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The city auditor last week rejected a prospective initiative petition to de-annex East Portland, but the submission has elections officials and Metro staffers scratching their heads over procedural questions.

鈥淭his is a weird one,鈥� Metro Deputy Director John Williams said. 鈥淚t’s super rare to have a group want to de-annex from the rest of the city.鈥�

Three East Portland residents on Feb. 27 filed to initiate a petition that would un-incorporate East Portland 鈥� a 29-square-mile area bounded roughly by 82nd Avenue and Interstate 205 on the east, Gresham on the west, the Columbia River to the north and Happy Valley to the south 鈥� and make it its own city.

Collene Swenson, an East Portland resident who’s leading the move to secede, said she and her neighbors don’t believe they’re being treated fairly by the city. She cited as evidence an from the auditor’s office conceding that 鈥渞esidents in East Portland regularly rate many services lower than residents in other parts of Portland.鈥�

鈥淭his is about more than just a few parks and sidewalks; it’s about a quality of life in its entirety 鈥� equality and representation in all areas of the city,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s about the city being responsive to its constituents even though it is not in their plan.鈥�

Swenson said she knew the city was going to reject the first proposal, but that the group 鈥� East Portland De-annexation Secession 鈥� is discussing hiring an attorney prior to resubmission.

鈥淲e were hoping we could do it without a lawyer,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut we’re not going to give up. We’ve got people jumping all over East Portland to get involved. They want this.鈥�

City Elections Officer Deborah Scroggin on March 4 responded to the petition request, stating that the application failed to meet either city code or Oregon Constitution requirements.

鈥淚n the petition they’re talking broadly about de-annexation and creating a new city,鈥� Scroggin said. 鈥淥ne of the constitutional requirements for a situation like this is that the de-annexation and incorporation as a new city would have to be separate petitions, and they’ve submitted both as one.鈥�

In the response, Scroggin wrote that the 鈥渇iling represents an unresolved question of state law as to whether withdrawal may be the subject of a citizen initiative, given the statutory scheme for amending the boundaries of a city located within a Metropolitan Service District.鈥�

Portland city attorneys declined to comment on statutory issues via an email from office administrator Kim Sneath. She suggested that Metro would be in charge of such issues.

Craig Beebe, a spokesman for Metro, said the regional governing body would largely take a 鈥渉ands off鈥� stance.

鈥淲hile Metro’s code includes procedures that cities, counties and districts must follow to change their boundaries, Metro doesn’t have a decision-making role in those processes,鈥� he said.

Williams explained that Metro’s role is largely administrative in issues like this.

鈥淲e don’t really get involved until the change has been made, and then we’re just in charge of the mapping and boundaries,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f the initiative made it to a vote, and it passed, we’d get a legal description of the property area and effective dates and we’d be responsible for passing that information on to the Secretary of State’s office.鈥�

Swenson said that East Portland De-annexation Secession is in a holding pattern until Wednesday, when it plans to meet with an attorney.

鈥淩ight now we have to stop and revamp the paperwork with the help of a lawyer, but I have a folder full of names of people who want to sign a petition,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f it turns into a lost cause I’ll let people know we’re in over our heads, but even if this doesn’t succeed, maybe it will help get some changes to taxing and representation out here.鈥