Sarah Iannarone: An Open Letter to Mayor Wheeler on Police, Houselessness, and Housing

Oregon Progressive Party urges you to vote for Sarah Iannarone for City of Portland Mayor. 

This is her most recent email to supporters:

Over the weekend, the Oregonian reported that during the last three years, Portland Police have made a majority of their arrest of houseless individuals. Further, they demonstrated that housing is the key to preventing their being arrested again. The team and I are shocked at this waste – this morning, I sent an open letter to Mayor Wheeler making concrete demands on how to address this problem. I sent the letter to all of Council and community leaders, because the people of Portland deserve transparency on where these solutions originate.

The letter pushes to reallocate wasted money to housing, to authorize purchasing hotels as emergency shelters for the houseless, and to stop prosecuting victimless crimes that the houseless can’t avoid. Read the letter here.

It concludes: “The solutions detailed here are actionable and the need for them urgent. As back in March when I suggested the City push for a community coronavirus response weeks prior to implementation, Portland needs timely leadership that’s rarely forthcoming from your office. You recently mocked my campaign for proposing a Guaranteed Basic Income pilot program for low income Black mothers, only to announce a new partnership days later to provide gift cards to low income people. You slander me as ‘antifa,’ and deny there are people identifying as fascists in Portland the same week a neo-Nazi plastered my Foster-area neighborhood with recruitment stickers and awful slurs against Jewish people. Portland is not well served by your refusal to see the real problems in our midst, nor in your rejection of progressive solutions. You have appropriated my policies many times. I implore you to listen to me when I give you a blueprint to addressing issues at the intersection of policing, housing, and houselessness.”

As Mayor, I’ll stop the waste of our resources on failed tactics that harass the unhoused. While Wheeler is busy fighting for the right to buy elections, we’re fighting for the rights of the vulnerable, and to invest in the supports they need to thrive.

Onward,

Sarah Iannarone
Candidate for Portland Mayor

http://www.progparty.org/