Should Portland amend Council Committee Code to allow for the creation of a Council Committee of the Whole (amend Code Section 3.02.050)?

The City of Portland ordains.Section 1. The Council finds:City Council, under the Commission form of government, on September 27, 2023 adopted Ordinance 191461, which replaced City Code Chapter 3.02 related to Council Organization and Procedure and which took effect January 1, 2025 alongside the change in government structure approved by voters in 2022.Ordinance 191461 created structures aligned with the expected practices of the new form of government, and included the creation of code related to Council Committees for the first time. The text included a limitation on committee membership by preventing more than six members of the City Council from serving on any Council Committee: "Membership. Committees must be composed of less than a quorum of Council. A committee generally consists of four to six Councilors, with at least one Councilor but no more than two from each district. A quorum is a majority of committee members."On January 15, 2025, City Council adopted Ordinance 192021, which amended portions of City Code 3.02, including Section 3.02.050 related to Council Committees. This ordinance took effect immediately.Ordinance 192021 removed district representation requirements from committees, but did not alter parameters related to the number of Councilors who can serve on any Council Committee: "C. Membership. 1. Committees must be composed of less than a quorum of Council. A committee generally consists of four to six Councilors. 2. A quorum is a majority of committee members."In March 2023, the City Council created the Government Transition Advisory Committee (GTAC), which met for two years before issuing a detailed final report in March 2025.GTAC conducted research on twenty cities (Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Denver, Detroit, Fresno, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Fe, Seattle, Tacoma, and Washington DC) and observed that "common council committees in other cities include Committee of the Whole [...]"GTAC's recommendations to City Council included "Establish and compose council committees [...] Peer cities have five to eight standing council committees. And based on peer city research, Portland could consider committee topics such as: Committee of the Whole [...]"Current City Code does not allow for the creation of a Committee of the Whole, because of the prevention of more than six Councilors, on a twelve-member Council, serving on a Council Committee. An amendment to City Code exempting a Committee of the Whole from this limitation is therefore necessary.NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:Add City Code Section 3.02.050 as shown in Exhibit A.