Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D-Portland) sent the following message via email to all City of Portland employees, today:

Colleagues,

As a nation and as a City we continue to grieve the recent loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and others in the country and in our community. We acknowledge that Black employees are experiencing a collective grief and trauma coming from a culmination of oppression that is over 400 years old.

We hear and understand that many of our employees, especially our BiPOC employees, are deeply impacted by these recent events and are hurting.

I want to give our employees space to grieve and reflect: 40 hours of bereavement leave as allowed under HRAR 6.03.

I am directing managers and supervisors to approve the leave without question.

I am hopeful that other employers in our community will do likewise.

We’re witnessing a dramatic shift in our nation, one that is urgently charting the path forward for restorative justice, inclusion and understanding. I feel tremendous responsibility, as well as tremendous privilege, to be a part of this historic movement. Thank you for walking that path with me as we continue to serve the City of Portland.

Sincerely,

Ted

"BiPOC" as used in this message, stands for "Black, indigenous, People of Color."

Critics of the mayor have pointed out that while he is focused on "oppression that is over 400 years old" that no one alive today has had direct experience of nor been the cause of, he has been less effectively focused on the oppression that is continuing under his watch in his own city.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-06-08 18:48:03

Last Update: 2020-06-08 18:48:36