Efforts to revive Portland provide a lesson for both large and small cities throughout the country. The visible decline of Oregon’s largest city — which has strong economic and cultural ties to Vancouver — triggers debates about politics, social policy and policing; so, too, will attempts to reverse that decline.
On Monday, at the annual Oregon Leadership Conference, Gov. Tina Kotek outlined the monthslong work of the Portland Central City Task Force. Among the most pressing needs: A ban on public drug use; an increase in policing; and tax breaks to attract businesses to the city.
A ban on public drug use should be a priority. In 2020, Oregon voters approved Measure 110 with 58 percent of the vote, largely turning drug possession into a civil matter rather than a criminal one. Results have been predictable, combining with a growth in the fentanyl trade to exacerbate the issues of addiction and homelessness. A fix to that situation will require intervention from the Legislature.
Meanwhile, advocates for similar measures in other states need only look to Oregon to see the deleterious impact of easing restrictions on dangerous substances.
But other issues surrounding Portland are more complicated. Among them is the assertion that the city embraced the “defund the police” movement that took hold in 2020. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police in Minneapolis, some critics sought to reduce policing in major cities.
Budget cuts in most locales were minimal. Portland reduced the budget for its police force by approximately 5 percent and within a year restored much of the funding. The assertion that police departments in the Northwest were greatly diminished by funding reductions are false.
That does not, however, negate the need for action in Portland — a fact that matters to residents of Clark County. Portland’s response to homelessness, its drug policies and its economy all have an impact on this side of the river. Tens of thousands of Clark County residents work in Portland, many in the downtown core. Thousands more frequent the city for entertainment or shopping.
Portland’s policies also have an impact that transcends the state line. Local officials must be cognizant of the links for homelessness and drugs between the two communities and must maintain open communication with leaders throughout the metro area.
With all that in mind, Kotek demonstrates awareness of Portland’s changing image. “Sometimes turning on the TV, looking at billboards around the city or checking out news stories is like reading an obituary of Portland written by people who never truly knew it at its best,” she said. “The truth is, Portland was never Portlandia.”
Portland’s mayor and city council members are officially nonpartisan, but critics often blame a progressive ethos for the city’s decline. In truth, some of the issues stem from a national inability to effectively deal with homelessness and the flow of illicit drugs; Boise, Idaho, hardly a bastion of liberalism, is struggling with its own serious homeless issues. Decades of diminishing federal investment in housing and mental health services have thrust the resultant problems upon local governments.
Portland’s leadership has been slow to embrace its obligation to deal with such problems; the result has been trash, vandalism, violent crime and encampments that have been ignored for too long. Going forward, the city’s response will set the tone for the entire metro area.
