“A Whole Lotta Nothin...” Portland Mayor Wilson’s First Six Months

The American people sent a powerful message and elected fresh blood, forward-thinking candidates, and aggressive leaders everywhere, including in Portland. Love or hate him, Donald Trump is making history with the number of initiatives, actions, orders, and areas of exploration he’s juggling before just three weeks in office. Again, you don’t have to like any of it to recognize that changes are being made, actions are being taken, and it’s impressively a lot at once. Sadly, it’s more than anything we’ve seen in Portland.

This is the first year Portland has increased its council seats fourfold. Furthermore, Keith Wilson is the most moderate candidate elected in the Portland Metro area in over a decade. Many active participants in Portland politics have been waiting for something from the new city government. Every day, I open the news, hoping for some new directive or creative solution to address one of the dozens of serious issues plaguing our city. So far, it’s been nothing.

Mayor Wilson has already shown that Portland City employees are the inmates running the asylum. The first and only authentic leadership action Wilson has taken since being in office is mandating city employees return to the office for work every day. It took less than a week for the cries and screams of abuse to reach the labor unions, who then intimidated Wilson into retracting the order and threatened him with a strike. One of the most critical issues that most of us expected Wilson to address was the inflated union labor contracts and their influence over city-employed, taxpayer-funded employees. The unions in Portland have significantly contributed to the rising inflation, faltering education, failing hospitals, and unavailable 911 operators, among other issues. Now that we know Mayor Wilson left his spine in the CEO chair, can we expect the unions to run the show downtown for the rest of his term? What will ever get done if a city hall employee strike threat is enough for Wilson to cave?

Additionally, many original Wilson supporters believed he would bring new, private sector-inspired solutions to the homeless problem. Unfortunately, his proposal and budget fell short of acceptable and could be summed up in one sentence: “Keep bleeding money until the problem eventually stops.” I am starting to wonder if he’s the creative executive he claimed to be. As a voter, I can understand that the homeless issue is so far gone and has become so complex that it’s going to take more than a weak new mayor and twelve people playing politics for the first time to make any progress. Still, the expectation should be to focus on other issues simultaneously or in a row. Mayor Wilson has yet to address the serious drug problems caused by the decriminalization of narcotics that still impact tourism, health, crime, and housing. He has spoken about it, but ultimately done or shown nothing meaningful.

Additionally, he has been relatively quiet about the recent abysmally low educational scores, which may not be under his direct jurisdiction but speak to the city's overall state. However, the mayor should be putting pressure on the board and superintendent in a public manner. Hiding at City Hall, attempting to please everyone, helps no one. The mayor should exert severe and aggressive pressure on every failing agency, department, and jurisdiction. He seems too afraid to act, and our city needs a fighter, not another passive politician.

High taxes, subpar services, and poorly executed labor are partly to blame for Portland's struggles. At the same time, cities such as Nashville, Austin, and Tampa Bay have experienced exponential growth during this period. The only way to combat these problems is for city leadership to shift its focus from a political popularity contest to addressing the real issues. Not only is Mayor Wilson’s weak and passive approach going to hinder more than help- the council and the mayor are inexperienced and are seeking immediate validation, which doesn’t come easily in this town. This is a first-time politician in his first term, with a council of almost all new politicians in their first terms. It looks to be a recipe for disaster. The fear of losing popularity has impeded their ability to implement some aggressive changes. I would argue that most of us in Portland prefer to see some action taken rather than no action at all. In a city on the brink of disaster, having a sense of urgency is not optional for politicians.

I look forward to seeing what the mayor and the new Council develop in the upcoming months, but I am not holding my breath. These newly elected officials have had their chance to make a good first impression—and failed. At this rate, Portland residents should sit back, relax, and enjoy another four years of turbulence. If these first months indicate what to expect from the City Council and the Mayor’s office this term, where do I send my no-confidence vote?