‘Who the hell are they serving?’: Portland agency’s staff skewered councilors as budget hung in the balance, group chat shows

Prosper Portland staff derided members of the City Council in an online chatroom as they watched

a marathon budget meeting last month

that threatened sweeping cuts to the economic development agency.

A proposed amendment by councilors Mitch Green and Jamie Dunphy to strip Prosper of its proposed $11 million general fund allocation kept many Prosper staff members glued to their computer screens through the day and night, posting their often sarcastic takes on the council budget meeting as it unfolded, records show. The amendment ultimately failed.

Willamette Week

first reported

excerpts from the Teams chat. The Oregonian/OregonLive obtained the entire chat through a public records request.

The exchanges disclosed by Prosper include 75 pages of Teams messages between staff members on May 21, the day of the contentious budget meeting.

In a statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive on Tuesday, Interim Executive Director Lisa Abuaf said that faced with possibility of extraordinary program cuts and layoffs, “staff members were clearly concerned about the outcome of the budget session and were closely following the proceedings, the majority of which occurred after the workday had concluded.

“Recognizing that some members of our staff may have been unusually candid in their statements, many of the comments belie staff’s deep commitment to our partners, the businesses that would be impacted and this work,” Abuaf continued in her statement. “Moving forward, I am eager to have the opportunity with City Council to share our work, for them to hear from partners, and engage in our collective commitment to inclusive economic growth.”

Internal Teams chat messages from May 21, 2025 reflect billowing frustration among Prosper Portland employees, directed at newly elected Portland City Council members.

Public records obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive

Bespattered with memes, emojis and personal digs, the internal exchanges from 8:33 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. offer an extraordinary glimpse into the minute-by-minute musings of Prosper leadership and rank-and-file employees while their agency’s future hung in the balance.

“I’m hopeful we can collaborate more with (City Council) & I want to acknowledge we have been now for a long time,” wrote Jennifer Pruess, a senior administrative coordinator. “What I find disheartening is hostile comments continuing to come from council members. Specifically, Dunphy. I’ve (sic) feeling quite done-phy w/Dunphy (at the moment).”

That message received four hearts and three thumbs up from other staffers.

Shea Flaherty Betin, Prosper’s then-interim executive director, called Pruess’s comments “very insightful.”

“Our Board will likely be discussing how we can supercharge our Council engagement in this new Service Area government structure,” Flaherty Betin wrote in response. “It’s been top of mind for many of them and a frequent subject across all our conversations this week.”

Flaherty Betin

resigned last week as interim executive director

after Mayor Keith Wilson said he needed to relinquish the role in the aftermath of the budget fight. Flaherty Betin had rallied local business owners to lobby against the Dunphy-Green proposal. Wilson had said he could remain at Prosper, but Flaherty Betin opted to leave altogether, with a year’s pay totalling nearly $213,000 as severance. Prosper’s board voted to replace him with Abuaf until a permanent leader starts in the summer.

From the dais on May 21, Dunphy characterized his and Green’s amendment — which called for Prosper to backfill the $11 million cut with one-time funds from its Strategic Investment Fund — as a way for the economic development agency to shoulder some budget pain just as other city agencies were being asked to do.

“Let’s also be honest about what’s happening right now,” Dunphy added. “No other city agency would blast emails to every past permit holder or program attendee and be disingenuous about a proposal facing this body. That’s not collaboration.”

As discussions for the Prosper budget kicked off, staff complained that City Council members didn’t seem to understand their work. During the meeting, councilors said they would like to see economic development work done more directly under their supervision and from City Hall, suggesting they were contemplating a downgraded role for Prosper in the future.

“i’m so embarrassed at what some of these councillors are saying,” wrote Connor Chapkis, a project coordinator.

“It’s like a Facebook chat has taken over our city government,” wrote Sarah King, a project manager.

“I can’t believe the language being used about us, our board, and our work,” added Angela Rico, a government relations policy analyst. “This is heartbreaking that elected officials speak this way about a group of people that work so hard.”

Soon after, Flaherty Betin called Councilor Candace Avalos a “true ally,” in apparent response to her comments praising the agency’s work in recent years and subsequent vote against the Dunphy-Green amendment.

But Prosper staff quickly complained about the lack of public testimony.

“I am outraged that there is no public testimony,” King wrote. “Who the hell are they serving? We are all in service to the public!”

“That’s a bs tactic for sure,” Pruess replied. “They should hear from their constituents.”

Andrew Fitzpatrick, the agency’s interim director for economic development, later joined the dogpile.

“Participatory budgeting only to the degree that it doesn’t interfere with their own power,” Fitzpatrick wrote after the budget meeting concluded. “Public engagement only to the degree that it doesn’t interfere with their own speaking time.”

News that the Dunphy-Green amendment failed 8-4 was met in the group chat with elated emojis and congratulations. But Flaherty Betin warned that it could come back when councilors make any final budget tweaks in June.

“They essentially have to repeat the circus they just did,” he wrote. “Same impact as the first vote. Ideally they’ve played their hands and it goes the same way.”

The City Council will continue weighing amendments to Portland’s $8.5 billion budget Tuesday and Wednesday.

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