In the cavernous, windowless basement cafeteria at Cleveland High School last night, 150 citizens—well, probably 100 citizens and 50 city staffers—gathered to hash out the city’s priorities for budget spending this year. For two hours, it was a gigantic game of musical chairs—every fifteen minutes, people rotated between a dozen tables devoted to different bureau’s pieces of the budget pie (there were also a few tables set aside for Commissioners’ budget initiatives, like Erik Sten’s Schools/Family/Housing initiative and Mayor Tom Potter’s Community Safety Initiative).

The format was new—usually, the city holds a public hearing and everyone gets two minutes at the microphone to comment on the budget, as the council’s prioritizing what to add (or, in years past, what to cut). This time, there was no dias or microphone—just a bunch of cafeteria tables, handouts full of budget details, and city staffers poised at easels with giant pads of paper, ready to jot down what people liked, disliked, or thought was missing from bureaus’ budget priorities.

I roamed around for the first round (major disadvantage to this format: reporters—not to mention elected leaders—only get to hear a fraction of citizens’ concerns, when there are 12 conversations happening at the same time), and saw citizens at the “Sustainable Industries/Clean Energy” initiative table (that’s an idea sponsored by Commissioner Dan Saltzman) stumping for “a sweatshop-free purchasing policy.”

Over at the “Community Safety/Emergency Preparedness” initiative table (not to be confused with the Public Safety table, in the opposite corner of the room…), residents had an idea for “a tax on coffee and beer to fund restrooms,” and wanted “another precinct closer to SW [Portland]” which is currently served by Central Precinct. Neighbors also gave a thumbs up to the additional funding for “elder crimes investigators,” and the city’s “Elders in Action” programs (revealing the demographics of the forum), and were into the proposal for $269,568 in additional crime prevention program staffers.

For the next three rounds, I camped out at individual tables. At the Public Safety table—staffed by Fire Chief Dave Sprando and Assistant Police Chief Lynnae Berg, plus a guy from the Office of Emergency Management who piped up after 10 minutes of cop talk to say "I guess I'm kind of invisible"—neighbors were almost singularly focused on Police Chief Rosie Sizer's proposal to shift command staff from the North Precinct to the East Precinct, turning the North and Northeast precincts into "a stressed out super-precinct," according to one frustrated neighbor. "We see this as a loss of uniforms from North Precinct."

Berg patiently explained Sizer's rationale, and admitted that the shuffle is "frankly not an ideal solution," but it's "one that's most workable and logical at this point." She also called it an "interim measure" and hinted that once the bureau's able to hire enough officers to make up for recent retirements, the precinct re-org would be revisited.

On to the Parks & Rec and Transportation table (an odd pairing—transportation really should have shared a table with Commissioner Sam Adams' Safe Streets initiative table, as the budget proposals and discussion largely overlapped), the transportation rep showed off a colorful map of the city, identifying the 40 most dangerous intersections, as far as collisions are concerned. Citizens said they wanted safety improvements—currently the transportation bureau's second priority, behind "balancing a $3.6 million revenue shortfall" thanks to lagging gas taxes—moved even higher. Meanwhile, neighbors clamored for "sidewalks in already developed areas," and one neighbor questioned why the city was looking to spend $100,000 to go for a "Platinum" rating for our city's bike-friendliness. A cyclist who'd just spent time biking in L.A., the guy thought that Portland is already pretty damn bike friendly, and that $100K could be better spent elsewhere.

As for parks, bureau director Zari Santer got a pile of Hershey Kisses from a dozen contra dancers who frequent the Fulton Community Center in SW Portland every Saturday night. The dancers—all dressed in red, toting chocolates and neon flyers that said "Kiss a Commissioner and Save Fulton"—were elated to hear that Fulton was "off the hit list." But the dancers quickly changed strategy and lobbied hard for the Sellwood Community Center, also apparently at risk of defunding (and the site of Thursday night dances—"Some of us will be heading over there after this forum," a sweet woman named Beverly told me, inviting me to come along some time. They offer lessons!). Other citizens urged Santer to continue funding existing programs—and maintaining things like playgrounds—before adding new ones.