The response to the resurfacing of Councilor Mitch Green's 2020–21 social media posts about Portland police, including resignation calls from the police union and the police chief.
Four Oregon voters filed complaints with the Secretary of State's office alleging that Police Chief Bob Day's statement on the city website responding to Councilor Green's resurfaced 2020–21 posts violated the state law barring non-elected public employees from political activity, KPTV reported. The complainants said Day used his position and city resources to "campaign" against Green, who is running for re-election; Day's statement did not name Green but said "I no longer have confidence that this councilor is evaluating the police bureau reasonably and objectively." The Secretary of State's office said it had not determined whether to open an investigation.
The Portland Police Association called for Green's resignation the previous week; Green declined in a KGW interview on September 17.
The Portland Police Association called for Councilor Mitch Green to resign over posts he made in 2020 and 2021 describing "pure hatred for Portland Police" and calling officers "absolute monsters," surfaced by a Portland political commentator and reported by The Oregonian. Police Chief Bob Day said in a statement that he no longer has confidence Green is evaluating the Police Bureau reasonably and objectively. Green declined to resign, saying in a statement that Portland police used force against protesters more than 6,000 times in 2020 and citing the police oversight ballot measure that more than 80 percent of Portland voters passed in November 2020.
Green is one of three DSA-endorsed councilors on the November 2026 ballot; he is up for reelection in District 4.
The Mercury's news team and editors published a five-byline editorial arguing that the calls for Councilor Mitch Green's resignation from the police union, the police chief, and other elected officials are, in the board's words, an attempt to meddle in local elections. The editorial states: "This is not about one councilor. It is about how we hold onto a free and fair democracy locally, in the face of federal efforts to consolidate power and bully anyone who disagrees."
Portland Police Association President Aaron Schmautz called for Green's resignation on September 16, the day before the editorial ran.