Rene Gonzalez Is a Threat to Portland’s Democracy
Rene Gonzalez Is A Threat to Portland’s Democracy.
Now before I sound like an annoying terminally-online anarchist spray-painting “ABOLISH SCHOOL”, I’d like to explain my point. While it sounds hyperbolic, Rene Gonzalez is very much a threat to this city government and the right to democracy in the Rose City that we call home.
In November 2022, Portland voters overwhelmingly approved a major change to the city charter, and the way that our city government operates. This was passed by a count of 58 percent to 41 percent, which is almost unheard of with ballot issues. It’s a clear sign that the city was ready for a change and a new city board of commissioners that represent their people.
The reforms under Measure 26–228 did three major things. First, it created the position of a city administrator, and removed bureau assignments, like fire and police, outside of City Council chambers. Second, the city council was expanded to twelve members to represent the four districts. Third, it created a system of ranked-choice voting, to give Portland voters choices outside of the opposition.
Of course, because this would see a reduction in the influence that commissioners like Rene Gonzalez would wield; members of the city council got to work trying to undermine the voter-approved reform.
In July of last year, Alex Zilenski of Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), reported on an attempt by Commissioners Dan Ryan and Rene Gonzalez to thwart multiple measures that were passed in a landslide. Namely it was their move to place more power in the hands of the Mayor, instead of the new city administrator position.
While they claimed that such a move was due to the the changes being too “costly”, “confusing”, and more; I think we all understand that Commissioners Dan Ryan and Rene Gonzalez were more concerned with the fact that their impact would diminish and they would have to power share with new candidates that would challenge their centrist views. They claimed that they would essentially put the measure back on the ballot to run by voters again. Eventually they scrapped the alterations, with egg on their face.
What should come as no surprise? The public opposition that organized to urge voters to reject the democratic reforms was none other than our infamous Portland Metro Chamber (formerly the Portland Business Alliance that altered their name to avoid the wide scale criticism). And who is one of the largest partners of the Metro Chamber? The Tech Association of Oregon and the Oregon-Israel Business Alliance.
The same election cycle that this reform was passed, also saw the advent of the politician that would oppose it publicly. A businessman who represented the interests of the Portland Metro Chamber, the Tech Association of Oregon, and others that work to gentrify our city.
RENE, THE POLICE’S POLITICIAN
The November 2022 election for District 2 saw a corruption scandal that undermined the incumbent, Jo Ann Hardesty. In many ways, this act of corruption captured the sheer opposition that Hardesty faced, for holding the Portland Police Bureau to account.
As the first and only black woman to represent Portland, she already faced public scrutiny. Especially as her election in 2018 reflected the leftist politics of the Rose City which, in the face of the Trump administration, became a frontline in the leftist movements that swept the states.
Jo Ann Hardesty also worked to listen to the protests of 2020, and advocated for wide reforms to the Portland Police Bureau. This included a proposed 18 million budget cut, which lost in the council by one vote. As the commissioner appointed to oversee Portland Fire and Rescue, she also worked to create Portland Street Response. Her work required her to coordinate with the Fire Bureau and to create an alternative to armed police when a person is experiencing a mental health crisis or overdose.
This new department in Public Safety, Portland Street Response, was a large source of the ire that she drew from the political establishment. Because of this, in the 2022 race, Portland Fire and Rescue endorsed her opponent, as did the Willamette Week, which had originally cast support for her in 2018.
This wasn’t the end however. Because Hardesty was the sole vocal critic of PPB, Portland Police committed a blatant act of corruption to take down her campaign.
In early 2021, members of PPB reported to local and state news that a hit and run victim had reported Jo Ann Hardesty as a suspect. The Oregonian and other sources lauded the police report. Then, later that day, members of PPB arrived at the home of Commissioner Hardesty in the early morning hours.
According to the lawsuit that eventually unfolded, the intent was to take Jo Ann Hardesty on a “perp walk”, to capture photos of her in handcuffs. As the open opposition to the Portland Police Bureau, they hoped that the media attention would end the career of the sole supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests after the murder of George Floyd.
