[Phew! Putting these endorsements together takes LOTS of hard work—and that’s on top of our regular excellent reporting. Show your appreciation for the Mercury with a small contribution, please, and thank you!—eds]
City Commission, Position 3
Jo Ann Hardesty
When Jo Ann Hardesty first entered City Hall in 2018, she was considered a one-issue politician. Campaigning with such a narrow lens on police reform and accountability—work she spent decades advocating for as a community organizer—it was all but guaranteed that her tenure in council chambers would be defined by a constant assault on policies that have allowed the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) to skirt sanctions and oversight for years. Four years later, her legacy is far more complex.
In her time in office, Hardesty has championed issues from housing access to transportation—including scrambling to stand up a number of outdoor housing pods for unhoused Portlanders at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, negotiating with the state to transfer oversight of SE 82nd Ave to the city, pushing for pedestrian safety measures in high-crash streets, establishing the Portland Clean Energy Fund to support small green businesses while decreasing carbon emissions, and forging a path to permanency for car-free plazas founded during the pandemic.
This isn’t to say she hasn’t also moved the needle on police reform while at City Hall.