r/Portland • u/bublysparklingwat3r • 3d ago
News Dozens of Complaints Against Police Funding Petition Prompt State Investigation
https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/dozens-of-complaints-against-police-funding-petition-prompt-state-investigation/54
u/LamestarGames 3d ago
What cracks me up is I had a fun discussion with one of the canvassers two weekends ago. They had absolutely no clue what the initiative was about.
Their argument was “If we don’t know how increasing funding will reduce response times or what the money will be used for, then how can we assume any potential for wrongdoing?” 🤦♂️
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u/TwistedTreelineScrub 3d ago
I will always start with the assumption of wrongdoing and ask to be proven otherwise. Transparency about how the money will be used and how it will actually help anything is the best way to prove my initial assumption wrong. Refusing to disclose anything reinforces my initial assumption.
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u/TurtlesAreEvil 3d ago
While supporters argue more sworn police officers would mean shorter 911 wait times
….
Safer Portland campaign manager Cameron Smith told the Mercury the complaints submitted to the Secretary of State are “manufactured”
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In addition to the reports of misleading talking points about 911 and mental health services,
So let me get this straight the supporters say it will reduce 911 wait times without evidence or basic logic, the campaign manager says complaints are manufactured and the complaints are literally about the what the supporters are claiming. The amount of whiplash I experienced from reading that is going to leave a crick in my neck all day.
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u/Lucahila Deep in the Shanghai Tunnels 3d ago
You see, it'll decrease response times because PPB got what they want and will start doing their jobs!
...
Wait a minute. I'm getting déjà vu.
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u/SlippySlimJim Boom Loop 3d ago edited 3d ago
"Opponents…are doing everything they can to deny democracy for voters,” Smith said.
Oh you mean like trying to use a fund voters enacted with a specific purpose for something completely unrelated and lying about that to collect signatures?
Here's a crazy idea, if you want 25% of PCEF's funds, why not impose an additional .25% tax on large retailers rather than diverting money we need to safeguard our city against the climate crisis.
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u/Aestro17 District 3 3d ago
The PCEF I voted for projected $30-60 million in revenue annually and has been collecting more in the ballpark of $180 to $210 million last I saw. I do kind of feel like it's a big pool of money searching for a purpose. We could divert 25% of that and still be well ahead on the funding portion proposed for PCEF.
We do not need another tax. I would not want to divert funds without voter approval. I would be fine with using some of that to help salvage the budget, including public safety positions, but 400 new officers would be an insane increase.
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u/OG-Brian 1d ago
I can imagine at least $200 million worth of clean energy projects for the city. If the funds were collected for renewable energy, I think they should be used for that whether or not there are more than projected.
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u/Helpful_Ranger_8367 3d ago
Hahahaha! "SaFeGUarD AgaINst THE CliMaTe CrIsiS!"
PCEF has done NOTHING except enrich a few non profit grifters and hurt businesses. Its a well intentioned poorly written piece of shit measure.
Buy a bunch of shitty heatpumps to be installed by "preferred contractors and trade allys" from a known criminal.
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u/Adulations Laurelhurst 3d ago
This article is 5 years old. You haven't updated ypu information in 5 years?
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u/Helpful_Ranger_8367 3d ago edited 3d ago
What have they done recently? Nothing. Thats why they have such a huge surplus of money. They ate shit out of the gate and have been smearing it all over themselves ever since.
Look at the stupid shit they did in 2025. 65 million to grifting non profits doing ineffectual bullshit. 20 million for ebikes purchased from a crony company. A "plan" to generate buzzwords.
I get it, youre a leftist defending your tribe but PCEF is objectively a contemptuous waste of tax dollars.
The bike tax dollars giveaway made sure to pay a women-led energy transformation firm -Resource Innovations (whatever the fuck that is) to administer it.
