Portland, Oregon, City Auditor Duties, Measure 26-189 (May 2017)
| Measure 26-189: Portland City Auditor Duties |
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| May 16, 2017 |
| Status: |
 Approved
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| Topic: |
| Local charter amendments |
| Related articles |
| Local charter amendments on the ballot May 16, 2017 ballot measures in Oregon Multnomah County, Oregon ballot measures Other counties City governance on the ballot |
| See also |
| Portland, Oregon |
A charter amendment was on the ballot for Portland voters in Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties in Oregon on May 16, 2017. It was approved.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of increasing the city auditor independence from audited agencies and allowing the auditor to investigate city agencies. |
| A no vote was a vote against increasing the city auditor independence from audited agencies and allowing the auditor to investigate city agencies. |
Election results
| Portland Measure 26-189 | ||||
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 108,068 | 86.41% | ||
| No | 16,991 | 13.59% | ||
- Election results from Multnoma County multi-county results summary
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[1]
| “ |
CAPTION: Amends Charter: Increases Auditor’s independence from audited agencies, adds duty. QUESTION: Shall Charter be amended to increase City Auditor’s independence from audited agencies and include Auditor’s authority to investigate City agencies? SUMMARY: The measure changes Charter provisions regarding the elected City Auditor, which were last updated in 1994. The Auditor’s responsibilities have expanded since then to include more oversight functions, such as the ombudsman and lobbyist registration. Currently, the Auditor relies on and sometimes must seek permission from City agencies subject to the Auditor’s oversight for legal, personnel, procurement, and budget services. The measure increases the Auditor’s independence by: allowing the Auditor to seek advice from independent legal counsel, giving the Auditor more autonomy over staffing decisions, designating the Auditor as a contracting agency, and authorizing the Auditor to submit budget requests directly to the City Council without review by an audited City agency. The measure requires periodic external reviews of the Auditor’s Office. The measure also establishes in Charter the Auditor’s ombudsman function, which conducts impartial investigations into the public’s complaints against City agencies. Currently, the ombudsman operates under authority granted in code. It has been in the Auditor’s Office since 2001 and is a core component of the Auditor’s oversight responsibilities. Other provisions. [2] |
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Explanatory statement
The following explanatory statement of the measure was prepared by the office of the Portland City Auditor:
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Portland’s elected City Auditor is responsible for ensuring an open and accountable City government. This measure would amend the City’s Charter to increase the independence of the Auditor from the City agencies the Auditor is responsible for auditing and investigating. Background The Auditor’s responsibilities have expanded over the last several decades to include more oversight functions, such as performance audits, investigations of the public’s complaints against City agencies, and enforcement of the City’s lobbyist registration program. Charter provisions related to the City Auditor were last updated in 1994. Currently, the City Auditor relies on and sometimes must seek permission from City agencies subject to the Auditor’s oversight for legal, personnel, procurement, and budget services. This arrangement may lead to the perception that there is a conflict of interest and that the City Auditor’s audits and investigations are not completely objective or independent. The City Auditor proposed this measure after researching other jurisdictions and collecting information from a variety of sources. The City Council unanimously voted to refer the measure to the ballot. What does the measure do? The measure increases the Auditor’s independence from City agencies it is responsible for auditing and investigating by:
legal counsel;
decisions, such as hiring, compensation and assignment of work (subject to collective bargaining obligations);
so that it may conduct procurements without going through a City agency; and
to the City Council. The measure contains checks on the Auditor’s increased independence by:
Office, the results of which will be made public;
opportunity to comment before adopting or changing any administrative rules;
consistent with the City’s workplace and procurement policies, except where the City’s policies impair the Auditor’s independence; and
setting the Auditor’s budget. The measure also adds the Auditor’s ombudsman function to the list of the Auditor’s duties under Charter. The ombudsman has been in the Auditor’s Office since 2001 and is responsible for conducting impartial investigations into the public’s complaints against City agencies. Currently, the ombudsman operates under authority granted in code. The measure establishes the ombudsman function in Charter by:
ombudsman to investigate City agencies, including the power to access any information and records required to investigate a complaint; and
function, rather than a vote of the City Council.[2] |
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| —Portland City Auditor[1] | ||
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the governing officials of Portland, Oregon.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Portland Local charter amendment Measure 26-189. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Multnomah County Elections Division, "May Special District Election Voters' Pamphlet May 16, 2017," accessed May 12, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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