor Koyama Lane and it's the people on this committee. I think we're all very dedicated to making safety improvements. I've heard councilor Smith talk passionately about district one and what her district uniquely deserves. Councilor Green as well, teamed up with her to do cip and councilor Clark as well, and I wanted to say the budget is weighing very heavily on my heart, and I know we'll have time to discuss our amendments later, so I won't go into detail, but I just wanted to name for the folks sitting in the room right now that I have three separate amendments that reallocate the additional funding that was given to police, to our transportation bureau, to vision zero. One specific amendment talking about cesar chavez boulevard, where jeannie diaz was killed, because I think that to me, traffic safety is public safety, and that when we talk about transforming our roads and our infrastructure in a way that keeps people safe as they are going about their community, that's community safety, too. And so I just appreciate all of the guidance that I've received from community advocates in the transportation world. I've learned a lot from you, and I'm honored to have you in this space. And I'll hold off on going into those specifics until we talk about our amendments. But I'm I'm very grateful that you're here and we are taking everything that you're saying very seriously. And I am excited to bring material changes to this work. So thank you.
123 Thank you, councilor Morillo, before I turn this over to councilor Koyama Lane, I'd like to do something a little out of the ordinary. I'd just like all the people in the audience who work on vision zero. And I see some of you back there, and all the people who came here today to support this resolution, to please stand up. Terrific.
124 Thank you.
125 Thank you all for coming here today, councilor Koyama Lane.
126 I echo gratitude for you all being here. I also want to say again that this is one step, one of many, many needed steps. And this resolution is it is not enough. And I welcome skepticism, I welcome input, I believe it's warranted. I believe it's important. We need community members. We need all of you engaged in this. We need you all keeping an eye on this. We need you all to actually be part of this. Work with us. The intention, the goal behind this resolution is really to put attention on vision zero, to raise the profile of this work, to remind bureaus and service area leaders that this needs to be shared, work with shared accountability. And I have heard over and over again that we need a more public and transparent venue to keep tabs on this work. So you'll see in my budget notes and budget amendments that I have specifics in there around disaggregating data for vision zero about increasing the frequency of reporting. All of this is important. All of it is connected. I have heard from so many pedestrian and bike advocates that we have amazing vision zero leaders doing this work, and they need to be empowered. I've heard that many times we have dana dickman and clay vacca. I've heard your names over and over again about how much you care, the ideas that you have, how the passion that you have. It's all wonderful and you all need more visibility and you need more empowerment and support. And I hear that. And that is part of why there has been a discussion to move dana's position out of PBOT and into the deputy city administrator's office under dca, donna paul, in order for there to be more visibility and empowerment, I hear loud, loud and clear that we need your work to be backed up with money and with political cover. And I think there are many of us up here who who care a lot about that. And I know I'm ready to spend all my capital here on this. So let's go and, and just, just want to highlight that this is something this is an area traffic fatalities, traffic injuries. When it hits personally when it hits close to home you see communities getting engaged and who maybe weren't already. And jumping in. I have a parent from sunnyside environmental school, where I've taught for many years, was just hit by a truck a couple weeks ago after dropping off her child at school, and I got to speak with her. She is going to be okay, but did suffer injuries and she is now very passionate and wants to get on board and help with vision zero. And I'm so grateful for her support. And the whole school community is rallying, and we also can't wait for something to hit personally or hit close to home because it will if we don't do something. So I my hope is to offer empowerment and support and also to keep asking what is needed and how do we make it happen. And that that question isn't it doesn't stop, but that is the focus here. So I appreciate all of the folks that have spoken here today. Thank you so much.
127 Thank you, councilor Koyama Lane so much. Councilor Green, do you have a comment?
128 Thank you, madam chair. I just wanted to really offer gratitude to my colleague, councilor Koyama Lane, for your leadership on this. You're bringing forward something that I think a lot of us care about. I think there is value in resolutions and sort of reaffirming our commitment because it gives us focus and scope for our work. And I know that we're about to enter a budget season where it's bleak. There are some difficult trade offs and we don't, you know, can't afford the big transformational investment in infrastructure at this time. But we are going to convene an asset management strategy led by councilor Clark. We are going to convene a workgroup on how to think differently about how we fund infrastructure. Those conversations will be grounded in this lens that you're bringing forward today, and that's why I'm proud to support it. And I want to speak to a couple things I heard from testimony. It's always makes me very emotional when I hear this. Yeah. Parent testimony. So thank you for your courage. Excuse me. I think about what we could potentially lose if we don't preserve what we have. And, lois, your testimony on the riverview bike pathway is, is very crucial because I use that. I see so many families use that. And if we lose that resource because we don't work with that cemetery and figure out an innovative solution, we're not going to be able to afford to replace it in any kind of meaningful fashion. And so part of the work is preserving what we have and fighting for it and saying, I'm going to take the political hit and show up because we cannot afford to take any lose any more ground on this. So I'll just stop talking there. But I just want to say, I'm so glad that you brought this forward today. Thank you.
