The Power Pulpit vs. The Silent Streets: Hillsboro Leadership’s Double Standard on Political Violence

The Real Story – A Column

When State Senator Janeen Sollman reported a verbal disruption and alleged physical invasion of her personal space and removal of her glasses at a Forest Grove community forum, the condemnation from state and local leadership was swift. Every resident, community member, and elected official deserves to participate in civic life without fear of harassment, intimidation, or physical aggression.  Let me agree and be emphatic on that point—absolutely.  Non-violence and mutual respect are foundational principles of democratic engagement and the only way forward.

However, the rapid deployment of official authority by Mayor Beach Pace and four members of the Hillsboro City Council—co-signing a public declaration condemning “political violence” before judicial due process has even begun — stands in stark contrast to the Council majority’s notable silence during recent acts of physical violence, institutional misconduct, and tragedy affecting ordinary Hillsboro residents.

A Tale of Two Standards

On August 10, Mayor Beach Pace, alongside City Council President Rob Harris and Councilor Elizabeth Case, published a joint statement on social media.  Those three posted online, and the statement was attributed to them and to Councilors Salgado and Anvery.  Addressing the incident involving Senator Sollman and 28-year-old Pedro Garcia-Balderrama, the group declared:

“In a democracy political violence is wrong… We ask that people use their words to shed light, but to never use, or let others use their words, as tinder for incitement to violence.”

 

While the statement calls for civility, the swiftness and scale of this public reaction highlight an unmistakable “power pulpit” dynamic. When an elected official experiences an alleged misdemeanor harassment incident, City Hall’s leadership quickly mobilizes to frame the event on social media as an assault on democracy itself.  This is the first time this writer can ever remember such swift condemnation over such an incident.  They do not name the accused, but the reference to Senator Sollman from our community, whom we have seen closely working with this group of leaders, makes it rather obvious. And the accused in this case is a recent regular at the City of Hillsboro Council meetings and has been disruptive and has shared many harsh words within the Shirley Huffman Auditorium aimed at members of this group.  So this seems to give an elevated importance, and for those who are City Hall regulars, it is a direct connection.

The Rest Of The Story- Have They Made Statements When Serious Crimes Occurred?

Yet, when ordinary residents face physical harm or civil rights violations in Hillsboro, we can find no record of comparable joint statements, moral outrage, or social media campaigns from this same majority.  For instance:  

• The Shute Park Pride Party Bear Spray Attack (June 2026): When anti-LGBTQ+ agitators deployed chemical bear spray into a crowd of festival attendees, affecting families, community members, and young children in a public park, no joint statement was issued by the Mayor or this group to condemn the violence or publicly support the victims. Community members were left to push for police action on their own.

• Severe Misconduct & Institutional Silence: When the City of Hillsboro paid a $90,000 federal court settlement in 2020 to Jean Coppedge, an elderly Black resident whose civil rights were violated during a biased investigation, or when HPD Detective Rebecca Venable’s texts celebrating the convictions of Hispanic defendants were exposed in court, leadership retreated into procedural silence, offering no public stand on systemic fairness or institutional accountability that we can find a record of.

• Tragic Violence in the Community: When 17-year-old Hillsboro High School student Jesus Copado-Oropeza was shot and killed at a local birthday party near Shute Park, leading to a life sentence for his killer, there was no joint social media campaign from the dais waxing poetic about street violence or the safety of local youth.  None we can find.

• Jamal Jones (Hillsboro Police Officer and Westview High School Head Football Coach) – According to the breaking news reports, Officer Jones was an active-duty Hillsboro Police officer when 12 students from Beaverton’s Westview High School accused him of shaking and slapping them during an overnight team camp at Linfield University while allegedly intoxicated.  He was later acquitted after a long legal process and placed on paid leave, and the Beaverton School District settled with one parent out of court.  But unlike the accused in this Sollman case, not a word was said by the Mayor or this cohort of Hillsboro City Councilors.

If any of the Councilors can show us time-stamped social media posts to these cases, like the one posted tonight, we will gladly refute our assertions and include screenshots of those posts.

This disparity creates an unsettling perception: that public safety and moral advocacy are elevated priorities when applied to those in power, but administrative afterthoughts when applied to everyday citizens.  Like it or not, this is the reality of what tonight’s post looks like.

The Council Fracture: Due Process and Power Dynamics

The joint statement by Mayor Pace and her four colleagues also exposed a formal rift on the Hillsboro City Council. Councilors Dr. Olivia Alcaireand Kipperlyn Sinclair issued a direct letter to Mayor Pace, declining to join the statement and offering a sharp counter-perspective on power dynamics and due process:

“We find it highly premature that a swift statement was released to the press against an underserved resident, prior to due process… When an elected official uses their platform to publicly condemn a vulnerable individual before due process has fully played out, it appears politically charged rather than rooted in a pursuit of safety.”

Alcaire and Sinclair highlighted that Pedro Garcia-Balderrama is a young Latino man with disabilities who serves as a primary caregiver for his immigrant parents.By using the mayor’s pulpit to publicly label a pending misdemeanor charge as “political violence” prior to court proceedings (scheduled for August 13), the council majority risks weaponizing city authority against a marginalized constituent before the legal facts are adjudicated in court.

 

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A post shared by Kipperlyn Sinclair Hillsboro City Councilor/Resident (@kipperlyn_forcommunity)

An Open Invitation to City Hall

Safety, dignity, and due process cannot be conditional on holding political office. If “words matter” and “every resident should feel safe,” that standard must apply universally, not just when a political ally is challenged, but whenever a resident of Hillsboro is harmed.

The Hillsboro Herald has formally invited responses from Mayor Beach Pace and Councilors Rob Harris, Saba Anvery, Elizabeth Case, and Cristian Salgado to address the following questions:

1. What specific criteria elevate an alleged misdemeanor confrontation involving an elected official into a joint public statement on “political violence,” while physical assaults against residents, such as the bear spray attack at Shute Park, did not receive similar public outreach?

2. How does the Council majority reconcile issuing pre-trial declarations on social media with the principle of due process for all Hillsboro residents?

Responses from all members of the Council and the Mayor will be published in full upon receipt.

Hillsboro teen sentenced to life for fatal birthday party shooting

This news video covers the local sentencing in the fatal shooting of Hillsboro High School student Jesus Copado-Oropeza, providing direct context on severe youth violence in Hillsboro.

Hillsboro teen sentenced to life for fatal birthday party shooting

KGW News · 569 views

Open in Hillsboro teen sentenced to life for fatal birthday party shooting