“Bummed.” “Disappointed.” “Not happy.”
Those were just a few of the words used by a largely dejected Portland City Council to describe their displeasure late Wednesday as nearly all of them moved to approve Mayor Keith Wilson’s budget. After weeks of trying to restore some of the drastic cuts in the mayor’s $8.5 billion proposal, the Portland lawmakers came up far short of what many members had hoped.
The 9-2 vote capped another fraught and lengthy council budget process in which members sought to reverse a portion of municipal jobs and services reductions in the face of a more than $160 million shortfall in the general fund…