Portland Mayor Keith Wilson unveiled a proposed $8.5 billion budget Monday that would close a massive budget shortfall by slashing millions of dollars across city agencies and programs — including parks, police and homeless services — while attempting to preserve core municipal functions.
Seeking to bridge what city officials have described as a $160 million general fund gap, Wilson’s proposal would scale back parks maintenance and community center hours. It would largely gut the Portland Police Bureau’s unarmed “public safety support specialist” program. And it would drastically reduce the city’s current shelter and homeless outreach footprint.
However, those proposed cuts — and many more — would allow all Portland parks, fire stations and community centers to remain open and every police officer and investigator to keep their job, Wilson said…