JVP's office lied. They Censored. And they blamed the algorithim.

Last week, I posted a critical but factual comment on Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson’s official Instagram page. It addressed serious failures in our public safety system — including mismanagement at the County’s deflection center.

And my comment on social media was as follows, typos and all…

It wasn’t threatening. It wasn’t harassment. It was the truth. And it was deleted.

Here is the link. After the comment disappeared, I began asking questions and last weekend I filed a formal complaint over the weekend with the County, the County Auditor, and the Attorney General:

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To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to file a formal complaint regarding the deletion and hiding of non-threatening, constitutionally protected public comments made by constituents on social media accounts associated with Chair Jessica Vega Pederson.

Multiple credible sources have confirmed that Matt McNally, a Communications employee for the Chair’s office and former aide to Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, is actively moderating and removing comments on official posts.

The comment I posted — addressing critical but factual information about county operations, public safety funding, and oversight failures — was removed without justification. My comment was neither threatening nor harassing, and its removal constitutes unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment.

Under recent Supreme Court rulings (O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier, Lindke v. Freed, 2024) and established case law (Davison v. Randall, 2019), elected officials and government employees acting in an official capacity cannot suppress dissenting views or remove critical comments from public forums on social media.

The County has an affirmative duty to ensure compliance with constitutional rights. Political staff operating in official roles are not exempt.

I am requesting:

• A full explanation regarding the County’s policy on social media moderation by public employees.

• Clarification as to who authorized the removal of my comment.

• Immediate steps taken to address this unlawful conduct and prevent future viewpoint-based censorship.

If this matter is not resolved promptly, I will consider pursuing legal remedies to protect my constitutional rights and to seek public accountability.

I expect a written response within 14 days. - Angela Todd

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Jessica’s Vega Pederson’s office responded Monday via email, claiming it was Instagram’s algorithm.

Jessica Vega Pederson's Response

But anyone who knows how Instagram works knows that hidden comments don’t vanish — they collapse under a “View Hidden Comments” tab.

That was not the case with my comment. It was hidden from public view. And oddly, after I filed my complaint, my comment reappeared. This wasn’t a glitch. This means it was hidden and then unhidden by someone with administrative privileges on JVP’s page.

It was censorship — and now, it’s a cover-up.

I replied back again with the following. It has been crickets every sense.

Chair Vega Pederson and Multnomah County Communications Staff,

I am appalled by the County’s decision to respond to my formal complaint with what can only be described as a blatant lie.

Your office claimed that my public comment was hidden due to Instagram’s automated moderation features.

Anyone familiar with Instagram’s platform knows that hidden comments remain visible under a “View Hidden Comments” section.

In my case, the comment was fully removed from public view — and only reappeared after I filed a complaint.

This was not an algorithm.

It was manual censorship, performed by someone managing the Chair’s account.

Lying to constituents about viewpoint-based censorship is a serious breach of public trust — and it raises real concerns about both your office’s ethical standards and your basic fitness to manage public communications.

If Jessica Vega Pederson cannot be trusted to be honest about something as fundamental as honoring free speech on her official channels, what else is she willing to cover up?

Further, Multnomah County’s handling of its official pages violates multiple state expectations outlined for elected officials:

• No content-neutral code of conduct is posted on Chair Pederson’s page, as required.

• No warning was issued before my comment was hidden.

• No appeal process was provided, as outlined by the legislature’s public social media guidelines.

• No transparency has been offered regarding who took these unlawful actions.

These are not technicalities.

They are protections meant to prevent exactly the kind of political censorship your office attempted to excuse.

Additionally, it is clear that your Communications Director — Matt McNally — either does not understand the law governing official social media accounts or chose to ignore it.

Given the seriousness of these violations and the County’s inability to take accountability, I believe Mr. McNally should be terminated immediately.

Public officials and their staff are not above the law — nor are they entitled to silence critics and lie about it when caught.

The citizens of Multnomah County deserve better.

We deserve leaders and public employees who respect constitutional rights — and who tell the truth. - Angela Todd

And this isn’t an isolated incident. I’ve personally experienced censorship from Portland City Commissioner Tiffany Koyama Lane — whose staff also hid my comment here. The only difference? At least Commissioner Koyama Lane acknowledged the issue with a sheepish head shake and a smile when I had the opportunity that week to speak to her in person— instead of lying about it like Jessica Vega Pederson’s office did.

I am confident this happens all over Oregon on official politician social media pages. In the case of State Rep. Khanh Pham, I’ve heard from constituents who say they’ve been blocked or had comments removed, too. Here is a post about the Pham’s history of blocking from Cindy at Oregon Citizen on Instagram- screen shots included.

The irony wasn’t lost on me when Representative Khanh Pham attended the 82nd Avenue Parade of Roses this last week with “Defend Democracy” signs she handed out to the crowd.

This isn’t about hurt feelings or social media drama - it’s a violation of our First Amendment rights and more importantly, a violation of the public’s right to question those in power.

Under both the U.S. Constitution and Oregon’s own social media guidelines for elected officials, none of this is lawful. Public officials who operate social media for official business cannot silence critics they don’t like. In the state of Oregon they are required to post a content-neutral comment policy, to warn users if a comment might be removed for harassment

or threats, and to offer an appeal process if it is. The following is the state’s policy sent to all legislators following the Supreme Court’s most recent ruling. This is required of all public officials in Oregon.

Here is the full explanation and policy attached to the email:

Of course Chair Vega Pederson’s page had none of those procedures or protections in place. No code of conduct. No warning. No appeal. Just censorship — and then, a lie.

Multiple County employees have indicated to me that her communications staffer, Matt McNally (pronouns he/him/his), was the one removing public comments. McNally also happens to be a former aide to Jo Ann Hardesty. Apparently, my misstep was helping campaign to remove Jo Ann Hardesty out of office, successfully I might add.

