Governance Committee forwards four Portland Elections Commission appointments for council confirmation

The Portland City Council Governance Committee on April 7 moved a report recommending confirmation of four mayoral appointees to the Portland Elections Commission to the full council.

The committee heard a presentation from Susan Matei, director of the Small Donor Elections Program, and remarks from Amy Sample Ward, chair of the Portland Elections Commission, before each appointee made brief remarks about their interest in serving.

The commission, which was created in 2019 and last year was placed into the city charter as an independent body, oversees the city’s small donor elections program and recommends policy and funding needs to the director and council, Amy Sample Ward said. Ward said the commission is a nine-member body with four-year terms and the charter requires the commission to collectively reflect the diversity of Portland.

Susan Matei described the staffing that supports the program and the commission’s recruitment and recommendation process. “The Portland Elections Commission has 4 members whose terms are expiring in May,” Matei said, and the commission “is asking council to confirm the mayor’s appointees.”

Each of the four people the committee heard from described civic or campaign experience they said would inform their service if confirmed. Christina Nieves, who asked for reappointment, said she had worked in the office of Commissioner Amanda Fritz and had been part of drafting the public campaign finance code. “I have had the honor of serving on Portland’s Elections Commission, helping to uphold an integrity of our public campaign finance system,” Nieves said.

Other applicants and nominees who spoke were Adam Briggs, who described work on local and statewide campaigns and campaign technology; James Osmink, who described nonprofit governance and previous public service; and a community leader who described refugee and immigrant advocacy (name as spoken in testimony). All four were presented as the mayor’s appointees and the commission voted unanimously to recommend them for confirmation, Ward said.

Committee members thanked the nominees for stepping forward and discussed program challenges from recent election cycles, including user experience, funding shortfalls, and the timeline for reporting that slowed investigations into alleged improper contribution arrangements in 2024. Ward and Matei said the commission will issue a post-cycle report this summer with recommendations for improvements.

Matei said the small donor elections office currently has “2 full time staff, and then we scale up with 4 more during the election cycle.” The staffing and funding levels were discussed as factors that influenced candidate and campaign behavior in 2024, including the need to lower matching caps mid-cycle.

A motion to refer report Document No. 2025-138 to the full council for acceptance was moved by Councilor Dunphy and seconded by Councilor Clark; the motion was accepted and will go to council for action.

Next steps

The Governance Committee referred the report to the full council for acceptance; confirmation of the mayor’s appointees requires final action by full council. The Portland Elections Commission will publish its post‑cycle report this summer as part of its charter responsibilities.

Speakers quoted or referenced in this article appeared in committee remarks and testimony and are identified by name and role where provided in the meeting record.