Labor committee refers disparity‑study resolution to full council after amending deadline to Dec. 31, 2026

The Labor and Workforce Development Committee voted Thursday to refer a resolution from Councillor Smith directing the City Administrator to commission disparity studies of contracting and workforce outcomes, with the committee amending the resolution’s report deadline to Dec. 31, 2026.

Committee Chair Councilor Carmen Green read Councillor Smith’s prepared remarks into the record, summarizing the resolution’s purpose: to identify disparities in how government contracting and workforce opportunities are awarded and to use disparity studies as a factual foundation for policy changes. “Disparities arise when contracts are awarded based on factors other than the applicant’s qualifications and ability to do the work,” Chair Green read from Smith’s text.

Council President Elana Pertelginny testified in support, describing disparity studies as an essential tool to “give us more insight into existing inequities in our contracts and the government‑sponsored workforce agreements that we enter into” and urging partnership across city entities to lower study costs.

Haley Blonsley, senior project manager for the City Operations/CFO office, briefed the committee on scope, timeline and cost estimates. Blonsley said a scope of work under development would require roughly 9–10 months to complete once a contractor is engaged (one month planning, six to seven months of data collection, one month analysis and time for public presentation) and reported the procurement office’s fall technical adjustment request includes approximately $400,000 toward a multi‑party contract that the city is seeking to split with TriMet and Multnomah County.

Committee members discussed timing and the need for a firm deadline. Councilor Novick proposed deleting the resolution’s March 1, 2026 deadline and Councilor Novick later moved to replace the March 1 date with December 31, 2026; the committee approved that amendment 4–0. The committee then voted 4–0 to refer the amended resolution to the full council with a due‑pass recommendation.

Committee discussion also clarified scope differences between jurisdictions: the city’s study will cover both contracting and workforce; TriMet and the county had signaled interest only in a contracts study, which is why the city’s portion of costs would be higher. Multiple councilors said disparity studies are necessary to measure problems locally even if statewide studies exist, and several councilors asked staff to identify additional cost‑sharing partners and to provide ballpark costs for other studies that might be needed in the future.

The committee’s referral sends the amended resolution to full council for consideration; the committee will not itself fund the contract pending council approval of the procurement office’s fall technical adjustment ordinance and budget decisions.