Portland War On Trash Ramps Up With Mayor's Emergency Declaration

PORTLAND, OR — Mayor Ted Wheeler is upping the city's war on trash, signing an emergency declaration Monday and appointing a longtime city official to coordinate the efforts.

The emergency declaration follows three similar ones dealing with homelessness.

The declaration will "streamline the city's work and accountability for cleaning up the city, dealing with trash, graffiti, illegal dumping, abandoned cars and more," Wheeler said Friday in his state of the city speech.

The city's cleanup efforts are currently spread across more than 20 city programs located in eight bureaus runs by five different city commissioners, according to the city.

"This is just common sense," Wheeler said. "It improves livability by building connections between city bureaus and community groups to provide coordinated trash cleanup and graffiti abatement in neighborhoods and business districts across the city."

Residents and business owners as well as visitors and people who work in Portland frequently cite the piles of trash and abandoned cars across the city as causes of concern when it comes to whether Portland is a livable city.

To make sure that the city remains livable, Wheeler reached into the city's Bureau of Transportation and tapped Christine Leon, the manager of PBOT's Development Permitting and Transit Group.

She took that position in 2013 and has held several other positions in almost 20 years with the city.