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@damikeschmidt
Fact: Under the policies of DA Schmidt, crimes are up and safety is down.
Fact: Under DA Schmidt, many longtime professionals in his office are quitting.
Fact: Under Schmidt, prosecutions for theft, vandalism and property crimes are down.
Our crime issue is a drug issue. Our homelessness issue is a drug issue. Portland's demise is due to drug addiction, full stop. M110 has hurt us considerably, and we must reform it ASAP.
EIGHTEEN arrested since February 1 and EVERY single one now walks free. This is not a serious response from
@DAMikeSchmidt
. What’s it going to take for elected officials to take this crisis seriously?
Recipe for disaster: defund police, eliminate the gang violence unit, eliminate gun task force, a DA who won’t prosecute, no accountability for rioters, keep jail beds empty. Hello, Ted, Deborah, Mike, Kate? This city and its people need leadership now.
Portlanders can no longer use public places because city, county and state politicians refuse to enforce the law. Enforce the no camping ban. Fix BM 110 to make drug treatment mandatory. Create safe detox centers. Hire and get more cops on the streets.
You know what would bring businesses back downtown? If their employees didn't have to worry about their personal safety. If they didn't have to constantly worry about theft and property damage. If
@DAMikeSchmidt
did his job.
No need to “reinvent” downtown. Just restore safety, order, cleanliness and affordability and people and businesses will follow. Each requires political leadership, action and policy changes. As goes Portland, so goes Oregon.
COVID is not the only reason people are leaving Oregon. It’s also the policy choices and leadership failures from our elected leaders. Crimes going unprotected. Never ending homeless camps. Open air drug use. Rising addiction and overdose deaths. Higher taxes and lower quality of
TRUTH: Many on the streets refuse help because it may come with basic rules of civilization they don’t want to follow. The Supreme Court needs to end this insanity and restore the rights of communities to regulate and ban public camping.
"Oregon has turned into an international spectacle and I think we looked at each other and realize that we made an enormous mistake," Portland-based trial attorney Kristin Olson told Fox News.
There are reasons why public camping is illegal - it’s dangerous for everyone. Fires. Rape. Drugs. The media and public need to ask EVERY local and state politician WHY they allow it and WHEN will they enforce the law?
BM 110 is failed experiment. Legislators should fix it now. Reinstate penalties for dangerous drugs. Create carrot/stick incentives for addiction treatment. Big investments in detox care centers. End public camping. Balance law enforcement & public health.
Few people have as much credibility when it comes to criticizing our city as Bill, who has been a Portland resident for 82 years. In today's People of Portland series, he tells us what he thinks it will take to get back to the city we love.
Even though our elected officials refuse to take action, that doesn't mean that you can't. We've got three letters that you can send those officials to hold their feet to the fire and demand better. If you haven't yet added your name to these, please join the chorus.
Blaming COVID for people not coming downtown isn’t credible. Other cities are back - Portland is an outlier. Homeless camps. Open air drug use. Lack of public safety are the driving factors NOW. Acknowledge problems - fix problems.
What have the billions spent over the past 5 years accomplished? The Metro $2.5 billion homeless services tax promised to “end the homeless crisis.” It’s worse!
@tedwheeler
@jvegapederson
Multnomah County voters are DONE with extreme policies pushed by narrow interests that hammer household budgets while serious problems like homelessness and public safety get worse. Politicians should listen.
Elected officials at all levels are moving too slowly, too timidly. As goes Portland, so goes Oregon. End dangerous camping. Require drug and mental health treatment. Deregulate housing to boost supply. Stop enabling. More accountability.
We'll be at the Rose Festival today reminding folks what the
#SchmidtShow
has led to: record crime, fewer prosecutions and empty jail beds.
We will continue to remind
@damikeschmidt
that his policies have failed all of us.
The indifference of DA Schmidt to repeat offenders and property crimes is truly remarkable. Zero compassion for victims. Shoulder shrug about need for action. No leadership. Too often east county is left behind. What a Schmidt Show.
Statistics don’t lie. But, perhaps losing taxpayers and tax dollars will finally get the attention of local, state and federal politicians. Big changes in policy are needed. Who will lead the charge?
TO DO:
1) Restore street safety by ending public camping.
2) Hire and train more cops more quickly.
3) DA prosecute more, more seriously.
4) Leaders stop finger pointing, work together to solve problems.
