Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler spoke candidly during a one-on-one interview with KATU on Friday.
With current hurdles including growing homeless camps, record high gun violence, and challenges with sanitation, KATU's Angelica Thornton asked Wheeler how he would respond to those who say Portland's city leadership is not solving the problems at hand.
"We are making progress, but I understand from the public's perspective while it, why it feels so dislocating, Portland is a beautiful city. Portland is a city that functions well, that over the last two years it's been stress tested. And frankly, a lot of the services that we provide have not been up to par during this pandemic," Wheeler said.
Looking at gun violence, Wheeler said shootings spiked not just in Portland, but in cities across the United States over the last few years, including communities with more police staffing.
The mayor said he's hopeful specialized Portland police teams can turn that around.
"So when it comes to gun violence, just in the last few months, we created the enhanced community safety team, which is an investigative unit. We put the Focused Intervention Team officers out on the streets. We created a community oversight program. We strengthened our partnerships with the district attorney, as well as our federal partners. And we continue to do more, to recruit more police officers, as well as making significant new investments in the community," Wheeler said.
Watch the Full Interview with Wheeler:
Editor's Note: During the interview, Wheeler said three officers that were hired last fall won't be on the streets until fall, but his office later clarified they won't be attending the academy until the fall.
Thornton also asked Wheeler about the progress with changes to the city charter, and if Portland will move away from the current commission form of government.
"I absolutely hope so. The current form of government's the worst of all worlds. It's, you know, at its core, the problem with the commission form of government is there's a bifurcation between authority, the ability to do something and accountability," Wheeler said.
The mayor also spoke to issues like homelessness and addiction on the streets of Portland. KATU will have more from Angelica's interview and his response to those challenges early next week.