As long as we're thinking big, add revising the County charter to reform the role and powers of the Multnomah County chair to the list.
The Chair serves as Chief Executive Officer and personnel officer, overseeing and administering all county programs (except those under the elected Sheriff, Auditor, District Attorney, and Commissioners). The Chair presides over Board meetings, sets the Board's agenda, executes policies and contracts, and prepares the executive budget for submission to the Board. Critically, the Chair acts as sole authority to appoint, direct, and discharge administrative officers and employees of the county.
In short, the Chair controls hiring, firing, day-to-day administration, the budget, and what the Board is even allowed to vote on — making the position more like a mayor or governor than a mere board member, and one with an unusual degree of insulation from legislative challenge.
Because the Chair sets the Board's agenda, potential oversight measures — independent audits, performance reviews, contractor accountability hearings — can simply never be scheduled. Because the Chair controls hiring and firing, department heads serve at the Chair's pleasure, creating strong institutional incentives to manage upward rather than report problems honestly. And because the Chair prepares the executive budget, the Board's legislative review begins from a document the Chair has already shaped. The commissioners can amend, but they cannot initiate. The result is a structure in which the primary check on executive power is the executive's willingness to be checked.
Nicely stated. Only quibble is that, having been through a public budget process many times, it makes sense for someone or one office to prepare and submit a budget. Like the city mayor. In this case it's the county executive. It would, in my opinion, not be practical for the commission to submit a budget to itself!
Having said that, you obviously need a council or commission willing to take the submitted budget and shape it to reflect priorities and needs of Portland/county residents by deleting and adding items as a majority sees fit.
At my first budget as a city council member in Alaska, I said that this budget was "dead on arrival." It was the headline the next day. And it was dead on arrival!
I appreciate Ken's clarion call for immediate and radical reform, but I'm genuinely unsure this Exxon Valdez can be course-corrected. We've heard these appeals for fiscal responsibility, methodological consistency in data gathering, and in service implementation ad nauseam and nothing ever changes! I don't think any of our big 3 governments: City of Portland (the City That Works), Multnomah County nor the State of Oregon, have the nimbleness or capacity to overcome the bureaucratic inertia which plagues them. To my mind, some of this has to be attributed to the overweening power that Public Employee Unions hold in these governmental bodies, and some of it is a function of the addiction of many of our leaders to conflating their performative politics with actually doing something that produces meaningful results (JVP? DSA?). I don't think an obsession with DEI being the required litmus test lens for every decision has been helpful either.(And don't get me started on Golden Parachutes being handed out willy-nilly for demonstrated incompetence and likely criminality, but that's a tangential topic).
One question. Ken writes that we need to "Ensure that people with substance abuse issues, behavioral health or physical health needs are provided appropriate wraparound services to meet their needs, including in particular optimizing new HUD requirements and funding streams." I don't see where the funding source for these long touted 'wraparound services' is going to come from. The people I frequently encounter on the streets of Portlandia that need wraparound services, are going to need these wraparound services FOREVER. Most of them will never work, likely not be able to live socially or responsibly in ANY KIND of unsupervised housing, and for all practical purposes will end up being permanent wards of the state. How is this sustainable, especially in a time of likely persistent inflation eroding our tax dollars' buying power? Who will pay for these wraparound services? I appreciate your thoughtful commentary, but there appears to be lots of magical thinking about finances when it comes to solutions involving the homelessness/ addiction crises. I'm not sure that the taxpayers of Multnomah County nor the state of Oregon have deep enough pockets to actually meaningfully implement these very good ideas, especially for the likely period of time they would have to pay them... which appears to me to be forever.
As someone with 30 years experience in Addiction Medicine and has been part of teams to open residential treatment programs, I don’t see the state, county, or city of Portland doing the complex work of opening and running the treatment centers needed to address the mental health and addiction issues that the homeless present with. The absolute inability of the city/county to open a sobering center reflects their incompetence. Meetings after meetings. Promises after promises. It’s just easier to hand out needles, tarps, and tents, count how many people you have contacted and state you are serving thousands. And Tina Kotek has to go, she is an absolute failure as a leader.