3 years ago, Mayor Wheeler buckled to pressure from Hardesty to dissolve, defund the Transit Unit within PPB. While a small unit, it represented the misguided idea that Police were the problem, not criminals. Until safety returns, Portland won't recover.
PATHETIC. Let’s hear the Mayor explain why it’s ok to use heroin and meth in Pioneer Square but smoking a cigarette is not allowed.
Just when
@tedwheeler
looked like he was growing a backbone, the jellyfish returns.
What’s he scared of? He’s already vastly unpopular.
Not surprising but very, very troubling news for Portland and Oregon’s future. This is a fire alarm for politicians who for decades have taken population growth and the economic growth it fuels for granted.
3+ years into the blank check $2.5 billion homeless tax - it’s a complete bust. No results. No accountability. No transparency. As taxes go way up, the homeless and drug crisis only gets worse.
This is not some accident. Policy and political choices matter. Big changes are needed.
Uncontrolled homelessness
Open air drug use
Rising crime and violence
Highest marginal taxes in nation
Portlanders are sick of the reality that exists on city streets and the failed policies and empty promises that have created the problems or failed to fix them.
But now after 2+ years of agitating, the politicians now agree with us and the majority of Portlanders on what’s
Optimism will return when safety returns. We need actual urgency & actions - not just talk of both. 1) deploy more LEOs to deter criminal behavior & make arrests NOW. 2) Enforce no camping laws. 3) End open air drug sales/use. 4) Prosecute more offenders.
Would you like the statues of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and others returned to their historic locations in public parks after vandals pulled them down?
Now is your chance to let city politicians know how you feel by completing this short official survey. The questions
Is the purpose of PSR to help people get safely off the streets or to enable them to remain? It’s time to stop enabling and start requiring people to use available services and shelters and to end dangerous public camping.
First give the homeless $1000 a month. Then legalize public camping statewide. Then green light lawsuits by the homeless against property owners. All brought to you by Oregon legislators. Take action here -->
We’re kicking off Rose Festival by taking The Schmidt Show on the road. As you're enjoying rides and fireworks tonight, watch for this.
If you see the Schmidt Show and the County Enablers in the wild, please take a picture, post and tag us!
#schmidtshow
Another long time business leaves, yet again touting property crime as a reason for its departure. The lack of consequences for antisocial behavior impacts all of us.
So much money spent (and yet to be spent) and the problem has simply gotten worse. Until we deal with the addiction crisis, any additional funding will be little more than a handout to the Homeless Industrial Complex.
Thanks to resistance from Commissioners
@SMeieran
and
@BrimJulia
as well as your pressure, it looks like Multnomah Co. will rescind their absurd addiction-enabling policies. Applying pressure works, friends. Thank you.
The politicians just don’t get it. Small businesses are being hammered by nearby homeless camps and open air drug use, fearful employees and customers, vandalism, rising private security costs and higher taxes and fees. STOP making things worse!!
READ THIS! The Homeless Enablers won’t quit until camping in public places and eventually private property isn’t just tolerated but legalized. It’s why all elected officials must be forced to take position and be held accountable.
When weak-on-crime DA Chesa Boudin was being recalled by 60% of San Francisco voters, Mike Schmidt endorsed and raised money for the disgraced prosecutor. Although SF voters are done with Boudin, Schmidt still loves the guy. The two will be together in Portland on December 7 at
At the Business Summit today, apparently Mayor “Tear Gas” Ted Wheeler is trying to blame our billboard for Portland’s problems. Only a desperate politician would blame a billboard for the reality that exists right underneath it. Failed politicians, leadership and policies created
Any of the thousands of people who no longer ride transit in PDX could have told Tri Met that their buses and trains are no longer safe. Until safety is restored, Portland will not recover. Governor’s Task Force take note.
"Every day I feel unsafe". While many on the Inner Eastside are in denial, those who live or work downtown have to deal with the consequences of our inability to deal with crime. We must do better.
Portland at the bottom isn’t an accident. Public policies and leadership matters - city, county and state. Restoring the safety is THE gateway to recovery. End camping. Fix 110. Prosecute more. More street police presence. Clean up the trash & graffiti.
Portland remains full of potential. But marketing campaigns won’t change perceptions about our city - changes in conditions will. This requires ACTIONS by politicians to restore public safety, fix the flaws of BM 110, end rampant public camping, clean up the graffiti and garbage
Yes, graffiti isn't extremely high on the list of the city's problems, but it doesn't help with our perception from visitors (and as such, tourism). Having graffiti covering street signs isn't normal; it's a consequence of a lack of consequences.
