Why are you running for city councilor, what do you bring to the table that your opponents do not?
I’m running for City Council to stand up to the radical left leadership controlling our daily lives, crippling our local economy and paralyzing our police departments. I’m the only Republican in the race, which means a vote for me ensures balance to Tigard’s left-leaning City Council. But my personal lighthouse supersedes partisan politics. I’ll work hard for all the people of Tigard regardless of party, class, race or orientation – because that’s what real leaders do.
What is the #1 problem facing Tigard and what do you propose we do about it?
The BLM/Antifa Organizations support violence and destruction as a means to further their political agenda. They use racism as a covert tactic to implement public “advisory boards” with the aim of dismantling public safety infrastructure. The Tigard City Council bent the knee by establishing the City’s “Public Safety Advisory Board.” Its aim (as quoted from the city’s website) is to “review public safety practices and draft frameworks anticipated for all other areas of city operations. This board will be one component of the City’s Anti-Racism Action Plan.” This is in response to an event that occurred in Minnesota and had nothing to do with Tigard.
I strongly oppose the Tigard City Council adherence to BLM/Antifa “public safety” standards. The outcomes devastate lives and communities. Portland City Council now answers to the BLM and has spiraled into chaos with daily rioting, record setting violence, destruction of property and the collapse of Downtown. The BLM wants to destroy society. If not opposed in Tigard, our police will be defunded, resource officers will be pulled from schools and we’ll be living in chaos just like Portland.
Racism is disgusting in any form. I believe that treating any race more “sensitively” than another is racism. I believe that all Americans are strong, but divided we fall. Instead of fighting “racism,” we should fight to strengthen disadvantaged communities by introducing them to the American Dream of home and business ownership. In order to accomplish that, we’ll need to FIRST back our police by giving them the funding and support necessary to keep our neighborhoods safe. We can create new business owners by implementing community-based business accelerator programs operated by community leaders themselves. By strengthening small businesses, great jobs will be created, and more of us will qualify to own homes. Instead of searching for “micro” racism, we should revitalize Downtown Tigard with storefront funding and the development of affordable, urban style housing to improve our diversity. We don’t have to bend the knee to destructive and divisive groups. We just need to vote for better leaders. To learn more about my vision for Tigard visit: benedtl.com.
Ben Edtl for Tigard City Council
Website: www.benedtl.com
Email: tigard4@benedtl.com