In a city where one public job is usually plenty, Mary Li, head of staff to Portland City Council Vice President Tiffany Koyama Lane, was pulling two. Records show she drew pay from both city and county payrolls last spring while serving in roles for each government, an overlap that produced roughly 72-hour workweeks in April and May and fresh questions about how outside employment is handled for senior local staff.
How the overlap happened
As reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive, Li started a full-time chief-of-staff job for Koyama Lane on March 31, 2025, while staying on in a 32-hour-a-week Multnomah County position through May 30, 2025. Public records reviewed by the outlet show Li’s city salary at about $130,811 and her county salary at about $124,287, with time sheets reflecting those roughly 72-hour workweeks in April and May of 2025.
Public records and roles
Portland’s official council contact list identifies Mary Li as Koyama Lane’s head of staff, according to Portland.gov. Multnomah County news pages and documents also show Li spent years in county management, including leadership of the Multnomah Idea Lab, before briefly retiring and later returning to temporary county work, per Multnomah County.
Officials defend the arrangement
Koyama Lane told The Oregonian/OregonLive, “Yes, I did choose to pay her and it was worth it for me,” and a city spokesperson said the hiring decision was at the councilor’s discretion. City documents later show an outside-employment agreement and a memo requiring Li to keep county and city duties separate and to use separate devices, and county officials told the outlet she was paid an on-call rate of $74.69 per hour and had logged about 104 on-call hours since June.
Why it matters
Transparency advocates and some council watchers say the situation highlights gaps in how elected officials manage their staff and how overlapping public jobs are tracked and disclosed. Willamette Week’s reporting on recent council staffing and policy fights has provided additional context for why community members are pressing for clearer rules and more public oversight, particularly as the new council has made several high-profile budget and grants decisions.
What comes next
Journalists and public-records requesters are expected to keep combing through payroll files, memos and outside-employment agreements while the council and county review how the arrangement came together. For now, officials say they have tightened documentation around dual employment, and the episode has revived calls for standard, citywide rules so senior staff and elected offices do not leave taxpayers with lingering questions when officials move between public roles.
