In the rules that govern the Portland City Council, one of the first lines reads: “City officials shall treat their office as a tangible representation of the public trust granted to each Councilor.” Councilor Anna Trevorrow violated this trust when she pushed through a resolution to postpone the clearing of the Harbor View Park encampment.
Councilor Trevorrow waited several hours into the council meeting to introduce her non-binding resolution, all but assuring she would have no public comment to oppose her. This followed the introduction of Ordinance 68, by the same councilor, in a manner that I believe was also designed to limit public comment. Fortunately, through the Freedom of Information Act, the citizens of Portland were alerted to the plan to change the rules to permit public camping across the city.
Despite where one stands on the issue of the encampments, the citizens of Portland deserve to trust the councilors they have elected to represent them on government issues. How can we trust a council that supports this subversive process of pushing through policies and does not want to hear the opinions of the people they took an oath to represent?
Kristen Carreras
Portland
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