Downtown Portland officially pronounced dead
After stern comments earlier this month, Portland Mayor F. Ted Wheeler has put down his chardonnay glass long enough to announce that he's reconsidered, and that nothing more can be done to prosecute the mobs that roam around downtown streets vandalizing businesses left and right. There are no more "tools" available to the police, and so it's too hard to actually arrest people and make them face criminal penalties.
Maybe they should form another committee down in Salem, he says.
According to Wheeler, state lawmakers — at a minimum — should convene a special committee focused on the protest-related issues he’s identified and reiterated his support for adding to law enforcement officers’ toolkits.
Given this shrug-off, it's pretty clear that the downtown core will not be making a comeback for a long time. It will remain the boarded-up, graffiti-covered, business-fatal, scary place it is today, for the indefinite future.
Nothing more can be done. Under this mayor and police chief, anyway.
I'll bite, given the weak-mayor system of Portland government, what exactly can Wheeler do? Seriously, what can he do? I loathe him as well, but have yet to read anything or know anyone that actually has useful ideas he can implement to help the core.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been following as closely as I might, so I may be off base, but...couldn't Multco DA change the policy of not vigorously prosecuting property crime, couldn't the police be directed to intervene and stop vandalism instead of following the vandals around like puppy dogs, and couldn't conditions of bail be set excluding people held on vandalism charges from areas subject to repeat vandalism? Those seem pretty basic and doable under present circumstances. But like I said, maybe I'm missing something.
ReplyDeleteMult. Co. DA Mike Schmidt is not beholden to Ted Wheeler. As for stopping vandalism, how exactly would that be done, given PPD's perception that PDX government is working against PPD's best interests?
DeleteBeholden? I know the DA is not under Wheeler. However, doing what I suggested would help, and seems like something the city would be within their rights to ask him to cooperate on. As far as PPD, the police commissioner could give clear instructions on what to do when they see vandalism occurring and impose discipline if they are not followed. Just spitballing here. What are your ideas.
DeleteI support changing the form of Portland's city government. Current structure is patently absurd.
DeleteTaking a hard line stance against vandals and property crime would go against what Schmidt campaigned on. Not going to happen. When the tents "communities" and trashed RVs start popping up in Bridlemile, Alameda, Nob Hill, and Irvington then we might see something happen.
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