Due to the media scrutiny and internal investigation, it was soon revealed that not only was the police report false, but that it was the work of a conspiracy among members of the Portland Police. All have since lost their positions, but notably; one of the officers was Officer Hunzeken, the president of the police union, the Portland Police Association. They sought to alter the public perception of a city commissioner through lies, in order to give their chosen candidate a leg up. In many ways this worked.
In November of 2022, with the support of Portland Police, Fire and Rescue, and the Willamette Week (owned by a Zionist); a businessman named Rene Gonzalez handidly won the 2022 city council election. Right wing reactionaries and literal Nazis like Brandon Farley celebrated his victory. It was clear. The far right was once again at the table on Portland’s city council.
RENE’S WAR ON THE UNHOUSED
Rene’s work began almost immediately. He began his tenure in the winter of 2022, as a major ice storm saw ice and snow befell Portland. This extreme weather event, one of many increasingly worsening events due to the climate crisis, resulted in multiple deaths among those sleeping on the street, and the elderly.
As we know in Portland, due to their rarity winter storms shut down the ability of the city to function. This leaves many trapped in their homes and breaks the emergency response system. Shelters open for select hours, people are trapped on the streets. And each year the death toll continues to mount.
Again, I tie this lack of investment in critical infrastructure, from the amount that Portland pours into our police department to the amount used on sweeps, to be the direct result of the interests of the Portland Metro Chamber. Rene Gonzalez promised to curb the unhoused population downtown. He represented the interests of developers.
The concerning thing is that he was in a position, tasked with oversight of Portland Fire and Rescue, and thus their partner, Portland Street Response. Because he advocated for a harsh response to the unhoused, his control over PSR was a point of contention. As we would see over his tenure, he worked to dismantle PSR due to his support of militarized police.
One of his first policies that garnered protest was his directive that PSR no longer hand out tarps and tents. These life-saving materials in the Portland winter worked well to keep people warm and dry despite the freezing cold. Now, especially during the record-breaking winter of 2022–2023, these neighbors would be left to suffer in the freeze.
Rene claimed that this policy was in response to fires that would start at unhoused encampments. Without electricity or gas, some resorted to small fires for warmth and food, but at times they grew out of hand. Yet, Rene banned these items in the midst of winter, and shortly before the projected major storm. As a result, multiple people died on the street from hypothermia, while dozens were hospitalized as a result of the extreme cold.
Upon being asked about this ban by the Willamette Week, he stated the following; “hypothermia is a risk, as is frostbite. But when talking about frostbite, you’re losing fingers. But these burns, they’re life changing even if they don’t kill you.” This cruel policy has left multiple dead as major weather catastrophes only increase due to the climate crisis.
Since then, Multnomah County placed a freeze on the purchase of tents and tarps, as of January 2024. This shows that Rene’s dangerous push to force out the unhoused is becoming mainstream policy once again.
The other major catastrophe of Rene’s term on the city council is his management of Portland Street Response. Rene has made his disdain of PSR clear. He claimed in 2023 that this stemmed from “concerns” he claimed to have heard from the firefighters union, that some firefighters felt uncomfortable that some members of PSR joined in order to provide an alternative to police, and some personally didn’t trust the police (for some reason). Even the president of the firefighters union spoke up to correct the record and clarify that PSR and Portland Fire and Rescue had no issue, and worked in tandem.
Yet Rene continued to attempt to stifle the new branch of public safety. He continued to cut the budget, citing “budget shortfalls” that somehow didn’t affect Portland Police Bureau. And now, he has codified a policy that tents and tarps no longer be available from first responders.
In many ways, the Portland Street Response is a relic and a victory of the Black Lives Matter movement. Because it represents an alternative to police, a result of years of activism, it was the largest target for Rene to undo the work of his predecessor.
This all occurs in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass. In June, the SCOTUS ruled that cities are once again allowed to criminalize the unhoused, even if the city fails to provide services, housing, or even help for those overdosing or freezing to death. This decision aligns perfectly with the current trend in Portland city council. While Rene knows these policies have failed for decades, and drugs won the “War on Drugs” (with the help of our pharmaceutical companies); this doesn’t matter to him and the commissioners.
