Hiring of homeless services director raises questions

Nathaniel VerGow oversaw a failed system in Los Angeles

Sharon Meieran, a emergency room physician, served two terms as a Multnomah County Commissioner.

By Sharon Meieran

A couple of weeks ago, Multnomah County hired the former Los Angeles homeless services director, Nathaniel VerGow, who presided over possibly the largest human services system failure in the United States. It was a split vote, but there was barely any media attention, and no one offered more than lukewarm opposition.

Three years ago, I wrote an op-ed in The Oregonian warning that the homelessness situation in Los Angeles was a cautionary tale, and that Multnomah County was following its playbook. I laid out five clear ways to change course. You can click on the link and read them—they’re still relevant today.

Multnomah county did exactly none of them. Now, as Los Angeles tries to pick up the pieces and move forward, we’re following the path of their failure.

To understand how truly alarming this is, we need to understand a little about what happened in LA.

In 2020, a coalition of business owners and neighbors sued the City and County of Los Angeles in federal court, alleging that their policies and inaction had led to a proliferation of homelessness and direct harm to the community.

At the time, the City was responsible for housing policy and funding; the County was responsible for services policy and funding; and a joint entity—the LA Homeless Services Authority—managed data, contracts, shelter, outreach and coordination across funding streams.

In January, 2025, a federal judge ordered an independent, third-party assessment of the entire system. The findings, released in May, 2025, were unequivocal:

• Billions of dollars could not be reliably tracked.

• Bed counts and encampment data could not be verified.

• A sprawling network of nonprofits had weak oversight and fragmented contracts.

• There was deep dysfunction between City, County, and the joint coordinating office.

• There was no clear way to determine whether positive outcomes were achieved.

This was a systemic indictment, and the consequences have been significant: The City of LA has faced contempt proceedings; the coordinating office has come under intense scrutiny and is being essentially dismantled; and the city and county are moving to take back control of their respective roles.

Seven months ago, a coalition of Portland business leaders, service providers and community members asked Gov. Tina Kotek to require a similar independent review of Multnomah County. Seven months later, the governor declined to even make the request.

What did the county do instead?

It plucked its new Homeless Services director straight from LA’s failed system, a clear signal that nothing is going to change.

The controversial vote was 3–2, with Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards casting the deciding vote. While her comments meekly referenced the need for accountability, her vote delivered the opposite: a new county Homeless Services director involved in LA’s unmitigated homeless services disaster.

Commissioner Shannon Singleton voted against the appointment, but not because of a clear alternative—her reasoning focused on timing, not direction. And her own record has been on a similar course to what happened in Los Angeles.

Commissioner Singleton led the Joint Office of Homeless Services at Multnomah County from 2022-2023. During that time, we saw historic increases in homelessness and deaths on our streets. Director Singleton systematically delayed and obstructed the implementation of a by-name list to track homeless services by person, which could have brought accountability to our beleaguered system.

These votes and their context are telling. In a chair’s race where the public is being asked to trust words without substance, we need to look at the evidence. What Multnomah County lacks is not money, effort or compassion. It lacks a plan, results and accountability.

There are people who know how to fix this—people who understand the homeless services system and could turn it around. Instead, the county board hired a leader who not only admitted he will need time to “learn the system” but has already helped lead his previous system to failure.

If county leadership is serious about change, the path forward is clear. My plan (FixMultnomah.com) is ready to be implemented.