City auditors have found a trifecta of problems inside Portland's office promoting neighborhoods and civic engagement, including poor oversight, unequal funding and unfinished plans. 

Portland's Office of Neighborhood Involvement is responsible for helping the city's 95 neighborhood associations, and it also gives grants to nonprofits that promote diversity. 

But a city report released Wednesday by Auditor Mary Hull Caballero found the office lacks clear direction.  Commissioner Amanda Fritz, an outspoken proponent of public involvement, has led the office for more than five of the past eight years. 

Auditors found Portland spends about $4.8 million annually for community and neighborhood involvement, with more than half that money awarded as grants.  But the office doesn't require groups that receive the money to provide annual plans documenting expected work or benchmarks for success. 

"We found that the office does not provide adequate oversight of grant recipients," auditors wrote. 

The office itself is also rudderless, according to the audit.  Office leaders are supposed to create an annual action plan, but none has been written since 2005.  Amalia Alarcon de Morris has directed the office since 2006. 

"Without a plan, staff struggle to accomplish tasks and much remains incomplete," auditors wrote. " Many staff members said they were hindered by a lack of strategic planning or priority setting." 

Auditors also found problems with funding decisions. 

In the last fiscal year, officials doled out $2.1 million to the seven district coalitions that serve as umbrella groups for various neighborhood associations.  Of that, the East Portland Neighborhood Office and the Central Northeast group each received nearly the same amount of money -- just under $300,000.  But the east office represents nearly 150,000 people, three times as many residents as Central Northeast, meaning it received about $2 for every person in its dominion compared to about $6 for the other group. 

The City Council could make changes.  But a group of citizen budget advisers has said Portland should not take money from one coalition to fund another, and instead should provide more money overall. 

"This approach effectively locks current disparities in place," the audit concluded. 

Over the years, city officials have also lumped more responsibilities on the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, including Elders in Action and a New Portlanders Program to reach immigrants.  But there's been no vision for how those programs fit together, auditors noted, and managers complained that employees are overworked. 

The Office of Neighborhood Involvement has about 55 full-time employees and an annual budget of $10.3 million.  It represents a small fraction of the city's $501.4 million discretionary general fund. 

In a response letter, Fritz said she believes the office is making progress.  But she generally agreed with the audit's findings and pledged improvements, although it's not clear if she'll maintain oversight of the office in 2017, when Mayor-elect Ted Wheeler takes over. 

"Your recommendations can help improve our city's nationally recognized community engagement programs," Fritz wrote, "and have a real impact on Portlanders' lives." 

-- Brad Schmidt

503-294-7628

@cityhallwatch