Skip to main content
Last week, WW took a close look at Vadim Mozyrsky, a candidate for Portland City Council who hopes to unseat Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty (“Detail Work,” April 20). He’s campaigning on a pledge to bring order to a city that’s become synonymous with messiness. Mozyrsky, Ukrainian immigrant and Social Security Administration judge, is a figure whose tight hold on his emotions contrasts with Hardesty’s heart-on-sleeve persona. Yet opinions of how well Mozyrsky collaborates tend to fall along ideological lines: Those who agree with him say he’s a pleasure to work with, while those who disagree with him have accused him of bullying. Here’s what our readers had to say.
OregonJive, via wweek.com: “If this guy reboots half of the basic common-sense things that use to just be standard operating procedure for any U.S. city, he will go on to be mayor of Portland. Then we name the city after him: Vadimland.”
A9, via Twitter: “Portland: where you can be accused of anti-Black racism and deny a ton of disability claims, but @wweek and voters will like you ‘cause you don’t have a dusty house.”
Joshua Marquis, via wweek.com: “This op-ed masquerading as a news article tries to paint immigrant Vadim as a ruthless automaton, in contrast to Jo Ann Hardesty’s kind persona. Anonymous lawyers whining that he doesn’t dish out more of the limited resource of billions of Social Security dollars are hardly the most reliable or objective observers.”
Fancy Evan, via wweek.com: “‘I’m fighting for what I think is a voice that’s not heard or represented in those halls,’ says the guy who thinks we need to get tough on unhoused people and be nicer to the police.”
Rudiger, via wweek.com: “The biggest problem Jo Ann had was not anticipating these problems and communicating those drawbacks to her constituents.
“Defund the police? OK, but you have to prepare people that it is gonna be a transition.
“Focus on long-term housing solutions? OK, but how many homeless are there? What rate are we moving people to long-term housing? Are people willing to wait?
“Communication, folks. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Inevitable_Raccoon85, via Reddit: “Vadim sounds like a serious guy who has gotten involved in the community and will take his responsibility to the public seriously, and understands that the status quo isn’t working and we need change. He also clearly won’t just go along with the woke kumbaya bullshit just to appease outspoken voices who do not represent the silent majority of Portland. In other words, he has a backbone. He sounds like a good, solid middle ground between Hardesty and Gonzalez, who seems kinda creepy and right wing. He has my vote.”
SometimesPDX, via Twitter: “If only he had glasses to match Wheeler, Ryan and Adams.”
LETTERS to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: PO Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com