Talk:Rene Gonzalez (politician)

Campaign Feedback

Hi there, this is a shared account from commissioner-elect Rene Gonzalez to provide feedback until his communications team takes over (late 2022 or 2023). Acknowledging potential conflicts per wikipedia guidelines, with the following initial suggested revisions:

1. Here is the Oregonian Endorsement, which we recommend be linked (Willamette Week and Tribune's are already linked): https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2022/10/editorial-endorsement-november-2022-rene-gonzalez-is-voters-best-choice-for-portland-city-council.html
2. Please reach out to campaign@reneforportland.com for a photo, but note the campaign owns the photo used in the Oregonian endorsement, which may be used here.
3. With respect to the lease, here is the final Administrative Law Decision: https://www.portland.gov/sites/default/files/2022/appeal-order.pdf Key quote in decision (p.15) on the fine: "According to the overwhelming weight of the evidence, the Director’s methodology and calculations were oversimplified and inappropriate to determine fair market value of commercial real estate in downtown Portland under the current socioeconomic conditions affecting the market."

Would appreciate consideration in adding above. Please let us know if we can be of further assitance to editors at campaign@reneforportland.com. Reneforportland (talk) 16:30, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

@Reneforportland: Thank you for commenting on the Talk page, really appreciate not diving straight into the article. Some replies:

1. I've added this, thanks for the link
2. Photos on Wikipedia are a bit of a pill, but tl;dr: is that we can't just take the photo from the Oregonian based on being told so here. You can upload a photo directly at our media repository if you have permission to share a freely-licensed photo, or I can shoot you an email and help find an easier workaround.
3. Wikipedia generally doesn't cite primary sources, and the article does note already that the fine was overturned in court. Are you suggesting we should add the reason?

Thanks, Steven Walling • talk 16:53, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

For #3, the court's reasoning might be helpful for readers, as the court did not find this a close case. For example, in a couple of places the court noted the evidence was overwhelming in Candidate Gonzalez's favor:

Page 14: "According to the overwhelming weight of expert testimony, the current state of the commercial real estate market – particularly ground-floor retail and office space – in downtown Portland is weak due to repeated civil unrest, increased homelessness, vagrancy, as well as both personal and property crimes."

Page 15-16: "According to the overwhelming weight of the evidence, the Director’s methodology and calculations were oversimplified and inappropriate to determine fair market value of commercial real estate in downtown Portland under the current socioeconomic conditions affecting the market."

If secondary sources cite, we will be sure to share. Reneforportland (talk) 18:53, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

Here is picture that can be used (now uploaded to wikipedia):

File:City DSC0471 - Copy.jpg

Portland City Commissioner-Elect Rene Gonzalez, Downtown Portland in Background.

Reneforportland (talk) 01:01, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Good morning Steve. Some notes:

The Oregonian Endorsement link above still looks broken on the main page.

Vandalism and Threats Against Campaign. Another part of the story in race was that our campaign office was vandalized 3 times, and a 4th vandalism/direct action attempt was thwarted by police. 2 of the 4 vandalisms/attempts were tied to what called police have called "anarchist' or "antifa" groups; a third also appears likely politically motivated. Here are stories for each:

1. Late July. https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/08/portland-city-council-candidate-rene-gonzalezs-campaign-headquarters-vandalized.html
2. Late September. https://www.koin.com/news/crime/schnitzer-enough-is-enough-of-downtown-portland-vandalism/
3. Late October. https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/portland-city-council-candidates-downtown-campaign-office-vandalized/283-43d47808-9cf2-4b3b-95b4-fc9f06bb708d#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20The%20campaign%20office%20of%20Portland,a%20rock%20inside%20the%20building.
4. Election Night -Anarchist Attempt Stopped by Police. https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/suspect-charged-protest-rene-gonzalez-election-night/283-8e890026-a37d-4b61-ae8f-7220b9dc49aa.

Here is some more detail on threats made against campaign:

https://thepostmillennial.com/portland-antifa-member-who-advocates-for-political-violence-works-for-far-left-group-hired-by-city-to-train-cops (please note - the city disputes the portion of the story indicating that the one making the threat works for an organization retained by the city of Portland; we are unable to verify independently).

https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1589837787158958081?s=20&t=dp5GYwuyA_719kx5xgmGSg. Threats made in advance of election night.

False Claims on Political Affiliation. The campaign sent a cease and desist letter to our opponent during the campaign for what we believed were inflammatory/false statements contributing to threat of political violence: https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2022/10/30/gonzalez-campaign-sends-hardesty-cease-and-desist-letter-alleging-patently-false-libelous-statements/

Willamette Week would eventual label Hardesty's mailers as a "lie": https://www.wweek.com/news/2022/11/09/we-sorted-through-election-mailers-many-voters-just-recycled/ "The implication that Rene Gonzalez is a Republican. The bright red mailer from the Jo Ann for Portland Committee did not explicitly make that charge, but it used the word 'Republican' four times in a silhouette of Gonzalez, along with the names Marjorie Taylor Greene (four times), Christine Drazan, Ted Cruz, Kevin Mannix and 'Right to Life' (three times). Gonzalez is certainly more conservative than Jo Ann Hardesty, but he’s a pro-choice Democrat." Reneforportland (talk) 16:24, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Also the vandalism is what led to the thank you to supporters on his Twitter that tagged Quincy Franklin - we did not know who he was, but he had video taped words of encouragement and shared on instagram after office was vandalized and threatened with further vandalism. It was odd Mercury focused on the shared instagram post, without referencing the well documented vandalism and threats it was in response to. Reneforportland (talk) 17:04, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Didn't expect to post 3 times today, but this just hit: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/11/portland-auditor-withdraws-5520-fine-against-rene-gonzalezs-city-council-campaign.html?utm_campaign=theoregonian_sf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

"The city must pay back the tens of thousands of dollars it withheld from Gonzalez, who bested incumbent Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in the Nov. 8 race for city council.

