Multnomah County launches charter review committee application with emphasis on inclusive outreach

Multnomah County on Tuesday briefed commissioners on the 2027–28 charter review process and the Charter Review Committee (CRC) application, which OCI (Office of Community Involvement) and the Community Involvement Committee (CIC) developed together and plan to open to applicants on July 1 and close Oct. 1.

OCI Director Amada Pedes said OCI and a panel of evaluators will use evaluation criteria and a rubric to rank candidates and present tiered recommendations to the chair, who will select applicants for board approval. “We will rank all of the applicants in tier 1, two, and three, and then pass that to the chair as a starting place for her selection process,” Pedes said.

The CIC subcommittee — which met biweekly over nine months to study other jurisdictions and draft application material — explained how it translated desired attributes (such as civic curiosity, sustained commitment, collaborative skills and understanding of county structure) into eight substantive application questions and suggested word-count guidance to help applicants focus responses. Brian Romer, chair of the CIC Charter Review Subcommittee, said the committee also advised on outreach and FAQs and recommended sample answers to help demystify the application.

CIC members emphasized mitigation of barriers to participation. Chase Landry and others said OCI will offer applications in multiple languages, host virtual and in-person information sessions at libraries, and provide phone and email support for applicants who need assistance.

Commissioners asked how OCI will convert criteria into numeric scores and whether scoring or weighting could unintentionally reduce applicant diversity. Commissioner Singleton noted that questions about ‘‘research experience’’ and long written responses could advantage highly educated applicants; she urged a system to check whether the ranked pool is diverse and to revisit weighting if needed. Pedes said demographic information will be redacted before evaluation and that OCI will evaluate whether the applicant pool is sufficiently diverse before finalizing rankings.

The board was told the program manager for the CRC will start in July; CIC and OCI plan to return in August with lessons learned and formal recommendations. OCI staff said the office will share the rubric and evaluation approach with commissioner offices before it is used and will accept written feedback.

Next steps: the CRC application is expected to go live July 1, remain open through Oct. 1, and OCI aims to present recommended appointees to the chair and the board for approval before year-end. OCI and CIC committed to follow-up reports in August with additional details on outreach plans and the evaluation rubric.