City Club has supported two member-led research reports about Portland’s form of government and elections. The first was charged with analyzing what the best form of government would be in terms of representation for the residents of Portland and whether Portland’s current commission form of government equitably represents all residents of the city.

That report, supported by 92.6% of City Club members, recommended that Portland transition to a modified council/manager form of government, increase the size of the City Council, and switch to district-based elections — preferably with multiple City Council members elected in each district. At the conclusion of that report, that committee called for additional research on district elections and election systems.

In 2019, the Board of Governors formed a new committee, charged with examining alternative voting methods that would result in more equitable representation.

That report, supported by 91.3% of City Club members, recommended that the City of Portland and regional philanthropy should provide financial support for much deeper civic engagement to understand what community members thought about and wanted from the City. They also recommended that Portland should adopt a voting method that eliminates the need for a primary, such as Ranked Choice Voting or another proportional voting system, and that Portland must adopt multi-member districts. 

The second Committee re-convened in March 2022 to review their research, consider new data and analysis, and consider an amendment to their 2020 recommendation. The Committee’s amended recommendation clarifies their positions on multi-member districts, single member districts, and proportional voting. The full recommendation is available to the public via download here.

View The Reports

• Rethinking 100 Years of the Commission System (2019)
• Rethinking How We Vote (2020)
• New Government for Today’s Portland One-pager (2020)

VOTING RESULTS for 2019 Report
New Government for Today’s Portland: Rethinking the Commission System
Approve: 92.6%
Reject: 6.3%
Abstain: 1%

VOTING RESULTS for 2020 Report
New Government for Today’s Portland: Rethinking How We Vote
Approve: 91.3%
Reject: 6.7%
Abstain: 1.9%

VOTING RESULTS for 2022 Amended Report
New Government for Today’s Portland: Rethinking How We Vote – Amended
Approve: 73.3%
Reject: 21.8%
Abstain: 4.9%