Dan Ryan can’t be trusted to help Portland move forward
District 2 voters should not rank Ryan on your ballot
Dan Ryan is the only member of the current Portland City Council running to be elected to the new 12-member council.
Based on his performance during the last four years, Ryan does not deserve to be elected to any of the three District 2 seats because he will likely hinder the city’s ability to make the changes it needs to be an effective government that serves all Portlanders.
Voters in District 2 should not rank Dan Ryan on their ballot. Even a last-place ranking can inadvertently support a candidate in a ranked-choice voting system.
We believe Ryan would impede progress on the new council because he is untrustworthy.
He shifts his opinion with the political winds. In 2020, he ran for Portland City Council on a pledge to reduce funding for the police department after months of police violence against protesters. By November, he flip-flopped in his position and voted against reforms.
He abandoned Portland Street Response and community safety. In 2021, Ryan joined the city council in a unanimous vote to expand Portland Street Response to 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The nationally recognized public safety program sends trained mental health experts to help Portlanders in crisis. In 2022, he joined Rene Gonzalez in trying to dismantle this public safety program despite the protests of small businesses and community members who relied on it.
He is not a progressive. Ads are running to deceive North and Northeast Portland voters into thinking he is a progressive, but his work on council the last four years demonstrates otherwise.
He plays political games with our homeless response plan. At the October 16 City Council meeting, Ryan along with Mayoral candidates Rene Gonzalez and Mingus Mapps announced they plan to end the city’s agreement with the County to provide housing, shelter, and services to the 6,000+ people living outside. The multi-year plan was just signed in June. City Administrator Michael Jordan urged them to stay with the contract, “The only thing I know for sure is that whether you’re in the IGA or out of the IGA, you can’t escape the county. We are in this thing together. We do different elements that are absolutely critical pieces to success, and I think we’re learning to deal with each other better.”
He is in lockstep with Conservative Gonzalez. During the last two years, Ryan has shamefully joined controversial and conservative commissioner Rene Gonzalez in voting to criminalize people who are houseless when thousands of people have been forced to live outside because we don’t have enough shelter space.
He tried to overturn charter reform. Ryan worked with Gonzalez to attempt to overturn the voter-approved charter reform measures 18 months before implementation. Charter reform passed with nearly 60 percent of voters approving the long-overdue changes. It took days of protests by voters and the three other members of the council to stop them from moving forward with their proposal.
He was ineffective when he led the housing bureau. In 2022, Ryan pledged to open six Safe Rest Villages in the first year. He opened one and rebranded two others that already existed.
He claimed credit for permit reforms. On Oct. 11th, Ryan sent an email to his supporters claiming credit for “building a customer-focused permitting system.” It’s been widely reported that Carmen Rubio was responsible for permitting reforms.
He tried to stop ranked choice voting education: With Portland voters using ranked choice voting for the first time, the city invested in voter education efforts so Portlanders could prepare for this new voting method this November. Ryan once again joined Gonzalez in trying to stop the city from providing outreach grants to nonprofit organizations to educate hard-to-reach communities.
He complained that Basic Rights Oregon didn’t endorse him despite never applying. Ryan, an out gay man, didn’t apply to Basic Rights Oregon for its 2024 endorsement. Still, he complained to a Willamette Week reporter that he didn’t receive their endorsement suggesting he was entitled to it, and Basic Rights Oregon “clearly lost sight of their mission on who they serve.” Ryan wasn’t endorsed in 2020 during his first run for the Council. Basic Rights Oregon turned the state into one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly states in the nation, winning the freedom to marry and passing several landmark bills on behalf of transgender people.
Find six strong candidates to rank in District 2.
References
Paid for by: Portland for All PAC #23674 Top donors: Portland for All (Northwest Health Foundation, Kate Brown Committee, Johnell Bell), Progressive Voice for Oregon # 23659 (AFSCME Working Families Fund, Oregon AFSCME Council 75, SEIU Local 49 COPE Fund), Friends of Robin Ye # 23102, Movement Communications LLC, and Stephen Gomez.