Boyle, who is considering closing his store permanently, was right to call these events “outrageous and unacceptable,” yet Portland mayor Ted Wheeler has offered excuses rather thanconfronting the issue. On Thursday, Wheeler blamed his city’s wave of homelessness on the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, attacking Secretary Ben Carson for failing to “provide solutions.” Meanwhile, the city has been reluctant to deploy the crime-prevention resources that it already has at its disposal to address the homelessness wave.
The situation faced by Columbia Sportswear represents a broader problem facing progressive cities like Portland, which have increasingly tolerated vagrancy and tent cities, pressuring law-enforcement to take a “hands-off” approach to policing homelessness and other social disruptions. While this approach may be kindhearted, residents and businesses shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences. The harassment faced by Columbia Sportswear employees is no outlier; similar abuses have roiled the small-business community across Portland. On Black Friday, Anne Bocci, who owns an upscale art and jewelry boutique that prides itself on not being “a big corporate business,” encountered the same type of terrifying situation when her store was robbed. “He stole from me and he threatened my life, twice,” said Bocci of her assailant—a repeat offender in downtown Portland. She added that, “the police came and then he came back four minutes later after they left.”
Portland’s Disgraceful Anarchy
you deserve the Gov. you Vote for ....
The situation faced by Columbia Sportswear represents a broader problem facing progressive cities like Portland, which have increasingly tolerated vagrancy and tent cities, pressuring law-enforcement to take a “hands-off” approach to policing homelessness and other social disruptions. While this approach may be kindhearted, residents and businesses shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences. The harassment faced by Columbia Sportswear employees is no outlier; similar abuses have roiled the small-business community across Portland. On Black Friday, Anne Bocci, who owns an upscale art and jewelry boutique that prides itself on not being “a big corporate business,” encountered the same type of terrifying situation when her store was robbed. “He stole from me and he threatened my life, twice,” said Bocci of her assailant—a repeat offender in downtown Portland. She added that, “the police came and then he came back four minutes later after they left.”
Portland’s Disgraceful Anarchy
you deserve the Gov. you Vote for ....
Last edited:
