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Mult. Arts Center Off the Cut List

  • Hillsdale News
  • May 29
  • 3 min read

Updated: May 29

[May 29, 2025]


On May 20, Multnomah Arts Center Association president Kathleen Madden sounded the alarm. Steve Novick, City Councilor for Portland's District 3, had submitted an amendment to Mayor Keith Wilson's proposed 2025-2026 budget calling for the closure of the Multnomah Arts Center as well as the eastside's Community Music Center.


The amendment, one of hundreds drafted by city councilors, read: "This amendment would direct PP&R to close the Community Music Center and Multnomah Arts Center due to the state of the assets and likelihood they would need to close in the not too distant future, and direct that money to restore parks maintenance cuts."


In her email, Madden urged residents to "tell the Council to VOTE NO on Amendment #45 by tomorrow, May 21 – DON’T CLOSE MAC!"


Emails were sent, many people signed up to testify at the May 21 City Council budget meeting, and in the end, the amendment was not brought up before Council.


In a May 28 phone call, District 4 Councilor Mitch Green told the Hillsdale News, "That amendment is dead. It will not come forward, Council will not vote on it." Later that same day, Green was able to confirm that the proposal to close the Center had officially been pulled from consideration.


Green also shared a constituent response email from Novick's office. It reads in part, "I will no longer be considering the amendment, and acknowledge that I should not have put it on the table without first having a discussion with supporters and users of the Multnomah Arts Center and the Community Music Center."


The email concludes, "I do hope that people will begin having bigger discussions about the need to invest in maintaining our park assets, and how we can begin planning today for either finding the money to address major maintenance needs, or the continuing of service and access when some facilities may have to close in the future."


Novick brings up a valid point: Councilors, including District 4's Olivia Clark, have recently raised red flags about the City's lack of an asset management plan and begun working on legislation to require such policies. The Parks Department alone has a maintenance backlog of $600 million and no funding and no plan of action to tackle this issue.

The mayor's proposed budget includes deep cuts to parks maintenance. Several amendments have been proposed to reverse those cuts, including one from District 4 Councilor Eric Zimmerman to drastically reduce the number of tree inspectors in the Urban Forestry Department and use that money to pay for parks maintenance.


Another amendment, from District 1 Councilor Carmen Avalos, takes back a bump of almost $2 million to the police bureau and puts it toward parks maintenance. This proposal passed in a 7-5 vote, with all three District 4 councilors, along with Councilors Ryan and Pirtle-Guiney, voting no.


City Council will take the first of two votes to adopt the budget on June 11, with a final vote on June 18. Councilors may still propose and approve additional amendments, as long as they don’t change any fund’s allocation by more than 10%.


You can contact City Council via these methods:


Email your City Councilor directly. District 4 councilors are:

Fill out a form to reach all members of the City Council in one fell swoop.

Sign up to testify virtually or in person at a City Council meeting.


—Valeurie Friedman

Have you sent feedback to City Hall? How did it go? Let us know.

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