BY COURTNEY VAUGHN/Oregon Capital Bureau
An independent candidate for Oregon governor has a new moniker for the state’s most populous city: “the city of roaches.”
Gubernatorial candidate and former senator Betsy Johnson made the comment to a New York Times editor, referring to Portland’s battle with homelessness and crime.
Her statements appeared in a June 28 newsletter that explored Oregon’s political landscape as a barometer of potential Democratic losses nationwide. The newsletter included an interview with Johnson.
“You can see the deterioration of the beautiful City of Roses, now the city of roaches,” Johnson was quoted as saying, riffing on Portland’s moniker.
Johnson, who is running as an independent candidate in the November election, is one of many candidates who has zeroed in on Portland as an example of failed policies or action.
“Betsy made a quip about the city of Portland which resonates with a lot of people,” Jennifer Sitton, Johnson’s communications director, told Pamplin Media Group Tuesday. “What Betsy has been saying for months is that Oregon cannot succeed if Portland fails and, as detailed in the NYT piece, only 8% of residents think that Portland is on the right track.”
In a campaign speech on her website, Johnson accuses Gov. Kate Brown, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Johnson’s Democratic opponent, Tina Kotek, of bridging the urban-rural divide by unifying Oregonians in “mutual frustration with their leaders and their government.”
“Right now, Portland is failing,” Johnson said. “I don’t think any problem demonstrates the need better to change Oregon’s politics than the failure to solve homelessness on our streets.”
She stressed getting unhoused people into shelters utilizing police, addiction treatment services and mental health services. “Democrats are right that we need compassion, services and housing,” Johnson said in a campaign video. “But Republicans are also right that we need more personal responsibility, accountability, and no more tent cities.”
But critics say Johnson’s latest remark about Portland was callous, equating unhoused people with vermin that need to be cleaned up, rather than humans in crisis.
“Unfortunately her comments are very reminiscent and in some cases identical to comments we’ve heard that dehumanize whole sets of people,” Marisa Zapata, director of Portland State University’s Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative. “It goes beyond an oversimplification, but it completely erases their humanity. It’s deeply upsetting to have somebody using that language to describe people who are living their lives the best they can. It’s especially upsetting to have someone who’s been in a position of leadership in our state talk about future constituents this way.”
Zapata noted that the term “cockroaches” has been used historically to demonize marginalized groups in society.
The city of Portland, along with economic and tourism groups, has been actively involved in campaigns to bring shoppers and tourists back to downtown Portland and help businesses crippled by the pandemic and repeated vandalism.
They say Johnson’s comments aren’t helping.
“It’s easy to articulate the challenges Portland is facing,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said. “We need a governor who will partner with us to help find solutions and fight for Portland — not disparage and write us off.”
- The Oregon Capital Bureau in Salem is staffed by reporters from EO Media and Pamplin Media Group and provides state government and political news to their newspapers and media around Oregon, including YachatsNews.com
She’ll have my vote.
Betsy Johnson has my vote. Maybe she wasn’t referring to homeless people when she made her comment about roaches. Maybe she was referring to the states leaders?
I have lived in Oregon most of my life and as far as I can remember this state’s governor is the worst we have ever had. From her ignorance of a Medal of Honor winner to her keeping Oregonian’s income tax kicker has been shameful. The last worthwhile governor we ever had was Wayne Morse, and I am a Republican!
Ted Wheeler encouraged the swirling of the city down the toilet on multiple occasions. The majority of Oregon leaders lack the skills needed to lead, other than to a spiral downhill. Real leaders wouldn’t have waited for things to get so nasty. Ted Wheeler types don’t know what the definition of leadership is …
Portland is a toilet. The fact that Betsy Johnston has the courage to actually say it gets her my vote. Now, get in there and fix it.
Marisa Zapata, director of Portland State University’s Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative” decries Betsy Johnston’s message with reference to “people living their lives the best they can”. Anyone who has visited encampments has seen the many needles and syringes littering the ground. That is not “living their lives the best they can”. It is here in Lincoln County, and everywhere else.
I’ll give you this, roaches scurry when you turn on the light. Drug addicted homeless don’t. Our “leaders” don’t want the light turned on, as long as they remain in power.
Betsy Johnson is correct in her assessment of Portland. I used to love to go there years ago when it was nice, and safe to walk along the Park Blocks to and from the art museum and our hotel. It’s dangerous to do that now, drug addicts that demand money or are yelling and screaming obscenities. The bloom is of the rose big time there. She will be getting my vote because it is going to take someone as tough as her to make changes to fix this all over the state. Repealing the law that allowed possession of hard drugs like meth and heroin would help.