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Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, facing increased opposition over a planned street fee, last week tabled a vote on a proposed charter amendment that would dedicate street fee revenues toward road and sidewalk maintenance.

Dana Haynes, spokesman for Hales, said the charter amendment proposal was confusing both the public and the local media. The amendment, which would have gone to a public vote on the Nov. 4 ballot if City Council had passed it, is now on hold until after the street fee gains approval, Haynes said.

“The mayor said, ‘I don’t want any confusion,’ ” he said. “Let’s pull it off and get it out of the way for now. We want to make sure that people are getting the message.”

The message, Haynes said, is essentially that the city’s roads and sidewalks need fixing. Approximately 40 percent of the city’s 5,000 lane miles are in “poor to very poor condition,” he said.

Hales wants a public vote on the charter amendment because it will help rebuild citizens’ trust in how government spending. The problem was that the amendment began to be conflated with the overall message that the streets need fixing, Haynes said.

Public opposition to the proposed street fee, which would generate approximately $127.8 million from Portland residents and businesses over three years, has grown stronger in recent weeks. Recently, close to 75 people spoke at a pair of town hall meetings, and leveled mostly harsh criticism.

“We heard over and over again about the regressive nature of the street fee,” Haynes said.

The mayor’s office and Commissioner Steve Novick are forming three work groups to address that issue. They will work with homeowners, business owners, and nonprofits and public institutions, according to the city.