PORTLAND, Ore. — On Wednesday, the Portland City Council could vote on a three-year contract for a new homelessness response system centered around the Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS), the agency tasked with spending homelessness dollars from both the city and Multnomah County.
Last Thursday, for four hours, the city council took its first public input on the contract that had previously been approved by county commissioners. The new deal would have the city send the county around $30 million in taxpayer dollars per year for JOHS over the next three years.
Several times recently, some members of city council have threatened to pull funding from JOHS, meaning this new contract negotiation is far from a done deal.
Last week, city commissioners added a number of amendments.
First, the Portland City Council will meet this October to look at progress that the JOHS has made. If the city council thinks the agency is not fulfilling promises in the contract, the city could vote to terminate the contract then and there.
Among those promises, the "Homelessness Response System Steering and Oversight Committee," a group of city and county officials that votes on the direction of the JOHS, will expand to include someone from the business community, someone who pays the Supportive Housing Services tax, and a behavioral health expert who is not a current service provider.
That same committee will also have to approve a policy that will align the city and county when it comes to the distribution of tents, tarps, syringes, drug kits and other harm reduction tools in the city.
That amendment for a joint policy would, in theory, help stop taxpayer dollars from being wasted, considering tax dollars were being spent on both ends — for the tents and tarps, then for their cleanup and disposal.
If city commissioners approve the contract Wednesday, county commissioners will have to hold another vote on their end because of the amendments.
It's not clear when that could happen, but the current contract expires on Sunday.