This progressive city is discarding its entire government structure
Following a turbulent four years characterized by intense protests and the decriminalization of drugs, Portland is on the brink of significant transformations.
TroibNews 
PORTLAND, Oregon — In the past four years, few American cities have experienced as much turmoil as Portland. This self-aware liberal city has undergone more than 100 days of often-violent protests, grappled with a fentanyl and homelessness crisis, faced a pandemic, and embarked on what many consider the nation’s most audacious progressive policy experiment: the decriminalization of all drugs.
Come this November, Portland will undertake yet another transformative move.
In a decision indicative of either hope or desperation, voters in Rose City have opted to dismantle their entire government structure, replacing it with a weaker mayor, an expanded City Council, and a system of ranked choice voting.
A significant motivator for this shift was the 2020 passage of “Measure 110,” which decriminalized all drugs and garnered support from 74 percent of Multnomah County residents. However, voters did not foresee how this decision would affect a city already in a precarious financial situation, with ongoing public health crises and escalating rates of homelessness and fentanyl addiction.
The consequences have been stark: drug use increased, homelessness intensified, and many taxpayers relocated.
“These were huge issues,” noted Carmen Rubio, a City Council member currently running for mayor. “It was a perfect storm.”
An overwhelming desire to address the city’s challenges has sparked interest in public office, with 19 candidates campaigning for mayor and 98 vying for City Council positions. Nearly all are promoting left-leaning platforms, typical for Portland. Progressives frequently attribute the policy failures to unforeseen circumstances like the fentanyl crisis, as well as issues in implementation, while moderate candidates criticize the city’s hard-left turn and advocate for substantial policy revisions.
“I didn’t move to Portland because it was weird,” commented Rene Gonzalez, a city commissioner and mayoral contender. “I moved to Portland because it was livable.”
Along with Portland, numerous liberal cities like San Francisco and Minneapolis have weathered pandemic-related closures, protests, increasing crime rates, and rising homelessness in recent years. However, the specific policy choices made by the city and state have exacerbated these challenges in Portland.
The consequences are quantifiable: nearly 12,000 people left Multnomah County between 2020 and 2023, according to data from Portland State University. The exodus during the 2020-2021 period alone resulted in nearly $1.1 billion in taxable income departing the city, as analyzed by the Economic Innovation Group. Today, downtown Portland is largely deserted, and its national reputation has tarnished its economic outlook.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a retiring Democratic congressman who has represented portions of Portland since 1996, lamented that certain areas of downtown resemble “Dresden in World War II.”
“I’ve spent 54 years trying to make Portland the most livable city in the country or in the world,” Blumenauer shared, with evident emotion, during a mid-September interview as he prepared to vacate his Capitol Hill office. “No one’s going to describe it like that now.”
The ‘Summer of Rage’ explains the intense competition among candidates for the next city government. The mayoral race predominantly highlights four candidates. Three of the current City Council members are in contention: Gonzalez seeks to capture the law-and-order vote; Rubio emphasizes pragmatic progressivism; and Mingus Mapps champions mental health services and economic revitalization. The wild card in the mix is Keith Wilson, a self-made CEO who founded a nonprofit focused on addressing homelessness in Portland.
An August poll from Gonzalez’s campaign revealed an eight-point lead for him over Mapps and Rubio, yet 40 percent of voters remained undecided.
Meanwhile, the City Council race is in disarray. Portland is transitioning from four at-large seats to twelve seats across four districts. The diverse candidates include leaders from the Black Lives Matter movement, nonprofit advocates, business owners, and police officers.
This extensive field of candidates does not easily align into clear factions. Although most lean left, they propose a range of solutions to address residents’ primary concerns regarding crime, drug use, homelessness, and economic revival.
Political demonstrations have long been woven into Portland’s identity. In 1990, protesters famously ingested food coloring and medication to regurgitate red, white, and blue in front of the hotel where Vice President Dan Quayle stayed. Following this, a staffer in the George H.W. Bush administration dubbed the city “Little Beirut,” a nickname that locals embraced, even inspiring a local band.
