As Portland City commissioners Dan Ryan and Jo Ann Hardesty run for reelection this year, they face a smaller field of candidates than in years past. Both must campaign city-wide for the May 17 primary as Portland remains the only major U.S. city to still operate on a commission style of local government. Eight other candidates are listed on the ballot for Ryan’s seat, although only one, Alanna Joy McCreary, has registered a campaign committee and reported any substantial fundraising. Only two candidates among 10 challenging Hardesty – Vadim Mozyrsky and Rene Gonzalez – have done the same.
As San Francisco Pride looks to enforce for the first time its ban on police marching in uniform when the in-person event returns in June, other cities are also grappling with the issue.
Six years ago, Portland's federally-required police oversight committee was in disarray. Now, it appears its replacement has reached a similar point. Dubbed the Community Oversight Advisory Board (COAB), the 15-person group of volunteers was tasked with overseeing the city's 2014 settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice, a decision meant to repair Portland Police Bureau's damning record of using force against people with mental illnesses. Part of the agreement required a level of community.
Portland's newest police oversight board is in session. Last night marked the inaugural meeting of the Portland Committee on Community-Engaged Policing (PCCEP), a 13-member group tasked with reviewing the federally mandated reforms the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) must make to improve its interactions with people in mental health crises. "I am very clear that this is the huge night," said PPB Chief Danielle Outlaw, addressing the commission and the 60 community members who came out.
The last time Portland officials created a committee to improve police interactions with the public, it blew up it their face. It wasn't entirely the city's fault. Portland was ordered to assemble a Community Oversight Advisory Board, or COAB, by a federal judge as part of the city's 2014 settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ). That agreement, meant to improve the way Portland police use force against mentally ill people, calls for.