Community Council meeting report back (9-30-26)
Welcome to the recap of the Sept. 30, 2026 Community Council meeting.
Attendance
13 of 13 members present
Meeting process
This was the inaugural meeting of the second term of the Community Council. Six continuing members joined seven new members to serve for a 3-year term. Prior to the meeting, staff identified two outcomes: to foster relationship building between Community Council members, Allocation Committee members, and PCL staff, and to gather input on the Community Council’s 3-year workplan.
At the meeting, Community Council members and PCL staff participated in two icebreaker activities. After introductions, staff provided an overview of the Levy’s upcoming 4 ½ years of work and shared opportunities for and examples of what Community Council input throughout the Levy’s next 3 years of work could look like. Community Council members participated in solo reflection activities, small group discussion, an interest poll, and large group discussion.
Community Council feedback on 3-year workplan
In analyzing notes from small and large group discussions, staff distilled comments into the following themes:
- Levy storytelling about its overall performance and stewardship of taxpayer dollars
- How the Levy measures individual grant performance quantitatively and qualitatively
- The importance of grantee voice in surfacing learning and providing collective wisdom for how to serve children and families in current conditions
Additionally, Community Council members expressed the need for education on current grantees and requested clarification on their role in the Levy reauthorization process.
During the interest poll, a majority of Community Council members expressed interest in all of the bodies of work staff proposed. Below are the bodies of work listed in order of interest:
- Community engagement* (11 out of 13)
- Grant performance framework (10 out of 13)
- Large grants renewal policies (9 out of 13)
- Funding priority creation* (8 out of 13)
- Small grants renewal policies* and large grants funding process design* (7 out of 13)
*These bodies of work are dependent on voter reauthorization of the Portland Children’s Levy.
Next steps
Staff will integrate the results of the interest poll and discussion themes into a workplan for discussion and feedback at the Community Council’s next meeting. In addition, staff will further clarify the Community Council’s role in the Levy’s reauthorization process at that meeting.