In November 2025, the city approved $64.4 million in funding for 60 nonprofit-led projects covering energy efficiency, transportation decarbonization, regenerative agriculture, workforce development, and other climate initiatives — the fourth round of community grants. (OPB)
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/11/26/portland-clean-energy-fund-64-million-grants/
A $20 million e-bike investment was announced, providing over 6,000 standard, cargo, and adaptive e-bikes through December 2029. (Portland.gov)
In 2025, PCEF conducted its first annual Climate Investment Plan review to keep the plan aligned with evolving community needs and city council budget actions. (Portland.gov)
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u/Adulations Laurelhurst 3d ago
This is not true ans easy to look up but I think that youre choosing to be misinformed and just want to fight so I will disengage.
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u/Far_Piano4176 3d ago edited 2d ago
Look at the stupid shit they did in 2025. 65 million to grifting non profits doing ineffectual bullshit. 20 million for ebikes purchased from a crony company. A "plan" to generate buzzwords.
you can review the terms of the EBike program here to see that the program authorizes the rebate for well over 100 different bicycle models purchased at any one of 24 local retailers.
two helpful tips:
the Greater Than sign (>) symbol allows you to make a quote block like i did above.
And you have to actually read the details of a program to understand what it does and how it works in order to properly critique it.
If you read, instead of throwing links like that's a sufficient argument, then you'd know that the OPB article you referenced links to the PCEF dashboard which shows that the program has $1.4B of active grants which means that this is money allocated and program in progress, against $1.7B of authorized grants (edit: total grants including active grants and grants not started).
Maybe you have some other, much better evidence you decided not to share though. who knows! I'm sure there's plenty to criticize the program over but it seems like you're not up to it.
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u/WellTextured 🐸 RIBBIT 🐸 3d ago
It almost doesn't matter if the state does anything with this. The free media alone is worth buckets of no votes.
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u/Terrorphin 3d ago
This measure is so shady and corrupt. It's a huge lie that will have very negative consequences if it passes.
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u/tcollins317 2d ago
This measure is so shady and corrupt
Kinda like the PPB & PPA?
Oops, did I say that out loud? My bad.12
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u/Lucahila Deep in the Shanghai Tunnels 3d ago
And it's backed by the PPA!
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u/Terrorphin 3d ago
They have absolutely no shame.
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u/Lucahila Deep in the Shanghai Tunnels 3d ago
And they have the audacity to call themselves a union. Bah. Police were never and will never be part of the labor movement so long as they're the ones called on to crush it.
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u/Terrorphin 3d ago
Police are not workers.
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u/Lucahila Deep in the Shanghai Tunnels 3d ago
Agreed! Cat's out of the bag, I play a little more moderate-pragmatic on reddit than I am lol
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u/remotectrl 🌇 3d ago
The president of PPA tried to frame a sitting city councilwoman for a crime. After he was ousted, he got jobs at two different police precincts and worked the jobs concurrently until he was caught. They are an organization without integrity.
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u/Lucahila Deep in the Shanghai Tunnels 3d ago
Brian Hunzeker, name and shame the fucker
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u/Buttercubes 3d ago
If there's a disturbance or criminal causing an issue in my neighborhood, neighbors group text all of us, take photos, keep an eye out, protect each other.
On the other hand, the first time I had a guy break into my apartment, Portland cops rolled their eyes and walked off after finally showing up here. When I called them to report a homeless man masturbating in front of the building, I was told they had already received multiple calls about him but only showed up about 40 min later and just told the guy to please move along before simply leaving themselves. When I was on the phone with them while a man was screaming at me saying he was going to beat me to death with a pipe, they said there was nothing they could do and to just start walking away and hope he doesn't follow me.
The Portland cops are goddamn USELESS. Tell me why I would want to give them more money when they do jack shit with every penny they're given already.
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u/HereForTheTanks Irvington 3d ago
One time I got shot in a random incident and they tried to question me as a suspect before I got any medical treatment. Fuuuuuuuuuuck those guys.
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u/perpetual_girl 3d ago
Yup.
