by Mercury Staff 2024 marked the last year of Portland’s commission form of government. The year was punctuated by a scramble to implement a city charter overhaul and to get City Council chambers remodeled to accommodate an incoming 12-person Council. Along the way, city leaders also responded to public pressure over public drug use and unsheltered homelessness, all during a pivotal election year. Three of Portland’s five City Council members launched a bid for mayor. None succeeded.  During one of his last media briefings, Mayor Ted Wheeler gave a nod to his Council colleagues, saying they had "given much to this transition process" alongside city staffers. "The bottom line is that Portlanders voted and we have delivered," Wheeler said of the government transition, signaling a sense of accomplishment and a sigh of relief as he prepared to exit politics. "I feel confident that come January 1, I can toss Mr. [Keith] Wilson the keys to our executive branch and our City Council will have all the tools that they need to be legislatively effective." Everyone wanted the city to tackle homelessness. Few agreed on how to do it. Among the most consequential policies to come out of City Hall in 2024 was a revamped public camping ordinance. Approved by the City Council in spring, the ordinance was a second attempt to regulate where and how the city’s unhoused population could rest in public, after a botched anti-homeless camping ordinance faced immediate legal challenges in 2023. Despite heavy public pushback and a shortage of shelter beds, the Council adopted new city codes that allow police to ticket or jail unhoused people who refuse an offer of shelter.  While the Council faced pressure–particularly from business groups– to reduce visible homelessness in public, social services organizations warned that fining or jailing someone for being unhoused would only create legal and financial barriers that prevent them from attaining housing.   The Council was further emboldened to enforce its policies after the landmark Johnson v. Grants Pass Supreme Court decision found that local governments may penalize unhoused people, regardless of whether adequate shelter exists. The feds loosened their grip on the city’s police force Since 2012, Portland has been under the watchful eye of the US Department of Justice. Why? Because around that time, the DOJ noticed a pattern of police using deadly force on people with disabilities or mental health issues.  The city agreed to a consent decree- part of a settlement agreement with the DOJ that sought to improve police policies, training, and tactics.  In 2021, the city received another wag of the finger from the DOJ for again demonstrating a pattern of excessive force, this time when responding to 2020 racial justice and police accountability protests. The federal government determined the Portland Police Bureau was out of compliance with several aspects of the settlement agreement. After years of the DOJ babysitting the city, a federal judge ruled in 2024 that the federal government could take a step back and let an independent, third-party firm monitor the city’s compliance with the longstanding agreement.  Mark P. Smith & Associates (MPS), a private firm, was retained by the city in April to serve as the new independent monitor for the legal settlement. The change was significant for the city, whose police force has struggled to maintain public trust despite multiple police oversight bodies in effect. Police watchdogs aren’t thrilled with the DOJ’s departure from its longtime oversight role, noting the federal government is often the only bastion of true legal accountability.  A city commissioner shrouded in personal, political conflict It would be nearly impossible to reflect on the political landscape in Portland during 2024 without stumbling on the series of high-profile events surrounding one city commissioner in particular. Rene Gonzalez, who was elected to Portland City Council in 2022, frequently made headlines for brash public policy proposals, his embellishment of an encounter with a fellow MAX train rider, his use of taxpayer funds to refine his Wikipedia page during his mayoral bid, and an incident in which his family was the target of an arson that took place at his home. Without recounting the laundry list (we already did that), here’s a summary of notable events that plagued Gonzalez in 2024: • The year got off to a rough start for Gonzalez, after someone set fire to a family car parked at his house in January. Investigators concluded it was likely a targeted, politically-motivated attack. Police never caught the suspect, but Gonzalez was given a beefed up security detail after the incident. • In February, Gonzalez announced he would stop using public transit after he placed a 911 call to report a "light assault" against him by a woman on a MAX train. Gonzalez initially indicated he was "accosted" by a woman on the train in late January. "What I experienced was deliberate, unwanted physical contact, followed by criticisms of the city’s policies regarding homelessness," Gonzalez recounted in a video message. TriMet camera footage later obtained by The Oregonian revealed what appeared to be a brief brush against Gonzalez’s shoulder by a Black woman seated near the aisle. The event raised questions about why the city commissioner called 911 to report a woman of color who appeared to hardly touch him. It also happened as Gonzalez, who oversaw the fire bureau and 911, was urging the public to refrain from using 911 to report non-emergency events.  • Over the summer, in the thick of campaign season, it was reported that Gonzalez used roughly $6,400 in taxpayer funds on a consulting firm to help his staff update the commissioner’s Wikipedia page. The revelations triggered complaints to the Portland Elections Office. An initial investigation cited a lack of evidence to make a determination, but the following month, the Portland Auditor’s Office concluded Gonzalez violated campaign finance rules by using city funds to improve his public image, and ultimately benefit his mayoral campaign.  • Gonzalez wasn’t the only city commissioner who faced major public scrutiny in 2024. Carmen Rubio, who also ran for mayor, saw her leadership skills and personal character questioned after her abysmal driving record was brought to light. Gonzalez’s record was also questionable, with two drivers license suspensions decades before he took office, though it paled in comparison to the more than 150 parking and traffic tickets and six license suspensions Rubio sustained prior to her election to Council. In the end, neither Gonzalez nor Rubio won their mayoral bids.  Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes If Portland were a person, 2023 and 2024 would have marked its adolescence. A lot happened–much of it behind the scenes–to prepare the city for its next phase.  Over the course of 2024, construction crews worked to expand City Council chambers in preparation for future 12-person council meetings.  Keith Wilson (left), Portland's next mayor, joins outgoing Mayor Ted Wheeler (center) during a December 5 media briefing on the city's leadership transition. Pictured to the right: Interim City Administrator Michael Jordan, who will lead the city at least through 2025. courtney vaughn City codes were changed to align with the new charter, and commissioners eased out of their jobs of overseeing Portland's bureaus, to make way for new administrative leadership. City commissioners were initially reluctant to relinquish their bureau oversight, but in early 2024, Commissioner Gonzalez made the first deputy city administrator appointment.  By fall 2024, the city had an administrator for each of its six new service areas, and by late November, incoming Mayor Keith Wilson was frequently meeting with city and county leaders, in preparation for his new role. In an effort to maintain continuity and institutional knowledge within city leadership, Wilson opted to extend the tenure of interim City Administrator Michael Jordan, at least through 2025.