Updated January 15
Councilor Dan Ryan sent the Mercury an apology on January 15.
Ryan: "With reflection, I know I wasn't my best self after a marathon Council session Wednesday, and I apologize for the unfair criticism I leveled at the Mercury and its reporter. Had I known what the text messages said, I would have been clear: The name calling by Owendoff is completely unacceptable, and my colleagues who were assailed deserve an apology. Nobody should use this language, in public or private or anywhere. I certainly respect the pressures reporters are under to meet deadlines, and my office has the commitment to reply to as many inquiries as we can. Unfortunately, tight schedules and deadlines can make it challenging to understand important context."
Original story:
Portland City Councilor Dan Ryan blamed the press after taking heat for choosing not to address the contents of a story published in the Mercury the day prior.
Ryan lashed out at the Mercury in a public meeting Wednesday, after the Mercury published a story regarding text messages local real estate broker Brian Owendoff and other conservative political activists sent in a January 7 group chat.
Toward the end of Wednesday’s afternoon meeting, Councilor Ryan falsely claimed he wasn’t provided context for the subject of the story, or given enough time to make an informed statement, despite email exchanges (below) that show otherwise. The story concerned a series of group chats that contained racist and offensive language about progressive city councilors of color. Ryan was asked for comment on the story because Owendoff, the person who sent and received the offensive messages, appears to have sway over Ryan’s policy decisions. Last November, Ryan had parroted messages sent to him from Owendoff when speaking during a Council meeting before a vote on a rental price-fixing software ban—a facet of the story published by the Mercury.
Below is the full exchange of emails with Ryan's office, which began 14 hours prior to the story publishing. The Mercury stands by its reporting.
Councilor Ryan: "I'm going to just be vulnerable with all of you and just say this, since I've been receiving unnecessary, not fair hate today. I was contacted by the Mercury an hour before the deadline yesterday morning while I was in a committee meeting, zero context on anything about text messages. The main question was, 'who do you talk to?' I go, 'I talk to anyone that reaches out that's in my district and needs to talk to me about their opinion on the topic.' That's all I said.
That's why my quote in there is pretty ambiguous, because I got a very ambiguous statement. I could tell by others in that article that I served with, you probably got a lot more context than I did, and good for you. But I just needed to say that, because it's not fair when you have to receive a reporter coming at you aggressively and wanting a deadline. And since I always try to not do the no comment thing, I provided a comment.
I don't really want any retort right now, I just have to say that I go high so often, but when there's lies that are coming out at you, you know, and then have to have the courage to just defend yourself, because no one else will. It's my lived experience. I'm the only one that could say what I just did about what I experienced. Anyway, I don't appreciate any of those comments that I read. If I would have known that that was what the article was about, I would have a different quote. I can see some nonverbal that's not trusting; that's not my problem."
Morillo says, "I just think you should take this up with a reporter instead of with all of us."
Ryan: "Well, because this is what happened. I had to hear three times today in testimony about it, and so, I just wanted to clear the air and be transparent. And yes, we will be talking to the reporter about journalism 101, thank you."
Here is the context and the series of events.
January 12
The Mercury reached out to Councilor Ryan and his Chief of Staff, Kezia Wanner, the evening before publishing the story about Owendoff and his associates.
9:17 pm
"Subject: Comment for the Mercury - 10:30 am deadline
Hi Councilor, and Kezia,I'm working on a story for the Mercury for a story we're planning to publish Tuesday. Can you carve out 10 minutes or so on Tuesday morning for a phone call? I can likely speak tonight as well, but obviously don't want to expect you to work so late. Happy to be flexible.
Feel free to call me at this number. [number redacted]Thank you!
Jeremiah Hayden
Reporter, Portland Mercury"
9:17 pm
"Hello,
Thank you for reaching out to the Office of Councilor Dan Ryan. Your message has been received, and a member of our team will review it at the earliest opportunity.
Please note that response times may vary due to the high message volume our office receives. We appreciate your patience and will do our best to respond promptly.
Thank you,
Office of Councilor Dan Ryan
Portland City Council"
January 13
6:21 am
"Good morning, Jeremiah,
I am including our office's Communications Coordinator on this email. Please share what your story is focused on.
Kezia"
7:25 am
"Hi Kezia,
I'd like to get Councilor Ryan's comments about some messages that were sent in a group chat with some offensive language about his colleagues. Ryan is not in the group chats, but I've been told he speaks with some of the people involved with some regularity. Brian Owendoff is a central figure.
I'm not tying the councilor to the messages. But also have some records from last fall that show Owendoff messaged talking points to him during the November 12 council meeting on the algorithmic process fixing ban. My request for further documents didn't show through a public records request and I'm curious why. I'm mainly curious about the sway that Owendoff and the others have on local policy items, and it feels appropriate for Councilor Ryan to give me his perspective.
Thank you,
Jeremiah Hayden
Reporter, Portland Mercury"
9:53 am
"Hi Jeremiah-
Here is a statement from Councilor Ryan:
"Like all my colleagues, I rely on the perspectives and experiences of many different Portlanders to inform my policy positions. Varied perspectives and input is critical to making good policy decisions, and one of my favorite things about this job is hearing from the courageous folks who come to testify in person."
Thank you,
Spencer
Spencer Raymond
Communications Manager
District 2 Councilor Dan"
Raymond then reached out to the Mercury by phone at roughly 4 pm January 13, after the article was published, saying the team would have hustled if it had more context. The Mercury planned to read the messages over the phone and ask Ryan respond, as it did with every other source.
"I think if you had let us know kind of exactly what you were talking about, especially with those texts and kind of the context overall, we could craft for you a statement, or get try to get Councilor Ryan on the phone in a way that would complement your reporting a little bit more than just kind of a baseline response," Raymond said.
As a free press remains under attack at the federal level, Ryan's comments are a stark warning that efforts to chill a free press are a threat to democracy anywhere.
