The Point in Time Count, Columbia Gorge traffic, property taxes and Holocaust Remembrance Day: A snapshot of County Commissioner activities and appearances this week
Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson
Commissioner Vega Pederson visited the Mid County Health Center on Monday morning to thank employees for their hard work and dedication to serving our communities. County employees — from health workers to librarians, from corrections deputies to case workers -— are working through incredibly challenging times, and the Commissioner wants to convey her gratitude and appreciation. Commissioner Vega Pederson also participated in the Point In Time Count, which surveys our homeless neighbors to obtain information on people living unsheltered. She is participating further this weekend. She also met with Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio to discuss environmental and public health issues; state Senator Kayse Jama to discuss transportation and homelessness issues; U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer to discuss funding for the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge project; the chair of the Oregon Transportation Commission, Bob Van Brocklin, to discuss the need for federal transportation funding to be shared with local governments; and the County’s Community Involvement Committee’s Immigrant & Refugee Engagement Subcommittee.
Commissioner Lori Stegmann
This week, along with 150 volunteers and dedicated outreach workers, Commissioner Stegmann participated in the Point in Time Count, surveying our unhoused neighbors. As Chair of the Columbia River Gorge Forum, Commissioner Stegmann has been working collaboratively with the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Transportation, Columbia Area Transit and Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation to maintain the safety of people accessing the Gorge and Multnomah Falls. This week, the Gorge Forum briefed the Board on an improved access pilot program for the Multnomah Falls corridor that will begin on May 24. Commissioner Stegmann was also pleased to support Travis Nelson, and vote with the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners to appoint him as the next State Representative for House District 44.
Commissioner Susheela Jayapal
This week, Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington hosted Commissioner Jayapal and Oregon Rep. Barbara Smith Warner for a discussion about Oregon’s inequitable property tax system, and the need for statewide reform. Property taxes are the financial backbone of funding local services, and reform is one of Commissioner Jayapal’s priorities. The Commissioner is a member of the Metro Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC), and was briefed on the I-5 tolling project — congestion pricing is a key mechanism to improving the local transportation system and mitigating carbon emissions. With the possibility of a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe V. Wade on the horizon, Commissioner Jayapal celebrated reproductive rights at Planned Parenthood’s 20th Annual Luncheon – the event raises awareness about protecting and promoting access to abortion.
Commissioner Sharon Meieran
On Jan. 22, Commissioner Meieran attended the Vietnamese Community of Oregon’s Vietnamese Lunar “Tet” Festival to celebrate the Year of the Tiger. Earlier this week, Commissioner Meieran was invited to be a guest speaker at the SE Uplift Houselessness Action Committee virtual meeting to talk about houselessness and the restructuring of A Home for Everyone. A champion of reproductive health care, Commissioner Meieran tuned into the virtual Planned Parenthood of Columbia Willamette Annual Luncheon to show her support. Commissioner Meieran also participated in a virtual forum on culturally responsive behavioral healthcare. January 27 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking 77 days since the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp, where more than a million people were killed, was liberated. This is deeply personal to Commissioner Meieran who had family members who were murdered in the Holocaust, including at Auschwitz. Tomorrow, Commissioner Meieran will attend the Oregon 2022 Lunar Year event at the Keller Auditorium hosted by the Chinese Friendship Association of Portland (CFAP). Next week, Commissioner Meieran plans to go out to encampments to meet with and survey people experiencing houselessness as part of this year’s Point In Time Count.