*Authorize the Director of the Office of Violence Prevention to execute special appropriation grant agreements

The City of Portland ordains: Section 1. The Council finds: The Office of Violence Prevention provides project management for outgoing grants to provide community-based organizations funding that reflects priorities the Mayor and City Council identified to build a more family-friendly city and increase public safety. The creation of the office reflected the emphasis on addressing the root causes of problems rather than simply focusing on symptoms with policing resources. Funding for the Office of Violence Prevention is included in the fiscal year adopted budget and budget monitoring process. Currently, an ordinance is required for the Office of Violence Prevention to award grants to community-based organizations funded through the city’s budget process. The ordinance process for individual Office of Violence Prevention grants significantly increases the time required for grant agreements to be fully executed. Ordinance 190355 was passed by Council April 7, 2021 allocating $5,942,160 to increase staffing, programming, and resources for community-based organizations to reduce the impact of gun violence in our community. Ordinance 190355 authorized the OVP Director, in consultation with the Community Safety Director to execute grant agreements with the community-based organizations for the $4,100,000 of the ordinance allocation. Due to the increase in gun violence in the City of Portland and the need to expedite agreements and amendments to expand resources to provide external support the signature authorization for the Office of Violence Prevention budget allocation should align with the signature authority for the allocation approved by Council on April 7, 2021. Currently, the Mayor must sign each Office of Violence Prevention grant agreement after the ordinance is passed by Council. NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs: The Office of Violence Prevention Director is authorized to execute grant agreements and grant amendments in an amount not to exceed $500,000 per grant when Council expressly allocates special appropriation grant funds to the Office of Violence Prevention in the City's budget by ordinance. The authority granted to the Office of Violence Prevention Director by this section A expires on June 30, 2022. Section 2. The Council declares that an emergency exists in order to avoid harmful delay in funding violence prevention programs; therefore, this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by Council.