Partnership for Regress
Poor showing at a pro-police rally marks a rough start for Portland’s newest right-wing political organization.
On the morning of Wednesday, May 28, at Menlo Park (E Burnside & SE 122nd), a new political organization had a lackluster showing at their pro-police press conference. The event was scheduled for the day before to protest the $2 million budget “uncrease” to the Portland Police Bureau’s $313 million budget to maintain Portland Parks.
It may be a new organization, but it was a who's who of the Portland reactionary political scene: Portland Police Officer Eli Arnold, former Alaska Mayor Bob Weinstein, perennial candidate Vadim Mozyrsky, and Terrance Hayes, among others. They all came together under the banner of Partnership for Progress.
The press conference was met by counterprotesters, mainly from the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Tensions were high as police supporters and community members started to clash. Soon after it began, it became apparent that more counterprotesters had shown up than supporters.
Shouts were heard from the crowd, interrupting the press conference. One person yelled, “$308 million! You have $308 million! You don’t need two more.” Another yelled, “This is actual fascism right here.”
The scene became chaotic. You could hear arguments from multiple parts of the crowd. In an act of human decency, the hosts allowed some supporters of parks to speak.
ACLU Oregon Executive Director Sandy Chung said, "I want you to remember this every year: Portland police—and police departments across the country—keep asking for more and more money. The United States has the highest rate of people in our jails and prisons of any country in the world.
If funding the police made our community safer, we should be the safest city and country in the world. But that has not been the answer.
So what we are asking is to make sure that the city funds the things that everyday Portlanders know make our community safer."
The Partnership for Progress was not the only one involved in this endeavor. Future Portland, Portland’s business elites PAC, sent the announcement for the poorly attended conference the day prior. The email came from their Policy Director, Vikki Payne, according to a screenshot sent to me by the Portland Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Vikki is also the Communications & Project Manager for County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards. She sent the email at 3:23 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, during the workday. Is Payne working for a political organization on county time? I wonder if tax hawks like Eli Arnold and Bob Weinstein think this is a good use of public dollars.
If you go to the Partnership for Progress website, they list the same policies that fail the working class and communities of color time and time again.
Increase police spending (Expanding the police state, arrest the poor)
Business-friendly (lower) tax rates
Fiscal responsibility (Privatize public services)
Even more disappointing is their unwillingness to address the core issue around housing and homelessness, which is the cost. Their Housing & Economic Development page doesn't address building more market-rate or affordable housing, avoiding the topic entirely.
This organization is another ploy by the business elite and right-wing reactionaries to rebrand themselves to fool uninformed voters with their neo-liberal solutions that have continually failed this city. Their attempt to pass off faux-populism and right-wing ideology as “apolitical”," rational, “and “moderate” is played out, and Portlanders won't fall for it anymore.
Excellent write-up! We are seeing their true motives. I hope Arnold and Weinstein don’t run again for D4 next year!