One component of restoring safety in Portland is to significantly increase the number of police officers. We need at least 300-400 newly trained officers to adequately police a city our size.
Another unfortunate indicator of the decline of downtown. This says what we've been saying all along: end unsanctioned camping and prosecute crime, or this will continue to worsen.
“'The ecological damage from the camping is tremendous – decades of work, millions and millions of public dollars wasted,' said Bob Sallinger, the former executive director of Portland Audubon and now urban conservation director for the nonprofit Willamette Riverkeeper. 'Trees
Is it any wonder that local businesses are regularly closing up shop and residents are leaving? Public safety is everything; without that we'll never recover.
Another biz throwing in the towel in PDX. Now it's Oregon’s most iconic brand. Can u blame them? W/out public safety, Portland can't recover. It’s drugs. Homeless camps. Crime. Garbage & graffiti. Too few cops & too few prosecutions. Task force take note.
RED ALERT:
Portland has potential, but Portlanders are voting with their feet. Lack of safety. Never ending homeless camps. Open air drug use. Property crimes unprosecuted. High taxes. Underperforming schools. Too many years of politicians taking growth, safety, taxpayers,
The fact that
@DAMikeSchmidt
didn’t realize until just a few days ago that downtown is riddled with crime and unsafe is a breathtaking admission. Hey Mike, you need to get out of your home office more often. Until safety returns, downtown won’t recover.
Top victims advocate quits DA office in protest to Schmidt. Many senior prosecutors leaving the office. State investigators ding Schmidt for gender discrimination. Cops having troubles w/ the DA.
Who is the common denominator here? What a Schmidt Show.
There’s no bottom to the culture of lawlessness that has been allowed to take over Portland. DA Mike Schmidt tells vandals he won’t prosecute them. 1/2
When asked, Wheeler refused to commit to enforcing the public camping ban approved by city council earlier this year. Wheeler had promised to begin enforcement this Fall.
Ever wonder why people don’t trust politicians?
Portland and Oregon continue to make national headlines. First, we decriminalize hard drugs like fentanyl. Then, we need to declare an emergency because of what we did. Portlanders are tired of words. We need action and results. Where do members of the city council and county
Until both the reality and perception of safety is restored, downtown will suffer. We need polices that deliver more cops and less tents on the streets…more prosecutions and less drug addicts. Conditions must change.
The first step to solving a problem is to acknowledge there is a problem. BM110 is a failure. It must be repealed, replaced or substantially reformed. Start w/ a 2 year pause on drug legalization and see if addiction treatment incentives kick in.
Multnomah Co. Commissioners want to spend tax dollars to help drug users & addicts use and abuse dangerous drugs. They call this policy “harm reduction”. We call it nonsense. All harm & no reduction. Join the chorus speaking out.. (1/2)
This situation lays bare the strange culture and incompetence at Multnomah County. With billions for the homeless, why close these shelters? Why man them with volunteers? Freezing temps are not uncommon in PDX winters. Will anyone ever be held accountable?
@jvegapederson
#Orpol
Same Schmidt, different day. Or two sides of the same Schmidty coin.
Here are seasons 1 and 2 of the
#SchmidtShow
back to back. Which one do you prefer and why?
The city will not truly return as long as small business owners have to worry about physical violence, theft and property damage because of our DA's "catch and release" policies. These people deserve so much better.
Words are fine. Actions are better. 1) immediately cut City $ to failed County-run joint office, 2) put ban on open air drug use back before council, 3) quickly pass city resolution against this terrible policy. There must be political and policy accountability and change.
I adamantly oppose distributing paraphernalia to encourage using a drug that is the leading cause of death for Americans under 50 and responsible for 190 fatal overdoses a day in the US.
CALL TO ACTION: Mayor Wheeler is taking a step forward to ban camping in public places during the day...but we must keep up the pressure.
Council will soon vote on his plan & they need to hear from you. Click on the link and join us in sending a message.
More insane nonsense. Rather than "study" the impacts of smoking fentanyl on transit, why not simply enforce the laws against it? Tri-Met has lost all perspective. They should take advice from the rider in this story rather than the UW professor.
It’s time all county, city and state politicians have a reckoning w/ the attitude and policies that allows anyone to sleep wherever they want, whenever they want and do whatever they want.
