Portland's Office of Neighborhood Involvement director walked away from her job Monday with a large sum of money.

Portland paid Amalia Alarcon de Morris a year's salary worth of severance --$144,000--in exchange for her quiet resignation, according to the agreement obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Alarcon de Morris' departure after running the neighborhood office for 11 years followed a scathing November audit that found the bureau lacked leadership and spent funding unequally and that Alarcon de Morris failed to create and execute yearly plans. Willamette Week first reported the severance payment.

The shakeup was the first major leadership change by the new City Council and securing Alarcon de Morris' ouster fell to newcomer Commissioner Chloe Eudaly. Eudaly's chief of staff Marshall Runkel said the change was a long time coming and the next "logical step" at the bureau. He noted the November audit.

"I don't think it's necessary to criticize Amalia to understand new leadership would be useful in getting to a new direction," Runkel said. "It's an exciting time. Change is difficult for any organization. I expect there to be some bumps in the road, but I feel like we've got a great opportunity."

Runkel said Eudaly's office plans to guide the bureau in a manner that includes more members of the community. That will mean including renters and diverse populations who have previously felt "boxed out," Eudaly's Deputy Chief of Staff Dave Austin, now interim director of the bureau, told The Oregonian/OregonLive last week.

Eudaly and the bureau's new leaders also plan to position the neighborhood office to help bring communities together to prepare for the big earthquake, Runkel said.

"Frankly, the commissioner wanted to assemble a new team that she felt comfortable working with and that had experience leading this type of change," Runkel said. "I would characterize it as the next logical step in the evolution of the system."

Austin said he met with the bureau staff on Tuesday and discussed how to begin giving the neighborhoods a stronger voice. Austin said he's still in the information-gathering phase but hopes to have a plan to redirect the bureau and enhance management in about a month.

A city official familiar with the bureau said upper managers are looking for new jobs, but Austin said there are no plans to replace anyone.

"Change can be a difficult thing for people," Austin said.

--Jessica Floum

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