Far left Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has been very vocal about her desire to ‘defund the police’.
Most recently she pushed a plan that would defund the Portland Police by $18 million. That plan was voted down by a 3-2 margin.
So it’s quite humorous that when Hardesty got into a disagreement with a Lyft driver, the first thing she did was call 911 and demand police respond.
So she's all about defund police except when she needs them.
The Oregonian newspaper reports:
“Hardesty got upset over a mixup about where she was waiting for the car, then she didn’t want the windows open for ventilation because she was cold, then she wouldn’t get out when the driver cut the ride short and tried to drop her off at a gas station miles from home.
The Nov. 1 trip ended with dueling calls to 911 and a request from Hardesty for police to respond even though a dispatcher repeatedly told her that no crime had been committed.
The encounter puts a spotlight on Hardesty at a time when the veteran politician has worked to shift money away from the Portland police budget and tried to find alternatives to relieve police of handling a flood of 911 reports on scenarios that don’t involve crimes. Hardesty oversees Portland’s emergency dispatch system.”
Lyft currently recommends that drivers keep windows down while a passenger is in the car to ensure air circulation and mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
Of course, Hardesty is now playing the race card telling the Portland Tribune that calling 911 like she did is “a lot harder when you are Black or brown in America”.
The Lyft driver, who has reportedly handled more than 18,000 rides, says says he’s now concerned about the publicity and how it could affect his Lyft license.
“she was not a pleasant person. That has nothing to do with her political position as a Portland council person. I’m out here doing my job. She was very disrespectful to me, made me uncomfortable. I don’t feel like I have to sit in a car for anyone to have to argue unrelentingly and be rude and abusive, telling me what I have to do in my own vehicle.”