manager overseen by the mayor and confirmed by the council. Previous attempts to reform the city charter had been defeated seven times since 1913, including as recently as 2007. The first city council elections under the new districts will occur in 2024. In preparation for transitioning management of city bureaus to a city manager, Mayor Ted Wheeler announced he would group city bureaus into five related service areas. City Council Weekly Meetings The City Council convenes on Wednesday mornings and Wednesday afternoons in the council chamber on the second floor of Portland City Hall, and meetings are open to the public. Composition (since 1971) Terms are staggered, with the mayor and the commissioners in positions 1 and 4 elected in the same years as presidential elections, and the auditor and the commissioners in positions 2 and 3 elected in the same years as gubernatorial elections. Notable former commissioners Neil Goldschmidt, who went on to serve as Mayor, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and Governor. Mildred Schwab Congressman Earl Blumenauer served on the Council before his election to the House. Mike Lindberg – member of council for 17 years (1979–1996), a longer tenure than any other commissioner in the 40-year period up to 2009 (and until surpassed in 2016) Gretchen Kafoury Charlie Hales – on the council 1993–2002 and againthis time as mayorfrom January 2013 through 2016 Jim Francesconi Dan Saltzman – member of council for 20 years (January 1999 – December 2018), longer than any person since 1969 Elections City Council seats, as well as the city auditor, are non-partisan, elected positions; each carries a four-year term. As with all non-partisan positions in Oregon, candidates face off in a primary election (typically in May of even-numbered years); if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers face off in a runoff election (typically the following November.) Three Council seats, including the mayor, were up for election in 2008; the other two seats, and the Auditor position, were up for election in 2010. From 2006 to 2010, Portland used a publicly financed election system, allowing candidates to qualify for public funding of $145,000 if they could gather 1000 five-dollar contributions by a certain date (for Mayoral candidates, 1500 contributions of $5 were required for a $160,000 grant). Two candidates availed themselves of this system in 2006: incumbent Erik Sten, who won the primary election, and Amanda Fritz,