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A whopping 70% of Portland area voters disapprove of their city’s progressive leadership in city council members and Mayor Ted Wheeler, according to a new poll.
“I’ve seen Portland change dramatically in the last six or seven years and I hate to say it’s not been for the better,” one participant told The Oregonian. “I’m very dissatisfied with our government, our local government. I don’t think they’re doing their job at all. I will vote this time because I like to complain. But I’m not even sure it matters at this point.”
The survey, conducted on behalf of The Oregonian by DHM Research, found that while 24% of Portland area registered voters approved of Wheeler as the city’s leader, the overwhelming majority, 70%, find his performance unacceptable.
Meanwhile, the Portland City Council had a disapproval rating of 70%, with a net negative of 54%.
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Ted Wheeler Portland homeless tents split image (Getty Images)
“There’s no doubt that if you walk or drive around Portland, you’ll be assaulted by evidence of city and county failures. Tents, garbage, potholes, traffic. As voters, we’re highly reactive to our immediate visual surroundings,” Portland State University professor Jack Miller told The Oregonian.
Residents of the Rose City think local leadership could improve on their management of homelessness, as the survey found 91% of voters object to their government’s approach to the issue.
A majority of respondants – 78% – dislike the city’s approach to mitigating crime, a number that increases to 89% when focused on drug addiction.
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Portland graffiti and police split image (Getty Images)
The Oregonian reported, “Of the five elected officials the poll asked about by name, the net negatives were highest for Wheeler (46%), Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson (31%), Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt (28%) and Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington (10%). Only Clackamas County Chair Tootie Smith managed to keep her net negative rating in single digits, at 8%.”
More than half of the metro area population – 66% – agree that Portland is on the wrong track.
“Our biggest problem is that they don’t seem interested in actually solving issues – they just want to talk about them,” 22-year-old Portland native Caleb Powell told The Oregonian.
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Drugs and Portland in a photo illustration. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images and Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
In a comment to Fox News Digital, Cody Bowman, communications director for Wheeler’s administration, wrote that the concerns of local citizens are “prioritized in the mayor’s recently proposed budget.”
“This polling reaffirms that Mayor Wheeler’s priorities remain aligned with Portlander’s top concerns, particularly in the areas of homelessness, livability, community safety, and supporting our local economy,” Bowman said. “Mayor Wheeler agrees with public sentiment that the status quo is not working. He is continuing to work closely with his colleagues on the City Council to deliver change for our community—and we are seeing progress.”
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Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi is a freelance production assistant at Fox News Digital.
