"Ryan lashed out at the Mercury in a public meeting Wednesday, after the Mercury published a story regarding text messages local real estate broker Brian Owendoff and other conservative political activists sent in a January 7 group chat. Toward the end of Wednesday's afternoon meeting, Councilor Ryan falsely claimed he wasn't provided context for the subject of the story, or given enough time to make an informed statement, despite email exchanges (below) that show otherwise."
"I was contacted by the Mercury an hour before the deadline yesterday morning while I was in a committee meeting, zero context on anything about text messages. The main question was, 'who do you talk to?' I go, 'I talk to anyone that reaches out that's in my district and needs to talk to me about their opinion on the topic.' That's all I said."
"Ryan was asked for comment on the story because Owendoff, the person who sent and received the offensive messages, appears to have sway over Ryan's policy decisions. Last November, Ryan had parroted messages sent to him from Owendoff when speaking during a Council meeting before a vote on a rental price-fixing software ban-a facet of the story published by the Mercury."
Councilor Dan Ryan blamed the press after taking heat for choosing not to address text messages made public. He lashed out in a public meeting and claimed he received no context and insufficient time to respond, despite email exchanges indicating contact began 14 hours earlier. The messages came from local real estate broker Brian Owendoff and conservative activists and contained racist and offensive language about progressive councilors of color. Owendoff appears to have sway over Ryan's policy decisions; Ryan previously echoed Owendoff's messages during a council meeting before a vote on banning rental price-fixing software. Email exchanges are included below.
Read at Portland Mercury
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