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At the Portland City Council meeting on Wednesday morning, a distressed

Cameron Warren spoke out.

As the owner of a development company, Warren is concerned about his tenants, who occupy several spaces in the Parkrose Plaza. It is not just their businesses that are exposed to potential harm from the uncertain security of Sumner Street in NE Portland but their safety, too.

“In the last few weeks, Parkrose Plaza,” Warren shared with the council members, “has repeatedly been robbed.” Parkrose isn’t even among the top ten highest crime neighborhoods in Portland according to the Police Bureau of Portland.

Warren is concerned, for good reason, that he cannot maintain a safe, fully operational business with the lack of enforcement in the area. “My business is providing space for those who want to provide valuable services to the community,” Warren said.

Because the safety of their customers and their operations has been put to a test, many business owners in the space have fled. “When law-abiding, revenue-generating businesses decide that Parkrose is no longer a safe place to operate, we’re all robbed,” Warren says.

At the city council meeting, Warren made a call to action.

To the council members, Warren said that “Police need your support and PBOT needs to step up and enforce the rules.”

He believes a change must be made.

Warren recounted that police have arrested and re-arrested the same man for multiple crimes against owners in the plaza. The thief was caught breaking into a business. A cop from the case later shared with Warren that the police have already arrested him multiple times, once for arson.

“Sadly, our police force has become vilified because the leadership from the top has failed to lead in a consistent manner,” explained Warren.

Warren concluded his words to the councilors, simply asking for them to act.

Directly after, Commissioner Hardesty ignored Warren's concerns for the time being to call a point of order.

She took a few moments to address a diatribe made at her in a previous communication from that morning. She said, “It’s really appalling to have people come into these chambers and try to use communication to vilify someone who has served their country well and continue to serve my community well.”

She continued, “I will debate any public policy issues, but it is not my responsibility to unprove lies and misinformation.”

Commissioner Mapps followed soon after, returning to the communication at hand. He assured Warren that he is working with colleagues to improve public safety. “I can’t address the concerns you raised about PBOT, however, I do share the concerns you raise about public safety in Parkrose,” said Mapps.

Mayor Wheeler followed up in agreement. He continued to clarify that the police are simply doing their job as best they can. “That’s what the city does. The city provides first responder services.”

The criminal justice system goes far beyond the Bureau making arrests, its extensions, none of which are “the jurisdiction of the city of Portland,” said Wheeler. Wheeler said that it is not true that the city council does nothing to support public safety, “that is factually not true based on the budgets that we have passed over the course of the last year.” He worked to assure Warren that the city is still working to improve public safety through the impact reduction program. “I’m sorry we’re not able to reach all of the most troublesome locations as quickly as we’d like to,” he finished.

Commissioner Rubio and Mayor Wheeler concluded the communication by expressing their gratitude towards commissioner Hardesty for her dedicated service to the country.