Great summary, Ken. It's exasperating that the solutions are clear, but that the governor, the mayor, the city council, and county leadership are simply incapable of leadership, cooperation, accountability and execution. City Council has only a couple leaders with smarts and integrity -- the rest are amateurs with a severe lack of experience of any kind, and are incapable of analysis and good decision-making. The governor needs to go, no question - she ignores everyone and everything. The County should be ashamed of themselves for their failed programs that have squandered so much money. It's no wonder that the city, Multnomah County and Oregon as a whole have seen more people leaving than arriving, reversing decades of net in‑migration. And of course, those people are taking tax dollars with them.
Thank you. When voting for chair, people need to ask themselves if they want more of the same- or not. If the latter, people should support someone who has shown a willingness to challenge "the establishment" and make needed changes.
This is exactly why we need Dr. Sharon Meieran as County Chair. She is the only person who knows how to deal with the homeless problem with a plan of her own mirroring the one you describe. Can we convince her to run? Maybe. She knows the incompetence first hand. I believe she can and will bring meaningful change. She's nobody's puppet. Singleton -- just another political hack. Brim-Edwards -- nice lady, but nice won't get you across the finish line. Dr. Meieran -- fearless, unafraid to do the right thing no matter who objects.
Has Sharon decided yet to actually run? I have reached out to her encouraging her to run and offered my support both in volunteering and financial support. I encourage others to do so as well. https://multcosharon.com/
She claims she has until August to decide. She apparently is waiting to see who else might jump into the race and to see if any of the contenders have a plan they are willing to defend. So far, I don't see any and I hope she doesn't because then she will run.
I am supporting Brim Edwards and she is supporting neighborhood organizations pushing back on needle distribution near schools. She has been on the council through all this and will make adjustments in policy which are badly needed. She does not need to be the center of attention and can garner the respect of her colleagues on the council. I hope people take a close look at her record and if doing so will find she has been a respected councilor who should be moved up. What is needed is physicians of all stripes to push aggressively with hospitals for more psychiatric units in general hospitals(Portland needs 1250 and currently has 250), foster change in civil commitment that unlike the recent change bring practical, timely, and humane civil commitment that is relatively short term maxed out at six weeks, and reform needle distribution both by the county and the PPOP. The political movement to accomplish these things is not going to come from leaders but from Portlanders who have had enough of enabling the severely mentally ill to the detriment of their communities. Until we hold all people accountable to reasonable public laws to uphold safety, civility and beauty in the public square, we will have ourselves to blame.
Brim Edwards is not the answer. Her know it all arrogance is only exceeded by her ignorance. We call her the "Builder In Chief" as her solution to anything seems to be just build something. Next up is an $86 million dollar new Animal Service Building----still off the grid out in the boondocks. A troubled facility that fails every audit. Yeah, all they need is a brand new building at our expense. All better. She's too self involved and ambitious. Wants to be governor, so let's just fast track that now and put her in Salem. She can haunt them for awhile.
She is working hard on stopping needle distribution close to schools. She will learn to have zero tolerance for failed audits and hold people accountable. Anyway she is the best we have and at least she doesnt want to warehouse the mentally ill by gifting them free housing and no required treatment. I am sure she is arrogant and ignorant about many things but she has the bones to be a strong leader. She will win hands down especially if she can score on an ordinance limiting the needles, so why not go with a winner.
I disagree and agree on some of your points. Yes, she is the best we currently have, although that's not saying much. Where I disagree: needle distribution is a tiny part of the problem. That alone is not near enough.
As for "zero tolerance for failed audits and holding people accountable", not only did she tolerate the multiple F grade audits for Multnomah County Animal Service, she celebrates that dismal management failure (those who should be held accountable) by spending $350,000 on planning to build them a new facility.....which will ultimately cost taxpayers an additional $85+ million dollars. Hence my arrogant and ignorant comment. You don't reward incompetent and inefficient bureaucrats with new offices, something she has done many times before, hence the phrase "Builder in Chief". Sorry, I don't consider her a winner. I consider her a politician who is more ambitious and self interested than actually confronting real problems head on and solving them. She will propose a ban on needle distribution because she did her own polling and decided that it will generate more votes than opposing it. Pretty simple math.
