Epic battle develops between the extreme left progressives on the council and the moderate, pragmatic progressives. Kinda exciting in a way. Let's see if the cloud-cuckoo-land extreme leftists fight back. Maybe they'll just fade into the background. Not likely, but a desired result if the fentynal-addicted, mentally ill, violent street people are not to take over the city and ruin the quality of life for ordinary, middle-class citizens of Portland.
I'm not fond of this mayor, but I found Morillo incredibly disrespectful toward him. I appreciate that she is articulate and is passionate about this particular issue, but she continues to demonstrate her lack of respect for others who do not agree with her. In meetings where I've observed her, such as tonight, and the one I attended where she was disrespectful toward those of us testifying (by ignoring us as we spoke, distracted by her computer, her phone, and who knows what else), she behaves in the same way. Perhaps she could take a lesson from the president of the council, or from Loretta Smith, or Steve Novick, or Olivia or Eric or even Sameer Kanal. Needless to say, I'm glad this amendment failed. And Wes, they're not going to fade away.
They aren’t going to fade, so we need to vote them out and stop giving them a voice on council. This underhanded move as well as who supported it, should tell most voters all they need to know next year when they are hopefully refusing to put any of these people who voted yes in their ballot ranking.
It’s clear to me that the discord and clear divide that is only growing on the council means this group will not be getting anything positive done, just infighting and using our livability as pawns in their dysfunctional game of chess. They should be embarrassed but you’d need some ounce of self awareness for that.
I was gratified to hear in one of the later testimonies from a formerly homeless guy, who actually praised the sweeps, because the last sweep he was caught up in provided him a path to recovery and housing and now full employment.
I listened to almost all of the testimonies today while drawing in my studio, and found it all fascinating. I’m also glad I was able to draw while listening/watching. It’s a great anxiety diverter.
I listened to all of it as well. It was fascinating, and I'm glad it failed. I was also moved by the testimony of the previously homeless person who said a sweep got him off the streets. He said he has an Instagram or some other social media account that shows his life and how he is putting it together. I'm going to have to find him on SM.
I was moved by him as well. He explained that he'd previously been houseless, living under the Morrison bridge and that his camp had been swept (I think it was 3x). It was the outreach that accompanied that action outreach that eventually convinced him to get help. He's now off drugs and grateful for housing and a job. His insta: https://www.instagram.com/johnmanpdx?igsh=MXdkbTZsMDR5NHdwcg==
Hats off to District 4 Councilors Clark and Zimmerman for opposing a DSA/Peacock plan to take a giant step backwards, and their unwillingness to engage, in Zimmerman’s words, in “incremental betterism for something that stinks from the start.”
And, then they “voted with their feet.”
And I agree with the comment above about Morillo’s petulance when she lost the vote.
In some cases, you will have to wait three years to--somehow--"vote them out." They will retain their organized party advantage and, once again, get 25-percent of the vote against a disorganized, atomized "opposition." The deck is stacked. And I'll bet you voted for the new city charter.
Jeremy B. Smith -- NWDA "weathy white Portlanders who come (NWDA mtgs) to dehumanize our houseless neighbors".
To sweet naive Jeremy. You don't know me. You don't know my neighbors - all working class and low income. All part of NWDA. AND grateful for efforts the city provides in terms of safety for both the housed and un housed.
I was interested to learn that 900 people wrote to Council members to express their point of view. Also that 200 people showed up, mostly in support of the Mayor's Impact Reduction Program. There were questions asked during the council meeting about whether / how the city is measuring the IRP's progress.
Thank you for posting the link. Pictures are worth a thousand words as is said. And, as I understand it, removing tents and illegal campers is accompanied with service providers who will connect campers to shelters, which in turn creates a path forward from addiction, mental health diseases, and squalor. While some at the council call these actions "sweeps", I don't really care what they name it as much needed services are provided for all who occupy the spaces in Portland. And- as another note worth paying attention to, Morillo was citing mortality numbers from "sweeps" that took place from the late teens to early ots. Today is a very, very different context, and I'm here for it.
This feels like a “moment“ for us, for the mayor, and for PPB Chief Bob Day to seize. For the mayor, especially, the notion that the city Council peacocks are simply on the other end of a disagreement is completely discredited. For Chief Day it’s time to speak up, and loudly. We will support you, but if you continue to kowtow in silence and not demand the resources and the movement forward on livability issues on safety and security issues then we will need you to move aside, so others can. Enough of this nonsense and foolishness.
