Governor Tina Kotek and Co-Chair Dan McMillan, president and CEO of The Standard, released a set of ten priority recommendations from the Portland Central City Task Force (PCCTF) to be carried out in early 2024, as well as a long term strategic vision for economic prosperity for the region and, by extension, the entire state.
Over the course of the last four months, members of the Portland Central City Task Force, the Portland community, and people across Oregon have worked in ways both big and small to create a compelling vision for Portland central city.
Representatives from the Portland Metro Chamber, Downtown Portland Clean & Safe along with state and local lawmakers, city leaders, community leaders, and many more participated in this task force and its supporting committees.
“Today is a positive day for the City of Portland. The recommendations from Governor Kotek’s Central City Task Force come after months of collaboration between public, private, academic, and non-profit leaders. The recommendations are laser focused on solving the serious challenges facing Portland, and when enacted will represent a genuine investment in our central city,” said Andrew Hoan, president and CEO of the Portland Metro Chamber. “This is a proven example of what can happen when the public and private sector unite to achieve a common goal. We now have a clear market signal that our downtown is open for business. Thank you to co-chair Governor Kotek and CEO Dan McMillian, and the leadership of the committees who dedicated their time to make this day possible with leadership from the Oregon Business Council.”
These concrete and bold recommendations are varied, but they tap into Portland’s strengths: innovation, collaboration, art, culture. And while this action plan will be carried out in early 2024, these recommendations also serve as a long term strategic vision for economic prosperity for the region, and by extension, the entire state.
Below are the top ten recommendations:
- Declare a tri-government fentanyl emergency
- Ban public us of controlled substances and reduce barriers to prosecuting drug delivery
- Ramp up existing infrastructure for effective and speedy implementation of a Public Use Ban, pending legislative approval
- Focus peer delivered services and street outreach workers in the Central City
- Increase safe and accessible options for unsheltered people
- Expand Central City’s homeless shelter capacity
- Further elevate law enforcement response in the Central City
- Clean up the city
- Bring down the 2020-era fences and plywood
- Declare a moratorium on new taxes and offer targeted tax relief