This DA is a train wreck - full of ideological swagger and theories while his office collapses underneath him and the city and county become less safe.
#PeopleforPortland
The tortured explanations and twisted rationales for elected officials traveling to Portugal to somehow better understand Oregon’s drug crisis made worse by BM 110. How about just touring Lents instead of Lisbon?
This is an EMERGENCY! The DA, Governor, AG, Mayor, County Chair and US Attorney and judges can no longer ignore, make excuses, deflect or rationalize away their RESPONSIBILITY to change policies and procedures to fix this.
As many have noted, only New Yorkers who make $25 million or more face a higher marginal tax rate than Portlanders, who trigger the top rate at the $250,000 level for joint filings. Not adding to the tax burden seems like an easy call to make, particularly in light of the
ICYMI: Portland, we made it to the front page of the
@nytimes
recently, but for all the wrong reasons.
We need real leadership and real policy changes to stop being the butt of jokes nationally and America's cautionary tale. So who is actually going to lead?
@jvegapederson
?
You can’t make this shit up.
How anyone in a position of leadership and authority thinks this is a good idea or acceptable is beyond words.
How about you just live in the city that’s paying you and where your actual work is?
Never has a single county government had so much money and been so dysfunctional. Voters deserve blame too - approving too many new taxes and programs at expense of basic services. Time disband and consolidate city, county and Metro.
HOLY SCHMIDT! A new poll shows 75% of Multnomah County voters want hard drugs made a crime again. Yet Schmidt, a big backer of the disastrous Measure 110, refuses to take a position. We wonder why?
#orpol
#orleg
Our top 5 New Year's Resolutions for local and state politicians. Act urgently to:
1) Hire more newly trained police officers
2) Fix M110; re-criminalize hard drugs
3) Open multiple detox centers
4) End deadly street camping
5) Clean up the damn trash and graffiti
Bonus
THANK YOU. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to extend the Schmidt Show billboard into June! If you roll past it, please take a picture, post it and tag us! And if you feel like extending your generosity further, you can do so here -->
The secret is out nationally, our reputation at an all-time low; the consequences of our policies.
@jvegapederson
deploy the funds to get people off the street, and
@DAMikeSchmidt
prosecute criminals. Halt this downward spiral before it's too late.
BM110 is a failed experiment. Those resisting fundamental change are in denial about its negative individual & community impacts. Keep cannabis taxes flowing to treatment; require treatment as jail diversion; end open air drug use & sales; improve admin.
"How soon is too soon to call a progressive and libertarian policy obsession a public policy fiasco? In the case of Oregon’s Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, better known as Measure 110, the moment can’t come soon enough."
The fact this extreme legislation is even getting a hearing in Salem is Exhibit A of influence of the radical Homeless Enablers and Homeless Industrial Complex. Join the thousands who’ve already taken action against it here -->
Bla, bla, bla. This BS sloganeering is intellectually dishonest and has helped to turn Portland into a cesspool of addiction, death, crime and homelessness. And Oregonians are tired of this nonsense:
We need to shift towards evidence-based policies that prioritize a public health approach to drugs. This includes decriminalizing drugs, allowing for overdose prevention centers across the US, increasing access to the opioid-reversal medication naloxone, and more.
We need different policies and laws from the state, county and city elected officials. Mandatory drug and mental health treatment. Stop enabling, start changing bad behaviors. More legal accountability for breaking the law - arrests, prosecutions, jail.
MUST WATCH: The owner of Mother’s Bistro with NO BS.
HARD DRUGS are killing downtown.
Until the reality and perception of safety returns not just to downtown, but the entire city, Portland won’t recover.
Since news of this absurd policy broke, elected officials from across the spectrum have denounced it-except the 1 politician w/ the power & responsibility to stop it, County Chair
@jvegapederson
.
@DAMikeSchmidt
is also silent. Where do you stand & why? 1/2
Portland is a magnet for homelessness and BM 110 and rampant open air drug use has made a bad situation even worse. Big changes are needed in drug, homeless and public safety policies. But bold political leadership is required.
Good job Portlanders. Last week, 473 of you delivered 3,374 email messages to county politicians urging NO MORE jail bed closures. As usual, DA Mike Schmidt was MIA and never spoke up.
When was the last time you heard a Multnomah County Commisioner say the words “end street camping”? NEVER!
Your voices are making an impact in changing views. Now let’s change the policies.