Yet the summer of 2020 marked a distinct turning point. Initially, citizens flocked to the streets for Black Lives Matter protests, including a powerful moment where they laid down for nine minutes on Portland's iconic Burnside Bridge to honor George Floyd. However, as summer progressed, the climate shifted: peaceful demonstrations began to blend with destructive actions, drawing outside agitators more interested in chaos than justice.
For over 100 nights, downtown Portland erupted into turmoil. In response, President Donald Trump deployed federal law enforcement officers to the city. Reports circulated of protesters being forcibly detained by federal agents. The Portland Police Department faced criticism for both insufficient action and excessive force. In August, a shot was fired at a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer.
The “summer of rage,” as termed by the New Yorker, represents a pivotal moment for the city and is influencing the current election.
“The riots sort of broke [Portlanders’] spirit,” reflected former Mayor Sam Adams in an August interview at Deschutes Brewery in Portland’s Pearl District, just blocks from the chaos.
In the wake of the unrest, the City Council agreed to implement some of the changes requested by BLM advocates, which included cutting $15 million from the police department budget and disbanding the Gun Violence Reduction Team, following findings of disproportionate targeting of Black and Brown individuals. Consequently, however, gun violence surged, leading to a record high of 101 homicides in 2022.
Terrence Hayes, who chaired the community oversight group for the Portland Police Department’s new Focused Intervention Team until last July, is running for City Council in the new first district, which spans east Portland, often informally referred to as “the other Portland.” As of 2020, only 53 percent of residents in that district were white, in contrast to 70 percent or more in the city’s other three districts. Additionally, over 60 percent of residents in that district earn less than the city’s average annual income of $75,000.
Hayes, whose cousin was killed by a police officer in 2017 and who has served time in prison, observes that some policy changes prompted by the 2020 BLM demonstrations negatively impacted Black communities like his. For instance, he contends that dismantling the Gun Violence Reduction Team ultimately ended up harming rather than helping his community.
“Nobody considered that there would be an uptick in gun violence … especially in Black communities,” Hayes asserted. “Because we didn't really listen to those communities. We spoke for them, and we made decisions for them.”
The city’s policies around drug decriminalization and open camping laws exacerbated feelings of insecurity. During lockdown periods, homeless encampments proliferated in empty public spaces, some becoming hubs for fentanyl distribution. Even those who supported decriminalization and endorsed a compassionate approach to homelessness found themselves feeling unsafe in their neighborhoods.
“Political rhetoric in 2020-2021 in the City of Portland was incredibly ideologically driven,” Gonzalez responded, suggesting that there was a “default conversation” surrounding critical topics like homelessness and police reform that stifled open dialogue.
When reflecting on whether Portland’s progressive values are reflected in performative actions, Adams affirmed this perception, attributing the erosion of its reputation to the impact of riots, encampments, and the escalation in crime and drug use.
“Portland sort of found a ... compassion red line,” Adams remarked, as he campaigns for a position on the Multnomah County Commission this November.
Gonzalez reiterated this viewpoint. “Things got so bad that politicians could tell the truth,” he stated. “I could be 100 percent honest and couldn't be guilted into saying things different than what I was seeing.”
As the situation unfolded, it led to significant changes: Portlanders voted out police reform advocate Jo Ann Hardesty in favor of the more law-and-order Gonzalez in the 2022 City Council election, and they passed a referendum to establish an entirely new city government structure alongside ranked choice voting. Additionally, the city implemented new limits on public camping, and the state legislature recriminalized most drugs.
While candidates like Gonzalez applaud these developments, Rubio expresses caution, fearing the city might revert to older, ineffective policies rather than enhancing and refining new approaches. She advocates for not merely banning tents without a comprehensive plan to increase affordable housing and provide temporary shelter solutions, particularly those that offer on-site mental health and addiction services.
One emerging strategy involves the Temporary Alternative Shelter Sites, which have begun to appear around the city. These fenced-in lots featuring white and black tiny homes are operated by the San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Alchemy, capable of housing several hundred individuals. Despite receiving favorable reviews from lawmakers across the political spectrum, funding remains a challenge, and there aren’t enough tiny homes available for everyone in need.
Regardless, the TASS initiative illustrates the kind of pragmatic progressive policies Rubio believes the city should pursue instead of reverting to punitive measures.
