I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that we need to urgently vote out some of our city councilors as soon as possible. And recall the mayor too, especially if he continues to drive Portland into a death spiral.
But without dealing with the issue that put them there (Ranked Choice Voting electing clowns with only 25% of the vote +1), we're not going to make much difference. It will be very hard to dislodge Candace and Mitch and Sameer as long as the current system is in place.
I have to agree. Our Mayor, seemingly does not have the same agenda as most Portlanders do with regard to safety & homelessness, let alone adequate policing when needed. When it costs more to go about fixing the wrong but less to do it the right way…then the problems remain unfixable.
Well done, as usual. The fact that even under this current horrific administration we’d consider getting some sort of assistance from the federal government speaks volumes. I wish I could say I hadn’t considered it myself but I have.
I’m currently coming back into town from a week away in a major city in another country. I never saw someone run a red light. The streets did not require a vehicle with good suspension. There were a few homeless people sleeping in sheltered areas overnight but I was taken aback at zero tents, a neat pile of belongings and beddings, and no psychotic outbursts. The sidewalks were clean and my shoes feces-free. I didn’t see a single person shooting up or smoking drugs and never felt unsafe. This is, of course, unlike my daily life in Portland.
It’s sad as well - people I’d meet who would say that they had never been to the PNW and wanted to see it - I’d tell them that Portland is a mess right now and I wouldn’t recommend it. I used to be immensely proud of this city.
While Austria strikes me as an odd location for the progressive councilors to visit (and don’t get me started that they are), I can only hope that they can see what cities are like that are clean and safe. And then can change their approach. But like you, I suffer from a heavy dose of naïveté.
I visited a much larger city back east in June and was likewise dumbfounded: no grafitti, not one tent and only one shopping cart with possessions being wheeled around in a 3 day visit.
I visited Boston back in April and was blown away how great their downtown looked. No tents or hard drugs use (I did witness a couple smoking a joint but that didn't bother me). The mayor has often referred to Boston as being a city to model and if that's the case, I think he needs to follow what they're doing a little closer bc it's clearly not implemented here. One big difference is that I believe they actually have a well staffed police force who does their job and enforces the actual laws!
When we chronically underfund the police for years (which is in effect to DEFUND them), refuse to have penalties for criminals nor enforce laws for sociopolitical reasons (remembering you Mike Schmidt), this is what we get: Portlandia 2025.
Portland Needs Leaders Who Speak Up for Its Citizens
In cities across the country, moments of everyday heroism are met with words of gratitude from those in power. In New York, a mayor once stood before cameras to commend a man who stopped an assault in a subway car. In Los Angeles, the city council publicly recognized citizens who intervened during a shooting. Even in smaller municipalities, it’s not uncommon for leaders to extend compassion and praise when residents risk their own safety to protect others.
And yet here in Portland, silence.
Recently, we’ve seen residents step in to help during violent incidents—ordinary people displaying extraordinary courage when others were in danger. These are not the actions of officials, or of institutions, but of neighbors. It is precisely the kind of civic bravery that deserves acknowledgment. But from Mayor Keith Wilson’s office, from the city council—nothing. No words of appreciation, no recognition of courage, no expression of gratitude on behalf of a shaken city.
Leadership is not only about budgets, ordinances, or carefully negotiated press releases. Leadership is about showing up, especially in moments when a community is hurting. A few words of recognition cost nothing, but they carry weight. They tell citizens: We see you. We value you. We will stand with you.
Portland is a city struggling with trust in government. Businesses are closing, families are leaving, and residents feel abandoned in their own neighborhoods. Silence in the face of community heroism is more than a missed opportunity—it is a signal that our leaders are unwilling to meet the moment.
No one expects City Hall to solve every crisis overnight. But Portlanders deserve leaders who speak with compassion, who elevate acts of courage, and who remind us that the spirit of this city is not lost. That is what true leadership looks like.
Until then, the question remains: why does it take so much for City Hall to simply say thank you?
Excellent writing, and well put. I'm a life-long Democratic voter, but the egregious ignoring of the crime and livability issues by Oregon's "Progressive" political machine has focused my attention over the past few years. A one party city, a one party county and a one party state are just as bad in Oregon as they are in Oklahoma. The absolute and persistent refusal by the elites to acknowledge that our rampant drug addiction, homelessness and concomitant crime issues need to be responded to by ENFORCING LAWS, is the single biggest roadblock to cleaning up this once beautiful, now unsafe and filthy dirty city.
Excellent essay although I would suggest that if Portland is unable to add much needed police to its force, why wouldn’t we use Oregon’s own National Guard rather than allow Trump to take control of our city? Obviously, our city and county governments have failed us.
If you can get Guv Tina to go along with it, I'm all for it. But a lot of these hyper-progressive politicians are her political kin. I was frankly shocked that she tried to encourage JVP to back off on taxing the upper middle class to death with her Pre School for All fiasco, so maybe she would, but I'm skeptical.