In a statement Wednesday, the auditor’s office said Allen’s decision impacted their original determination, saying “the evidence no longer supported allegations of prohibited contributions.” Reneforportland (talk) 22:47, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Edit Request June 25, 2024

Hi! I work with Commissioner Rene Gonzalez and have some feedback/suggested edits to help improve the article about him. I wanted to acknowledge potential conflicts per Wikipedia guidelines. I am following the process Wikipedia has created for the subject of articles to suggest corrections and updates for volunteer editors to assess. Wikipedia:Contact us/Article subjects. I will not edit the page myself, as strongly suggested at WP:COI.

I have the following initial suggested revisions:

1. In the Infobox, please add his law degree from Willamette University.

| alma_mater = Willamette University, JD

2. I have a few updates for the Early life and career section. The first is to change this sentence from this:

Gonzalez was raised in Anchorage, Alaska, where his father worked as a trial judge and federal prosecutor.

to this:

Gonzalez was raised in Anchorage, Alaska, where his father, a Mexican American, worked as a trial judge and federal prosecutor.

Rationale: The ethnicity of Gonzalez’s father is mentioned in the article's current citation, and has been widely reported in the Portland press.

3. In the Portland City Council, Council race section, please change the first clause of the third paragraph.

From:

Though both candidates were registered Democrats,

To this:

Though both candidates were Democrats,

Rationale: Replaces Primary source that is a broadcast debate with a well-regarded secondary source, The Oregonian. Removes “registered” as that is not reflected in the source.

4. In the Portland City Council, Council race section, please remove the last sentence of the third paragraph:

The Portland Mercury criticized Gonzalez for posting an election thank you to supporters on his Twitter and tagging Quincy Franklin, a member of the far-right-wing group Patriot Prayer.

Rationale: The Portland Mercury is an alternative newspaper that blends opinion and advocacy into most of its stories. The article cited here is a self-evident opinion piece, part of a weekly op-ed column by the editor of the paper. Gonzalez was not even given an opportunity to respond to the sensationalistic allegation, a clear indication that this is editorial commentary. A few highlights from the column:

"By the way, thanks a pantload, WEST HILLS and GRESHAM for your help in getting Gonzalez elected,” 

and

“The party of domestic terrorism (Republicans) are quickly realizing their strategy of destroying democracy and taking away abortion rights has bitten them in the ass, as Democrats have taken big leads in state legislatures and are tantalizingly close to taking the senate.”

Per WP:RELIABLE SOURCES: “Editorial commentary, analysis and opinion pieces, whether written by the editors of the publication (editorials) or outside authors (invited op-eds and letters to the editor from notable figures) are reliable primary sources for statements attributed to that editor or author, but are rarely reliable for statements of fact.”

This story fits this policy perfectly. This bias of this particular example is obvious from the language of the piece and because it’s from a regular weekly column by the editor. This author is a partisan who is very open that he was trying to keep Gonzalez from getting elected and wants to damage him politically in the future.,

An actual news reporter would have contacted Gonzalez and Gonzalez would have explained that on election night, when responding to congratulations by large numbers of people, he didn’t have time to research all their backgrounds. As soon as he noticed that one of the congratulatory notes came from an unsavory individual, he deleted the tweet.

The story is unreliable to support statements of fact and the sentence should be deleted.

5. In the Portland City Council, Council term section, please combine the first two sentences, which currently read:

Gonzalez's term began on January 1, 2023. The transition team is being headed by Tom Miller, a former chief of staff for former city commissioner Sam Adams. Gonzalez will serve a two-year term before needing to run again.

To this:

Gonzalez's two-year term began on January 1, 2023. The transition team was led by Tom Miller, who had served as chief of staff for former Portland mayor Sam Adams.

Rationale: The first sentence added missing information from sources that Sam Adams was the former Portland mayor, and the tense of the sentence was updated to be grammatically correct. Information about Gonzalez’s “two-year term” was added to the first sentence to provide this information concisely, making it unnecessary to repeat the info in a separate sentence.

6. In the Portland City Council, Council term section, please update the last sentence that reads:

Gonzalez was assigned management of Portland Fire & Rescue and other emergency services, excluding the police department.

To this:

Gonzalez was assigned management of Portland Fire & Rescue, the Bureau of Emergency Communications, and Portland Bureau of Emergency Management.

Rationale: I replaced the current citations, a government website and a Q&A from Willamette Week, with ones from the Portland Tribune and Oregon Public Broadcast, in accordance with WP:Reliable sources. The names of the specific departments Gonzalez managed during his tenure were added for clarity, and I removed the language “excluding the police departments,” as that was not mentioned in the source.

7. In the Portland City Council, Council term section, please add a new sentence to the end of the paragraph:

In September 2023, a drug criminalization law proposed by Gonzalez and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was unanimously passed by Portland City Council.

Rationale: Updates subsection with legislation that was widely covered in Portland press, with supporting reliable source.

8. In the Portland City Council, Council term section, please add a new paragraph to the end of the section:

In December 2023, Gonzalez announced his candidacy for mayor of Portland on the platform of public safety, homelessness, drugs, and revitalizing the economy.

Rationale: Updates article with the recent news Gonzalez declared he was running for mayor of Portland.

GeminiPiper13671 (talk) 18:28, 26 June 2024 (UTC) GeminiPiper13671 (talk) 18:28, 26 June 2024 (UTC)