Two people who were hired to gather signatures for a Portland ballot initiative that would use clean energy funds to hire police say they were trained to mislead the public about the proposal. If true, the conduct would violate state elections rules, and could spell trouble for the petitioners and the company hired to lead the signature-gathering campaign.
The allegations come as those backing the initiative—which seeks to divert 25 percent of Portland’s Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) to the Portland Police Bureau—try to meet a tough deadline to get the proposal in front of voters this year.
The canvassers’ concerns have been echoed by Portlanders who have reported feeling deceived by the campaign. The Mercury independently confirmed that the people gathering signatures for the effort are telling voters the proposal is intended to address general “public safety” concerns, including long 911 wait times. But the actual text of the ballot initiative tells a different story…