Your Voice, Your Vote: 2024 Portland Mayoral Debate presented by Willamette University

Candidates for Portland mayor delved into the complexities of homelessness, crime and public safety Thursday night in a debate hosted by KATU in partnership with Willamette University, as the city prepares for major changes to its form of government next year.

Portland’s current mayor, Ted Wheeler, decided against running for reelection, and 19 candidates are vying to be the next mayor of the Rose City. Five of them debated during KATU’s event: City Commissioners Rene Gonzalez, Mingus Mapps and Carmen Rubio, as well as Keith Wilson, the CEO of a local trucking company and founder of nonprofit Shelter Portland, and Liv Østhus, an activist, writer, musician, artist and stripper working in Portland.

After the first of the year, Portland will no longer be a commission form of government and whoever is elected mayor during this year’s Nov. 5 election will take on a new role. The mayor will no longer vote with the City Council, except as a tiebreaker. The new mayor’s position will also be more administrative.

Also, as part of the changes, 12 city councilors will be elected from four newly created districts.

KATU’s Steve Dunn moderated the live televised debate that took place at Willamette University’s Pacific Northwest College of Art in downtown Portland.

The candidates debated the city’s camping ban and the state’s new law that recriminalizes the possession of hard drugs, as well as new deflection programs aimed at giving people the option of drug treatment before they end up in the legal system.

But the issue of homelessness and the tents that have sprung up within areas of the city was the central issue the candidates debated Thursday.

"I’ve led on the enablement culture in the city of Portland. That means cessation of handing out tents and tarps that creates an environment that draws more into the city of Portland," Gonzalez said. "At the same time I fully support, as part of the Gonzalez plan on shelter, I fully support the task sites and Safe Rest Villages."

Task sites and Safe Rest Villages provide "onsite behavioral health, addiction, mental illness and has a much superior track record of getting people placed in long-term housing," Gonzalez said.

He took aim at one of his opponents on the stage, Wilson, saying his plan is far better than the congregate shelters that Wilson advocates for, claiming more people turn down congregate shelters than they do task sites and Safe Rest Villages.

Wilson did not directly address Gonzalez’s claims during his response to the question of how the city would alleviate homelessness within its borders, even though he was the next candidate after Gonzalez to speak about the issue.

"We’ve got a city that is not taking action," Wilson said. "And then we have individuals who say, ‘We’re going to apply tough love,’ but tough love without love is just cruelty."

He said the humanitarian crisis needs to be addressed first, and the city can’t just use congregate shelters, task sites or Safe Rest Villages to be part of the solution. Everything at the city’s disposal needs to be used to end homelessness, he said.

https://katu.com/news/politics/homelessness-central-topic-in-katus-portland-mayoral-debate
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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: October 19, 2024, 3:03 am.

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