Mitch Green's stand against PSU rehashed

Developer says city councilor driving business from Portland

Developer Brian Owendoff had a pointed question for the city councilor.

City Councilor Mitch Green faced an angry developer who said his stance against prosecution of alleged vandals at Portland State University caused him to lose a prospective client. The exchange occurred at a constituent forum in the Pearl District yesterday.

“What was the reason behind your threat?” asked Brian Owendoff, CEO of BMO Commercial Real Estate.

Owendoff referred to Green’s threat to withhold all city support from the university unless prosecution of students involved with occupation of the PSU library last spring was dropped. After that statement in April, PSU denied any investigations or prosecutions of students were occurring.

Owendoff said he lost a client on a major development plan as a result of that person reading about Green’s statement and deciding that Portland was not a good place to do business.

Green responded calmly, noting that “I put my values out there.”

He believed students faced retaliation for exercising their free speech right to protest.

In April, Green made the following statement:

“Portland State University depends on Portland City Council for a number of the things that they want to do, so if we wanna show up and use our lever on City Council, it’s through the power of the purse. So on this day of action, I’m just gonna say that I know that the administration is planning to build a Performing Arts Center. And they’re going to come to City Council for money for that. And if they want my vote, they’re going to have to drop the charges on those students. And they’re gonna need my vote to get that money, because I am in solidarity in coalition with other leftists on City Council. We know how to stand up and fight back, thank you very much.”