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Dear friends,
This morning, the Wall Street Journal published a critical article about Portland. While I wish they’d covered our rapid improvements in public safety, new residents, business opportunities, regional destinations, and creatives. Instead, they focused on the upcoming sale of “Big Pink,” an iconic part of the Portland skyline, and a business tenant who left over safety and livability concerns.
We all know that our current livability, economic, and public safety situation is not normal or acceptable. No worker or business owner should have to put up with “fires in stairwells, smoking fentanyl and defecating in common areas.” No neighborhood should feel abandoned to face the hazards and contamination from tents, tarps, and RVs. Nobody should wait 23 minutes or longer for responders to arrive after making a “Priority 1” emergency call to 911.
Your City Council will vote on the budget tomorrow that will impact you and your family. The Timbers and Blazers have told us what they need from the budget. Minority-owned businesses have said the same. So have neighborhoods in every corner of our city.
They’re not alone in asking our City Council to prioritize public safety. In fact, 69% of Portlanders agree that our law enforcement first responder staffing should keep up with peer cities, instead of falling further behind.
Families, workers, creatives, developers, and business owners have told our elected representatives the same thing: restore livability to downtown, end unsheltered homelessness, and focus on public safety. Get the basics right, and Portland can stop lagging peer cities on safety and economic issues.
If you have five minutes today, I hope you’ll email or call your city councilor to make your priorities known. If you have ten minutes, I hope you’ll provide written testimony for the May 21 council budget meetings. If you have an afternoon, you can even testify in person.
I’ve made my priorities clear. It’s time to pass a budget focused on building Portland's future: a budget that supports public safety, economic opportunity, and ending unsheltered homelessness. That's how we will unlock prosperity from our tallest towers to our furthest neighborhoods.
Onward,
 Mayor Keith Wilson
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