129 Thank you, councilor Green. Councilor Smith, do you have any final comments?
130 Yes, madam chair, thank you. I just want to thank you all very much. As you know, I have tried to ensure that there is safety within district one and understanding that the infrastructure that's needed is going to take lots of community support, coalitions and money and direction. I am I am pleased that cip passed the sidewalk improvement and paving program that will give us that direction that we need from PBOT, and hopefully in the next few weeks that we will get a ordinance that will identify the funding mechanism. And so in in terms of helping vision zero with those funds, paving roads, creating new sidewalks, creating paths to safe routes to school and work and play, it will be something that will help you in your vision. And I think that any other ideas that you all have about our cip and any other ways that we can support vision zero, it's much appreciated. And I will even go as far to say because councilor Koyama Lane thank you for your for your leadership on this, and I am with you in your efforts to restore. I think there was $240,000 that was taken out of the budget. I think that's unconscionable with the high crash corridors that we have in district one and other places, we need to continue those resources. And I'm willing to work with you on that and to push that effort because it it doesn't seem fair. Thank you so much for all you have done.
131 Thank you, councilor Smith. Before I call for a motion to adopt the resolution, I just want to make some very brief comments, really echoing what I've heard here today. The testimony today has been outstanding, and I think it matches the efforts of our councilor Koyama Lane and your passion and the effort that you've put into this. I really appreciate it. And I want to assure everybody in the audience that from the time this committee first met, the first meeting we had, we focused on safety. It's a high priority for all of us. So you have our commitment to work on this. You can tell from the resolutions that we've already passed the cip resolution, as well as the asset management, that we care highly about safety. I also want to say that I believe that the new form of government, with the bureaus working together across bureau, is going to make a big improvement on what we can do with with vision zero. So with that, thank you everyone. I would like to call for a motion and I will help you with that motion. I need someone to move the resolution document number 2025 to oh four, be sent to the full council with a recommendation to be adopted.
132 So moved.
133 Thank you. Got to read the full thing. And I have the script.
134 Okay.
135 Okay. Madam chair, I move resolution document 2025 dash 204 be sent to the full council with the recommendation it be adopted.
136 I have a second.
137 Second.
138 Any further discussion? Terrific. Diego, can you please call for the vote? The roll Koyama Lane.
139 I Morillo.
140 Very proud to vote aye today.
141 Green I.
142 Smith I Clark.
143 I on a historic moment.
144 The motion to send with five votes. The motion to send the resolution to the full council with recommendation. The resolution be accepted.
145 Thank you so much. Thanks to everyone in the audience. It's been a great morning. We do have a few minutes left. And I guess I need diego to read the next item.
146 Three committee discussion on transportation and infrastructure budget priorities.
147 Thank you diego. We may be discussed out here today. I don't know, but if anyone wants to talk about their amendments or budget notes or anything else that we'll be discussing hopefully on Wednesday, now is the time to do it. Perhaps to look for support or just to share what you're working on. I can start by just saying, and I think I already mentioned this in a full council meeting, that I'll have a budget note regarding the public works service area, in partnership with the budget and finance service area, to devise a strategy to come up with viable alternatives for funding for transportation. Just a simple budget note. And with that, does anyone else? Oh yes. Councilor Morillo.
148 I'll just quickly go over the three proposed amendments that I have. It's a little wonky because some of them come from the same fund, because I think a few people had different ideas and it's unclear what's going to go through. And some people also have revenue generating ideas, including something that me, councilor, Green and Dunphy are bringing forward for transportation with the tnc fees or and councilor Novick as well. My apologies. Thank you. And so it's going to be a very messy Wednesday. But with that said, I have an amendment to transfer the new police funding to support traffic safety infrastructure. So I want to provide $800,000 to the Portland bureau of transportation to ensure the completion of critical pedestrian safety work on chavez. I think that's really important in district three, and we've seen a lot of just really terrible things happen on cesar chavez boulevard because of the lack of infrastructure that we have there. I also have a proposal to use the $2 million increase to the police bureau to support traffic safety measures, and that would go towards vision zero actions as well. And I will stop talking there because I think councilor Green will explain the tnc fees better than I can.
