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by Alex Zielinski • May 13, 2021 at 9:30 pm Kathleen Marie / Portland Mercury
Portland City Council voted against including funds in the 2021-22 city budget that would have allowed the city s Portland Street Response pilot program to expand citywide within the year.
Commissioners made the decision during a Thursday council meeting on Mayor Ted Wheeler s $5.7 billion proposed city budget, which Wheeler initially released on April 29. The Thursday meeting focused on amendments city commissioners want to see added to Wheeler s proposed budget. One of those amendments, proposed by City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, focused on putting $3.6 million towards Portland Street Response, a program housed within Portland Fire and Rescue that provides non-police emergency response to 911 calls related to mental health crises or regarding unhoused people. The program is currently operating as a pilot confined to a one-van team of four people, made
Police union blasts proposed Portland budget May 13 2021
The Portland Police Association blames the increase in shootings on the elimination of the Gun Violence Reduction Team.
The head of the union representing most Portland Police Bureau employees criticized the City Council for considering cutting its funding hours before the scheduled vote on next year s budget.
In an email press release, Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner blamed the surge in shootings and killings that began last year on the council s elimination of the bureau s Gun Violence Reduction Team during social justice protests. The team had been accused of disproportionately focusing on the Black community.
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City Council Votes Against Commissioner Hardesty’s $4.6 Million Proposal for Portland Street Response “This sort of dysfunctional dynamic that I see today is one of the reasons why we need to be really mindful as we go about expanding this program from one neighborhood to 95 neighborhoods.” Updated May 13 The Portland City Council voted Thursday night against Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s proposal to allocate about $3.6 million in ongoing funds to Portland Street Response, which would have brought its total budget to $4.6 million, in order to expand the pilot program citywide by next spring.