I would never vote for any of the five city counselors who voted to take away the cleanliness and civility of Portland. I disagree with their priorities. Housing first is warehousing the severely mentally ill and others. I would never support anyone who favors dropping property damage charges related to political activism. I am willing to do what I can to try and get the five councilors in the no column on their next election.
Let us not forget that there is no voice on the council for the middle class, taxpayers, property owners, or anyone who doesn't make a living by producing a profit in a business in this city. They're the great Left-Outs...and they're too Portland Polite and intimidated to count for bupkis.
There are people in Portland or nearby who could squeeze out a little Mother's Milk of Politics and actually finance an opposition. But they kept their mouths shut when the charter was being concocted; and they misread that document to believe that a nice, presentable, harmless-looking guy like Wilson could keep the boat from going over the cliff.
Too bad: the mayor can propose...but the council will dispose. It's disappointing that the council didn't go 6-6; Wilson would have had another opportunity to exercise the itty-bitty nugget of power the mayor possesses: tie-breaking (since the geniuses who wrote the charter couldn't divide 12 by 2). He had a chance to exercise it when the council deadlocked on electing its president; but give him credit (maybe) for learning from his mistakes.
I attended all ten hours of this meeting yesterday to see for myself how our City Council functions, and what I saw was representation and concern for all aspects of our community, not "no voice on the council for the middle class, taxpayers, property owners, or anyone who doesn't make a living by producing a profit in a business in this city."
It sure seemed to me that collectively there was intent to achieve balance.
I am confused. It failed because councilors left and quorum was not met, right? Does that mean the Morillo 1 amendment can come back at a future meeting to be voted on?
7 is a quorum. Leaving meant they were essentially no votes. And they needed 7 of the 8 remaining council members to pass, and got only 5 including district 4 ‘s Mitch Green.
Epic battle develops between the extreme left progressives on the council and the moderate, pragmatic progressives. Kinda exciting in a way. Let's see if the cloud-cuckoo-land extreme leftists fight back. Maybe they'll just fade into the background. Not likely, but a desired result if the fentynal-addicted, mentally ill, violent street people are not to take over the city and ruin the quality of life for ordinary, middle-class citizens of Portland.
I'm not fond of this mayor, but I found Morillo incredibly disrespectful toward him. I appreciate that she is articulate and is passionate about this particular issue, but she continues to demonstrate her lack of respect for others who do not agree with her. In meetings where I've observed her, such as tonight, and the one I attended where she was disrespectful toward those of us testifying (by ignoring us as we spoke, distracted by her computer, her phone, and who knows what else), she behaves in the same way. Perhaps she could take a lesson from the president of the council, or from Loretta Smith, or Steve Novick, or Olivia or Eric or even Sameer Kanal. Needless to say, I'm glad this amendment failed. And Wes, they're not going to fade away.
They aren’t going to fade, so we need to vote them out and stop giving them a voice on council. This underhanded move as well as who supported it, should tell most voters all they need to know next year when they are hopefully refusing to put any of these people who voted yes in their ballot ranking.
It’s clear to me that the discord and clear divide that is only growing on the council means this group will not be getting anything positive done, just infighting and using our livability as pawns in their dysfunctional game of chess. They should be embarrassed but you’d need some ounce of self awareness for that.
Thank goodness for small mercies.
Thank goodness! What a mess. Morillo and Green better get kicked out of our city government when the time comes!!!!
We gotta vote Eli Arnold in!!!
Great news!
I was gratified to hear in one of the later testimonies from a formerly homeless guy, who actually praised the sweeps, because the last sweep he was caught up in provided him a path to recovery and housing and now full employment.
I listened to almost all of the testimonies today while drawing in my studio, and found it all fascinating. I’m also glad I was able to draw while listening/watching. It’s a great anxiety diverter.
I listened to all of it as well. It was fascinating, and I'm glad it failed. I was also moved by the testimony of the previously homeless person who said a sweep got him off the streets. He said he has an Instagram or some other social media account that shows his life and how he is putting it together. I'm going to have to find him on SM.
I was moved by him as well. He explained that he'd previously been houseless, living under the Morrison bridge and that his camp had been swept (I think it was 3x). It was the outreach that accompanied that action outreach that eventually convinced him to get help. He's now off drugs and grateful for housing and a job. His insta: https://www.instagram.com/johnmanpdx?igsh=MXdkbTZsMDR5NHdwcg==
Hats off to District 4 Councilors Clark and Zimmerman for opposing a DSA/Peacock plan to take a giant step backwards, and their unwillingness to engage, in Zimmerman’s words, in “incremental betterism for something that stinks from the start.”
