PORTLAND, Oregon — The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners voted on Thursday to spend millions of dollars in order to keep thousands of people in their homes. At the same time, that vote denied Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler what he's been asking for — millions of dollars to support his plan to build large, sanctioned camps in the Rose City.
It was a Multnomah County commissioners meeting with a lot on the line: what to do with $28 million of unspent or over-forecast revenue from Metro's voter-approved Supportive Housing Assistance tax.
The county had $28 million at the end of this year specifically earmarked to fund homeless and housing assistance. And after a lot of discussion and some public political jousting between city and county leaders, notably the mayor and Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury, the board voted for rental assistance and not the mayor's camps.
Several weeks ago, KGW reported that the Portland City Council approved spending $27 million on six 250-person homeless camps, with the mayor saying that the crisis on the streets required a bold plan.
He also said Multnomah County needed to cough up $21 million to help out.
Today, county leaders went a different direction, voting to spend $15 million to keep people on the edge of eviction in their homes. They also put $1 million toward other services designed to get people into housing more quickly. The remaining $12 million was squirreled away for next year.
The vote followed several hours of staff reports and public testimony, most in favor of rental assistance through the end of the year for 3,400 at-risk people or households and not for the large, sanctioned camps.
“I'm here today to share significant concern about any consideration for the city's encampment plans, as you've heard over and over and over again that is not what's appropriate,” said Katrina Holland, executive director of JOIN, a nonprofit that helps those experiencing homelessness transition into housing.
“So just as one citizen to another and to a panel full of women with a heart and compassion for the next human, we have got to stick to the programs that we know work,” said Michelle Hornbeck, a recipient of assistance from JOIN.
But not all followed that line of thinking. Some said that outgoing chair Deborah Kafoury should have held off and let a new board decide the money's fate in January.
“Perhaps the job should be for the county to work with the city to come up with something that is more acceptable to everybody — the status quo is not working,” said a woman named Brittany, who said she was a longtime Multnomah County resident.
Some commissioners said that more collaboration is in order, before voting unanimously for the rental assistance spending.
And after the vote, Mayor Wheeler and Commissioner Dan Ryan released the following statement:
"We are disappointed that the Multnomah County board failed to fully fund our budget request for an initiative that has received overwhelming public support — though our work continues. We have too many people living in dangerous and squalid conditions suffering from untreated behavioral health issues, disconnected from services, dying from dangerous and growing opioid overdoses to stop. This is the right strategy for Portland and we will continue working toward compassionate solutions."
Incoming County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson — herself a member of the current board — previously voiced support for the mayor's plan. But on this vote, Vega Pederson said, “I want to clearly state that I am strongly supportive about the investments we're making today with these dollars, $15 million of which will go to rental assistance to keep individuals and families housed and provide certainty and stability to our partners.”
KGW spoke to outgoing Chair Kafoury after the vote, who said that despite some criticism of the process, “I do think that what you heard from the comments today is there are a lot of people who think we’re on the right track, that it’s going to take time but that ultimately getting people indoors into a home of their own is what’s going to end homelessness.”