Spice on the tacos. None in the air.
Councilors Sameer Kanal and Candace Avalos want to ban chemical weapons like tear gas in Portland. Act, play, and score points for your district.
0 points · MildPortland can ban tear gas
Councilors Sameer Kanal and Candace Avalos introduced the Right to Breathe Act. It bans law enforcement in Portland from using chemical weapons like tear gas, with fines for each use and a right to sue for people who are harmed. Pepper spray stays legal.
In January, federal agents gassed thousands of people at a peaceful union rally in the South Waterfront. Gas has forced a school to relocate and seeped into apartments, and Portland has paid nearly $1.2 million in tear gas settlements since 2020.
The Act goes to the Council's Community and Public Safety Committee, chaired by Steve Novick. Four councilors have no public stance yet. Hearing from constituents is what moves them.
Pick an action
Swing votes
These councilors have no public stance on the Act yet. Steve Novick chairs the committee that will hear it. Every note to them earns double points.
Text a friend
Email your 3 councilors
Pick your district at the top of the page and your three councilors fill in here.
Call script
Call 311 or 503-823-4000 and ask for the office of your councilor. A staffer or voicemail will take your message.
Window sign
Letter size. Save it, print it, tape it up facing the street.
Share your story
Councilor Kanal's office wants to hear from anyone tear-gassed in Portland. The team's form has a box for your story, and it stays with the office until you say it can be shared.
Taco games that count
Every round ends with a two-line note to your district's councilors, so playing turns into pressure on the vote.
- Spice or Gas? Learn which chemicals Portland police and federal agents fire at people.
- Talk Back Practice answering the arguments opponents will bring to the hearing.
- Taco Cart Feel how far a gas cloud drifts past the people it was aimed at.
- Order Up Make a shareable receipt that tells your followers which councilor to call.
Play a round, then sign up on your phone at tinyurl.com/RestrictTearGas to help ban tear gas in Portland.
Talk Back
These are the arguments opponents will bring to the hearing. Pick the stronger answer and you'll be ready to testify.
Spice or Gas?
Some of these belong on a taco. Some get fired at Portlanders. Swipe right for spice, left for gas, or tap. You have 60 seconds.
Taco Cart
Catch the toppings, dodge the clouds. Drag or use the arrow keys. Every level the clouds drift wider.
Order Up
Build your order and get a receipt for your Story.
Speak up
Write the Mayor and all 12 councilors, then sign up with the councilor's team so you hear when the hearing is set.
Breath Map
Were you tear-gassed in Portland? Tap the map where it happened. Pins are anonymous and rounded to about a block. The rings show the mile that gas can drift from the two places it has been used most.
Tap the map to drop a pin. +30
Common Ground
Vote on short statements about tear gas in Portland. The board surfaces the ones that supporters, undecided people and skeptics all agree on, the way Taiwan used Polis to settle its Uber fight in a year. The councilor's office gets a map of where Portland already agrees.
Swipe right to agree, left to disagree. Keys: A, D and P.
Add a statement
- One idea, under 140 characters.
- Something a neighbor could agree or disagree with.
- No names, no insults.
Scoreboard
The Breath Meter fills toward 1,600 actions across Portland.
Breath Meter
of 1,600 actions
District leaderboard
Your card
points · Mild
Business pledge
Taquerias, salons, shops, studios, offices: every business shares the air on its block. Add yours to the list and make your graphics for the window, the feed and your Story.
Businesses on the list
Turn this game into a vote
Send your councilors two lines. It takes 20 seconds and it's worth more than the game.