Portland Mayor gives city workers a week off to reflect on ‘trauma’ of oppressive history

The announcement was made on June 8, in an email to all Portland city employees. The offer follows over a week of mass protests across the city in response to police brutality, sparked by the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

"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," said Wheeler.

The email from Mayor Wheeler is as follows in its full text:

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 (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) 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 (Human Resources Administrative Rules) 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

Portland's Chief of Police stepped down today as a result of chaos and lack of backing from city law makers.