“We have to move away from this dichotomous view of things,” Rubio emphasized in August. “We can hold multiple truths at the same time.”
The stakes are high for Portland’s future. Mother’s Bar and Bistro has served the community for over 25 years, but owner and executive chef Lisa Schroeder lamented that the once-thriving business is now on the brink of collapse, due to the lack of workers and tourists returning to downtown.
“We're losing money every day,” Schroeder reported, projecting that the restaurant's revenue this year will reach less than half of pre-pandemic levels.
“If you look down the street at nine o'clock on a Friday — I have video — it is empty,” she shared. “You’d think they were filming a movie.”
In 2023, real estate firm Colliers ranked Portland as the top city in the nation for office vacancy, with more than 30 percent of the central business district unoccupied. U.S. Bank, a significant employer downtown, made headlines in September when it announced it would not renew its lease in the iconic Bancorp Tower, commonly known as “Big Pink” due to the tint of its glass facade. While other neighborhoods in the city have experienced a renaissance since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, downtown Portland continues to struggle.
Rebuilding Portland's national image while addressing the myriad issues will be a central responsibility for the new mayor.
Both Rubio and Gonzalez are under scrutiny for traffic violations and, in Rubio’s case, allegedly leaving the scene of a crash. She has publicly stated that she is “taking accountability and moving forward.” Conversely, Wilson lacks name recognition and tends to focus singularly on the issue of homelessness in a city facing many challenges. Many Portlanders also seem unclear about Mapps’ current campaign status.
Moreover, the newly established city charter that Portlanders approved in 2022 does not clearly delineate the responsibilities of the mayor.
“We have no idea how these pieces fit together,” Blumenauer remarked, choosing to remain neutral in the race to serve as a resource for whichever candidate prevails. “I don't think anybody has fully thought through how these pieces will fit together.”
Schroeder, who has a vested interest in the upcoming mayoral decision, expressed her disillusionment.
“I don't love any of the mayoral candidates. I haven't endorsed any, although many have asked me to,” she revealed, listing their various shortcomings. In her view, Gonzalez is overly rigid, while Rubio embodies excessive compassion and represents the same policies that have led to current challenges. Mapps, she adds, “talks like butter,” but lacks the supporting history to back it up. Additionally, she doubts that Portlanders can effectively navigate the new ranked choice voting system.
“I feel,” she said, “forlorn.”
Emily Johnson contributed to this report for TROIB News
Come this November, Portland will undertake yet another transformative move.
In a decision indicative of either hope or desperation, voters in Rose City have opted to dismantle their entire government structure, replacing it with a weaker mayor, an expanded City Council, and a system of ranked choice voting.
A significant motivator for this shift was the 2020 passage of “Measure 110,” which decriminalized all drugs and garnered support from 74 percent of Multnomah County residents. However, voters did not foresee how this decision would affect a city already in a precarious financial situation, with ongoing public health crises and escalating rates of homelessness and fentanyl addiction.
The consequences have been stark: drug use increased, homelessness intensified, and many taxpayers relocated.
“These were huge issues,” noted Carmen Rubio, a City Council member currently running for mayor. “It was a perfect storm.”
An overwhelming desire to address the city’s challenges has sparked interest in public office, with 19 candidates campaigning for mayor and 98 vying for City Council positions. Nearly all are promoting left-leaning platforms, typical for Portland. Progressives frequently attribute the policy failures to unforeseen circumstances like the fentanyl crisis, as well as issues in implementation, while moderate candidates criticize the city’s hard-left turn and advocate for substantial policy revisions.
“I didn’t move to Portland because it was weird,” commented Rene Gonzalez, a city commissioner and mayoral contender. “I moved to Portland because it was livable.”
Along with Portland, numerous liberal cities like San Francisco and Minneapolis have weathered pandemic-related closures, protests, increasing crime rates, and rising homelessness in recent years. However, the specific policy choices made by the city and state have exacerbated these challenges in Portland.
The consequences are quantifiable: nearly 12,000 people left Multnomah County between 2020 and 2023, according to data from Portland State University. The exodus during the 2020-2021 period alone resulted in nearly $1.1 billion in taxable income departing the city, as analyzed by the Economic Innovation Group. Today, downtown Portland is largely deserted, and its national reputation has tarnished its economic outlook.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a retiring Democratic congressman who has represented portions of Portland since 1996, lamented that certain areas of downtown resemble “Dresden in World War II.”
