When Portland City Council announced an unanimous decision to sweep Laurelhurst Park a few weeks ago, no one would go on record to talk about it
A united Portland City Council announced a unanimous decision to sweep Laurelhurst Park a few weeks ago — a symbolically triumphant consolidation of a decision-making body that has regularly appeared disjointed and at odds, regardless of the new members seated in January.
All it took for them to stand together was the July 29 removal of makeshift housing for some of the most vulnerable members of our community during a heat advisory at the start of another heatwave (declared a state of emergency by Mayor Ted Wheeler barely 12 hours later) in a historically hot summer.
And, what of those Portlanders who felt the city should provide the “forthcoming” services touted in their unified press release (i.e. Safe Rest Villages, new shelter beds, new housing vouchers), prior to sweeping a camp with the looming threat of extreme heat and an alarming spike of COVID-19 cases?
What if they felt positive about some bureaus’ actions, and negatively about others? How is the public to untangle responsibility for those actions come election season? Street Roots serves readers, not officials, and believes readers deserve answers to those lingering questions.
Street Roots attempted to attach names to statements and actions, only to be rebuffed by the commissioners’ (including Wheeler’s) press contacts on numerous occasions. Street Roots also requested meetings with each commissioner — to no avail thus far — to discuss the tactic.
“This is not a new practice exactly, but rather a concerted attempt to reflect that the action at Laurelhurst was jointly authorized by all four commissioners and the mayor,” an unnamed staffer wrote in an email to Street Roots signed with the names of all five press contacts. “Responsibility is shared between them.”
The press contacts expressed concern that if they were willing to attach names to statements, they would lose the appearance of a unified front — never mind that journalists regularly report attribution for individual statements while also communicating the quoted parties agree on something.
It’s an important practice in journalism ethics to give the public the message, and the messenger, especially when the messenger is a powerful person who should expect no right to anonymity with the exception of extreme cases involving things like whistleblower actions and leaks of classified information. In general, avoiding the use of unnamed sources of any sort without very good reason is widely considered best practice by professional groups like the Society of Professional Journalists. City officials agreeing to carry out a controversial action while not wanting to attach specific names to particular statements and pieces of information is nowhere near that threshold.
Street Roots works hard to adhere to the SPJ Code of Ethics and guidance from the Ethics Committee, and as such, “always question(s) sources’ motives before promising anonymity,” as written in the SPJ Ethics Committee position paper on the matter. “The information-gathering business is a give-and-take practice with a lot of public officials. Some are willing to provide information only when it benefits them,” the passage on questioning motives begins. The inverse is equally true; some public officials are unwilling to provide information when it could harm them, which underpins the questions and concerns surrounding motives.
The motive is also important to Street Roots, in part, because it’s important to readers. If we acquiesce in this regard, we contribute to a dangerous trend in which the press becomes complicit in undermining transparency and accountability.
Charitably, Portlanders can take the City Council at their word; they simply chose not to attach any names or offices to actions or statements about the Laurelhurst sweep because they wanted to appear united in what they described as a “difficult decision.”
Cynically, and perhaps justifiably, voters can conclude that regardless of safety concerns surrounding the camp, no commissioner wanted to hitch their wagon to what resulted in a police action causing additional hardship to whom the city themselves described as “vulnerable populations,” who are, again in the city’s words, “trying to survive.”
The practical effect is a lack of accountability and the convenience of plausible deniability if voters and reporters should remember this action taken at the confluence of multiple life-threatening crises.
Voters should also know specific ways that commissioners direct their specific bureaus to minimize the harm. As it is, an element of doubt will exist regarding the amount of credit, if any, they deserve. Portlanders deserve to know this level of nuance.
Curiously, the City Council recently voted to cede sweep authority to the Office Management and Finance, which is under direction of the mayor and not, in fact, the joint direction of the entire council. While their unanimous June 30 vote further defined criteria for camp sweeps, subsequent communication from council offices have muddied clarity around that criteria, as well as the decision making process.
Street Roots will continue to push for transparency and accountability from local leaders in all actions.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly publication focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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Editorial | Unity is not anonymity - Street Roots News
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