Neighbours expressed significant concerns about potential lawlessness during the festival, highlighting issues like drug use and public disturbances observed during past events.
High-speed driving causing accidents and deaths, dangerous for children and people walking with dogs, said petitioners advocating for speed bumps following the tragic death of educator Marvin Boomer.
Wednesday's budget discussions resurfaced tensions over police funding, particularly after a few councilors threw around the word "defunding" to describe the shift of an extra $2 million from the Portland Police Bureau's budget to the parks bureau. Councilors Angelita Morillo and Candace Avalos chastised their colleagues who used a boogeyman approach to drum up public fear over the move. "I'm not interested in slogans that are just trying to make political tension out of what is a fiscal responsibility," Avalos asserted.