Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler halts meeting as testy exchange over tent ban derails agenda

good morning thank you for the time uh Ted I believe the last time I saw you in this kind of setting was when I gave testimony demanding that you end the use of poisonous gas on humans in this city I recognize that there must have been some sort of miscommunication about when we were talking about the tent ban um I'm gonna go for it let's give some context as to why I'm here to address rain Renee Gonzalez's ban on the distribution of tents and sleeping bags via Street response in the fire department I operate within a framework of mutual aid for folks who don't know what that is mutual Aid is a voluntary is extremely disrespectful to the police accountability commission that have this floor right now to discuss their item you're not talking about that so either get on topic we're going to ask you leave their impression is inaccurate I don't know where you got that information we post the agenda the agenda is very clear in terms of what we're discussing it's a public document the police accountability oversight Commission it's not on it is not on today's agenda you see these people standing up like we're all here for it well you're here at the wrong time I'm sorry this is the police accountability Comm I cannot but I can tell you it's not right now so the the way that people give public testimony on any subject on any subject you would like to get public testimony you can see the council Clerk or you can go to the council Clerk's website you can sign up to talk about any subject you want for three minutes at a city council meeting I would encourage you to do that absolutely not right now it's not on today's agenda that is correct the item you are referring to is not on today's agenda you can talk about it during Communications yes and she would be more than delighted to sign you up for that all right well if the ban is killing people it's inhumane and it's evil and it's State Farm and can I get a fun time dealer in the chat you know when you do that it actually totally undercuts the rest of your argument yeah well and and as a result of your behavior nobody really cares what you think either did you consider that possibility all right next um you know what um we're gonna go to Virtual if you have one more outburst and I I don't care if you like me or not that's not the point the point is you are disrespecting other people who have put a lot of time and energy into the police accountability commission and you are being extremely disrespectful of their time and energy and I don't know why you think your opinion is more important than theirs at this particular juncture so if you want to stay stay on point do not interrupt do not disrupt the people who are trying to speak who signed up to testify on the police accountability report I'm just asking you to be decent people can you do that you're not sure okay well we'll find out next individual please next up we have Rochelle Chase Miller foreign be they a police officer or a politician they take on the obligation to work in the best interest of all citizens Constance will have said public service is about serving all the people including the ones who are not like you but how does one represent those who are from who are different from themselves when decisions are based in paternalism and the presumption that the powerful know more about the needs of their constituents and the constituents themselves leaders are not demonstrating accountability to those they serve that's why commissions such as the police accountability commission are so important when cruelty is cloaked as tough love for people we don't trust to participate in making the decisions that impact them the most we are not being accountable a lot of terrible actions have been justified by paternalism and Supremacy colonization slavery residential schools conversion therapy are all examples of those in power claiming to know what is best enforcing inhumane policy on the people they've dispossessed and reinforced by police and politicians the same oppressive paternalism is present in commissioner Gonzalez's decision to deny tents and tarps to unhoused people during freezing winter conditions no less the claim that denying shelter will help more than it hurts is not data driven and it is not Humane I'm coming back to that accountability please do [Music] blankets and sleeping bags don't do a lot of good in the rain and snow without the ability to stay dry and the idea that you solve a problem like tent fires recess we're in recess we'll reconvene virtually recording stopped

Channel: The Oregonian

Views: 5,325

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Id: xbBelA1MEcM

Length: 5min 29sec (329 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 02 2023