The six deputy city administrators that will run city bureaus under the new form of government. Priya Dhanapal is in the upper left. (City of Portland)
Portland’s historic transition to a new form of government is moving quickly as we are just months away from key new staffers taking the helm.
As the new government is set up, we’ll continue to keep you informed about how things will change — especially at the Portland Bureau of Transportation. On that note, just this week the transition team announced that the deputy city administrator of Public Works will be Priya Dhanapal.
In Portland’s current system, the PBOT Director (currently Millicent Williams) reports directly to the commissioner-in-charge of the bureau (currently Mingus Mapps). But when the new system is in place January 1st 2025, city council members will no longer control specific city bureaus. That task will fall to the deputy city administrator. There will be six of those administrators, each in charge of several different city bureaus.
City org chart.
Dhanapal will be in charge of the three Public Works bureaus: Environmental Services, Water, and Transportation. She will report to the new city administrator, who then reports to the mayor. (Note that city council members will no longer have direct oversight of bureaus.)
Dhanapal is a first-generation immigrant from India who has lived in Portland for most of her adult life. According to a bio on the City of Portland website and her LinkedIn profile, Dhanapal has considerable water infrastructure experience. Here’s more from her public bio:
Priya Dhanapal
“… as the Public Works Deputy Director for Clark County, Wash., she provided strategic oversight to various divisions, including Clean Water, Parks and Lands, Fleet Services, Emergency Management, Community Engagement & Inclusion and Business Services. Priya’s journey in public works began with wastewater recycling research for NASA, followed by helping engineer the first permanent direct potable reuse implementation in the United States. Noteworthy achievements in her career include leading the implementation of the innovative Beaverton Purple Pipe program, a pioneering initiative in the West Coast. Additionally, she led and implemented a multi-million-dollar potable water infrastructure program that was transformative to Beaverton’s water system.
Throughout her career, Dhanapal championed diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and played a pivotal role in sustainability and climate change efforts. She closely collaborated with stakeholders to implement and enhance disaster preparedness strategies and asset management for multiple utilities across the West Coast.
A licensed professional engineer in Oregon, Dhanapal holds a Master of Science in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Texas Tech University, complemented by additional degrees in Biological Sciences and Chemical Engineering. Her story is one of determination, resilience and dedication to service, with a commitment to being a servant leader who cares deeply for her team and community, aiming to a create legacy impact that extends across generations.”
PBOT Director Millicent Williams mentioned Dhanapal’s hiring at a meeting of the PBOT Freight Advisory Committee this morning. “I’m looking forward to working with her and I’m excited about the additional step and the transition to our new form of government,” Williams said.
Williams was also asked by a member of the freight committee how the new form of government will impact PBOT. I’ll save that for a separate post.
Dhanapal’s first day on the job will be July 1st.
(Welcome Priya! We host a Bike Happy Hour every Wednesday from 3-6 pm on the SE Ankeny Rainbow Road Plaza and it would be great to meet you.)
Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.
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It seems like the main reason that Williams continues to have her job is her willingness to carry water for Mapps, I have to think that if he ends up out of city government that her remaining time will be limited.
Eric Leifsdad
2 months ago
Let’s hope that whatever administration we end up with can quickly catch on about how PBOT’s current project delivery process was designed to build and maintain streets for cars. They’re failing to deliver on Vision Zero because they insist on everything being cast in concrete after years of “outreach” that never reaches actual users on the street. Tactical network-level changes like cut-thru traffic diversion and bus-turn-only road diets are badly needed if we want to actually connect a usable low-stress bikeway network and not waste the next decade on more non-progress like rebuilding Hawthorne or flashing beacons on 82nd. Drop in hardware, take feedback, and iterate, not this narrow, overpriced, too-little-too-late stuff like around Tilikum, Naito, and soon SW 4th.
Champs
2 months ago
Tired: four at-large commissioners and the mayor running city bureaus
Wired: twelve councilors, a mayor, and SEVEN administrators running city bureaus?
I think it’s good to decouple political and administrative leadership, but wow that’s tripling the political and almost doubling the administrative headcount for those dual facets of the commissioners’ jobs. Makes one wonder which of the several possibilities, good and bad, seems to be enthusing city employees.
And we’re giving those new councilors a pay increase to go along with their reduced responsibility, and (collectively, at least) a lot more money to fund their elections. And support staff. And offices out in the districts. And…
2025 Ballot measure: Just 5 cents on every $1,000 assessed value to help those poor councilors add more staff. Think of those councilors, you don’t expect them to do the work. They need a few more staff to conduct outreach, take surveys, meet with the public. We must all give until it hurts!
…and then y’all have to deal with compression, since the school districts will get their share…
David Hampsten
2 months ago
Who are the rest of the people in the photo and how do we get info on them? As usual, the City portal is less than useless, perhaps a reflection of the future city government?
I had the same problem, I couldn’t find a press release or date. If you click on Jonathan’s link under “bio” you will see everyone listed. It’s quite an impressive bunch of folks.
Thanks for reading.
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Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
It seems like the main reason that Williams continues to have her job is her willingness to carry water for Mapps, I have to think that if he ends up out of city government that her remaining time will be limited.
Let’s hope that whatever administration we end up with can quickly catch on about how PBOT’s current project delivery process was designed to build and maintain streets for cars. They’re failing to deliver on Vision Zero because they insist on everything being cast in concrete after years of “outreach” that never reaches actual users on the street. Tactical network-level changes like cut-thru traffic diversion and bus-turn-only road diets are badly needed if we want to actually connect a usable low-stress bikeway network and not waste the next decade on more non-progress like rebuilding Hawthorne or flashing beacons on 82nd. Drop in hardware, take feedback, and iterate, not this narrow, overpriced, too-little-too-late stuff like around Tilikum, Naito, and soon SW 4th.
Tired: four at-large commissioners and the mayor running city bureaus
Wired: twelve councilors, a mayor, and SEVEN administrators running city bureaus?
I think it’s good to decouple political and administrative leadership, but wow that’s tripling the political and almost doubling the administrative headcount for those dual facets of the commissioners’ jobs. Makes one wonder which of the several possibilities, good and bad, seems to be enthusing city employees.
And we’re giving those new councilors a pay increase to go along with their reduced responsibility, and (collectively, at least) a lot more money to fund their elections. And support staff. And offices out in the districts. And…
All that money’s going to come from somewhere.
2025 Ballot measure: Just 5 cents on every $1,000 assessed value to help those poor councilors add more staff. Think of those councilors, you don’t expect them to do the work. They need a few more staff to conduct outreach, take surveys, meet with the public. We must all give until it hurts!
…and then y’all have to deal with compression, since the school districts will get their share…
Who are the rest of the people in the photo and how do we get info on them? As usual, the City portal is less than useless, perhaps a reflection of the future city government?
I had the same problem, I couldn’t find a press release or date. If you click on Jonathan’s link under “bio” you will see everyone listed. It’s quite an impressive bunch of folks.
Thank you Lisa. Portland’s first City Manager (City Administrator) is Michael Jordan.
Wow, first basketball, then baseball, now city administrator. Is there anything Michael Jordan can’t do?!