Newsletter: Standing up to fascism, protecting public dollars

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View full size image of Councilor Mitch Green serving as a crosswalk safety guard at Cottonwood School.

It is not only our right, but our responsibility as Portlanders to demonstrate against this increasingly fascist administration. We cannot sit idly by as our democratic rights slowly vanish.

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Dear Neighbors,

We are living through a dangerous and pivotal moment in our nation's history. As I write this, the Trump administration is accelerating its descent into authoritarianism with breathtaking speed.

It is not only our right, but our responsibility as Portlanders to demonstrate against this increasingly fascist administration. We cannot sit idly by as our democratic rights slowly vanish.

That is why I am deeply concerned by two recent incidents involving the Portland Police Bureau at the Macadam ICE facility.

First, a right-wing agitator brandished a firearm at protestors and was captured on video. Police were informed of the incident, but they failed to intervene, citing safety issues from "name-calling" and a water bottle thrown by protesters. This is unacceptable.

If we are going to ask people to exercise their constitutionally protected rights to assemble and speak out against fascism, police have a duty to protect them from armed right-wing agitators. Additionally, my constituents living next to the ICE building, a coalition of faith leaders who are regularly present as eyewitnesses, and street medics have also shared similar concerns when speaking with my office and with top public safety officials.

And just this last weekend during the No Kings march, police declared an "unlawful assembly" and proceeded to take up a positionbetweenthe ICE facility and the protesters, arresting three people in the process. My constituents are concerned about the resources and police the City is using to implement crowd management for ICE at or near the driveway.

This raises serious concerns about whether the City is following our own sanctuary laws. It is unclear to me why this assembly was declared "unlawful" in the first place. We need clear policy guidance from the Mayor regarding how and when these escalations in force take place. And critically, we need to ensure we are not using our police force to protect an ICE facility. The police need to consider safety for immigrant neighbors and protecting protesters from armed agitators. I am concerned that there is a lack of consideration given to the safety of some Portlanders, including those simply exercising their First Amendment rights. That needs to change immediately.

Paused Injunction on Tear Gas and Gray's Landing Tenants

Last week, federal courts paused two temporary injunctions in Portland that previously blocked crowd control tactics like tear gas.I'm outraged by the decision of this appeals court to suspend these important restraints on Trump's DHS. These restraints were in response to indiscriminate violence unleashed on my constituents in the South Waterfront at the hands of the Feds.

I recently met with constituents who live in apartments at Gray's Landing, directly adjacent to the Macadam facility who tell me that their children are traumatized by the actions of these fascists, who target directly their windows. They've also been hit hardest by the tear gas since last June, with many adverse impacts to their living quarters, health and lives. These restraints were a critical relief for them.

ICE and tear gas have no place in Portland. Our office is taking this public health and public safety issue seriously and have been working hard to use all the tools we have to protect Portlanders and to push back on federal overreach, their violent actions, and harms they are causing to our community members and the environment.

My office will continue to use the levers we have at the local level to check this power. Whether it's through policy work like our detention facility impact fee, or via oversight, or sharing with the Mayor the urgent needs of Gray's Landing tenants or pressing the PPB on why they do not protect protesters from ICE, right wing agitators or respond to the urgent needs of tenants.

Councilor Morillo and I have called on the Mayor to immediately investigate the use of tear gas as a code violation, expedite the Detention Facility Impact Fee fines, and fast-track the land use permit investigation into ICE's illegal operations.

Due to our work the Portland city administrator took first steps to enforce our detention facility ordinance, regulating chemical munitions. Fines begin at $5,000 for a first offense and may increase to the maximum amount allowed for repeated violations.

As always: you have a right to peacefully assemble, protest and organize against fascism. Chemical warfare brought down upon you in response to the exercise of YOUR rights is not your fault - it's the fault of an administration full of fascists.

If you have had your rights violated, we encourage you to:

• Report concerns related to federal actions to the Oregon Department of Justice and Attorney General Dan Rayfield
• Use ACLU of Oregon Complaint Form to report constitutional violations

Finding a New Home for Cottonwood School

Our policy achievements make the headlines, but we do a lot of behind-the-scenes constituent work that is just as important. I'm really proud of my team for this one: we intervened to keep a school open and safe from ICE.

Cottonwood School Video

As you may know, Cottonwood was the longtime neighbor immediately next door to the ICE facility. For months, the school grounds had been contaminated by the repeated use of chemical munitions by federal agents. Faced with the prospect of not being able to open at all this fall, the school was at risk of shuttering-displacing hundreds of students who depend on this school to meet many children's needs and access requirements.

I am so proud that my team was able to work alongside Cottonwood staff and parents to remedy that situation.

We worked with city staff to fast-track a permitting process that can often take up to a year, compressing it down into just six weeks. This allowed the school to relocate to a new, safe site on Southwest First Avenue and open on time for the school year.

This story is a small beam of hope. It shows what is possible when we cut through bureaucracy to protect our children and our community. You can see the impact of this work in this video, produced by my team. And if you're able, please consider supporting the school's continued fundraising efforts as they settle into their new home and consider enrolling your children here this fall.

Moda Center Update

Finally, I want to provide an update on the Moda Center remodel. There have been significant developments recently that I believe fundamentally change the conversation around this deal.

First, the NBA Board of Governors voted to give expansion teams to Las Vegas and Seattle. That's important because rumors that one of these cities may take the Blazers was floating around for months in the leadup to the funding bill passed through the Oregon legislature. Second, there is a growing effort in Congress, led by Senator Bernie Sanders and others, to pass a bill that would prevent teams from relocating if they have received public funding.

Taken together, these two developments are clear evidence that the "existential threat" we were told required us to sign a backroom deal simply does not exist.

So where was that pressure coming from? A recent investigation by The Oregonian offers some clues. We now know that top city officials, alongside advisers to Governor Kotek, the Trail Blazers organization, and wealthy private interests, held weekly private meetings and used a codename to conceal their work from public scrutiny.In other words, it was exactly the kind of backroom deal so many of us were worried about. It's also exactly the kind of politics charter reform was meant to stop. I'm going to have a lot more to say about the larger implications of this story in the near future, but for now let me reiterate my position on the Moda deal: Any public dollars given to this project must go through a thorough public process and must yield clear, measurable community benefits. We need to negotiate from a position of power, not from a position of manufactured fear. We need to get this right, and we need to do it in the open.

In solidarity,

Mitch Green

Council and Committee Meetings with Councilor Green

City Council Meeting

City Council holds regular meetings at 9:30 a.m. on the first, second, fourth and fifth Wednesday and 6:00 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month. If there is sufficient business, additional meetings are held the following Thursday at 2:00 p.m.

New Committee Meetings

Starting in April 2026, City Council will have five committees:

1. Community and Public Safety,
2. City Life,
3. Housing and Permitting,
4. Public Works, and
5. Committee of the Whole

Councilor Green's committees are: Public Works, Housing, and Committee of the Whole. We hope to see you there.

Upcoming Meetings

Community Events

Socialists in Office Townhall: Friday, April 3, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

District 4 Budget Open House:Saturday, April 4, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Hygiene4All regroups after string of fires, support at Burgerville: Monday, April 6 or contribute one time or monthly on Hygiene4All's website.

Dear Portland, by Humans for Housing: February 7 - April 9

Women-Owned Restaurants in Portland You Should Visit: March + Beyond

Portland Saturday Market: Every Saturday, Through December 5

Connect with Mitch

Instagram @councilormitchgreen

Bluesky @councilorgreen.bsky.social

YouTube @CouncilorGreenComms

Website portland.gov

Email [email protected]