There have been some excellent and thoughtful essays and columns published here lately, and it seems overwhelming public sentiment is supporting a much needed and quite dramatic pivot than the current direction. My open question is, do any of these citizens get face time with the city council or mayor to communicate alternative ideas? It does not seem they respond to individual emails or calls, public “shaming” through local news media, townhalls attended by hundreds, or anything a normal person who actually cares about doing a good job might respond to and consider. They are broadly ignoring us. They are too comfortable doing horrible jobs and making decisions that defy all sanity and logic. So what do we do now?
I was promised a meeting with the mayor as I live right by the Moore shelter and have voiced many, many concerns. The mayor's deputy chief of staff came back to me saying: "there appears to be a big misunderstanding." I never got that meeting! They flat out lied.
Not sure if the mayor cares (don’t think he does) but his total lack of partnership in these endeavors with the community and unwillingness to engage in productive discussion has already deeply eroded any goodwill or trust he came into his position with. He does appear to be dishonest and shady in his dealings.
absolutely not!!! In no way do I want to invite trump or his goons into my community. This proposed fiction is at the embodied expense of those who do not look like you. Of course you think this is an option because you don't need to worry about being hurt, harrassed, disappeared.
This has nothing to do with being "closed minded" to paraphrase your assumptions of the Portland public.
This has to do with seeing-- believing my eyes, ears, and common sense.
Your ridiculous and stupid proposal Joe, is like the boulders deposited around my city. Sure they "may" be ugly, but they work (?) until they ultimately become garbage, feces, graffiti and even camping grounds... but hey, they're meant to deter, right? Meant to make things better- yes?
How about Portland places safety and peacefulness as the #1 focus with funds we already have? Instead of using boulders and other b.s. Including your propsed fantasy!
I think Joe was writing a rhetorical piece to reflect how desperate law-abiding, taxpaying, middle of the road folks are feeling in the face of having our input, experiences and opinions being systematically ignored. When chaos goes unchecked, eventually people demand safety and protection, and if they are ignored for too long they will seek out someone (even unsavory) who promises and delivers it. History is replete with examples of dictators coming to power when people feel insecure. Oregon's political elites ignore that lesson at their peril.
I could assume this is the intent of the piece. And, in this time, I'm not pulling punches. Not a clever suggestion imo when so much is at stake. Would be better spent pushing - continually, and I get the exhaustion, of our electeds to get off thier respective clouds of comfort and dare I say naivete, to fix the obvious.
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that we need to urgently vote out some of our city councilors as soon as possible. And recall the mayor too, especially if he continues to drive Portland into a death spiral.
Exactly this - we can’t survive another three years of this.
But without dealing with the issue that put them there (Ranked Choice Voting electing clowns with only 25% of the vote +1), we're not going to make much difference. It will be very hard to dislodge Candace and Mitch and Sameer as long as the current system is in place.
They designed it that way.
I have to agree. Our Mayor, seemingly does not have the same agenda as most Portlanders do with regard to safety & homelessness, let alone adequate policing when needed. When it costs more to go about fixing the wrong but less to do it the right way…then the problems remain unfixable.
Well done, as usual. The fact that even under this current horrific administration we’d consider getting some sort of assistance from the federal government speaks volumes. I wish I could say I hadn’t considered it myself but I have.
I’m currently coming back into town from a week away in a major city in another country. I never saw someone run a red light. The streets did not require a vehicle with good suspension. There were a few homeless people sleeping in sheltered areas overnight but I was taken aback at zero tents, a neat pile of belongings and beddings, and no psychotic outbursts. The sidewalks were clean and my shoes feces-free. I didn’t see a single person shooting up or smoking drugs and never felt unsafe. This is, of course, unlike my daily life in Portland.
It’s sad as well - people I’d meet who would say that they had never been to the PNW and wanted to see it - I’d tell them that Portland is a mess right now and I wouldn’t recommend it. I used to be immensely proud of this city.
While Austria strikes me as an odd location for the progressive councilors to visit (and don’t get me started that they are), I can only hope that they can see what cities are like that are clean and safe. And then can change their approach. But like you, I suffer from a heavy dose of naïveté.
I visited a much larger city back east in June and was likewise dumbfounded: no grafitti, not one tent and only one shopping cart with possessions being wheeled around in a 3 day visit.
The contrast to Portlandia was breathtaking.
I visited Boston back in April and was blown away how great their downtown looked. No tents or hard drugs use (I did witness a couple smoking a joint but that didn't bother me). The mayor has often referred to Boston as being a city to model and if that's the case, I think he needs to follow what they're doing a little closer bc it's clearly not implemented here. One big difference is that I believe they actually have a well staffed police force who does their job and enforces the actual laws!
When we chronically underfund the police for years (which is in effect to DEFUND them), refuse to have penalties for criminals nor enforce laws for sociopolitical reasons (remembering you Mike Schmidt), this is what we get: Portlandia 2025.
Excellent Joe!
