Portland Story

I noticed in the news this morning....Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Council Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty chatted up that they want a meeting Department of Homeland Security 'chief' Chad Wolf immediately.  Topic?  How to get federal law enforcement officers from the city of Portland gone. 

First, will Wolf even respond.  My guess is 'no'.  Around about Friday....the Wheeler/Hardesty team will ask the Governor for 'help'.  He'll pick up the phone and attempt to call Wolf....to find that other than a five-minute chat with Wolf, there's zero interest in Wolf's mind to meet with the Portland leadership.

So then you go to the big dynamic of this discussion.....does the mayor or city council chief have any control over their riot-squad?  The answer?  No.

Then you start to speculate....if Wheeler and Hardesty don't control anything, why bother even inviting Wolf to a meeting?  Wolf's likely response would be that every single protester has to settle down and peace has to be seen for ten  days straight before any federal law folks leave town. Wheeler and Hardesty can't deliver that.

The whole discussion here?  I think the town revenue collection folks have added up the numbers and indicate that hotels are empty, bars and restaurants in the downtown area are conducting virtually no business, and there's this fear that chaos will reign on for another 100 days (until the election).  For Wheeler and Hardesty....that's a dismal future to gaze upon.

The city budget for next year?  Around a month ago, the council passed the next budget....5.6-billion dollars.  Getting to that,with Covid-19 and the riots?  Physically impossible.  You would have to revisit property taxes and fees for the city.

My guess is that the budget folks have visited Wheeler and Hardesty....giving them a view of a budget shortfall occurring before the end of 2020.

In simple terms, if Wheeler and Hardesty fail to get the riot/chaos resolved, a massive problem in budget cuts will come by early 2021.  Homeland Security has sat now at the poker table, and concluded the way to play this game....be the magnet to attract BLM/Antifa, and just keep them busy on the streets of Portland.  This will bankrupt the city, unless it dissolves the mess.