Portland businesses prepare for any post-election fallout
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — With six days to go until Election Day, downtown Portland is making some noticeable changes ahead of Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Portland Police Bureau and other city partners held a news conference to give updates on a string of violence at ballot boxes and how they are preparing for the election.
“We never can eliminate risk, but the confidence that I have in our community, the confidence I have in our law enforcement response, I'm really hopeful that that's not going to be necessary,” Chief Bob Day said.
Corporate businesses like Chase Bank have already made the decision to start boarding up. But when it comes to small businesses, others have decided to ride the wave.
“When I got the business, the windows were boarded up because of the protest, and they just never came down. For me, if people choose to riot, I feel like we need to listen to the people,” Grand Gesture Books owner Katherine Morgan said of her new business. “People won’t listen sometimes unless you resort to causing a commotion, and if causing a commotion is how the word gets out and people express themselves, who am I to be like, ‘Oh, no! This isn’t the right way!’”
She tells KATU, while her business is still new, she won’t be boarding up in preparation for potential riots and says she hopes if they do come, they leave her business alone.
“I’m someone who believes in protesting, I’m someone who believes in doing whatever you can for your voice to be heard," she said.
