Hundreds of Tualatin residents living in multi-family housing near downtown could soon get a formal voice in city decisions, after CIO leadership voted July 14, to approve a revised boundary map creating a new Downtown Community Involvement Organization.

The vote clears the way for a proposal that CIO leaders have been developing since fall 2025. The new Downtown CIO would cover areas where housing has been built since the city's original neighborhood boundaries were drawn, leaving residents with no CIO representation.

The group would include portions of the existing Riverpark and East CIOs, plus areas not currently covered by any neighborhood organization.

"The reason for this change is simple," CIO President Beth Hancock wrote in the August 2026 CIO President's Report, published Tuesday, July 28. "Since the original CIO boundaries were established, new housing has been built, and hundreds of residents now live outside the existing CIO areas."

Both the East CIO, led by President Doug Ulmer, and the Riverpark CIO, led by President Kate Pinamonti, had already approved the revised map before the full leadership vote.

What happens next

CIO leaders will present the proposal to the Tualatin City Council on Monday, August 10. They plan to ask the council to direct city staff to review current ordinances and prepare the boundary changes for formal consideration later this year.

The following evening, Tuesday, August 11, at 6 p.m., an organizational meeting for residents interested in the Downtown CIO will take place at the New Seasons Community Room. Attendance carries no obligation. Residents with questions can email [email protected].

Why it matters for downtown

The timing aligns with a broader push to reshape downtown Tualatin. Metro awarded the city a $740,000 planning grant on Monday, July 13, to fund Phase 3 of the Downtown Revitalization Project, which will produce an urban design framework and updated development standards for roughly 300 acres centered around the Lake at the Commons. That phase is set to begin this fall and run through spring 2028.

Mayor Frank Bubenik said in the city's July 13 press release that downtown Tualatin is poised for tremendous growth and the project stands to bring a wave of new investment and development.

A Downtown CIO would give residents in the revitalization area an organized channel to weigh in as those plans take shape. Only 6% of people who work in Tualatin also live there, according to an economic analysis presented to the council on July 13.

Economic consultant Matt Craigie of Eco Northwest told the council the revitalization project represents an opportunity to attract more of those workers to live in the city.

Tualatin currently has seven CIOs covering different neighborhoods. The council's August 10 response will determine whether the Downtown CIO moves forward on a formal track this year.