Portland Needs Leaders Who Speak Up for Its Citizens
In cities across the country, moments of everyday heroism are met with words of gratitude from those in power. In New York, a mayor once stood before cameras to commend a man who stopped an assault in a subway car. In Los Angeles, the city council publicly recognized citizens who intervened during a shooting. Even in smaller municipalities, it’s not uncommon for leaders to extend compassion and praise when residents risk their own safety to protect others.
And yet here in Portland, silence.
Recently, we’ve seen residents step in to help during violent incidents—ordinary people displaying extraordinary courage when others were in danger. These are not the actions of officials, or of institutions, but of neighbors. It is precisely the kind of civic bravery that deserves acknowledgment. But from Mayor Keith Wilson’s office, from the city council—nothing. No words of appreciation, no recognition of courage, no expression of gratitude on behalf of a shaken city.
Leadership is not only about budgets, ordinances, or carefully negotiated press releases. Leadership is about showing up, especially in moments when a community is hurting. A few words of recognition cost nothing, but they carry weight. They tell citizens: We see you. We value you. We will stand with you.
Portland is a city struggling with trust in government. Businesses are closing, families are leaving, and residents feel abandoned in their own neighborhoods. Silence in the face of community heroism is more than a missed opportunity—it is a signal that our leaders are unwilling to meet the moment.
No one expects City Hall to solve every crisis overnight. But Portlanders deserve leaders who speak with compassion, who elevate acts of courage, and who remind us that the spirit of this city is not lost. That is what true leadership looks like.
Until then, the question remains: why does it take so much for City Hall to simply say thank you?
You nailed it Joe!!! Totally agree!!!
Excellent writing, and well put. I'm a life-long Democratic voter, but the egregious ignoring of the crime and livability issues by Oregon's "Progressive" political machine has focused my attention over the past few years. A one party city, a one party county and a one party state are just as bad in Oregon as they are in Oklahoma. The absolute and persistent refusal by the elites to acknowledge that our rampant drug addiction, homelessness and concomitant crime issues need to be responded to by ENFORCING LAWS, is the single biggest roadblock to cleaning up this once beautiful, now unsafe and filthy dirty city.
Excellent essay although I would suggest that if Portland is unable to add much needed police to its force, why wouldn’t we use Oregon’s own National Guard rather than allow Trump to take control of our city? Obviously, our city and county governments have failed us.
If you can get Guv Tina to go along with it, I'm all for it. But a lot of these hyper-progressive politicians are her political kin. I was frankly shocked that she tried to encourage JVP to back off on taxing the upper middle class to death with her Pre School for All fiasco, so maybe she would, but I'm skeptical.
There have been some excellent and thoughtful essays and columns published here lately, and it seems overwhelming public sentiment is supporting a much needed and quite dramatic pivot than the current direction. My open question is, do any of these citizens get face time with the city council or mayor to communicate alternative ideas? It does not seem they respond to individual emails or calls, public “shaming” through local news media, townhalls attended by hundreds, or anything a normal person who actually cares about doing a good job might respond to and consider. They are broadly ignoring us. They are too comfortable doing horrible jobs and making decisions that defy all sanity and logic. So what do we do now?
I was promised a meeting with the mayor as I live right by the Moore shelter and have voiced many, many concerns. The mayor's deputy chief of staff came back to me saying: "there appears to be a big misunderstanding." I never got that meeting! They flat out lied.
Not sure if the mayor cares (don’t think he does) but his total lack of partnership in these endeavors with the community and unwillingness to engage in productive discussion has already deeply eroded any goodwill or trust he came into his position with. He does appear to be dishonest and shady in his dealings.
absolutely not!!! In no way do I want to invite trump or his goons into my community. This proposed fiction is at the embodied expense of those who do not look like you. Of course you think this is an option because you don't need to worry about being hurt, harrassed, disappeared.
This has nothing to do with being "closed minded" to paraphrase your assumptions of the Portland public.
This has to do with seeing-- believing my eyes, ears, and common sense.
Your ridiculous and stupid proposal Joe, is like the boulders deposited around my city. Sure they "may" be ugly, but they work (?) until they ultimately become garbage, feces, graffiti and even camping grounds... but hey, they're meant to deter, right? Meant to make things better- yes?
How about Portland places safety and peacefulness as the #1 focus with funds we already have? Instead of using boulders and other b.s. Including your propsed fantasy!
I think Joe was writing a rhetorical piece to reflect how desperate law-abiding, taxpaying, middle of the road folks are feeling in the face of having our input, experiences and opinions being systematically ignored. When chaos goes unchecked, eventually people demand safety and protection, and if they are ignored for too long they will seek out someone (even unsavory) who promises and delivers it. History is replete with examples of dictators coming to power when people feel insecure. Oregon's political elites ignore that lesson at their peril.
I could assume this is the intent of the piece. And, in this time, I'm not pulling punches. Not a clever suggestion imo when so much is at stake. Would be better spent pushing - continually, and I get the exhaustion, of our electeds to get off thier respective clouds of comfort and dare I say naivete, to fix the obvious.