Rene is the leader of a push to once again pursue the failed policies of criminalization of drug use and public camping. All while he has failed to pass meaningful policies for regular Portlanders in his first term as a politician, and only works to undo the work of Hardesty. This is why he wants to, and must not be, Mayor of Portland.
RENE ADMIRES ANDY NGO AND FASCISTS
This last week, Rene Gonzalez has once again found himself in the spotlight. While for the nearly two years of his time on the city council, he has garnered praise from Nazis, Proud Boys, and right-wingers alike; recently Rene crossed a red line.
After Biden dropped out of the presidential race, and endorsed Kamala Harris for the November election; Rene reposted Andy Ngo. Andy, ever the grifter and liar, posted footage of the protests in 2020, and tried to blame Harris for the George Floyd Uprisings. Rene rightfully asserted that the extreme federal response and the tear gas was a result of the Trump administration, and added that he would prefer a Democrat in the White House.
Yet, Rene also bolstered Andy’s claims, adding that he and his family have face protest, which he labeled as “terror” from “Antifa”. This is in reference to a single event, in which Rene’s family’s car was torched at the beginning of the year, late at night outside of his million-dollar property. It was in response to the deaths of the unhoused that were the direct results of his policies.
It makes sense that while pretending to be a centrist Democrat, Rene would throw support to Andy Ngo’s blatant misinformation and fascist propaganda. After all, Andy is notorious for threatening members of the public through doxxing, then grifting off of facing a milkshake or bear spray. Andy implants himself with violent right-wing mobs, then doctors the footage to paint himself as a victim from Anti-fascists defending themselves. I.e. The Cider Riot incident in 2018.
Rene cried wolf last year, when he was riding the MAX. For those that remember, he claimed, in a video he recorded of his retelling of events, that he was “verbally accosted” and felt threatened due to his dangerous policies against the unhoused. He claimed that because of this incident, he got off of the train and walked to work, as he called the Portland Police.
Later video revealed he was lying. Footage showed a woman on the MAX that simply passed by accidentally bumped his arm, and said nothing to him.
Rene’s behavior here is a sign of the danger he presents. Rene is willing to lie outright, despite the existence of security cameras, in order to push extreme policies. He claimed that the “incident” revealed the dangers of Trimet. Since then he has pushed for an increase in Trimet security and police. Despite the fact that even FBI numbers reveal that crime is decreasing year by year.
One has to consider what would have happened, had the news simply repeated his claim without requesting video footage. Rene would have criminalized the woman he claimed “accosted” him, despite no such interaction existing. Much like Andy Ngo, Rene Gonzalez is a dangerous liar and grifter, who spreads misinformation about the city that he claims to represent.
What should be noted is that at this point, being the police’s politician, Rene has a real chance to become the Mayor of Portland. All while he disparages the Rose City with misinformation.
His vitriol for Portland’s culture has worked well to build a base among the far-right in Portland. Several violent actors, Nazis, and Proud Boys, have shown wide-scale support to Rene, because of his own hatred for Portland’s leftist activists. If you get on X, which I do not recommend, you can find a score of fascist accounts celebrating Rene Gonzalez for his blatant opposition to protest.
While Rene paints himself as a centrist Democrat, his policies are clearly conservative. He is pursuing the failed policies of the right, austerity politics and the criminalization of the poor. His most vocal supporters are the far-right and moneyed interests. He touts his support of Kamal Harris, yet it is not hard to imagine that if Rene lived in any other city outside of the progressive cities of the West Coast, he would run on a conservative platform.
Unfortunately, there are no other solid options to vote for, as Mingus Mapps and Carmen Rubio are, like Rene, politicians in the pockets of developers, the Portland Police Bureau and Association, the Tech Association of Oregon and Oregon-Israel Business Alliance, and the Portland Metro Chamber. The other candidates are not serious and have no visible plan for moving the city forward.
In short, don’t vote for Rene Gonzalez, because Rene is a clear threat to Portland’s democracy. Also his tenure has failed to help Portlanders, and instead has embraced fascistic policies. I encourage everyone to either not vote on the mayoral ticket; or if you are going to vote, write in the Wu-Tang Clan.
Remember, Mayors Are Temporary, but Wu-Tang? Wu-Tang Is Forever.
