Portland’s once-controversial program to boost downtown security is expected to expand to more blocks

A downtown Portland program that has drawn heavy criticism in years past is poised to expand with little opposition.

The expected increase of Clean and safe downtown Portland — a public-private partnership that boosts safety and cleanliness in the downtown core without tapping city general fund dollars — comes as city leaders have struggled to address slow police response times in Portland, including in places that they cannot afford to supplement the city’s budgets. This month, Police Chief Bob Day said Portland needed 1,037 officersgrowing from 801 to create “a healthy agency” focused on “effective crime reduction strategies” as the city continues to recover from a spike in gun violence amid the pandemic.

The Portland City Council is expected to approve the expansion, which would push through district boundaries of 213 blocks to 273 and greatly increase his coffers, giving him nearly $10 million next year, up from about $7 million now. The city collects the extra money from about 400 property owners and managers within Clean & Safe’s boundaries, which includes Old Town. Of those taxpayers, only three opposed the plan, city officials said.

The lack of organized opposition — not including a few vocal City Council candidates on social media — signals a huge change from just four years ago, when Portland’s elected auditor slammed the district and two others in Portland for promoting private interests in public spaces with little oversight. In 2021, then-Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty criticized the Clean & Safe program, saying it increased security for some at the expense of others, including the homeless.

The City Council discussed the plan Thursday afternoon — with a vote expected in two weeks.

“We have to support him”

From the corner of Southwest Broadway and Salmon Street, inside the confines of Clean & Safe, Christine Azar isn’t complaining.

Azar owns Azar Indulgences, a chocolate shop attached to the Heathman Hotel, and says the Clean & Safe staff helps his business by checking in daily. Launched in 1988, Clean & Safe responds to requests for additional security from businesses and homes in the district, including some armed guards. Clean & Safe also offers trash removal and sidewalk cleaning within its boundaries. Its care program primarily employs workers through homelessness service provider Central City Concern.

“I think downtown Portland is growing,” Azar said, “and we need to support it.”

Other supporters of the district say it helps restore downtown’s reputation and address the city’s addiction crisis.

In its latest annual report, Clean & Safe said its workers have saved more than 100 people suffering from drug overdoses and that crews have collected nearly 60,000 trash bags and 90,000 needles and removed nearly 20,000 graffiti tags in the past year. And conditions in the city center seem to be improving, with a drop in reported crime and a increasing hotel occupancy. However, vacancy rates continues to remain elevated.

“If you look at our 213 blocks, I’d say 75 percent of the district is dramatically different, the number of tents, the overall habitability, the condition of the streets, the condition of the buildings, just in the last year.” said Mark Wells, chief executive of Clean & Safe.

It’s no wonder then that advocates want the district — which would include new caps on area apartment owners’ taxes — to be even bigger.

Expanded borders would include the former US Postal Service Redevelopment Site in Northwest Portland between Old Town and the Pearl District. It would also move further south to meet the boundary of Portland State University and surround the private Academy of St. Mary’s.

To the west, it would include the Portland Art Museum and Safeway at Southwest Jefferson Street and 10th Avenue, which Governor Tina Kotek and local leaders targeted for attention during Portland’s 90-day fentanyl emergency earlier this year.

“The Clean and Safe program has already proven its effectiveness in other areas of the city, and we are confident that its expansion will bring the same benefits to our neighborhood,” wrote Brock Dunn, head of the private school Northwest Academy, which would follow and fall under the new boundaries.

“Subsidizing another organization”

Although Clean & Safe is a nonprofit organization, it operates under the umbrella of the Portland Metro Chamber, one of the city’s most powerful lobbyists. Clean & Safe shares some of its full-time employees with the business group.

Some find it problematic.

“The current arrangement is essentially that Clean & Safe is subsidizing a whole other organization,” said Jessie Burke, owner of Old Town’s Society Hotel and former Clean & Safe board member.

District representatives defend its administrative structure, saying it is common practice for chambers of commerce to manage business districts. But he has also faced other criticism, including for his treatment of the homeless.

“Residents and visitors can appreciate litter and graffiti removal, park maintenance and vacation amenities,” the city auditor’s 2020 report states. “Businesses benefit from transportation and marketing incentives. But some of the district’s activities are not benign to some members of the community, such as when someone sleeping on a sidewalk or blocking the entrance to a business is confronted by an armed security officer.”

A year later, then-Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty tried to bring additional control to the district by voting against its renewal.

“Should people with more money be able to buy more access to justice?” Hardesty asked his City Council colleagues before voting no. “We could and should have done better.”

Clean & Safe has implemented some changes in recent years. For example, he used to pay four Portland police officers to patrol the district. In 2021, the organization added a mental health outreach team with a licensed clinician to help people experiencing homelessness connect with county services.

And in 2023, the city hired a Seattle firm to review the Clean & Safe district and the other two, in the Lloyd district and the East Central area, in response to the auditor’s report. In its assessment, the firm said the city needs to provide more oversight of these districts, but recommended they be sustained and expanded.

As the district worked to implement the suggested changes, advocates decided to take it further.

“At the same time,” said Steve Wytcherley, Clean & Safe’s director of operations, “we saw the opportunity to respond to community interest in expansion.”

At Thursday’s City Council, the president of Safeway’s Portland division said the need is urgent.

Amid reports of shoplifting and public drug use, the Jefferson Street store had to close its doors and reduce hours because employees didn’t feel safe, she said.

“We want to be part of the solution,” said Kelly Mullin, president of the grocery store, “and partnering with Clean & Safe will help us do that.”

John Maher, president of the Oregonian Media Group, is a member of the Metro Chamber’s board of directors and receives no financial compensation for the position. Clean & Safe is overseen by a separate board and contracts with the chamber for services.

—Zaeem Shaikh covers the Portland Police Bureau and criminal justice issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Contact him at 503-221-4323, [email protected] or on X @zaeemshake.