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David Linn, a 41-year-old candidate for Portland City Council, was pulled from the Portland Community-Engaged Policing Committee a day before he was set to be appointed.
In late September, Linn’s name was on a list of five new appointees to the committee published on the City Council’s agenda. The committee is designed to act as a liaison between police, City Hall and the public, but has struggled to fill its 13 seats. Linn applied to PCCEP in July, he says, and announced his candidacy for City Council early last month.
On Sept. 26, the day prior to the council approving his appointment, Linn received an email from Stephanie Howard, Mayor Ted Wheeler’s director of community safety, saying her office would “not be proceeding with your appointment at this time.”
Linn tells WW he has gotten no further explanation why he was suddenly removed from consideration. “I just kind of got the impression that they didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
Linn is currently a member of the Centennial School Board and has worked for more than a decade as an executive assistant at the Oregon Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology. He’s been an advocate for Portland Street Response, the widely popular program that has still struggled to secure funding.
The council later approved the other four appointments. The committee remains one member short.
WW’s sent Wheeler’s office a request for an explanation on Wednesday, but has received no response.