Mayor Ted Wheeler Responds to Author of Forbes Magazine Piece Trashing Portland: “He’s Wrong”

The mayor says downtown will return when COVID leaves, adding that New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Fran are in same boat.

Passersby watch the installation of Flanders Street Crossing. (Mick Hangland-Skill)
By Nigel Jaquiss

Mayor Ted Wheeler today took issue with a recent essay published in Forbes magazine by Bill Conerly, an economist who lives in Lake Oswego.

Related: Portland is the new Pompeii, according to Forbes.

In a brief Zoom interview, Wheeler responded to Conerly's premise: that Portland is being systematically destroyed by crime, protests and visible homelessness.

“It’s very unusual when somebody who lives in a community trashes the community for the national media,” Wheeler said. “I can’t understand what purpose that is serving, particularly when he’s wrong.”

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Bill ConerlyCOVID-19 coronavirusForbes manazineTed Wheeler

Nigel Jaquiss

Nigel Jaquiss

Reporter Nigel Jaquiss joined the Oregon Journalism project in 2025 after 27 years at Willamette Week.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

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