Murmurs: Former Portland Police Chief Mike Reese Will Run State Prisons

FORMER PORTLAND POLICE CHIEF MIKE REESE WILL RUN STATE PRISONS: Gov. Tina Kotek has appointed veteran cop Mike Reese to run the Oregon Department of Corrections. The appointment shakes up the race for Portland mayor, for which Reese was mulling a run and would have likely been a leading candidate. “He has an unparalleled record within the public safety sector for being a collaborator and a problem solver, guided by justice, equity, and a commitment to uphold the public’s trust,” Kotek said in her Oct. 24 announcement. Reese climbed the ranks of the Portland Police Bureau to chief before retiring in 2015. He was elected Multnomah County sheriff the following year and retired from that position in 2022. In that long law enforcement career, he’s probably best known for evicting the Occupy Portland protests that camped out in downtown parks in 2011. Now, he’s back once again, running the state’s beleaguered prisons. ODOC is short corrections staff, and a state-commissioned report released earlier this year found widespread problems at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, the women’s prison, including retaliation and sexual misconduct. Advocates are now calling for the Wilsonville facility to be closed.

GOV. KOTEK WEIGHS IN ON RACE FOR 5TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: The biggest race on the Oregon ballot next year may be the race in the 5th Congressional District, where three Democrats—the 2022 nominee, Jamie McLeod-Skinner, state Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Happy Valley) and Metro Council President Lynn Peterson—are competing for the nomination to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.). Breaking with the practices of her predecessor, Gov. Kate Brown, and other top elected officials, Gov. Tina Kotek on Oct. 24 issued a ringing endorsement of Bynum, with whom she’d clashed in the Oregon House after Bynum challenged the then-House speaker’s leadership. “With a bipartisan track record in the statehouse to prove it—on everything from gun violence prevention and affordable housing initiatives to reproductive rights—Janelle is the type of change we need to see in D.C.,” Kotek said. “She’ll give Oregon families the representation they deserve in the halls of Congress.” The announcement means that, in a span of two hours, Kotek has influenced both the mayor’s race and a congressional primary.

REP. BLUMENAUER NEARS DECISION ON RETIREMENT: The will-he-or-won’t-he discussion about U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s reelection plans are louder than normal this year. Blumenauer, 75, has held one of the safest seats in Congress since 1996 and this year celebrated a half-century in elected office: He first won election to the Oregon House in 1973. In recent weeks, he’s consulted family and friends about whether to retire or stick around for what looks like a determined attempt by the GOP majority to fumble control of the U.S. House to Democrats. “Every election cycle about this time, Earl starts having conversations with family and friends to decide if he should run for reelection,” says longtime aide Willie Smith. “As he says, every cycle those conversations get harder. He has been having those conversations and is very close to making a final decision. We anticipate he will be making it very shortly.” Should Blumenauer decide to retire, among those mentioned as potential successors are Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal and former County Chair Deborah Kafoury.

LONGTIME BUREAUCRAT, NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD CHAIR JOIN CITY COUNCIL RACE: Twenty-seven Portlanders so far have filed notices of intent with the City Elections Office to run for Portland City Council next year. The latest filers include 57-year-old Moses Ross, board chair of the Multnomah Neighborhood Association; a 34-year old software engineer, Joseph Emerson; and 45-year old event engineer technician Michael DiNapoli. Then there’s Olivia Clark, a longtime political adviser and bureaucrat who’s had a decadeslong career working for various government entities. Clark served as the city of Salem’s legislative director under three mayors, then for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality as its legislative director, then as a top aide to Gov. John Kitzhaber, and finally went to work for a decade at TriMet as its public affairs director. Clark has also served on a number of community advisory boards. Ross, DiNapoli and Clark are all running in District 4; Emerson is running in District 2.

BAD TRIP LANDS PILOT IN PORTLAND JAIL: The off-duty pilot who tried to shut down the engines on an Alaska Airlines flight on Sunday may have been tripping on psychedelic mushrooms, according to an affidavit by an FBI agent. Alaska flight 2059, operated by Horizon Air, was en route from Everett, Wash., to San Francisco when Capt. Joseph Emerson, riding in a jump seat in the cockpit, tried to shut down the plane’s thrust by engaging an emergency system that squelches fire in the engines. The two pilots wrestled him into submission and made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport. Emerson, 44, of Pleasant Hill, Calif., made small talk with the pilots before takeoff. In the skies near Portland, he took a turn, throwing his headset across the cockpit. “I’m not OK,” Emerson said before reaching up and pulling the fire handles. One pilot grabbed Emerson’s wrist and the other declared an emergency. Emerson fought back for about 30 seconds, then “quickly settled down,” the affidavit says. Fortunately, Emerson wasn’t able to pull the fire handles all the way down, the pilots told the FBI agent. If successful, he “would have shut down the hydraulics and the fuel to the engines, turning the aircraft into a glider within seconds,” the affidavit says. Under arrest at PDX, Emerson talked with police about psychedelic mushrooms and said it was his first time taking them. The plane, an Embraer 175, carried 76 passengers, three lap infants, four crew, and Emerson for a total of 84 on board.