Next stop: Kotek may lose to the republican. Even if she wins, her term expires....dig this....just when the next county chair's election. Don't rule out a tasty Chief of Staff opening to cut short her county career....
Thank you Ken for bringing this to light. We need to make sure EVERYONE knows how important this county chair election is. The county is COC (Continuum of Care) and the mental health, addiction, and homelessness authority in our region and have the power to dig us out of this rut. They control every penny of the SHS tax dollars ($140M in 2024) and the $38M annual Federal HUD dollars.....which together is all the money we need to solve the homelessness & addiction crisis. We have the right DA, the mayor (despite some bad calls lately) is teachable and capable of disrupting....if we get the right county chair (and a new governor - probably republican - I know- YIKES - but it's that bad!) we will be able to "clean house" at the HSD (Homeless Services Department/JOHS) and bring in experts with lived experience here in Portland to right the ship. The HSD alone has the money and power to create change. Then the city can stop focusing on shelter, and focus on housing through new leadership at PHB and Home Forward. Working together, it can be done! Dr. Sharon Meieran, we need you!
Very disappointed to hear that Tina Kotek's response to our efforts was met with a "we do not have the resources at this time" response. Time for new leadership. Thank you for trying Ken!
Mr. Thresher wants scads of experts!!! studies!!! commissions!!! a central intake plan!!!
Ain't gonna happen because the system that has evolved over the past decade is embedded in a political machine that does what all machines do: survive, grow opaque, resist any outside-the-bubble interference.
It's the money, honey.
Meanwhile, everyone has forgotten that the county is about to plunge down the black hole known as rank-choice voting...which means we will now have more disciplined, organized forces aimed at equalling what became of the Portland city council. If the DSA types get their hands on two of the too-many governments in this town...well, better you're a goose than a human who doesn't toe the line.
As long as we're thinking big, add revising the County charter to reform the role and powers of the Multnomah County chair to the list.
The Chair serves as Chief Executive Officer and personnel officer, overseeing and administering all county programs (except those under the elected Sheriff, Auditor, District Attorney, and Commissioners). The Chair presides over Board meetings, sets the Board's agenda, executes policies and contracts, and prepares the executive budget for submission to the Board. Critically, the Chair acts as sole authority to appoint, direct, and discharge administrative officers and employees of the county.
In short, the Chair controls hiring, firing, day-to-day administration, the budget, and what the Board is even allowed to vote on — making the position more like a mayor or governor than a mere board member, and one with an unusual degree of insulation from legislative challenge.
Because the Chair sets the Board's agenda, potential oversight measures — independent audits, performance reviews, contractor accountability hearings — can simply never be scheduled. Because the Chair controls hiring and firing, department heads serve at the Chair's pleasure, creating strong institutional incentives to manage upward rather than report problems honestly. And because the Chair prepares the executive budget, the Board's legislative review begins from a document the Chair has already shaped. The commissioners can amend, but they cannot initiate. The result is a structure in which the primary check on executive power is the executive's willingness to be checked.
Nicely stated. Only quibble is that, having been through a public budget process many times, it makes sense for someone or one office to prepare and submit a budget. Like the city mayor. In this case it's the county executive. It would, in my opinion, not be practical for the commission to submit a budget to itself!
Having said that, you obviously need a council or commission willing to take the submitted budget and shape it to reflect priorities and needs of Portland/county residents by deleting and adding items as a majority sees fit.
At my first budget as a city council member in Alaska, I said that this budget was "dead on arrival." It was the headline the next day. And it was dead on arrival!
Excellent point!
Thank you Ken Thrasher! This is second article I've read were you have laid out critically needed steps to take. My hopes get revived sir.
Please let our communities act on these steps!! I don't trust voting for anyone any longer...
