This isn’t the Portland of 2020. The city has tried to turn the page after the murder of George Floyd sparked 170 days of protests and 13 nights of riots five years ago.
In the aftermath, voters threw out their old government structure and last year elected a slate of new leaders who pledged to create more accountability. The police bureau has more oversight — and a new chief — and Portlanders feel like they have more direct representation by people who live around them and think like them.
Now those leaders, with very little elected experience, are taking on President Donald Trump as he insists the city is so out of control with violence he must send National Guard troops in. A federal appeals panel of judges on Thursday appeared swayed by his administration’s argument and may allow the troop deployment.
But the City Council’s first president, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, contends it’s the White House presenting a false narrative of Portland and residents should not feed into it.
“We are looking at a federal administration that is trying to incite the reality that they are trying to describe,” she said — noting that federal officers have been more aggressive outside the ICE office of late. Protesters are reporting more aggressive action by ICE officers, such as arresting three protesters during a peaceful daytime protest for trespassing and allegedly pushing an elderly couple to the ground on October 4. ICE did not provide a response to Pirtle-Guiney’s accusations by publishing time.
POLITICO talked with Pirtle-Guiney about the new government and how it is dealing with the president, immigration agents on the ground and federal troops possibly coming in on Trump’s orders.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
This is kind of trial by fire, right? Portland is in a very unique situation in this country right now because of the amount of attention that it is receiving from the president. Were you preparing for a situation like this?
I think we all in Portland have known that we would likely be the recipient of his attention at some point. You point out rightfully the newness of this council, but there’s also a lot of really deep experience that counselors bring forward, separate from being in elected office, that are helping us meet this moment.
One member of our council was on the Portland City Commission in 2020. I was in the governor’s office in 2020 when the City of Portland was last the recipient of Donald Trump’s attention. We have councillors with very deep relationships to some of the groups that lead rallies and direct civic actions in our community, and who are able to have conversations that some of our other colleagues are not able to have.
We have a member of council who is actually a member of the National Guard, and another counselor who has prior military experience, so they’re able to look at what’s happening on the ground in a different way and bring different background and information to our conversations.
In 2020, there was a lot of disconnect between the police, city officials and Portlanders. That was part of the reason that tensions got so high even before federal agents and officers showed up in the city. There’s a different strategy this time. How much of that has to do with there being a new government structure?
There’s a lot of differences between this moment and 2020 — and one of them is that the thing that Portlanders are upset about is very different.
In 2020 we were talking about how our police engaged with our community. Today, we’re talking about the federal government’s actions against members of our community. That’s a very different backdrop for the way in which we all work together.
But there’s another big change, which is that in 2020 we had this commission form of government where different commissioners were in charge of different bureaus. … Under Portland’s previous form of government, each Commissioner had a portfolio of bureaus that they managed. Some people referred to it as a bunch of mini mayors. … That works in a smaller community, but Portland had outgrown that form of government.
Portlanders said “No, we need a more streamlined form of government. We need better accountability.”
One of the main things that people wanted the city to have more accountability for in 2020 was the Portland Police Bureau, correct?
Portland definitely in 2020 — like many other cities across the country — had a real reckoning over what tools our police were using and how they were interacting with the community. And frankly, I’ll say we’ve seen a lot of changes since then.
Bringing it back to today… There are members of the City Council who have previously been in the advocacy and the activist world. How has that helped disseminate a clear message about what Portland’s city officials want Portlanders to be doing in terms of peaceful protesting, not taking the bait?
I think there’s an important flow of information going two ways right now … We are able to partner with community groups to get information from folks who are helping to organize events, and bring people together to respond to the actions of the federal government.
We also are able to get information out across the city about why we are saying, “hey, let’s not engage. Let’s stay peaceful,” and explain to Portlanders why that’s so important in trying to limit the federal footprint in our city right now.
Why is that important to limit the federal footprint?
The [district] judge who heard the city’s case about the temporary restraining order saying that the President can’t deploy the National Guard in our city [earlier in the week] — one of the things that Judge Immergut made very clear is that the facts on the ground don’t necessitate federal intervention. The facts on the ground don’t necessitate the deployment of the National Guard, and that the President’s characterization of the facts on the ground is completely disconnected from the truth.
So ensuring that stays true — that the city doesn’t become what Trump is painting it to be — is integral to maintaining this legal standing over not deploying the National Guard to the city?
Exactly. And I actually want to take what you just said one step further. Because it’s not only the reality that the President is trying to paint about our city, it’s the reality that the President is trying to incite.
Unfortunately, what we have seen over the past few days, is that the federal agents who are here are trying to incite a response from Portlanders. They are moving out further and further from the ICE facility here … They have, we believe, used unwarranted excessive force on a couple of occasions. There was a Portlander who was injured down there the other day.
So we are looking at a federal administration that is trying to incite the reality that they are trying to describe.
Looking ahead, what concerns you? What are you worried about?
I hope, I expect, that the highest elected leader in our country follows the court’s orders.
I worry for Portlanders who are scared right now because we have seen very violent immigration enforcement in other cities … and they don’t know if that same type of very violent immigration enforcement is coming to our city or not.
I’ve talked to Portlanders about the impact 2020 had on Portland in terms of its national perception — especially economically. Are you concerned that this could undo a lot of the work that Portland has done in the last few years to get itself back to where it was?
I’m not at all concerned about the situation on the ground. It is perfectly safe to come to Portland.
I’m sitting in my office downtown, looking out the window right now, and folks are walking around from late lunches. There’s a landscaping crew at the office building across the street right now.
What I am worried about is our reputation. Because when Portland is back on the news — and we know that some outlets have been showing old footage of our city — we certainly can’t afford to have people worried about their upcoming trips here. That does concern me, because again, what we’re seeing in our city is not what some of the national narratives are.
