Portland's City Council conducted business more smoothly Wednesday than it has all year after Mayor Ted Wheeler arranged for nearly everyone to be barred from the building and had security officers stationed near the dais to help eject anyone who might act unruly.

Few people -- mainly city employees and a handful of journalists -- were let into the Portland Building for much of the afternoon.

Dozens of protesters chanted outside the building doors. Many objected to being shut out.

For those who did make it into the building by arriving early, city officials checked backpacks and handed out admission tickets. They used the tickets to enforce the room's 182-person capacity for the first time this year.

The meeting started an hour late, with two commissioners absent and with Commissioner Dan Saltzman attending by phone. The mood was productive and jovial. City employees cracked jokes, applauded and laughed along with Wheeler and Commissioner Nick Fish.

Fish joked that he might need to kick out city employees who applauded following a presentation about a city mentorship program. Several members of the public testified on Wednesday's agenda items.

Wheeler, Fish and Saltzman heard a report from the members of the Office of Equity and Human Rights on a city leadership program and voted to approve several contracts discussed last week.

Activists Mimi German and Joe Walsh, who arrived early to the meeting, disrupted the meeting with yelling and protests. The mayor warned each of them that they would be ejected if they continued. When they persisted, a security official handed each of them a notice directing them to leave immediately.

Walsh tore his notice in half, threw it toward the dais and stormed out. German left with a security escort. Neither was arrested.

"Ted's new rules need to be challenged," German said beforehand. "My goal is not to be arrested. My goal is to continue."

There were no other ejections.

Saltzman phoned in because he was home sick, and Commissioner Amanda Fritz was out sick, Wheeler said. Commissioner Chloe Eudaly was also absent.

Wheeler postponed emergency agenda items and introductions of policy proposals so the absent commissioners could later hear them.

Wheeler said it is hard to say whether his new security tactics worked.

"We don't have a clear test under ordinary circumstances," Wheeler said. "That said, I'm pleased we were able to continue our council sessions today."

Wheeler had Portland City Hall and the Portland Building locked down after a protest over the fatal police shooting of black teen Quanice Hayes moved from the Justice Center toward the Portland Building, mayoral spokesman Michael Cox said.

Activists wearing hats with black panther pins formed a line in front of the security official barring entrance.

"They're not letting us in so you can't get in either," they told people who tried to enter the building.

That caused the City Council to delay its meeting by an hour.

"I was advised by the police that there was an assault and potentially weapons so we locked down," Wheeler said.

Wheeler's shift in strategy followed weeks of council meetings interrupted and shut down by activists, some of whom are self-described anarchists. Others have repeatedly disrupted council meetings to protest concerns about homelessness and a Multnomah County grand jury's decision to not press criminal charges against the Portland police officer who fatally shot Hayes.

On Tuesday, Mayor Ted Wheeler pledged to arrest anyone who disrupts a council meeting and then refuses to leave when asked.

The mayor for weeks struggled to keep city employees' work environment safe and to quell protesters, drawing criticism from activists, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon and city employees for different reasons.

The council passed a controversial ordinance that would allow city officials to expel and exclude repeated troublemakers, but the mayor said he would not enforce the latter part of the rule until courts decide whether it is constitutional.

In an effort to allay protesters' fury, Wheeler started hosting biweekly forums during which Portland residents can air concerns about city action and inaction.

The mayor avoided removing and arresting protesters because he saw it as an escalating step and last resort, Cox said.

That strategy did not work.

An especially chaotic meeting last week prompted Commissioner Nick Fish to direct his staff to stop attending council meetings until he is satisfied it is safe to do so.

Fish allowed his staff to attend Wednesday.

Whether future Portland City Council meetings will operate without major disruptions and workplace worry remains to be seen.

When Wednesday's meeting ended, city security officials radioed one another to make sure it was safe for city employees to exit through the front door of the building.

About a dozen police in riot gear exited a Portland Building hallway a few minutes after the meeting ended.

--Jessica Floum

503-221-8306