Wheeler Campaign Blasts Hales for “Mismanagement of City’s Growth”

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Brendan Murray, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Top-Ted Wheeler Bottom-Charlie Hales

State Treasurer Ted Wheeler’s (D) campaign blasted incumbent Mayor of Portland Charlie Hales for what they called his “mismanagement of the city’s growth.”

“I think it’s clear that Portland is attracting new residents and growing really fast, but we haven’t been keeping up,” Jake Wiegler, a political consultant with the Wheeler campaign, told GoLocal. “That certainly falls on Mayor Hales’ plate, and hopefully he is working on coming up with a comprehensive solution.”

As GoLocal reported earlier this week, Forbes Magazine ranked Portland on their list of the most overpriced cities in the United States. Portland came in as the 21st most overpriced city, worse than notoriously expensive locales such as Los Angeles, California, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and West Palm Beach, Florida.

“It shows that there are a lot of different areas we need to look at and work on,” Wiegler said. “Whether it’s wages, affordable housing or supporting higher-paying jobs, there is a lot of work to be done.”

“The Middle Class is Being Priced Out”

Wiegler said that while Portland’s growth over the past few years should be good news for the city, Hales’ administration has failed properly deal with the influx of new residents and the challenges they bring.

“We want a city where our teachers, hardhats and other blue-collar workers can live in the community that they work to support,” Wiegler said. “What this really speaks to is the larger issue of the middle class being priced out of Portland.”

Wiegler said that to help end Portland’s trend of becoming more overpriced the city should work to already existing, well-paying job vacancies.

“We need to equip blue-collar workers with skills that can fill job openings right now,” Wiegler said. “We have plenty of job openings that need be filled and plenty of people looking for jobs.

Wiegler said that many of the challenges facing Portland, including the recently declared housing state of emergency, can be traced back to Hales’ ineffectiveness and “mismanagement of the city’s growth.”

He said that the city government owes its residents proof that it can attack its most pressing issues head on.

“Part of the role of government is helping people improve themselves, and we really aren’t seeing that in Portland right now,” Wiegler said. “People need to be shown a reason to have confidence in their local government.”

Charlie Hales

Hales Responds

Sarah Bott, a consultant with the Hales’ re-election campaign, told GoLocal it was foolish to attempt to assign blame for the problems that Portland is struggling with to any one person.

She said that many of the crises that plague the city are the result of not Hales’ actions, or lack thereof, during first term, but due to patterns and trends that have been established “for decades.”

Bott pointed to the Mayor’s most recent acts as the city’s executive. She said that his commitment to Portland’s homeless problem, shown in the recent declaration of a statement of emergency and a pledge of $30 million to A Home for Everyone as signs that Hales can attack the city’s problems head on.

Bott also said that she believed questions on how best to make Portland a suitable spot for families and middle-class workers should be focal points of the upcoming Mayoral debates.

As GoLocal reported, Wheeler challenged Hales to a series of 12 debates shortly after announcing his candidacy. Hales responded, saying that he was open to the idea of multiple debates during the election, but that Wheeler should focus on his current post as State Treasurer.

“These are important questions that need to be answered thoughtfully and carefully,” Bott said. “I think they would be excellent subjects for the upcoming debates between the Mayor and other candidates.

Related Slideshow: SLIDESHOW: Ted Wheeler Announces Portland Mayoral Candidacy on Rooftop of Revolution Hall

Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler was joined by the press and many close friends, family members, and supporters on the rooftop of Revolution Hall off of SE Stark so that he could officially make his candidacy announcement for Portland mayor in the 2016 mayoral race.

Wheeler Campaign Blasts Hales for “Mismanagement of City’s Growth”

“The Middle Class is Being Priced Out”

Charlie Hales Hales Responds

Related Slideshow: SLIDESHOW: Ted Wheeler Announces Portland Mayoral Candidacy on Rooftop of Revolution Hall

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