Email the Mayor and City Councilors today to save our parks maintenance budget!
We've received advice that it's urgent to raise our voices, individually and collectively to the mayor and all city councilors about not cutting parks maintenance. Please email the letter below or a version of it to the mayor and all city councilors today. Please urge your friends to send an email, too. Slashing the parks maintenance budget will negatively impact ALL of our parks.
Currently, the main option for filling the city budget hole is by slashing the parks budget. All parks across the entire city would receive severely reduced maintenance. It would result in our parks becoming less safe, dirtier, and facilities like bathrooms or drinking fountains receiving less maintenance and possibly not functioning. Thank you for helping us advocate for our parks!
How to use this letter:
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Copy and paste the Email Addresses below into your email address bar.
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Copy and past the Subject info below into your email subject.
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Copy and paste the Letter to our Mayor and City Councilors below as the email.
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You can keep the letter as is or make changes if there's something you want to add.
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Send to our Mayor and City Councilors.
Email Addresses of our Mayor and all City Councilors:
councilor.koyamalane@portlandoregon.gov
Councilor.Novick@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.morillo@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.kanal@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.ryan@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.pirtle-guiney@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.avalos@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.dunphy@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.smith@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.clark@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.green@portlandoregon.gov
councilor.zimmerman@portlandoregon.gov
Subject:
Please don't cut our parks maintenance budget
Letter to our Mayor and City Councilors:
Dear Mayor and City Councilors,
We are writing to urgently encourage you to support the care and daily maintenance of our parks as you face difficult budget decisions in 2026.
Portland’s parks are a vital part of our city’s livability and health. To allow parks to further deteriorate puts our city’s people and economy at risk. Mt. Tabor Park, for example, serves thousands of east city residents with healthy opportunities to exercise and be outdoors in a safe and clean environment. In addition, Mt. Tabor is a draw for visitors to our city: in the past four years, people from 95 countries and every state have visited Mt. Tabor Park. It is a jewel of our city, among many other parks.
Mt. Tabor receives regular (barely adequate) maintenance from the Portland Parks Bureau. If budget cuts remove the maintenance to restrooms, roads, trails, and general problem solving, we fear it will become a place that people cannot use and feel safe. A decision to defund park maintenance would be incredibly costly in the long term. It is essential that park maintenance be maintained at its current level.
We know there are difficult budget decisions ahead for Portland, but basic maintenance of our parks is essential to keep Portland healthy and livable. Thank you for your service.