Portland Officials Travel to Denmark

Public dollars paid a portion of officials’ expenses.

FREE DANISH: Portland-area officials in Denmark. (Office of Carmen Rubio)
By Rachel Monahan

A delegation of Portland elected officials and staff went to Denmark last week to learn about that country’s efforts to decarbonize industrial businesses.

The group included Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability director Donnie Oliveira, Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal, and Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang.

The trip was partly funded by the Olympia, Wash.-based nonprofit Center for Sustainable Infrastructure. Public dollars paid another portion of officials’ expenses.

Jayapal’s office spent $8,574.25 on her trip. Rubio’s office spent $4,822.94 for her and her chief of staff, Jillian Schoene. BPS spent roughly $3,700 for Oliveira and Janet Hammer, who works as a coordinator for the bureau on climate and sustainability standards. Metro spent $1,375 on Hwang’s trip.

On June 19, Rubio posted on Facebook: “I plan to learn as much as I can so that we can build a vibrant clean industry hub here in the Rose City.”

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