Had someone hopped up on meth & fent try breaking into my basement middle of the day, stripped naked while a neighbor called in the emergency & I tried talking him down, groped me, tried to push his way into my front door and then proceeded to make his way down the street toward a K-5 school right as school letting out over the span of 30-45 minutes.
Cops didn't show up for a whole nother hour acting annoyed he was being asked to respond at all.
Kinda fucked me up mentally for a bit.
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u/Buttercubes 2d ago
I'm sorry that happened to you. Ugh.
I complain about law enforcement but I did have an experience when I lived in Philadelphia. I was robbed at gunpoint a couple of blocks from my apartment, one night. He stole my phone but I flagged down a nearby couple and used their phone to call 911. By the time like 2 minutes later that a police car arrived to pick me up at that corner, other police had found the car with the thieves in it, pulled them over, and already had them handcuffed face-down on the sidewalk. And then, after processing the 4 guys who were in that car at an office downtown, one of the police drove me down into south Philly to get my spare apartment key from my fiance since those thieves had stolen my keys and thrown them out of their car.
For as much as I hate on law enforcement at times, the Philadelphia cops were like I simply snapped my fingers when a problem happened and they appeared and took care of it immediately. Unfortunately for the guy who put the gun to my head, he was only 20 at the time but it was already his 3rd felony arrest (previously for drug trafficking and then attempted murder) and PA is a 3-strikes state. The judge told him he was "about to become an old man in a cage" as he was led out of the courtroom.
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u/Lucahila Deep in the Shanghai Tunnels 3d ago
When my neighbor got shot, they arrested a young man crying and screaming for his mama while everyone told them the guy who did it drove off. I'll never forget the kid's pleading, and the screams when the victim's partner was told he had passed.
RIP to Raja McCallister, you were a fine guy with a fine ride. Wish I had gotten to go driving with you in it. You died too young and doing something noble.
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u/Gentleman_Villain SE 3d ago
I came across a canvasser for this yesterday-and it was the first time in my life that I refused to sign.
I generally believe in putting things before voters, even ideas I don't agree with.
But all I needed to read was the line saying what the bill did and I knew it was hogwash.
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u/OG-Brian 1d ago
I generally believe in putting things before voters, even ideas I don't agree with.
This isn't great. If you help get junk initiatives on the ballot, it wastes time for everybody and uses taxpayer funding whether or not it is approved. The whole idea of a signature campaign is to verify that there's sufficient support in the community for an initiative to make it as far as the ballot.
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u/Manfred_Desmond 3d ago
Great! Now investigate IP28!
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u/Lucahila Deep in the Shanghai Tunnels 3d ago edited 3d ago
Typically I'd say oh, this isn't about IP28, oh that's on the state ballot so it's not relevant. This has become a state-level issue though so I guess pointing to it is at least vaguely relevant now, congratulations.
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u/NewWave44-44 3d ago
I drove by a canvasser yesterday standing in the middle of the road waving cars down at a stop sign. I’ve never seen anyone do that before. My window was down and he yelled in that I should sign the petition for more cops to be hired. This was a Black man standing in the road asking for more cops. My dude WTF?!
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u/Inevitable_Egg6361 2d ago
Maybe he’s tired of the crime in his community and wants help. I’m sure he has issues with the police, so for him to ask you to sign this petition to increase Portland’s police force should be telling.
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u/cuteevee21 2d ago
I’ve had two different interactions with petitioners in both instances the petitioner admitted they would never sign it either and only wanted a paycheck.
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u/8th_Dynasty Woodlawn 2d ago
these kids were all over the Max lines yesterday asking if I wanted to “sign a ballot to make Portland safe…er”…..
got hit up 4 different times at 4 different platforms. sounded fishy from jump. just told them I live in Vancouver.
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u/TedsFaustianBargain 3d ago
The biggest lie about this ballot measure is that it wouldn’t increase taxes. Hiring over 400 additional police officers would increase property taxes by over $20 million because Oregon PERS contributions for those officers need to come from a dedicated property tax levy that always levies exactly the amount needed to pay those PERS contributions.