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UNION LEADER FLOATS A RUN FOR GOVERNOR: Melissa Unger, executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 503, is weighing a run for Oregon governor in 2022, multiple political insiders tell WW. For months, one of the central questions surrounding the 2022 Democratic primary for governor has been whom public employee unions would support (“Open Oregon,” WW, June 2, 2021). But it’s a surprising step for a union executive to mull a run for office rather than exerting influence from the outside. An SEIU 503 spokesman did not deny Unger might throw her hat in the ring but said she had other priorities. “Melissa is focused on her current job,” says Ben Morris. “At the same time, our union is closely watching the candidate field in the governor’s race. We believe there must be a candidate who is a champion for Oregon’s working families…. When that candidate emerges, our members will be ready to support them.” Others dismissed the political likelihood of a union leader successfully running for the highest office in the state. “It’s a joke that will never happen; they just don’t realize it yet,” says one observer.
MAYOR FLAMBEED ON OPEN THREAD: Mayor Ted Wheeler sent an email July 1 to hundreds of people who had previously attended meetings to discuss Portland’s civic priorities, inviting them to a conversation about the city’s use of American Rescue Plan dollars. Wheeler failed to blind carbon copy recipients. That was a mistake: What ensued was a public thrashing by progressive activists on the list, who said Wheeler’s focus on repairing the city’s downtown but saying little publicly about heat wave deaths was shameful. Nat West of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider wrote: “Why wasn’t the Bureau of Emergency Management incredibly visible throughout the city? Why did 60-plus have to die? Why is the city pointing fingers at the county, the county at the state, the state at the feds and the feds at the Republicans? Isn’t there work we can do now?” Seemab Hussaini, vice chair of the Oregon chapter of the Council for American Islamic Relations, added: “There is nothing being done to address 45 deaths….So pardon us for caring and taking advantage of the mayor’s office in slipping up with their email distribution. And thank you to all who have shown that you see this as an inconvenience. For the rest, silence is violence.” The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
FEWER FIREWORKS, FEWER FIRES: Portland Fire & Rescue says a citywide ban on the sale and use of all fireworks led to an 80% reduction in blazes sparked by patriotic celebrations over the Fourth of July weekend. Portland, Multnomah County and most surrounding cities outlawed fireworks—even handheld sparklers—in the days leading up to the holiday, fearing destructive fires amid the heat wave and parched conditions. The fire bureau says the ban worked: From June 23 to July 6, it traced just nine fires to fireworks, down from 44 over the same time period in 2020. Investigators still haven’t announced the cause of a four-alarm apartment fire that killed two people in Irvington in the early hours of July 4, but the bureau has hinted it suspects fireworks. “This tragedy was preventable,” said Fire Chief Sara Boone.
PORTLAND GUNFIRE INCIDENTS DOUBLE: The city has seen 579 shooting incidents to date in 2021—more than twice the number at this time last year, according to the Portland Police Bureau. In comparison, there were 262 shooting incidents from January to June 2020. Data provided online by Portland police shows that injuries resulting from gunfire have also increased: The bureau logged 119 injuries from gunfire between January and May 2021, compared with 44 injuries in the same period last year. The new numbers follow an eventful Fourth of July weekend, when police say they found more than 80 cartridge casings following a July 3 shooting in the Alberta neighborhood. On the previous evening, July 2, a WW correspondent observed 14 rounds fired along Northeast Going Street; witnesses described to WW gunfire exchanged between two vehicles. Nationwide, at least 150 people were killed by gunfire over the holiday weekend, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
