PORTLAND, Oregon — The race for Portland City Council has gained a lot of attention as the city transitions the form of government it has used for over a century. But at Multnomah County, with four seats on the ballot, there are some high stakes too. Elected officials will have the responsibility of dealing with some the region's toughest challenges, like homelessness, behavioral health and public safety.
Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards, of District 3, was a guest on this week's episode of Straight Talk to discuss her reasons for running for reelection and hopes for more urgency at the county level in tackling the community's challenges.
“We need to get the county back on track," Brim-Edwards said. "I ran seven months ago to disrupt the status quo. I felt we needed more urgency and more action.”
Brim-Edwards was elected in May during a special election after Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson became county chair. Previously, she worked at the U.S. Senate and Oregon House of Representatives before joining Nike, where she worked as an executive for 17 years. She’s lived in Southeast Portland for 45 years.
Addressing homelessness
Rather than prioritizing housing, Brim-Edwards said the focus needs to be more on creating shelter now. She explained that it can take years for housing to be developed, and during that time thousands would be living on the streets without access to basic services, safety or stability.
“I think the humane thing to do is make major investments in shelter," Brim-Edwards said.
Over 300 people died on the streets last year in Multnomah County, she said. While, housing is the "ultimate goal," it takes a while to produce and misses a step.
"We need to really pivot from housing-first to shelter-now, knowing that housing is the next step in the process," Brim-Edwards said.
Portland mayoral endorsement
Currently, the leading candidates for Portland mayor are all sitting members of the city council: Commissioner Rene Gonzalez, Commissioner Carmen Rubio and Commissioner Mingus Mapps.
Brim-Edwards said she's not going to endorse anyone at this time, but said she'll be looking for candidates to give specific actions they are going to take to address some of the region's biggest challenges at the city level.
The fentanyl emergency
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson each declared a 90-day fentanyl emergency in late January. It allows city, county and state governments to commit their resources to a unified response to the emergency.
Brim-Edwards said she is in support of the initiative, though she said "we should have probably done it last summer."
In June, Brim-Edwards said, commissioners were given a presentation that showed a 533% increase in county deaths due to fentanyl since 2018.
"I'm glad it is happening (declaring a fentanyl emergency)," Brim-Edwards said. "It is late. It should have happened sooner."
Creating treatment opportunities
Brim-Edwards said there are not enough options right now for people seeking treatment or for emergency responders when called to a behavioral health crisis on the street. Currently, emergency responders have three choices to give people: either go to jail, the emergency room or be left on the street.
There needs to be more options, Brim-Edwards said. One initiative, she said the county could do is create more centers where intoxicated people can go and get sober that are opened 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
She's introducing a proposal on this initiative to the legislature the spring.
Straight Talk airs Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 6:30 p.m.. Straight Talk is also available as a podcast.