“I’ve spent 54 years trying to make Portland the most livable city in the country or in the world,” Blumenauer shared, with evident emotion, during a mid-September interview as he prepared to vacate his Capitol Hill office. “No one’s going to describe it like that now.”
The ‘Summer of Rage’ explains the intense competition among candidates for the next city government. The mayoral race predominantly highlights four candidates. Three of the current City Council members are in contention: Gonzalez seeks to capture the law-and-order vote; Rubio emphasizes pragmatic progressivism; and Mingus Mapps champions mental health services and economic revitalization. The wild card in the mix is Keith Wilson, a self-made CEO who founded a nonprofit focused on addressing homelessness in Portland.
An August poll from Gonzalez’s campaign revealed an eight-point lead for him over Mapps and Rubio, yet 40 percent of voters remained undecided.
Meanwhile, the City Council race is in disarray. Portland is transitioning from four at-large seats to twelve seats across four districts. The diverse candidates include leaders from the Black Lives Matter movement, nonprofit advocates, business owners, and police officers.
This extensive field of candidates does not easily align into clear factions. Although most lean left, they propose a range of solutions to address residents’ primary concerns regarding crime, drug use, homelessness, and economic revival.
Political demonstrations have long been woven into Portland’s identity. In 1990, protesters famously ingested food coloring and medication to regurgitate red, white, and blue in front of the hotel where Vice President Dan Quayle stayed. Following this, a staffer in the George H.W. Bush administration dubbed the city “Little Beirut,” a nickname that locals embraced, even inspiring a local band.
Yet the summer of 2020 marked a distinct turning point. Initially, citizens flocked to the streets for Black Lives Matter protests, including a powerful moment where they laid down for nine minutes on Portland's iconic Burnside Bridge to honor George Floyd. However, as summer progressed, the climate shifted: peaceful demonstrations began to blend with destructive actions, drawing outside agitators more interested in chaos than justice.
For over 100 nights, downtown Portland erupted into turmoil. In response, President Donald Trump deployed federal law enforcement officers to the city. Reports circulated of protesters being forcibly detained by federal agents. The Portland Police Department faced criticism for both insufficient action and excessive force. In August, a shot was fired at a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer.
The “summer of rage,” as termed by the New Yorker, represents a pivotal moment for the city and is influencing the current election.
“The riots sort of broke [Portlanders’] spirit,” reflected former Mayor Sam Adams in an August interview at Deschutes Brewery in Portland’s Pearl District, just blocks from the chaos.
In the wake of the unrest, the City Council agreed to implement some of the changes requested by BLM advocates, which included cutting $15 million from the police department budget and disbanding the Gun Violence Reduction Team, following findings of disproportionate targeting of Black and Brown individuals. Consequently, however, gun violence surged, leading to a record high of 101 homicides in 2022.
Terrence Hayes, who chaired the community oversight group for the Portland Police Department’s new Focused Intervention Team until last July, is running for City Council in the new first district, which spans east Portland, often informally referred to as “the other Portland.” As of 2020, only 53 percent of residents in that district were white, in contrast to 70 percent or more in the city’s other three districts. Additionally, over 60 percent of residents in that district earn less than the city’s average annual income of $75,000.
Hayes, whose cousin was killed by a police officer in 2017 and who has served time in prison, observes that some policy changes prompted by the 2020 BLM demonstrations negatively impacted Black communities like his. For instance, he contends that dismantling the Gun Violence Reduction Team ultimately ended up harming rather than helping his community.
“Nobody considered that there would be an uptick in gun violence … especially in Black communities,” Hayes asserted. “Because we didn't really listen to those communities. We spoke for them, and we made decisions for them.”
The city’s policies around drug decriminalization and open camping laws exacerbated feelings of insecurity. During lockdown periods, homeless encampments proliferated in empty public spaces, some becoming hubs for fentanyl distribution. Even those who supported decriminalization and endorsed a compassionate approach to homelessness found themselves feeling unsafe in their neighborhoods.
