Business owners in downtown Portland, Oregon have had enough of the far-left violence that the city’s Democrat leaders seem uninterested in productively quelling as they plan to leave the district, or the city altogether.
Fox Business reports that Greg Goodman, co-president of the Downtown Development Group, wrote in a letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler and members of the Portland City Council that companies wanting to leave the downtown district was not due to the Black Lives Matter movement “but does have most everything to do with the lawlessness you are endorsing downtown.”
“The number is like nothing I have seen in 42 years of doing business in downtown,” he wrote, Portland’s KOIN reported.
Goodman wrote that the companies include Daimler Trucks North America, Airbnb, Banana Republic, Microsoft, Saucebox, and Google, which he claimed: “leased 90,000 square feet in the Macy’s building [and] has stopped construction of their improvements.”
“The list goes on and on. If you know a retail or office broker, give them a call and ask them how many clients they have are trying to leave,” he continued.
Goodman suggested that city leaders ought to “walk around downtown Portland in the morning,” offering to give them a personal tour.
“You aren’t sweeping the streets, needles are all over the place, garbage cans are broken and left open, glass from car windows that have been broken out is all over the streets, parks are strewn with litter,” he wrote. “You are willfully neglecting your duties as elected officials to keep our city safe and clean.”
Fox Business notes:
Police have argued that the protests are making it difficult for them to respond to other calls because their resources are tied up. On Saturday, police said 30 officers were available to manage the crowd that numbered several hundred.
Authorities added how the bureau “had to be judicious with our limited resources” because many officers worked during the previous night’s demonstrations, according toThe Oregonian.
Wheeler, for his part, told KOIN in a statement that he is reviewing the decision as to why police officers did not step in on Saturday when right-wing activists and Black Lives Matter agitators clashed.
“I vehemently oppose what the Proud Boys and those associated with them stand for, and I will not tolerate hate speech and the damage it does in our city. White nationalists, particularly those coming to our city armed, threaten the safety of Portlanders, and are not welcome here,” Wheeler said. “We are at a critical place where police officers are needed to intervene in protests where police officers themselves are the flashpoint.”
When the government (police) refuses to maintain law and order, citizens will fill the void and do it their way. The end result won’t be pretty.
"*" indicates required fields