I appreciate Ken's clarion call for immediate and radical reform, but I'm genuinely unsure this Exxon Valdez can be course-corrected. We've heard these appeals for fiscal responsibility, methodological consistency in data gathering, and in service implementation ad nauseam and nothing ever changes! I don't think any of our big 3 governments: City of Portland (the City That Works), Multnomah County nor the State of Oregon, have the nimbleness or capacity to overcome the bureaucratic inertia which plagues them. To my mind, some of this has to be attributed to the overweening power that Public Employee Unions hold in these governmental bodies, and some of it is a function of the addiction of many of our leaders to conflating their performative politics with actually doing something that produces meaningful results (JVP? DSA?). I don't think an obsession with DEI being the required litmus test lens for every decision has been helpful either.(And don't get me started on Golden Parachutes being handed out willy-nilly for demonstrated incompetence and likely criminality, but that's a tangential topic).
One question. Ken writes that we need to "Ensure that people with substance abuse issues, behavioral health or physical health needs are provided appropriate wraparound services to meet their needs, including in particular optimizing new HUD requirements and funding streams." I don't see where the funding source for these long touted 'wraparound services' is going to come from. The people I frequently encounter on the streets of Portlandia that need wraparound services, are going to need these wraparound services FOREVER. Most of them will never work, likely not be able to live socially or responsibly in ANY KIND of unsupervised housing, and for all practical purposes will end up being permanent wards of the state. How is this sustainable, especially in a time of likely persistent inflation eroding our tax dollars' buying power? Who will pay for these wraparound services? I appreciate your thoughtful commentary, but there appears to be lots of magical thinking about finances when it comes to solutions involving the homelessness/ addiction crises. I'm not sure that the taxpayers of Multnomah County nor the state of Oregon have deep enough pockets to actually meaningfully implement these very good ideas, especially for the likely period of time they would have to pay them... which appears to me to be forever.
And compounding everything are relentless increases in property taxes that hurts so many on a fixed income.
As someone with 30 years experience in Addiction Medicine and has been part of teams to open residential treatment programs, I don’t see the state, county, or city of Portland doing the complex work of opening and running the treatment centers needed to address the mental health and addiction issues that the homeless present with. The absolute inability of the city/county to open a sobering center reflects their incompetence. Meetings after meetings. Promises after promises. It’s just easier to hand out needles, tarps, and tents, count how many people you have contacted and state you are serving thousands. And Tina Kotek has to go, she is an absolute failure as a leader.
Great summary, Ken. It's exasperating that the solutions are clear, but that the governor, the mayor, the city council, and county leadership are simply incapable of leadership, cooperation, accountability and execution. City Council has only a couple leaders with smarts and integrity -- the rest are amateurs with a severe lack of experience of any kind, and are incapable of analysis and good decision-making. The governor needs to go, no question - she ignores everyone and everything. The County should be ashamed of themselves for their failed programs that have squandered so much money. It's no wonder that the city, Multnomah County and Oregon as a whole have seen more people leaving than arriving, reversing decades of net in‑migration. And of course, those people are taking tax dollars with them.
Thank you. When voting for chair, people need to ask themselves if they want more of the same- or not. If the latter, people should support someone who has shown a willingness to challenge "the establishment" and make needed changes.
This is exactly why we need Dr. Sharon Meieran as County Chair. She is the only person who knows how to deal with the homeless problem with a plan of her own mirroring the one you describe. Can we convince her to run? Maybe. She knows the incompetence first hand. I believe she can and will bring meaningful change. She's nobody's puppet. Singleton -- just another political hack. Brim-Edwards -- nice lady, but nice won't get you across the finish line. Dr. Meieran -- fearless, unafraid to do the right thing no matter who objects.
Has Sharon decided yet to actually run? I have reached out to her encouraging her to run and offered my support both in volunteering and financial support. I encourage others to do so as well. https://multcosharon.com/
She claims she has until August to decide. She apparently is waiting to see who else might jump into the race and to see if any of the contenders have a plan they are willing to defend. So far, I don't see any and I hope she doesn't because then she will run.
