Skip to main content
CITY WILL FIRE 91 WORKERS FOR REFUSING VACCINATION: The city of Portland is poised to fire 91 city employees for failing either to provide proof of vaccination or request an exemption by Oct. 18. That represents 1.5% of the city’s 6,146 total employees. Vaccination status is still pending for another 47 employees, who include employees brought onboard in recent days, those getting their second shots, and those awaiting exemption approval. Another 342 city employees received a religious or medical exemption. The city says it will not share bureau-specific numbers: “Releasing any information that could potentially identify an employee’s confidential health information presents both privacy and safety concerns, and we take these matters very seriously.” Mayor Ted Wheeler says he won’t try to enforce a vaccine mandate on Portland Police Bureau officers, who have an exemption courtesy of state policy. Just last week, Multnomah County released its vaccination numbers: 99% of its workers were vaccinated, partially vaccinated or had applied for an exemption.
DEADLY SECURITY GUARD SHOOTING LEADS TO $200,000 PAYOUT: The widow of a man whom a security guard killed outside Dream On Saloon in 2019 agreed Oct. 18 to a $200,000 settlement from the owners of the deep Southeast Portland nightclub. The club’s security guard shot and killed Eugene Pharr, an unarmed 42-year-old, in the parking lot. “This is not a fair result—there are no ‘fair’ results in wrongful death cases,” says Elaine Pharr’s attorney, Michael Fuller. “However, the settlement may help provide a sense of closure to the family.” Pharr filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the club and the security guard, Francisco Swafford, in 2019 after a Multnomah County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by Swafford, in part due to Oregon’s “stand your ground” laws, WW reported at the time. The settlement arrives as nightclubs in the central city rely increasingly on squads of armed guards to deter gun violence (“Hired Guns,” WW, Aug. 11, 2021). Attorneys for Swafford and Dream On Saloon did not respond to WW’s request for comment.
MULTNOMAH COUNTY CHAIR’S RACE BEGINS WITH UNUSUAL AD: The four-way race for Multnomah County chair got off to an odd start Oct. 7 when Here Together, a group that campaigned successfully for Metro’s $2.5 billion homeless services measure in 2020, released a short video featuring Shannon Singleton, an aide to Gov. Kate Brown. Singleton announced her candidacy for county chair Sept. 14. The video doesn’t mention Singleton is running for chair but shows her speaking about housing and homelessness, which will certainly be the focus of the chair’s race. Here Together represents a coalition of dozens of nonprofits and elected officials, including Singleton’s three opponents, County Commissioners Sharon Meieran, Jessica Vega Pederson and Lori Stegmann. They are not thrilled. “It looks like a campaign commercial,” says Meieran’s campaign spokeswoman Jessica Elkan. Vega Pederson’s and Stegmann’s campaigns say they agree. Singleton says she won’t use the ad in the race. Here Together executive director Angela Martin says the video was produced long before Singleton entered the race, is not an endorsement, and has nothing to do with the election. Therefore, she says, it won’t be reported as an in-kind campaign contribution.
U.S. ATTORNEY FINALISTS NAMED: A list of seven finalists for the top federal prosecutor’s job in the state, the U.S. attorney for Oregon, was released Oct. 19 by U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. The position has been held on an interim basis since Feb. 28 by Scott Asphaug, who replaced Billy Williams. Typically, new presidents select U.S. attorneys from names submitted by each state’s U.S. senators. The finalists for Oregon include Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel; Vivek Kothari and Vamshi Reddy, former federal prosecutors now in private practice; and current assistant U.S. attorneys Craig Gabriel, Joseph Huynh, Rachel Sowray and Natalie Wight. Each candidate will now be interviewed by a selection committee previously named by Wyden and Merkley. The public can also comment by contacting Wyden’s office by Nov. 5.
