[This letter to the editor by XRPDX member Pat Kaczmarek was published in the “Readers Respond” section of the Oregonian on June 1, 2026 – Janet Weil, Ed.]
The Portland Police Union has started collecting signatures for Initiative Petition 1PDX2026 to include on the November general election ballot, (“Portland initiative to fund cops with climate cash moves closer to ballot,” April 30).
Having an effective police agency is good. However, this initiative takes money from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund to set a mandatory minimum number of police officers for our city, based on the national average. This number is not based on local need.
The PCEF fund is supposed to fight climate change and help people and communities to deal with the coming weather, fire and flood extremes. We voted for that very successful program. We do not want to undermine it.
Citizens need better, less costly mass transit to lessen the use of climate-warming fossil fuels. We need electric heat pumps for heating and cooling so we can minimize the use of methane-containing natural gas, a contributor to global warming. We need expanded subsidies for electric bikes, so people can bike commute to work or to grocery stores. We need insulated residential and commercial buildings that don’t leak heat in winter or overheat in summer. We need to rebuild our urban forests — which have been devastated by extreme weather — to cool our city.
Don’t sign or support ballot initiative 1PDX2026. It could take 25% of PCEF funds for a completely unrelated city service. This is not how our city should operate in a climate crisis. Now is the time to be a climate hero. Protect the Portland Clean Energy Fund from those who want to use it inappropriately.
Pat Kaczmarek, Portland
