Political pressure has increased in City Hall in the eight days since a fire ignited outside of Councilor Candace Avalos’ east Portland home, destroying her car and a carport and damaging the side of her house, leaving it uninhabitable.

Much of that tension is centered on how Portland police have characterized the investigation of the Oct. 26 fire. As WW previously reported, Avalos took exception to police announcing, just one day after the blaze, that there was “no evidence to suggest the fire was specifically targeting Councilor Avalos”, just 24 hours after they had initially deemed it “suspicious in nature”.

Avalos told WW she was worried that “police leadership may be jumping to conclusions before the investigation is complete.” In a late night Thursday blog post, Avalos connect

See Full Page