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Last week, WW examined the fallout from a toxic debate at City Council, a fragmented response by public officials to a Border Patrol shooting, and racist texts sent by a critic of the council’s leftist bloc (“A House Divided,” Jan. 14). Our conclusion? The progressive caucus, or Peacock, had gained a strategic advantage in the battle for council president, largely by making their opponents look ideologically compromised. Indeed, Councilor Jamie Dunphy, a Peacock member, secured the presidency on the 13th vote. Whether any of the councilors will ever speak to each other again is a question on which we will not speculate. Here’s what our readers had to say:
Mr Macbeth, via wweek.com: “This article is a load of bollocks! The Peacocks couldn’t govern the prom location committee. All of them are doctrinaire ‘tax the rich, more free stuff’ clowns who have never contributed eight hours of honest work among them in their entire lives. I don’t live in any of their districts but, my God, I hope the voters there wise up and turn some of them out in favor of people with...what are the words I’m looking for?...education, experience and skill...in November.
“Portland needs cool-headed technocrats creatively tackling/solving problems...not more episodes of Mean Grrrls!: Portland City Hall Edition.”
Aestro17, via Reddit: “Yeah, I’m not thrilled with it, but the last session abruptly adjourning with a shooting by ICE, and the bigoted texts from Brian Owendoff coupled with Dan Ryan taking direct marching orders from him during council, and now Loretta Smith’s issues with her staff. If last week was ugly, this will be worse. And now Peacock at least has more of a leg to stand on.
“I do feel like Peacock also had a valid complaint that Eric Zimmerman was exaggerating about Sameer Kanal’s door-slamming incident. It was immature, but it made him afraid? Come on. I think the accusations of racism were also overblown, but the original complaint was opportunistic.
“I don’t want to see a Peacock president. I think we might end up with one.”
Sarah Jeong, via Bluesky: “Willamette Week nicely ties together two (three?) separate threads in local politics in this follow-up.
“It’s absolutely wild that the giant font phone man was using the public meetings law against the progressive caucus. Like ‘how dare you hold secret meetings’ while secretly texting other councilors what to say.
“Well, I guess in his defense, when the font is that big, it’s not really a secret.”
MountScottRumpot, via Reddit: “Using a single axis to chart political alignment on a nonpartisan city council entirely made up of registered Democrats is stupid and I wish local media would stop doing it. You can chart councilors on an axis of loyalty to business interests, but you can also chart them on loyalty to labor (Elana Pirtle-Guiney would be at one extreme and Ryan at the other), enthusiasm for cars vs. alternative transportation, attitudes toward cops, etc., etc.
“Peacock is trying really hard to make it seem like there are two factions on the council, but that’s bullshit. Those six councilors disagree on a lot.”
Manatmast, in reply: “You have to consider broader national left/liberal split since the early 2010s, or even post-Obama 2008. Let alone since 2024. A significant voting bloc hasn’t emerged like this locally or in any city that I can think of, so there is obviously going to be friction. I can’t speak for you, but I think most people expressing your sentiments really are just more comfortable with a rightward tack that they call ‘collaborative.’”
WDM, via wweek.com: “Wow, Willamette Week! This is not news. It’s speculation, slanted at that. If you were paying attention, you’d know that most people in Portland remain concerned at the dismal condition of our streets, particularly in our commercial areas. Fentanyl addicts still nod out on many corners (and they’re more numerous these days in neighborhoods near the mayor’s new “shelters”). Meth addicts still roam the streets looking for trouble. The seriously mentally ill act out all over the place. Graffiti continues to spread. Tents still regularly block the sidewalks. Property crimes are not even investigated (and more and more businesses refuse to accept cash). And retail spaces continue to be vacated. Does anyone really think that the ‘Peacock’ approach will help Portland get a grip?”
Jack Bogdanski, via wweek.com: “Then everybody had a cookie and some warm milk and put their heads down on their desks.”
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P.O. Box 10770
Portland, OR 97296
Email: amesh@wweek.com
