PORTLAND, Ore. — In perhaps his first power move as Portland's soon-to-be mayor, Keith Wilson told current Portland city commissioners to drop a plan to sever an intergovernmental agreement with Multnomah County to fund the Joint Office of Homeless Services, according to current city commissioner Dan Ryan.
Under the IGA, the county receives about $30 million per year from the city of Portland. This week, commissioners Ryan, Mingus Mapps, and Rene Gonzalez were planning to introduce an ordinance terminating that agreement, which Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson called "an election stunt." Mapps and Gonzalez both lost their runs for mayor, and the trio dropped the plan the day after the election.
Ryan said that was done at incoming mayor Wilson's request.
"Mayor-elect Wilson has made it clear that he would like us to take that off the table," Ryan said during a taping of Straight Talk on Friday. "So out of respect for the new mayor, it just was good manners."
KGW reached out to Keith Wilson's campaign for comment, and he released a statement in response:
"I made clear on many occasions during the campaign that I was not in favor of pulling out of the IGA. I recognize that there are legitimate concerns about the design, goals, and success metrics of the Joint Office, but pulling out at this point would cost the City precious time and money. I would spend the next year or two with lawyers renegotiating this relationship instead of focusing on ending unsheltered homelessness. When I was elected, my colleagues — led by Commissioner Mapps — voluntarily chose to respect my position and withdraw the motion."
Ryan will likely be part of the new council, serving in District 2, which represents North and Northeast Portland. He said the intention to address the joint office is still there.
"The intention for all of us is to improve the system. I think we can all admit the system needs improvement," he said. "I think all of us could get on the same page about what does that accountability look like? What does that transparency look like? How can we get metrics that matter? So that the taxpayers who are paying for this can see what is actually being done on the ground."
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Ryan denied that the move to dissolve the IGA was a political stunt.
"It was actually the timing. We were supposed to come back and have a conversation in three months," he said, referring to when the IGA was renewed in July. "When we had the first vote in the summer, I was a no vote. Then I was a no vote because for three years I've been putting amendments in and they keep getting watered down."
The city commissioners had expressed frustration with the joint office's progress on homelessness metrics. The new IGA outlined new expectations for progress, and it included an out if the city felt the county wasn't meeting benchmarks. Ryan, Gonzalez, and Mapps began to call for withdrawal in October, over the objection of current Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Carmen Rubio.
If their plan had been approved, there would have been a 90-day drawdown period before the agreement was fully terminated, which would have occurred after the new council was seated in January.
City council candidate Candace Avalos, who is leading in the race for District 1 in East Portland, said she thinks the new council will be better suited to take up the matter with new county commissioners.
"I'm glad to see that it was tabled because now that we have a new council, it's representative," she said. "We've got new leadership at the county. This is the right time to reset our relationship as people and as leaders."
Leading city council candidate Tiffany Koyama Lane, who would represent District 3 in Southeast Portland, agreed.
"I am glad that that decision was walked back," she said. "We can also make sure we're on the same page about where we're going, and as much as we can, end any duplicating of efforts and siloing as we can."
Incoming Multnomah County Commissioner Shannon Singleton, who once ran the joint office, said the city and county need to get clarity on their roles and responsibilities, but that they need to remember why the joint office exists in the first place.
"I hope as we enter this conversation, we center the people who need the services and make sure that we're designing systems that function for them," she said.