Ooh, interesting twist

Nick Budnick at the Tribune sheds more light on an item on tomorrow’s Portland City Council Agenda, regarding the resolution introduced by Commissioners Sten and Leonard to support state legislation, HB 2404. This bill if enacted would allow public safety staff to include discussion of safe staffing levels during contract negotiations. In my comments previewing the Council’s agenda for 2/14, I didn’t know whether that meeting’s motion to change to a neutral position – a resolution co-sponsored by all Councilmen except Mayor Potter – was more or less supportive than the position agreed before the session. According to Nick, the initial position was to oppose the change. And now, two Commissioners want to take one more step, to support it. I missed that twist, in my preview of this week’s agenda.

Nick reports: “critics say [it] will hurt the city’s finances”, and “Mayor Tom Potter has come out against the resolution, citing letters by city attorney Linda Meng, Human Resources Director Yvonne Deckard and Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer. In a Feb. 7 letter to the state Senate Commerce Committee, the chief wrote that the change “could affect virtually everything the Portland Police Bureau does on a daily basis.