Commissioners report on their recent activities and initiatives
Commissioner Sharon Meieran
On March 18, Commissioner Meieran and the non-profit, WeShine PDX, led a virtual Alternative Shelter Network Event to establish a new community-driven learning collaborative for alternative shelter operators and mutual aid providers serving the Portland Metro area. She kicked off the event with opening remarks and helped facilitate discussion. The event drew over 40 participants who were eager to come together and share their experiences, challenges, opportunities, and hopes for supporting people experiencing homelessness through alternative shelter projects in a more coordinated and effective way. Participants expressed challenges with government processes, the desire to share lessons learned or tools (i.e. intake forms) to avoid “recreating the wheel,” experiences with community engagement, and more. There was also agreement among participants that this new learning collaborative should be sustained and has a lot of promise.
Commissioner Meieran said the discussion reaffirmed her view that we should be giving more attention to alternative shelters as part of the broader ecosystem of shelter options, including more traditional models such as motels or congregate shelters. Alternative shelters, she said, can be done cheaply, quickly, they have smaller footprints, can improve safety and livability for all, and help people prepare for transition into permanent housing. Commissioner Meieran plans to bring forward a proposal inthe 2023 Budget that supports a coordinated network of alternative shelters, at scale, dispersed across the County.
Commissioner Meieran attended the virtual Regional Disaster Preparedness Organization (RDPO) Policy Committee meeting that largely focused on how we can come together as a region around disaster preparedness around climate change. She also met with County Emergency Management Director Chris Voss on the ongoing threat of wildfires and proactive measures, such as updating wildfire mitigation zoning, heat island mitigation strategies and low income weatherization policy can help alleviate the intensity of emergency response needs.
Commissioner Susheela Jayapal
The northern part of Multnomah County, home to the Portland International Airport, industrial and residential areas, also lies in a natural floodplain that’s protected by an almost 70-year-old levee system. Commissioner Jayapal toured the system with Multnomah County Drainage District (MCDD), which manages flood risk along the Columbia River — making over 8,000 households more resilient to natural disasters. Their work is little known, but vital to the County’s resilience.
Commissioner Jayapal was also invited to speak at the Muslim Education Trust’s annual fundraising Cultural Night. From the earliest days of the pandemic, the County recognized that we needed strong partnerships to serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who were disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The Muslim Educational Trust has been an essential partner in reaching the people we knew were going to be the most impacted.
Commissioner Jayapal also attended Parkrose School Board’s Advocacy Day to discuss common priorities including gun violence, mental health, restorative justice, and houselessness. Multnomah County partners with Parkrose School District’s Student Health Center and SUN Community Schools — these resources collectively serve the students and parents to ensure academic success.
Finally, Commissioner Jayapal had the honor of introducing Senator Jeff Merkley at his 489th town hall; congratulations to Word is Bond PDX for being recognized for their work to elevate the leadership of young Black men in Multnomah County!
Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson
Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson held several meetings related to the County’s 2023 budget, exploring proposed and potential investments to reduce gun violence, address homelessness, deal with hiring and procurement issues, enhance economic opportunity, and more.
As the County’s representative on several transportation tables, the Commissioner attended the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation meeting and the TriMet Advisory Committee. She also attended the latest Portland Children’s Levy allocation committee meeting, where members reviewed audit, financial, and progress reports.
Commissioner Vega Pederson also visited Beaumont Middle School earlier this month as part of a delayed Teacher For a Day event, sponsored by the Portland Association of Teachers (her visit was rescheduled after a COVID-19 exposure in December). She sat in on Ms. Good’s 8th and 7th grade classes, answering questions from students and discussing with them what excites middle schoolers and how they feel about the newly-lifted mask mandate.
In addition to speaking with students, she met with the principal, assistant principal and student climate specialist to learn about the campus culture and challenges facing students, their families, school staff, and the broader community.
Commissioner Lori Stegmann
Commissioner Stegmann has dedicated herself to elevating the potential of the County’s 90-acre Vance Property as a much-needed community asset in East County. The land along 182nd and 190th Avenues in Rockwood is one of the largest undeveloped areas in East County. For several budget cycles, Commissioner Stegmann has chipped away at jurisdictional roadblocks: including lot line delineation, brownfield identification, stormwater mitigation and watershed research. The Vance site contains natural areas, an old gravel pit, a brownfield, and large undeveloped multi-level areas. This is an exciting opportunity to mitigate some of the environmental challenges by redeveloping the area into a combination of light industrial and workforce development along with increased green space and natural areas for recreation. Last week she gave Max Egener, a reporter for the Portland Tribune, a tour of the property and shared the vision for this unique property.
Earlier this month, Commissioner Stegmann welcomed the Department of Community Services to brief the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners on the project. The County will be seeking out public-private partnerships to develop the space and transform it into a community asset our residents deserve. Learn more about the Vance properties project here.
Commissioner Stegmann has been working diligently with the Office of Sustainability to find ways to reduce the impact of climate change and heat islands in East County. On March 15th she brought together the City of Gresham, Office of Sustainability and East County residents to discuss different climate resilience interventions we can use to reduce the impact of urban heat islands. The following week she joined Friends of Trees and more than 60 volunteers to plant 70 large-stock trees in the community near the East County Courthouse.
Upcoming:
March 31, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Partnership Event with the Rockwood Boys & Girls Club: Join Commissioner Stegmann at the CareOregon Boys & Girls Club in Rockwood as they announce their new partnership and vision for how they will work together to serve the Rockwood community. This event will take place at 454 SE 165th Avenue.
April 7, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Corbett Issue Forum: Commissioner Stegmann will be joining Marisa Zapata, PhD, Associate Professor of land-use planning and Director of the Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative at Portland State University for an informative Issue Forum on Homelessness: "Homelessness in Multnomah County: Causes, Demographics, Impacts, and Solutions." To join this important conversation, please RSVP by April 5th to: nagarkot247@gmail.com.
April 8, Noon to 1 p.m. Constituent Coffee: Commissioner Jayapal will hold a virtual discussion constituent coffee on the FY 2023 Multnomah County Budget and other County work. RSVP, or during our virtual
conversation: (Link to Zoom meeting provided upon registration): https://bit.ly/3N0ozcH
