August 19, 2020
The
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INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
Week in Review
page 2
page 6
M ETRO
In light of recent events of racial injustice, TriMet is re-evaluating its approach to public safety and
security.
TriMet Eyes Changes in Policing
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S PORTS
Agency calls
on public to
guide response
Arts &
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ENTERTAINMENT
TriMet says recent events of
racial injustice, including the kill-
ing of George Floyd and too many
others at the hands of law enforce-
ment, has led the regional transit
agency to take action to bring last-
ing change in policing.
The agency is re-evaluating its
approach to public safety and se-
curity to make the transit system
better—more safe, welcoming
and equitable for all, officials said.
Last month, as part of the effort,
TriMet re-allocated $1.8 million
in funding from traditional po-
lice services and other sources to
community-based public safety
services.
Now TriMet is launching a
broad community outreach and
engagement effort to help inform
change in its safety efforts. In
partnership with the Coalition of
Communities of Color and DHM
Research, TriMet will seek feed-
back from riders, community
groups, local leaders and the pub-
lic, as well as our frontline work-
ers and security officers.
“We want to bring more voic-
es into the conversation as we
re-imagine public safety and se-
curity on our transit system,” said
TriMet General Manager Doug
Kelsey. “Transit, in and of itself,
brings social equity to a communi-
ty, providing access to opportunity,
connecting people from all races,
religions and economic levels to
jobs and education. We also want
to ensure the security on our transit
system is fair and free of bias as we
address the needs of all our riders
and employees to feel safe.”
TriMet will also research na-
tional best practices in equity and
transit security. A third-party anal-
ysis of security challenges facing
the region as well as the types of
issues that riders experience on
board buses and trains will also be
completed.
For more on TriMet’s equity
actions, visit trimet.org/equity.
Ryan to Fill Vacant Council Seat
Candidate bests
Smith in close runoff
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O PINION
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Dan Ryan, a former Portland
School Board member and execu-
tive director of a youth advocacy
organization, will fill a vacant po-
sition on the Portland City Council
left open by the death of City Com-
missioner Nick Fish in January.
Ryan narrowly outdistanced
former Multnomah County Com-
missioner Loretta Smith in last
week’s special runoff election to
immediately fill the two years re-
maining of Fish’s term. The con-
test was a sequel to a May Primary
election in which no candidate in
the race captured a majority vote.
In the Aug. 11 special runoff,
Ryan captured 51 percent of the
vote to 48 percent for Smith, a
crushing loss to a long time mem-
ber and advocate for Portland’s
African American community.
Smith issued a statement on
Facebook thanking her supporters,
Dan Ryan
pledging to continue promoting
progress for Black people in Port-
land, and asking others to join her.
“For all of us who genuinely
believe that Black Lives actually
do matter, I call on you to stop be-
ing silent and complacent to the
anti-blackness that has permeated
every facet of our community,”
she said. “Indeed we cannot truly
call ourselves a progressive city
when progress is not being made
for Black people in Portland.”
Ryan, who served as chief ex-
ecutive officer of the educational
Loretta Smith
nonprofit All Hands Raised, said
he was honored and humbled to
be elected. He thanked Smith for
bringing her passion and love for
the city into a special election
race run amidst a global pandemic
and largely defined by unrest sur-
rounding police violence and the
Black Lives Matter movement.
“This campaign was about
bringing Portlanders together to
address the issues we all face,” he
said. “Our city is in crisis and I am
eager to join in and get to work,”
he said.