The Oregon city is suffering from a drug and homelessness crisis

By Lindsay Kornick Fox News – Published October 12, 2024 – Fox News

Portland has restructured its entire city council in what’s being seen as a system overhaul of the city’s progressive policies.

The liberal Oregon city expanded its council from four at-large seats to 12 seats total, three for each district. Portland will also now use ranked choice voting to decide both the city council and mayoral elections.

Nineteen people are currently running for mayor, and 98 people are running for city council with most campaigning on either moderate or progressive platforms. While the field is large, a majority are hoping to combat the city’s drug epidemic, homelessness crisis and dwindling population. 

“I didn’t move to Portland because it was weird,” mayoral candidate Rene Gonzalez told Politico. “I moved to Portland because it was livable.”

Portland established a ranked choice voting system ahead of the 2024 election. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images)

According to Portland State University, Portland lost about 12,000 people between 2020 and 2023, equaling up to $1.1 billion of lost city revenue. 

Candidates pointed to 2020 as an inflection point for the city after the passing of Measure 110 which largely decriminalized drugs by re-classifying possession of all drugs as a Class E violation with a maximum $100 fine. Since then, drug use and homelessness have largely increased. 

“These were huge issues,” mayoral candidate Carmen Rubio told Politico. “It was a perfect storm.”

Another issue included the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, which lasted more than 100 days in Portland and often turned destructive. The city eventually established BLM policies like cutting the police department budget, but homicides reached a record level in 2022.

The Black Lives Matter riots were considered a turning point for the city. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

“Nobody considered that there would be an uptick in gun violence … especially in Black communities,” city council candidate Terrence Hayes told Politico. “Because we didn’t really listen to those communities. We spoke for them, and we made decisions for them.”

Gonzalez explained that at the time, there felt like there was a “default conversation” that shut down dissent until the drug and homelessness crises reached a boiling point.

“Political rhetoric in 2020-2021 in the City of Portland was incredibly ideologically driven,” he said to Politico.

“Things got so bad that politicians could tell the truth,” Gonzalez added. “I could be 100 percent honest and couldn’t be guilted into saying things different than what I was seeing.”

Portland city council and mayoral candidates are hoping to address homelessness and drug use in the election. (Ian Jopson/Fox News)

Vast majority of Portland residents are ‘dissatisfied’ with progressive leadership of the city

70% of voters disapprove of the Portland city council and mayor, according to a new poll

By Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi Fox News – Published May 8, 2024 – Fox news

A whopping 70% of Portland area voters disapprove of their city’s progressive leadership in city council members and Mayor Ted Wheeler, according to a new poll.

“I’ve seen Portland change dramatically in the last six or seven years and I hate to say it’s not been for the better,” one participant told The Oregonian. “I’m very dissatisfied with our government, our local government. I don’t think they’re doing their job at all. I will vote this time because I like to complain. But I’m not even sure it matters at this point.”

The survey, conducted on behalf of The Oregonian by DHM Research, found that while 24% of Portland area registered voters approved of Wheeler as the city’s leader, the overwhelming majority, 70%, find his performance unacceptable.

Meanwhile, the Portland City Council had a disapproval rating of 70%, with a net negative of 54%.

Ted Wheeler Portland homeless tents split image (Getty Images)

“There’s no doubt that if you walk or drive around Portland, you’ll be assaulted by evidence of city and county failures. Tents, garbage, potholes, traffic. As voters, we’re highly reactive to our immediate visual surroundings,” Portland State University professor Jack Miller told The Oregonian.

Residents of the Rose City think local leadership could improve on their management of homelessness, as the survey found 91% of voters object to their government’s approach to the issue. 

A majority of respondants – 78% – dislike the city’s approach to mitigating crime, a number that increases to 89% when focused on drug addiction. 

Portland graffiti and police split image (Getty Images)

The Oregonian reported, “Of the five elected officials the poll asked about by name, the net negatives were highest for Wheeler (46%), Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson (31%), Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt (28%) and Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington (10%). Only Clackamas County Chair Tootie Smith managed to keep her net negative rating in single digits, at 8%.”

More than half of the metro area population – 66% – agree that Portland is on the wrong track.

“Our biggest problem is that they don’t seem interested in actually solving issues – they just want to talk about them,” 22-year-old Portland native Caleb Powell told The Oregonian.

Drugs and Portland in a photo illustration. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images and Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)

In a comment to Fox News Digital, Cody Bowman, communications director for Wheeler’s administration, wrote that the concerns of local citizens are “prioritized in the mayor’s recently proposed budget.”

“This polling reaffirms that Mayor Wheeler’s priorities remain aligned with Portlander’s top concerns, particularly in the areas of homelessness, livability, community safety, and supporting our local economy,” Bowman said. “Mayor Wheeler agrees with public sentiment that the status quo is not working. He is continuing to work closely with his colleagues on the City Council to deliver change for our community—and we are seeing progress.”