Portland police, fire unions withdraw endorsements for Jefferson Smith

KOIN:

Both the Portland Police and Portland Firefighters associations have withdrawn their endorsements for mayoral candidate Jefferson Smith. The retractions were announced in a statement Thursday. They follow a Willamette Week newspaper report last week which uncovered a 1993 assault charge brought against Smith concerning allegations he hit a woman at an off-campus party while he was a student at the University of Oregon. The charge was later dropped when Smith signed a diversion agreement in which he agreed to pay the woman’s medical bills and do community service.However, despite the retractions, the unions would not go as far as to endorse Smith’s challenger, Charlie Hales. “Our members count on us to make recommendations and, at this point in the campaign, we cannot make a strong recommendation for either candidate,” the statement read. -- Faris Tanyos

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