PORTLAND'S SNIGGERING MAYOR: Ted Wheeler mocks woman after she said city's homeless crisis was 'insane'
PORTLAND, OREGON: A portland resident, Gillian Rose slammed politicians for Portland's way of handling its homeless population in a virtual city council meeting on Wednesday, September 28. "You have to stop enabling this, 'I'm angry and I'm sad and I'm fed up," said Rose in the council meeting.
She then continued, "I'm so sick of having politicians pander to a woke agenda that's been nothing short of an epic failure." To which Mayor Ted Wheeler responded, "thank you, you've made your point emphatically clear. Thank you for being here and sharing your perspective, we do appreciate it," as he chuckled audibly.
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She added during the meeting, "I moved here in hopes of becoming part of a progressive city where it seemed like its leaders cared about social issues -- what's transpired here is not progressivism." Further, she stated, "A lot of people who live on the streets fill them with trash and their own feces while openly using drugs -- it's not progressive, it's insane and unacceptable." She also claimed, "Portland has become the laughing stock of the country, it really has."
After the meeting, she spoke to KION6 and claimed, “When he laughed, it kind of just proved my point, it was really insulting actually and painful to hear.” She then continued, “My friend is a realtor who just recently lost a deal because a homeless camp popped up in front of a house the clients were going to buy. What if that’s how you made a living? Are you going to subsidize that loss for him?."
She then added, “It’s hard to watch, it’s hard to be around, it’s hard to be worried and stressed out all the time." Rose also claimed, “They blame it on unaffordable housing, that’s part of it, but it’s also enabling, and they don’t want to give up that narrative." She also opened up about security concerns about living in the area, "When you consider carrying a gun or bear mace while riding your bike, I think something is severely, severely wrong,' she said. However, she concluded, "Please stop wasting our money and destroying our beautiful city, and please start being leaders."
According to DailyMail, a January survey found that 5,228 people in Multnomah County were homeless and 3,057 were sleeping on the street. Ted has been facing backlash over the issue. He was also heavily criticized for issuing an emergency order which banned encampments near dangerous roadways or the city-sanctioned tiny home villages that have been erected in a bid to solve the issue.