In response to your first question - you could be right. And politically it might make sense for Brown. Both Wheeler and Brown have been in a state of decisive paralysis in order to avoid pissing off the left.UNI88 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 11:41 amDid Gov Brown hijack the authority by deputizing the Rapid Response Team? Or was it Oregon State Police Supt. Travis Hampton bypassing both Wheeler and Brown? My money's on Hampton.DuckDuckGriz wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:53 am
Well, this is an interesting move in response to your earlier question about how Gov Brown and Ted Wheeler will handle this.
Gov Brown hijacked authority here by deputizing PPB to get around the stifling restrictions Ted Wheeler's put on them, without putting the backlash from the left back on Wheeler.
What a mess.
As a local, do you think Multnomah County DA Michael Thomas will press charges against the Corbett road-block vigilantes after letting Portland rioters and looters off the hook?
Ironically, the narrative in Portland prior to this was that there needs to be more autonomous power at the mayoral level. The council/mayor system in Portland is outdated and leads to more infighting than actual legislative momentum. It's 9 cooks in the kitchen at all times and is the biggest hindrance imo to addressing fundamental issues like the homeless crisis.
The commissioners play a massive role in the way this is managed - and they have publicly abandoned Wheeler as his office has suddenly become a national flashpoint. I don't know that I'd touch it either. He's on an island.
Another point I don't think people around the country realize - the candidates that Wheeler is running against: Sarah Iannarone and (write-in candidate) Teressa Radford are even less supportive of PPB than Wheeler is.
In your second - I think you mean Mike Schmidt. I don't have any idea legally what grounds there are for intimidation, public nuisance, etc etc. I do think it was a mistake for Schmidt to publicly state his position on this. He undermined the case-by-case nature of the system by publicly stating a position. He didn't have to say anything.
He was JUST elected by promising to do what the commissioners can't - make the PPB less of a revolving door for homeless. That was March, literally right before all of this took off.
A crisis like this in a local election year. Perfect fucking storm.
I don't know if I answered your question. But thanks for letting me rant.
EDIT: my habit of saying "pubic" instead of "public"