The City Council continued to spar over Portland Police Bureau funding in the next city budget on Wednesday, May 28. The work session followed a marathon meeting the previous week before where the council approved a $8.5 billion budget after moving $1.9 million from PPB to Portland Parks & Recreation on a 7-5 split vote just minutes before the midnight deadline.

The dispute spilled over to a coinciding protest of the police cut and a counter protest supporting parks funding in Southeast Portland. The next council hearing is scheduled for June 11 with a final vote on the budget the next week.

The May 28 meeting previewed minor changes that could be made to the proposed budget on Wednesday, June 11. City budget and PPB staff members explained the relationship between bureau unfilled positions and overtime to cover for them, a point of confusion at the May 28 meeting. No votes were taken at the work session, and it was unclear whether a majority of the council is now willing to reconsider transferring the $1.9 million, which Mayor Keith Wilson proposed to help fill 90 currently vacant bureau positions.

“We are going to see a reduction in traffic priority projects, human trafficking missions, precinct crime reduction, street racing, gun violence reduction, investigative overtime, stolen vehicle operations, retail theft operations, precinct patrol backfill. That $1.9 million equates to about 21,000 hours of overtime,” Police Chief Bob Day testified during the previous meeting.

District 1 Councilor Councilors Candace Avalos, who co-sponsored the amendment, disagreed.

“This is not about reducing police effectiveness. It is about a balanced approach to public safety that includes well-maintained parks where families feel safe gathering,” Avalos said.

The work session happened at the same time as a protest opposing the PPB funding transfer in East Portland. It was held by Future Portland, a grassroots volunteer organization that supports safety and livabiity, included speakers representing both Portland and Gresham community groups and residents.

“I think the Mayor, very wisely, chose to try to address the staffing issue -that took us three decades to build. The city grew but the number of police officers serving it declined. So, I think we should follow his lead. I think it’s a shortcoming that needs to be addressed because one of the fundamental tenets of community is that when you need help, there are people around you to offer it,” KOIN 6 News reported Eli Arnold, a former Portland police officer, as saying.

A group with opposing views showed up and spoke in favor of the additional parks funding, however.

“I want you to remember this, every year Portland Police and police departments across the country keep asking for more and more money. The United States has the highest number of people in our jails and prisons of any country in the world. If funding our police made our communities safer, we should be the safest city and country in the world,” Sandy Chung, Director of the ACLU of Oregon, was reported as saying.

After the May 28 vote, Wilson released a statement which said, “We’re looking at how the decision to remove $1.9 million in proposed PPB funding may impede our efforts to recruit a next generation of law enforcement first responders who will represent and serve our community, as well as the critical missions that get pounds of fentanyl and human trafficking victims off our streets. Any option that repairs, restores, and revitalizes Portland is on the table, including jurisdictional partnerships and collaborations on the crucial public safety issues our community has asked us to solve. We’ve made improvements, but we can’t let our continuing high crime rates, response times, and livability issues go unaddressed.”