An Oldie but goodie when PDX Real had less than 5,000 people following:

When Hardesty ran for office, a few neighbors and I hosted “Coffee with Candidates” at my home. Yes, Jo Ann has been in my dining room. I recall she was 45 minutes late with no explanation or apology. She is very likable in person. When it turned to speaking about public safety, she didn’t share the concerns of my neighbors many of which were being terrorized with crime from encampments at the time. She also informed us as I recall the police were lazy, always at coffee shops and some of them were Nazi’s. I may have this on video if you want me to dig it up. It was quite the experience!

After Hardesty lost her election, Matt McNally came onto my radar when he tagged PDX Real in a post on X. Among other things, he claimed he’d been in contact with my ex-husband—someone I haven’t spoken to since 2006, who lives across the country. According to Matt, he told him I was “an open racist” who regularly used the N-word.

Matt didn’t stop there. In another post, he publicly mocked a public records request I had filed — calling it “poorly drafted” and scoffing that it “turned up nothing.”

That request, by the way, was directed to Jo Ann Hardesty’s office. I had asked for internal emails, texts, and correspondence that mentioned me or my organization — specifically in connection to a 911 call made by a Portland school teacher. You might remember the story: a driver reported that Jo Ann Hardesty had hit her car and left the scene of the accident. The tip came to me through a friend of a friend, and I broke the story in a local Facebook group. It went viral almost immediately.

Hardesty ultimately got the last word. She secured a $680,000 settlement from the City of Portland and the Portland Police Bureau, claiming she was falsely implicated in a hit-and-run. But that’s not the full truth. The PPB cleared her in less than 24 hours. (We’ll set that aside — for now.)

Here’s the actual screenshot from the 911 dispatch that night.

To this day, the public remains confused about what really happened. A woman called 911 and identified Jo Ann Hardesty as the driver who struck her vehicle and fled. Interestingly, the woman was a school teacher — and when I spoke with her by phone, I got the strong impression she had voted for Hardesty.

Hardesty called the entire incident a political hit job. Somehow, she convinced the mayor to greenlight a year-long, multimillion-dollar investigation involving the Portland Police Bureau. During the review, some officers admitted they didn’t care for Hardesty. That shouldn’t have come as a shock — after all, she had publicly accused Portland police officers of setting fires during the 2020 riots among other statements…

In Portland, having the “right” ideological slant can earn you a generous settlement. But if you speak out against the status quo, question progressive sacred cows, or challenge those in power, you're far more likely to be slandered, harassed, or threatened.

I wear it like a badge of honor.

Middle finger to the performative progressives who pretend to be the good guys while plundering the city, who talk endlessly about inclusion while deleting dissenting voices or censoring critics.

The fact that a former staffer from Hardesty’s office would publicly comment on a public records request—let alone mock me for filing it—still blows my mind. And as for the “open racist” accusation? I honestly don’t even know how to defend myself against something so dishonest and inflammatory. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe Matt didn’t say it because he believed it or was actually in touch with my ex-husband. Maybe he said it because he knew what that kind of accusation can do—how it sticks in people’s minds, poisons the well, and might just scare someone into silence.

Too late, Matt.

This isn’t the first time a former Hardesty staffer has come after me online. Before she ran for City Council, Angelita Morillo posted a TikTok that doxxed my business and purported I was a wealthy NIMBY. (Ironically, Angelita makes more money than me right now.) That post mysteriously disappeared from the Internet just before Angelita announced her campaign—in my district. I wish I had a copy to show you. (Note to self: always take screenshots.)

Apparently, I’ve been taking up space in their heads for years—long after Hardesty’s political career came to an end. It’s wild—I’ve filed two formal complaints this year with the City and County, and both just happen to involve former Jo Ann Hardesty staffers now working in government roles.

I hope it drives them crazy that PDX Real has grown to nearly a quarter million followers across our channels — despite every effort in this city to shut me up.

It’s hard to silence someone with a platform this size — and in that way, I’ve already won.

If you haven’t seen the Angelita Morillo story I wrote yet , it is here

Matt eventually deleted the “open racist” post from X. But yes, I kept a record. It's below.

Let’s me underscore for you that this is the Communications Chair for the Multnomah County Chair. Here is Matt’s Linked In page.

Matt’s X can be pretty vile towards any number of people, especially when he is between government jobs. It’s no secret that Jo Ann Hardesty had a powerful ability to mobilize leftist activists in Portland—whether it was coordinated testimony at council meetings or so-called “peaceful protests” that often pushed well beyond the limits of civil discourse. It’s fair to ask: what role did her staff play in that machinery? And where are they now?

Is Matt McNally—best known as Hardesty’s former Communications and Outreach Coordinator—really the most qualified person to now oversee social media and communications strategy for the Multnomah County Chair? That’s a serious responsibility in a time when transparency, truthfulness, and professionalism in public communication matter more than ever. So why was Matt chosen by Jessica Vega Pederson?

That’s a question taxpayers deserve an answer to. And on to the bigger question -

What exactly are the consequences when the most senior elected official in Multnomah County lies to the public to cover up censorship?

Still no answer from anyone in my inbox but Multnomah County itself. Will this be another egregious story that the local governing, auditor, ombudsman and state attorney general’s office ignores. Sadly that is par for the course. Our attorney general has been fighting Trump most recently for more Covid money. He isn’t going after human trafficking or organized crime in the state of Oregon? Yeah I smell a rat there too.

But for the record, as it pertains to JVP’s office and OUR first amendment rights: here is how I see it. Any attorneys out there in the Portland area with a sharp blade who want to talk? Be in touch will ya?