Multnomah County just might face voters' wrath
Petition drive to consolidate city and county government kicks off
Mattt Zmuda, who kicked off a petition drive to consolidate local city and county government last night, told a crowd at the Lucky Lab that there was nothing new about the idea.
Holding a book by local historians Jewel Lansing and Fred Leeson, “Multnomah: the Tumultuous History of Oregon’s most populous County,” Zmuda said the authors mentioned the possibility of consolidation on page 1.
“This question had been raised many times since the founding of Multnomah County,” he continued. “Why have two local governments serving Portland if one could handle all matters by itself?”
Zmuda is doing more than talking about it. He launched MultNoMo.org to employ a never-before-attempted route by putting the decision in the hands of voters via an initiative. Under a 1971 state law, about 22,000 certified signatures would lead to a popular vote on the question within two years.
“Thank you for believing that Portland’s best days are ahead of us,” the Northwest Portland resident and software engineer told a crowd that peaked at about 60 people.
The jurisdiction to be created would have an original charter. It would not be a takeover of the county by the city, though Zmuda said he is focusing on Multnomah County partly because of the unpopularity and dysfunction of the county. Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson received an 11 % approval rating in the most recent polling.
While there were many inquiries about the logistics of combining the jurisdictions, Zmuda said a 13-member charter commission would be created to propose specific answers to such questions. The petition drive provides a mandate to study the issue.
Citing many American cities that have unified cities and counties, he said, duplication, turf wars and waste have characterized our local government.
Signatures will be gathered in public places ahead of the July 20 filing deadline, but individuals can also mail in petitions. Instructions are at https://multnomo.org/sign/
Whatever they do, the people organizing the initiative to consolidate city and county government need to avoid repeating the mistakes of Portland's city charter revision. For all the talk about obtaining input from the public, the blueprint for the charter was worked out ahead of time beginning as early as 2019 by the private City Club of Portland. So focused were they on doing equity that they didn't prioritize making city government more efficient. Be very wary of letting anyone or any organizations who had a significant part in that mess have any say in this venture.
Go, Mattt! This needs to happen. The City and County spend 90% of their time pointing fingers at each other, blaming the other for the failure (for example) to make a dent in the homeless crisis. Almost no time spent in governing or solving problems, because it's too convenient to just pile blame on the other side, and avoid all accountability. Having a single entity will focus the much-needed accountability and ensure that tax dollars are spent on programs that get results.