Getting things done
When things break down, Zimmerman goes to work
City Councilor Eric Zimmerman sees himself as someone who gets things done. NW Examiner readers saw that trait in an October, 2025, cover story highlighting his work in taming the trash along Interstate 405. He took funds from his office budget for cleanup crews, and he parlayed a state grant into permanent metal fencing along the trench.
“We are asking government to get real when it comes to the idea of just leaving people outside who don’t have the will or wherewithal to make choices for themselves,” Zimmerman said.
Getting things done was also behind his vow to “die on the dais” before allowing cuts in Portland Environmental Management Office funds providing fast multi-bureau intervention on livability hot spots.
After two years as a District 4 councilor, Zimmerman is campaigning for a full four-year term, as are his colleagues, Olivia Clark and Mitch Green. So far, he has been the clearest, most consistent voice against the progressive caucus that currently holds six of the 12 council seats.
Zimmerman has had more government experience than any of the 12. He was chief of staff for two Multnomah County commissioners and was the senior adviser to former Mayor Ted Wheeler. He was also a deputy city manager in Medford and Tigard.
For 17 years, he has served in the Oregon National Guard as an openly gay man, and he was an Army platoon leader in the Iraq War.
In an exclusive interview, we asked Zimmerman about his year-plus in office and the central issues he sees ahead. His answers were edited for brevity and clarity.
The interview was conducted four days before the closure of the Northrup Street Shelter was announced.
Was siting the shelter on Northrup Street a mistake?
The closer a shelter is to residential [the more] you have to bring a hell of a lot of neighborhood services, and you have to have very strict enforcement. … That’s what I encouraged the mayor to do. I think they’ve missed the mark at Northrup: the enforcement side—exactly what some of us councilors predicted would happen at 6 and 8 o’clock in the morning is happening.
Do you think it should be closed?
At this point, I do. … The impact that shelter is having on the Pearl District right now has been extreme. … It trickles throughout the whole wider district, which is what we all said was going to happen when we were at the Armory [town hall last summer]. And that’s come true.
What do you think of changes proposed in the city’s neighborhood program?
I haven’t had a breakdown from the Office of Community and Civic Life about what they’re trying to do. Civic Life has never, as far as I can remember, met with our office.
My initial impression is that it kind of reeks of the old version, the [former City Commissioner] Chloe Eudaly version of trying to get rid of neighborhood associations. I’m pretty sensitive to that, because I don’t want anything to do with it.
If there’s a rewrite that’s about hamstringing them or a rewrite that is defunding them, I don’t think that’ll get much support from many of us, but certainly not from my office.
Why did you recently vote against the Portland Bureau of Transportation funding package?
I worked to get it better, but ultimately I voted no, and it comes down to a couple of key areas for me. … We got no idea for how many blocks per year can be repaved or potholes fixed. I think that’s kind of a key. The other part is, I’m pretty sensitive to the affordability question right now for Portlanders. Adding another $12 a month to your water bill is steep.
Why do you favor remodeling the Keller Auditorium?
I do know that the Keller has a future in Portland. … Don’t bring me some plan to knock down a staple of Portland.
At the City Club forum in February, you said other districts are more deserving of a pool or community center. Have you thought more about that?
I think it’s a fair criticism, but what I’ve tried to lay out how I want to work with the other districts. … I think the district model is the best part of the charter change, and making it continue to be the best part means that we don’t become too territorial or too turf [focused]. There’s a balance, and that’s what I’m trying to strike.
You should have at least a little bit of a lens … for some of the equity citywide.
I want more cleanup dollars for damn sure in District 4, because I think we have a bigger problem cleanup-wise than other districts have. I think that it’s OK to say our police are more concentrated in District 4 because our people are more concentrated.
How do we get a park in Slabtown is on our list.
What changes would improve the city charter?
I think the mayor should sit on council and be the ninth member … and move it to two elected representatives per four districts. The idea of having an even number on council is foolish.
What grade would you give City Council on its first year?
A high D, low C. … It’s doubling the timeline to do things. … Some of the mistakes are [the fault of] council, and some of it is charter induced.
What do you think about Frog Ferry?
I love it. I don’t know what the financing pots [exist], but from a vision and a what’s-the-next-cool-thing-Portland can do, I think it’s great.
Do you support the city being a funding conduit for federal grants for the ferry?
I asked the mayor last year to do an initial funding, and that didn’t come to fruition in his first budget, and I don’t have the votes yet to get to any more than that. … It’s a big lift, but I think Portland needs to have things to love, and I think there’s a future there.
How do you want voters to see you?
“As someone who gets things done. I think that’s what I’m known around City Hall for, and I think it’s what I’m known in the neighborhoods for.”
I got to this in the love-letter..."Zimmerman has had more government experience than any of the 12. He was chief of staff for two Multnomah County commissioners and was the senior adviser to former Mayor Ted Wheeler. He was also a deputy city manager in Medford and Tigard...." and was overwhelmed by the thought: He's one of the players who has made Portland what it is today. Congratulations.
He's young, inexperienced in real life (as opposed to handing out tax dollars), never met a payroll, never had to produce a real product, never walked away from a boss who was producing wreckage in his wake, never...never...never...
The city is being crippled by youngsters who have never built anything, except careers in NGOs, unions, and the government's back-offices. A true protected class.
And jeepers--he went out and cleaned a freeway.
Gimme a break.
I don't see the South Park Blocks as "broken" and in need of a bike corridor (Green Loop,) which Councillor Zimmerman supports. I think of them as rare pieces of sylvan tranquility in the city center. I couldn't tell from the 2025 draft Concept Plan whether opponents' concerns have been addressed or obscured. I'm fine with the Green Loop if adjacent streets, rather than the park blocks themselves, are re-designed around cyclists, but that didn't seem to be the intention 5 years ago.