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Last week, WW released its endorsements in 40 contested election contests on the November ballot, as well as 14 ballot measures. One of our decisions, however, vacuumed up all the oxygen: an endorsement of challenger Rene Gonzalez over incumbent City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. Many longtime readers expressed feelings of betrayal. Two days later, Hardesty’s own campaign was fundraising on the outrage generated by WW’s endorsement of her opponent. Here’s what our readers had to say:
Candace Avalos, via Twitter: “This town doesn’t deserve the countless women of color who actually make the change Portlanders cry out for only to dump them immediately the moment they threaten your power, scapegoating them for the damage the problematic men you support created. Shameful & grotesque.”
JT, via wweek.com: “It’s been pretty interesting over the past few months to see WWeek get some religion on being more even-handed and logical as it relates to city government and the issues Portland faces. Props for that.”
Klint Finley, via Twitter: “WWeek’s endorsement of Gonzalez is a betrayal of its readership and the city the paper is meant to serve. As usual, The Mercury’s endorsements are on point.
“WW’s endorsement reasoning is unbelievably bad. It’s based entirely on the fact that he’s not Hardesty, even though they admit that she’s being unfairly blamed for the city’s issues and has much to recommend her despite her mistakes. WW is suggesting by implication that Hardesty is so bad that Gonzalez couldn’t possibly be worse, as they are not able to come up with any good reason to vote for him other than ‘Portland needs change.’
“There are numerous problems with this logic, foremost among them that Gonzalez doesn’t represent meaningful change. Despite his claims to the contrary, he is the status quo. He represents Portland traditional centers of power: the police unions, real estate developers, and other business interests that have fought real change in Portland for so long. Hardesty is one of the few city counselors to challenge that status quo in any meaningful way…
“Gonzalez’s campaign is based on a lie: that there’s a quick and easy way to end crime and homelessness, and that it’s incarceration. This is as untrue today as it was four years ago when we first elected Hardesty. We need more like her.
“For all WW’s ‘We need change at any cost’ doomer attitude, they are also opposing charter reform. WW is not advocating change. They’re advocating an eternal status quo that benefits the rich at the expense of the vulnerable.”
youdidntreddit, via Reddit: “I’m a Hardesty supporter and I find it absurd that the one left-wing City Council member is getting blamed for everything wrong with Portland when the center has the majority.
“But there has been a massive failure by leftists in Portland of treating homelessness as a serious issue in beyond making the status quo more comfortable for homeless people. It’s all complaints about anything the centrists propose with no actual plans to fix a problem. If you can’t even admit it’s bad for people to be sleeping on the street or in a public park, then you can’t be surprised that most of the city isn’t listening to you.”
portland polite, via wweek.com: “Oh, man. You know the city really is a dumpster fire when even WW acknowledges it by endorsing Rene and bailing on the awful Jo Ann. Nice job, WW.”
Mayor_of-Sassyland, via Reddit: “It turns out that the general voting population, based on polling, prefers a candidate who at least gives lip service to general concerns of safety and crime enforcement over one that barely even acknowledges these are a problem. This isn’t that hard to figure out.
“Hardesty has done great work with [Portland Street Response] and [the Portland Bureau of Transportation], and she has consistently been the most engaged and accessible to her constituency. But her blind spots on two issues, that happen to be the top two issues consistently in polling (crime/safety and homelessness), along with tone-deaf messaging, are going to sink her candidacy. If she had shifted even just a little bit, I don’t think she would be in this predicament.”
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: P.O. Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com