I am supporting Brim Edwards and she is supporting neighborhood organizations pushing back on needle distribution near schools. She has been on the council through all this and will make adjustments in policy which are badly needed. She does not need to be the center of attention and can garner the respect of her colleagues on the council. I hope people take a close look at her record and if doing so will find she has been a respected councilor who should be moved up. What is needed is physicians of all stripes to push aggressively with hospitals for more psychiatric units in general hospitals(Portland needs 1250 and currently has 250), foster change in civil commitment that unlike the recent change bring practical, timely, and humane civil commitment that is relatively short term maxed out at six weeks, and reform needle distribution both by the county and the PPOP. The political movement to accomplish these things is not going to come from leaders but from Portlanders who have had enough of enabling the severely mentally ill to the detriment of their communities. Until we hold all people accountable to reasonable public laws to uphold safety, civility and beauty in the public square, we will have ourselves to blame.
Brim Edwards is not the answer. Her know it all arrogance is only exceeded by her ignorance. We call her the "Builder In Chief" as her solution to anything seems to be just build something. Next up is an $86 million dollar new Animal Service Building----still off the grid out in the boondocks. A troubled facility that fails every audit. Yeah, all they need is a brand new building at our expense. All better. She's too self involved and ambitious. Wants to be governor, so let's just fast track that now and put her in Salem. She can haunt them for awhile.
She is working hard on stopping needle distribution close to schools. She will learn to have zero tolerance for failed audits and hold people accountable. Anyway she is the best we have and at least she doesnt want to warehouse the mentally ill by gifting them free housing and no required treatment. I am sure she is arrogant and ignorant about many things but she has the bones to be a strong leader. She will win hands down especially if she can score on an ordinance limiting the needles, so why not go with a winner.
I disagree and agree on some of your points. Yes, she is the best we currently have, although that's not saying much. Where I disagree: needle distribution is a tiny part of the problem. That alone is not near enough.
As for "zero tolerance for failed audits and holding people accountable", not only did she tolerate the multiple F grade audits for Multnomah County Animal Service, she celebrates that dismal management failure (those who should be held accountable) by spending $350,000 on planning to build them a new facility.....which will ultimately cost taxpayers an additional $85+ million dollars. Hence my arrogant and ignorant comment. You don't reward incompetent and inefficient bureaucrats with new offices, something she has done many times before, hence the phrase "Builder in Chief". Sorry, I don't consider her a winner. I consider her a politician who is more ambitious and self interested than actually confronting real problems head on and solving them. She will propose a ban on needle distribution because she did her own polling and decided that it will generate more votes than opposing it. Pretty simple math.
Next stop: Kotek may lose to the republican. Even if she wins, her term expires....dig this....just when the next county chair's election. Don't rule out a tasty Chief of Staff opening to cut short her county career....
Thank you Ken for bringing this to light. We need to make sure EVERYONE knows how important this county chair election is. The county is COC (Continuum of Care) and the mental health, addiction, and homelessness authority in our region and have the power to dig us out of this rut. They control every penny of the SHS tax dollars ($140M in 2024) and the $38M annual Federal HUD dollars.....which together is all the money we need to solve the homelessness & addiction crisis. We have the right DA, the mayor (despite some bad calls lately) is teachable and capable of disrupting....if we get the right county chair (and a new governor - probably republican - I know- YIKES - but it's that bad!) we will be able to "clean house" at the HSD (Homeless Services Department/JOHS) and bring in experts with lived experience here in Portland to right the ship. The HSD alone has the money and power to create change. Then the city can stop focusing on shelter, and focus on housing through new leadership at PHB and Home Forward. Working together, it can be done! Dr. Sharon Meieran, we need you!
Very disappointed to hear that Tina Kotek's response to our efforts was met with a "we do not have the resources at this time" response. Time for new leadership. Thank you for trying Ken!
Mr. Thresher wants scads of experts!!! studies!!! commissions!!! a central intake plan!!!
Ain't gonna happen because the system that has evolved over the past decade is embedded in a political machine that does what all machines do: survive, grow opaque, resist any outside-the-bubble interference.
It's the money, honey.
Meanwhile, everyone has forgotten that the county is about to plunge down the black hole known as rank-choice voting...which means we will now have more disciplined, organized forces aimed at equalling what became of the Portland city council. If the DSA types get their hands on two of the too-many governments in this town...well, better you're a goose than a human who doesn't toe the line.