This ballot initiative would amend the City’s charter to create a more powerful police oversight board. The hope is that this measure will significantly impact how policing is done in Portland!
– Subpoena witnesses and request police documents and evidence to investigate complaints made against the Portland Police Bureau; – Impose disciplinary actions up to termination of law enforcement professionals, and – Recommend policing policy to the Portland Police Bureau and Portland City Council
Afterward, we’ll email out an endorsement poll so you can vote on whether or not BerniePDX should endorse this ballot initiative.
We’ll be sending a second endorsement poll with even more Nov. 2020 races in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
BerniePDX voted to endorse the ballot measure for Universal Preschool in Multnomah County (UP NOW)! Early childhood education is so important. It has been shown to increase graduation rates, reduce incarceration, and lower unemployment. Unfortunately, preschool is cost prohibitive for many families.
UP NOW will create high-quality preschool for children in Multnomah County by instituting a small tax on the top 5% of income earners. Universal preschool will benefit our children and our community as a whole. It’s time for us to join cities like DC, NYC, and Chicago and provide universal preschool to our kids!
BerniePDX voted to endorse Chris Smith for Metro District 5! Chris is a longtime climate and transportation activist whose work includes organizing the “No More Freeways” campaign. Chris plans to address equity issues in transportation, particularly in East County. He will use his decade of experience on the Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission to make Metro more effective in providing affordable housing and services. Chris is a proud supporter of Black Lives Matter and also supported the call by Unite Oregon and PAALF to reduce the Portland Police Budget by $50 million. We need Chris Smith on Metro!
BerniePDX voted to endorse Measure 107: Fair & Honest Elections! Measure 107 will amend the Oregon constitution so that we can enact laws to:
Require the disclosure of political contributions and spending;
Limit campaign contributions and spending;
Require that political ads disclose who paid for them.
Politicians in Oregon receive more corporate contributions per capita than those in any other state. Measure 107 will help pave the way toward ending this practice!
BerniePDX voted to endorse Measure 110: the Drug Addiction Treatment & Recovery Act! Measure 110 will provide drug and alcohol treatment to anyone who wants it, regardless of their insurance. It will also eliminate criminal penalties for small amounts of personal possession of drugs. This measure is an important step toward addressing our racist and unjust drug laws!
Over five million people have lost employment related health coverage due to the pandemic, and including family members affected by this loss, about 27 million people have lost access to care. Health care coverage should not be dependent on employment or economic status.
We will be part of a national Medicare for All Day of Action organized by National Nurses United. Bring signs, wear your masks, and stay 6 feet apart at all times! Health Care is a Human Right!
3:00 pm – 3:45 pm on Saturday, Aug. 22
We will spread out around the periphery of the Square
Stay safe: wear a mask, bring signs, and stay 6 feet apart from anyone not in your household.
Location: Pioneer Courthouse Square, SW 6th between Yamhill & Morrison
M110 would remove criminal penalties for small amounts of personal possession of drugs and connect people with drug treatment and recovery services. Using funds from Oregon’s existing marijuana tax, M110 will greatly expand access to drug treatment and recovery services throughout the state.
There’s a lot more to unpack with this measure – we look forward to seeing you at this virtual event!
Afterward, we’ll email out an endorsement poll so you can vote on whether or not BerniePDX should endorse M110. If you’re not on our email list yet and want to vote, just send your email to info@berniepdx.us.
Last time we wrote about the potential issue of two preschool measures on the Nov. ballot. Here’s a campaign update: “This week, the Universal Preschool NOW coalition of over 30 community groups and unions voted to merge with Preschool for All, a parallel campaign led by County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson. With this merger, we will be able to bring a single measure for universal preschool and fair wages for preschool workers to the November 2020 ballot.” Thanks to everyone who sent a message to the Multnomah County Commissioners in support of UP NOW!
Medicare, Social Security, and public education are so popular and lasting because they are UNIVERSAL programs! That’s why Universal Preschool Now has so much support and such a broad coalition.
But now, another group is trying to get the Multnomah County Commissioners to put a watered-down, non-universal preschool measure on the ballot. According to UP NOW, “Nobody wants to risk having two plans on a single ballot, which is why we are urging the commissioners to affirm the one that has already been approved by voters (that’s you!) to go to the ballot.”
1. Voluntarily recognize USE, on acceptable terms, as the unanimous voice of CSE staff, and a bargaining unit of CWA Local 7901. 2. Reverse the retaliatory suspension of a Union member. 3. Immediately terminate the relationship with pernicious union-busting firm, Bullard Law, and commit to bargaining in good faith.
“Hiring a union-busting firm is a direct contradiction of our core values as members of Oregon’s environmental justice and labor movements. We are disturbed to our core that you would engage in union-busting against environmental workers who are on the front-line of efforts to secure a Green New Deal and a sustainable economy that works for all.”
Opponents of the Universal Preschool Now ballot measure held it up in court for weeks, so now we only have one month to gather 22,000 signatures to ensure UP NOW is on the ballot this November! Please click here to add your name.
Demand Justice for Breonna Taylor! Here are ten things you can do right now from home.
Art by Shirien Damra, @shirien.creates on Instagram
BerniePDX joins the call to demand justice for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who were murdered by police, and Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed by white supremacists. All of the people involved in perpetrating these horrific murders must be charged and sentenced.
We stand with the hundreds of thousands of people who are rising up in an incredible wave of outrage and resistance all over the U.S. The public is not only speaking out against the killing of George, Ahmaud, and Breonna, but also responding to 400 years of the brutal, deadly oppression of black people and people of color.
BerniePDX opposes the systemic white supremacy and inequality that allow racially motivated violence and policing to occur. We support dismantling and replacing this country’s corrupt system of law enforcement. Racial profiling, the hiring of racist cops, police brutality and senseless killings, and militarized police responses to protesters must end.
Until those in power address the racial and economic violence being done to working people, we should remain suspicious of politicians who choose to focus on protests and riots over injustice.
Don’t Shoot Portland has compiled a list of organizations doing important work around these issues, which can be found here: tinyurl.com/yakjtu4g. We encourage our members to donate to and support these groups.
