PORTLAND, Ore. — Multnomah County's bridge operators are asking county leaders to stop using bridge lighting for political statements, following the county's decision to light the Morrison Bridge blue and white in support of Israel in the Israel-Hamas war earlier this month.
Sixteen bridge operators sent a letter to county commissioners Monday, asking that the county "refrain from using the bridges for any political displays that might cause moral offence to the operators working there."
They also asked county leaders to stop lighting bridges for political causes that might cause operators to feel unwelcome in their workplace, or make the bridges or operators a target for political violence.
The Multnomah County Commission lit the Morrison Bridge blue and white in support of Israel on Oct. 12, in an effort to condemn the Hamas terrorist attack,
"We know the situation in the Middle East is complex and nuanced, and this statement does not reflect our individual or collective views on the broader history and the suffering of the people in the region," Multnomah County Commission Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said in a statement. "But we cannot stand silent in the face of the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust."
Two days later, Vega Pederson changed course.
She directed the bridge to be lit in all-white for five days in a call for peace, a change intended to "find a way to honor all victims of the war" including the "suffering inflicted on the Palestinian population in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces."
That new lighting pattern ended on Saturday.
A nonprofit is responsible for deciding which colors are projected onto the bridge, and people have the ability to pay for various lighting combinations. The county chair can also make direct requests to light the bridge in certain colors.
None of Portland's downtown river crossings are owned by the city. Multnomah County owns and operates the Morrison, Burnside, Hawthorne, Broadway and Sellwood bridges. Union Pacific Railroad owns the Steel Bridge, TriMet owns Tilikum Crossing, and the rest are owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation.