Mayor prioritizes school funding

Adequate school funding was one of the major themes of Mayor Charlie Hales’ State of the City address on Friday afternoon.

The speech, held at the Governor Hotel, was followed by a question-and-answer period where citizens were able to ask Hales questions about everything from how he planned to promote citizen involvement to ways he would address the homeless problem.

“We are not done building a great city,” Hales said.

Hales opened with a description of how he helped his father build a house at age 16. The metaphor showed that Hales was a builder of Portland.

“Some repairs are in order,” Hales said.

The three major needed repairs Hales pointed out were issues regarding the city budget, public school funding and creating a safer city.

Though these are big concerns to tackle, Hales remains optimistic.

“We have a lot going for us,” he said.

Among the address’ attendees were former Mayor Sam Adams and Portland State President Wim Wiewel.

A look at the budget and education

Hales’ first order of business was to address budget concerns.

According to the mayor, the city is facing a shortfall of about $21 million.

“We will balance our budget in a humane and responsible way” to maintain current programs and services, Hales said. Hales will release his prospective budget today.

Hales also discussed the issue of funding for education.

“When we sat down together in the first month and devised our legislative priorities for this session of the Legislature, our number one priority—the City of Portland’s number one priority—is adequate school funding,” Hales said.

Hales went on to say that in the second month of his term he gathered Oregon mayors to join in the cause, and 50 of them have signed up to help.

“They believe that the school funding priority is more important than anything else on our own wish lists,” Hales said.

According to the mayor, the Legislature is stepping up in terms of fixing this problem.

“There’s a budget proposal on the table in this session of the Legislature that will hold the line in school funding,” Hales said.

Public safety a concern

Finally, the mayor brought up public safety issues, explaining that police can’t solely provide public safety and that citizens of Portland have to protect each other.

He also touched on the concern that many people have with police using force.

“We shouldn’t feel the need to be protected from the police,” Hales said.

The mayor brought up the idea of a social contract, which he described as an agreement of mutual responsibility. He hopes this will lead to further improvements.

“They need to know that the mayor and City Council have their backs,” Hales said. “And we do.”

Some of the changes already implemented include crisis intervention training, mobile crisis units with a mental health professional and police officer team, and new policies for the use of force and Tasers specifically.

Students can rest assured that improvements are being made to ensure trust in police officers and a safer city.

Gun safety

The topic of safety led to one of the more heavily debated issues on campus as of late: gun control.

“There are too many guns on the street—period,” Hales said.

Along with universal background checks, Hales pressed the importance of keeping guns out of schools, which he hopes that Portlanders will support.

“Two weeks from tomorrow, we will have…the annual gun turn-in—a joint effort of our public safety professionals and Ceasefire Oregon,” Hales said. “So I invite anyone who’s got a gun around the house that they don’t see any good reason for…[to] take advantage of that.”

Hales hopes this will be a sensible start to gun control, noting that it’s not just a national issue but a local and personal one.

“Gun violence is here [in Portland] too,” Hales said. “It’s in our homes and neighborhoods.”

Hales closed his speech by reiterating the importance of building a stronger economy here in Portland, “so that all our young people have hope and opportunity,” he said.

In the question-and-answer period following the speech questions arose about panhandlers, who are having a negative impact on the economy and the city’s livability. This issue is especially prevalent in downtown Portland.

The mayor said that the fact that about 1,700 people sleep outside every night is unacceptable. To address the problem, Hales explained that there needs to be a common civility on the streets and that there’s no balance right now.

Hales also addressed a recent Portland Public Schools graduate who questioned how Hales and his team will improve the school system.

The mayor responded that Portland has independently elected school boards and that he has a stake in raising graduation rates, which he hopes to continue working on.

Hales’ State of the City address highlighted the importance of remaining optimistic about the City of Portland, which he described as unique.

“To be mayor of such a place is a privilege,” Hales said.