Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty says she wasn’t involved in minor

Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty denied Thursday that she was involved in a minor hit-and-run accident in Southeast Portland that another motorist reported to police.

A driver told police that she was rear-ended Wednesday afternoon while stopped at a traffic light, according to sources familiar with the allegations but unauthorized to speak publicly.

The driver contacted police about the collision after returning home. She said she had been side-by-side earlier on the road with the car that struck her and saw the other driver on the phone or looking down in her lap before the accident.

The driver gave police the license plate of the car that struck her. Hardesty was listed as the suspect on a computer dispatch report. No injuries were reported.

Hardesty called the allegations a “smear campaign” against her and said she wants the report investigated because it “threatens to damage my reputation as a City Council member and as the transportation commissioner.” She said she was home at the time of the reported incident.

“I didn’t hit anybody. I wasn’t driving. Nobody drove my car. This entire allegation is totally false,” she said, speaking to media from her home during an afternoon video news conference. “I’m telling you today, these allegations are false, and to be frank, these allegations are suspicious.”

She said her car, a Volkswagen Passat, is outside her home and has been for the last six months, inoperable because of a broken door lock and dead battery. She said she donated another car to Volunteers of America and didn’t know whether that car was still registered in her name. She said she didn’t know the make and model of that car but planned to release the information soon.

“After COVID happened, it became impossible to actually do the DMV transfer process so it is very possible that there is another automobile that is registered to me,” Hardesty said.

Hardesty turned her suspicion to a Facebook site called Savepdx.org,. It posted a Zoom live chat Thursday morning hosted by Jeff Reynolds, who cited a Portland police incident report on a hit-and-run involving Hardesty.

The Facebook site describes itself as a “Coalition to Save Portland” that is “fed up with the policies of appeasement that allow our cities livability to deteriorate.” The live chat was titled “Scandal at City Council. Guess who?” Reynolds, who served for four years as chair of the Multnomah County Republican party, did not return messages seeking comment.

Portland police Lt. Greg Pashley said police received a report of a hit-and-run that had occurred at 4:48 p.m. near the intersection of Southeast 148th Avenue and East Burnside Street. No citation had been issued as of Thursday morning.

“It’s an open investigation. We’re still looking into it,” said Sgt. John Holbrook, who investigates hit-and-run accidents. “It’s at the early stage of the investigation.”

Police Chief Chuck Lovell briefed Mayor Ted Wheeler on the accident inquiry. Wheeler serves as the city’s police commissioner.

“There’s an ongoing criminal investigation,” said Jim Middaugh, the mayor’s spokesman. “The mayor will have no comment.”

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