149 Thank you. Councilor Morillo councilor Green.
150 Thank you, madam chair. Yeah, just to riff on that a little bit. Transportation network companies uber and lyft charges a surcharge right now for each trip. Right now, the rate is $0.65 per trip. The mayor has proposed bringing that to $1.30, which raises about $5 million incrementally for the mayor's proposed budget. The amendment that my colleague spoke to that I'm supporting brings that to an even $2, and that should raise an additional five to maybe almost $6 million there. And for me, it's not just about raising revenue, which we sorely need for general transportation revenue and PBOT, but it is also a price signal. It is also a sort of effort to say, the ideal is that more people take trips via our bus system. More people take trips via bicycle, and we've got a serious maintenance backlog on our on our road system, and so we've got to get fewer cars on the road. These are trade offs we make. Right. And so I you know, when we hear about all of the vision zero infrastructure and transformational stuff that we need to do, part of it is changing behavior. And I know that that is risky. It's hard to talk about sometimes, but that's for me a motivation for this piece. And we were lagging behind cities. $2 is really nothing compared to seattle and new york. The other thing I want to note that I'm bringing an amendment and a note that I think is relevant to this discussion. First is an amendment to create two positions for supporting the implementation. Implementation of some pro housing zoning and code changes for those following along. Last year there was a inner east side for all campaign that is designed to make it legal to build dense four floors in a cornerstore type of residential developments in transportation rich areas as part of the city. Unless we're willing to do that, it's going to be very difficult to finance and think about a less car centric mode of conveyance in the future that adds necessary analytical support to the community and economic development service area. Because what I don't want to do is and we've talked about it, we don't want to just have plans. We must execute those plans. And you need staff to do that. We'll see if that gets through. Lastly, I've got a budget note, and I think I mentioned this the last time we talked about public works was the sort of open up a conversation in the next fiscal year to talk about rate design for our public utilities. You know, maybe what we have right now is the best and optimal, but I but I would love a rich and public conversation about different ways to tweak that so we can accomplish our goals. So thank you.
151 Thank you, councilor Green. Councilor Koyama Lane.
152 Yes, thank you, chair Clark, I'm bringing forth four different things to budget notes and two budget amendments regarding transportation. They are all connected to vision zero. One budget note is directing the public works service area, public safety service area, and community and economic development service area to collaboratively, collaboratively create a funding and staffing plan for any administrative work of the vision zero task force. Vision zero citywide team that will be hopefully convening and to report back to council by September 1st, 2025. After conversations with different city leaders. It the only cost should be it should mostly be staff time and the need of about 1 or 1.5 of administrative point administrative support in terms of fte. So that is what I was encouraged to do, is have a budget note to ask those different service areas to work together on how to make sure that administrative support happens. The other budget note is through collaborative work with the community and council. Identify and prioritize action alignment with established vision zero action plan, which is rooted in research and PBOT equity matrix. Identifying revenue that ensures PBOT can meet its critical bureau needs, and also make sure they're continuing to work on the vision zero action plan. And that includes restoration of the cannabis funding. And so when folks are talking about there being cuts to vision zero, that's where that cut is. It's because we that funding is from the cannabis tax is not coming in as high. Increasing the frequency and reporting on relevant progress milestones to the community and council as we approach the end of the 2023 2025 plan time frame and have that be at least quarterly commitment to disaggregate all vision zero data collected and analyzed by race and ethnicity, as well as location within equity matrix zones, not simply at an overall level, but for all data points tracked and reported. Commitment to using the equity matrix as a component of decision making for new investments, and prepare to conduct a participatory process to update the current vision zero action plan, and including identifying resources needed in the next budget. And then the two amendments. One is the one I referenced earlier to move pbot's vision zero lead into the public works office to lead citywide vision zero efforts. That has that came out of different conversations that I had with leaders doing this work. And the other one is to ensure the capacity of the vision zero work and programs and make sure that their budget is at least made whole in this upcoming budget. So it's about 300,000 that is currently being cut in the proposed budget or is a gap. And I'm I plan to ask for 500,000 knowing that when we update the vision zero action plan, there will likely be actions associated with that work and will have a fiscal impact. So having a little bit of a buffer there. Thank you.
153 Thank you. Councilor. Councilor Smith, do you have your hand up.
154 No, no okay. Thank you.
155 Any other comments about the budget about budget notes going once, going twice. All right. I think with that I don't have any other announcements. We will have more information later on upcoming events in this committee. But with that I will adjourn the meeting. And thanks again to everyone who came today.