October 20, 2020

Statement Regarding Budget Work Session at City Hall

Today at City Council, Mayor Ted Wheeler opposed Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s call to put more money into community hunger reduction programming. The Mayor also supported cuts to Portland Street Response, a program he has repeatedly cited in defending his commitment to police reforms.

Sarah Iannarone, Candidate for Portland Mayor, released the following statement:

The current Mayor showed us today that his priorities are not with the people impacted by the economic downturn, nor with the Black Lives Matter movement. Hunger is a hidden crisis in Portland, made worse by COVID, and yet the Mayor will feed the insatiable police budget, but not the poor families who have lost so much this year. Small businesses have had to cut back and close, yet the city continues to pour money into police overtime. Portlanders demand a fully funding Portland Street Response, feeding our neighbors with precious public dollars, and that we stop putting good money after bad in the bloated and often ineffective police budget.