And, then they “voted with their feet.”
And I agree with the comment above about Morillo’s petulance when she lost the vote.
In some cases, you will have to wait three years to--somehow--"vote them out." They will retain their organized party advantage and, once again, get 25-percent of the vote against a disorganized, atomized "opposition." The deck is stacked. And I'll bet you voted for the new city charter.
Nope. I was part of the opposition. We predicted the current mess!
Jeremy B. Smith -- NWDA "weathy white Portlanders who come (NWDA mtgs) to dehumanize our houseless neighbors".
To sweet naive Jeremy. You don't know me. You don't know my neighbors - all working class and low income. All part of NWDA. AND grateful for efforts the city provides in terms of safety for both the housed and un housed.
Check your slurs and biases.
I was interested to learn that 900 people wrote to Council members to express their point of view. Also that 200 people showed up, mostly in support of the Mayor's Impact Reduction Program. There were questions asked during the council meeting about whether / how the city is measuring the IRP's progress.
Because I'm intent to learn as much as I can about this, I found this dashboard: https://www.portland.gov/homelessness-impact-reduction/impact-reduction-program-dashboard-and-performance-measures
Thank you for posting the link. Pictures are worth a thousand words as is said. And, as I understand it, removing tents and illegal campers is accompanied with service providers who will connect campers to shelters, which in turn creates a path forward from addiction, mental health diseases, and squalor. While some at the council call these actions "sweeps", I don't really care what they name it as much needed services are provided for all who occupy the spaces in Portland. And- as another note worth paying attention to, Morillo was citing mortality numbers from "sweeps" that took place from the late teens to early ots. Today is a very, very different context, and I'm here for it.
This feels like a “moment“ for us, for the mayor, and for PPB Chief Bob Day to seize. For the mayor, especially, the notion that the city Council peacocks are simply on the other end of a disagreement is completely discredited. For Chief Day it’s time to speak up, and loudly. We will support you, but if you continue to kowtow in silence and not demand the resources and the movement forward on livability issues on safety and security issues then we will need you to move aside, so others can. Enough of this nonsense and foolishness.
Morillo is a tool. Her self rightousness and behavior to others smacks trump.
She seems to be the queen of her pack because she acts with the most disrespect.
It's time for that one to be voted off the council dais.
Well done: sanity and smarts prevailed. This isn’t over of course but at least we know this sneaky path failed.
I would never vote for any of the five city counselors who voted to take away the cleanliness and civility of Portland. I disagree with their priorities. Housing first is warehousing the severely mentally ill and others. I would never support anyone who favors dropping property damage charges related to political activism. I am willing to do what I can to try and get the five councilors in the no column on their next election.
Let us not forget that there is no voice on the council for the middle class, taxpayers, property owners, or anyone who doesn't make a living by producing a profit in a business in this city. They're the great Left-Outs...and they're too Portland Polite and intimidated to count for bupkis.
There are people in Portland or nearby who could squeeze out a little Mother's Milk of Politics and actually finance an opposition. But they kept their mouths shut when the charter was being concocted; and they misread that document to believe that a nice, presentable, harmless-looking guy like Wilson could keep the boat from going over the cliff.
Too bad: the mayor can propose...but the council will dispose. It's disappointing that the council didn't go 6-6; Wilson would have had another opportunity to exercise the itty-bitty nugget of power the mayor possesses: tie-breaking (since the geniuses who wrote the charter couldn't divide 12 by 2). He had a chance to exercise it when the council deadlocked on electing its president; but give him credit (maybe) for learning from his mistakes.
I attended all ten hours of this meeting yesterday to see for myself how our City Council functions, and what I saw was representation and concern for all aspects of our community, not "no voice on the council for the middle class, taxpayers, property owners, or anyone who doesn't make a living by producing a profit in a business in this city."
It sure seemed to me that collectively there was intent to achieve balance.
I am confused. It failed because councilors left and quorum was not met, right? Does that mean the Morillo 1 amendment can come back at a future meeting to be voted on?
No.
7 is a quorum. Leaving meant they were essentially no votes. And they needed 7 of the 8 remaining council members to pass, and got only 5 including district 4 ‘s Mitch Green.
No.
You can watch the entire meeting here if you are curious to know exactly how it unfolded:
https://www.youtube.com/live/JNABYxK_WpY?si=ZRF3bZNETzNLiFGH