“Political rhetoric in 2020-2021 in the City of Portland was incredibly ideologically driven,” Gonzalez responded, suggesting that there was a “default conversation” surrounding critical topics like homelessness and police reform that stifled open dialogue.
When reflecting on whether Portland’s progressive values are reflected in performative actions, Adams affirmed this perception, attributing the erosion of its reputation to the impact of riots, encampments, and the escalation in crime and drug use.
“Portland sort of found a ... compassion red line,” Adams remarked, as he campaigns for a position on the Multnomah County Commission this November.
Gonzalez reiterated this viewpoint. “Things got so bad that politicians could tell the truth,” he stated. “I could be 100 percent honest and couldn't be guilted into saying things different than what I was seeing.”
As the situation unfolded, it led to significant changes: Portlanders voted out police reform advocate Jo Ann Hardesty in favor of the more law-and-order Gonzalez in the 2022 City Council election, and they passed a referendum to establish an entirely new city government structure alongside ranked choice voting. Additionally, the city implemented new limits on public camping, and the state legislature recriminalized most drugs.
While candidates like Gonzalez applaud these developments, Rubio expresses caution, fearing the city might revert to older, ineffective policies rather than enhancing and refining new approaches. She advocates for not merely banning tents without a comprehensive plan to increase affordable housing and provide temporary shelter solutions, particularly those that offer on-site mental health and addiction services.
One emerging strategy involves the Temporary Alternative Shelter Sites, which have begun to appear around the city. These fenced-in lots featuring white and black tiny homes are operated by the San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Alchemy, capable of housing several hundred individuals. Despite receiving favorable reviews from lawmakers across the political spectrum, funding remains a challenge, and there aren’t enough tiny homes available for everyone in need.
Regardless, the TASS initiative illustrates the kind of pragmatic progressive policies Rubio believes the city should pursue instead of reverting to punitive measures.
“We have to move away from this dichotomous view of things,” Rubio emphasized in August. “We can hold multiple truths at the same time.”
The stakes are high for Portland’s future. Mother’s Bar and Bistro has served the community for over 25 years, but owner and executive chef Lisa Schroeder lamented that the once-thriving business is now on the brink of collapse, due to the lack of workers and tourists returning to downtown.
“We're losing money every day,” Schroeder reported, projecting that the restaurant's revenue this year will reach less than half of pre-pandemic levels.
“If you look down the street at nine o'clock on a Friday — I have video — it is empty,” she shared. “You’d think they were filming a movie.”
In 2023, real estate firm Colliers ranked Portland as the top city in the nation for office vacancy, with more than 30 percent of the central business district unoccupied. U.S. Bank, a significant employer downtown, made headlines in September when it announced it would not renew its lease in the iconic Bancorp Tower, commonly known as “Big Pink” due to the tint of its glass facade. While other neighborhoods in the city have experienced a renaissance since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, downtown Portland continues to struggle.
Rebuilding Portland's national image while addressing the myriad issues will be a central responsibility for the new mayor.
Both Rubio and Gonzalez are under scrutiny for traffic violations and, in Rubio’s case, allegedly leaving the scene of a crash. She has publicly stated that she is “taking accountability and moving forward.” Conversely, Wilson lacks name recognition and tends to focus singularly on the issue of homelessness in a city facing many challenges. Many Portlanders also seem unclear about Mapps’ current campaign status.
Moreover, the newly established city charter that Portlanders approved in 2022 does not clearly delineate the responsibilities of the mayor.
“We have no idea how these pieces fit together,” Blumenauer remarked, choosing to remain neutral in the race to serve as a resource for whichever candidate prevails. “I don't think anybody has fully thought through how these pieces will fit together.”
Schroeder, who has a vested interest in the upcoming mayoral decision, expressed her disillusionment.
“I don't love any of the mayoral candidates. I haven't endorsed any, although many have asked me to,” she revealed, listing their various shortcomings. In her view, Gonzalez is overly rigid, while Rubio embodies excessive compassion and represents the same policies that have led to current challenges. Mapps, she adds, “talks like butter,” but lacks the supporting history to back it up. Additionally, she doubts that Portlanders can effectively navigate the new ranked choice voting system.
“I feel,” she said, “forlorn.”
Emily Johnson contributed to this report for TROIB News
