Goals and Strategies

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Breadcrumb: Budget Overview > Goals and Strategies

City of Portland Fiscal Year 2026-27 Proposed Budget Goals and Strategies Council Vision, Mission, Values, and Goals Vision We aspire to be a beautiful, safe, and clean city of choice for ourselves and future generations - a city with a healthy and sustainable economy, strong businesses, vital neighborhoods, a diverse population, excellent schools, a vibrant downtown, an honest government that is open and participatory, extensive recreational and cultural opportunities, a healthy environment, and sufficient housing stock to meet our needs. Mission The City of Portland is a responsive and accessible local government that strives to continually identify and seize opportunities to improve the quality of life in our community. We work to support civic excellence and effective, responsive community and intergovernmental partnerships. We provide urban services to meet the public health and safety, transportation, environmental, recreational, planning, and neighborhood livability needs of our residents and visitors. We are responsible for providing clean and safe drinking water and for the maintenance of the City’s water system. We are responsible stewards of our City’s fiscal health and resources. We utilize a diverse, skilled, and dedicated workforce to provide seamless service to our community members and visitors. We strive for excellence in all we do. Values The Portland City Council unanimously passed Resolution 37492 on June 17, 2020 adopting Anti-racism, Equity, Transparency, Communication, Collaboration, and Fiscal Responsibility as Core Values of the City of Portland. These values inform a unified workplace and city culture, systems, policies, practices, and procedures. Anti-Racism: The City of Portland is committed to being an anti-racist institution. Addressing issues concerning anti- Blackness and anti-Indigenousness are a priority for the workforce and city. Actions to dismantle institutional and systemic racism are the responsibility of every employee and resident. Racism, discrimination, and bias are not tolerated within the workplace or our communities. Oppression, violence, and hate speech towards Blacks, Indigenous, and people of color, is condemned by the City of Portland. Equity: The intersectional identities and lived experiences of our workforce and our residents are valued. We acknowledge Oregon’s history of exclusion and are dedicated to building trust through reconciliation and restorative justice. Solidarity and the preservation of diverse communities and their cultures enhances the livability and vibrancy of our beautiful city. Equity, access, and the removal of institutional and systemic barriers to resources and opportunities is essential in diversifying our workforce and the public good. We lead people, cultivate change, and develop a culture of innovation, inclusion, and inspiration to strengthen our city and communities. The sense of belonging, ownership, support, and safety are vital for a diverse, equitable, and inclusive city and workforce. Transparency: Transparency is essential to upholding the principles of democracy, and reimagining political processes occurs through accountability. Portland, Oregon is the first city in the United States to adopt an Open Data policy and leads the nation in developing a culture of information sharing. Trust is established and maintained through integrity and inclusion. Communication: Communication serves as a catalyst for transformative change, and knowledge sharing will impact our workplace and communities. The art of storytelling and narratives can promote a culture of inclusion, and the power of our collective voice will unify our city. Collaboration: Our belief that we are Better Together promotes collaboration and the cocreation of knowledge. The nexus of politics and public service will connect our workforce and communities. Civic engagement and collective action will empower 21

City of Portland Fiscal Year 2026-27 Proposed Budget our employees and residents. Institutional knowledge and awareness are gained through inclusive outreach and public engagement. All behaviors, actions, decisions, and systems shall reflect a culture of accountability and commitment to the City’s core values. Fiscal Responsibility: The City of Portland is dedicated to being fiscally accountable to the public. Fiscal resiliency, climate action, equity, and the needs of our most vulnerable populations will be the focus of every budget decision. Community values, addressing inequities, and transparent budgetary decisions are essential to developing trust. Rethinking budget processes will ensure the economic sustainability of our city. Goals The City of Portland has for many years ascribed to and worked towards the following strategic goals. The City will be updating and aligning these goals with updated values per Resolution 37492. Ensure a safe and peaceful community Protect life Preserve property Promote community responsibility, commitment, and preparedness Promote economic vitality and opportunity Support quality education Provide high quality, reasonably priced public utility services Create an attractive location for businesses and jobs Improve the quality of life in neighborhoods Ensure growth and development are well managed Provide access to transportation and recreation services Provide affordable housing and reduce neighborhood nuisances Protect and enhance the natural and built environment Protect the city’s land, water, air, and open spaces Provide safe drinking and wastewater services Protect endangered species Operate and maintain an effective and safe transportation system Provide multi-modal transportation choices Maintain and improve street conditions Support economic development and neighborhood livability Deliver efficient, effective, and accountable municipal services Deliver responsive, competitive government services Maintain healthy City financial condition Manage government to achieve goals Citywide Performance Performance management consists of the range of strategies that the Performance Management Office and City Budget Office coordinate citywide to ensure that the City’s investments in programs and services are achieving their intended outcomes on behalf of Portlanders. Broadly, these approaches and strategies can be categorized as performance measurement, evaluation, and 22

City of Portland Fiscal Year 2026-27 Proposed Budget process improvement: Performance measurement involves establishing and monitoring key data points about programs and services based on strategic plans. The purpose is to track progress toward the City’s goals and find opportunities to course correct. Evaluation involves determining if programs and services are more effective than alternatives, and if there are causal relationships between the programs and services and their intended outcomes. The purpose is to gauge the outcomes of the City’s investments on Portland and Portlanders. Process improvement involves assessing and adjusting business processes so that they can be completed more reliably, more accurately, and faster. The purpose is to make work easier for employees and programs and services better for Portlanders. Performance measurement, process improvement, and evaluation are interrelated and contribute to a “continuum of evidence” for the City’s investments in programs and services. These approaches and strategies can be applied simultaneously, and lessons learned from one can inform another. This work complements other citywide efforts, such as the Results-Based Accountability work done by the Office of Equity and Human Rights and the data management work done by the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability Data Services team, to move toward more data-informed, equity-centered decision making. For each metric, the City reports on several years of information in the budget book. Metrics can also be accessed via dashboards Performance Portland at www.portland.gov/performance ↗. 23

Parent: Budget Overview · PDF: pp. 21-23 ↗