Dear friends and neighbors,
This month, my team and I had a one-day retreat to celebrate our fiscal year accomplishments and collectively plan some of our upcoming audits and special studies. We focused on connecting those projects with our office mission and values. Our mission and values are powerful for my team because we created them together and we refer to them regularly as we work; they aren’t just words on a web page or paper.
I have been thinking a lot about how my office’s mission to promote accountable, equitable county government provides guidance and inspiration to me and my team. Having a mission that I can stand behind and strive to live up to means a lot to me in this surreal, dystopian time.
And I want you to know that my office’s mission is one you can participate in too. You can use the reports my office produces on your behalf to advocate for a more accountable, equitable Multnomah County government. You can expand the mission beyond county government and continue calling for accountable, equitable state and federal governments too. Raising your voice to call out injustice and call for due process is significant, whether you are doing it in a march against kings, through a message encouraging our Congressional delegation to be a check against presidential over-reach, or by standing with your community. When we do it together, we become a movement to support human rights and advance democracy.
Thank you,
Jennifer
Know your rights
I wanted to share the following Know Your Rights information that could be useful to you, your friends, your family, or your neighbors if you need to attend immigration court. This is from the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition. PIRC has a lot of useful resources to help you know your rights if you have any contact with ICE.
Know Your Rights when going to Immigration Court ICE has been moving to terminate cases, then arresting people who have their cases terminated. This is not legal advice but it is useful information to help you make decisions.
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Conozca sus Derechos al ir a la Corte de Inmigración
ICE ha estado deteniendo a personas cuyos casos fueron terminados. Esto no es asesoramiento legal, pero es información útil para ayudar a tomar decisiones.
- ¡Siga yendo a la corte! Si usted falta a las audiencias puede ser ordenado a ser deportado.
- Intente ir a la corte con alguien, PERO vaya con personas que tengan un estatus migratorio permanente.
- Si ha estado en los EE. UU. menos de 2 años, debe intentar presentar cualquier solicitud de inmigracion lo más pronto posible.
- SIEMPRE pueden oponerse u objetar a que su caso sea terminado cuando ICE solicita desestimación.
- Si el abogado de ICE solicita desestimación/terminación, usted puede solicitar más tiempo para consultar con un abogado. También puede pedir al juez que exija que el abogado de ICE presente la solicitud de desestimación por escrito.
- Si su caso es desestimado/terminado, dígale al juez que va a apelar la decisión.
- Antes de salir de la corte notifique a un familiar para que llame a PIRC y busque ayuda legal lo más antes posible- información sobre ayuda legal gratuita está abajo.
- Si no sabe cómo responder una pregunta, puede decir "No sé," y solicitar una consulta con un abogado.
- Si le detienen si tiene miedo de regresar a su país, dígalo claro y repetidamente y pida una entrevista de miedo creible.
- Solicite acompañamiento con IMIrJ: https://www.imirj.org/accompaniment
- Representación legal gratuita con ECO: 1-888-274-7292
- Reportar detenciones de ICE con PIRC: 1-888-622-1510
Status of audit recommendations to the Multnomah County Library
Our office follows up on audit recommendations to support county government's accountability. This month we issued Recommendation Status Evaluation: The Library has implemented most of the audit recommendations, but employee concerns remain an issue, which covers our determinations on the status of recommendations we made to the Library in 2023.
Our 2023 recommendations had focused on improving security incident responses, workforce equity, and staffing. We found that the Library had implemented seven of the recommendations from our Library audit, was in the process of implementing four recommendations, and did not plan to implement one recommendation.
However, through an all-library staff survey, employees expressed continued dissatisfaction with the progress made on recommendations. For example, 10% of the staff who responded to our survey provided unsolicited feedback that reflected a sense of not feeling valued by leadership. Based on this feedback and other comments, there appears to be a significant disconnect between management’s actions and what staff have told us they are experiencing. The low level of positive responses to many of our survey questions indicates that there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Community engagement
Juneteenth 2025: Love is Our Power
Senior Auditor Sura Sumareh and I attended Juneteenth 2025: Love is Our Power, cosponsored by Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, County Commissioner Shannon Singleton, County Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon, and the Employees of Color Employee Resource Group. Attendees learned about what called the Commissioners to run for office, about the importance of ancestors and preparing future generations for Black excellence, and enjoyed being in community to commemorate this important day in American history.
Rosewood Saturday Celebration
On June 14, my office joined the 5th annual Rosewood Saturday Celebration and Resource Fair, in the East Portland neighborhood. Good Government Hotline Director Marc Rose, Senior Performance Auditor Mandi Hood, Ombudsperson Intake Specialist Kate Milne and Constituent Relations and DEI Engagement Specialist Raymond De Silva were proud to have been part of this event for five years in a row!
AANHPI Leadership Summit 2025 Honoring Our Heritage, Navigating Change
Constituent Relations and DEI Engagement Specialist Raymond De Silva represented our office at the 15th Annual Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Leadership Summit, at the Avenue, in Portland. It was hosted by the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon (PACCO) in partnership with IRCO and the Asian Reporter. There were cultural art performances and a panel that presented on this year’s theme of “Honoring Our Heritage, Navigating Change” for our communities across Oregon.
Community for Positive Aging
Ombudsperson Cheryl Taylor, Ombudsperson Intake Specialist Kate Milne, and Hotline Community Engagement Intern Gigi Bareilles went to the Community for Positive Aging on June 20 to represent the Auditor's office and share resources pertaining to the Ombudsperson and Hotline roles. They spoke with people who were at the center about what the office can do for them. The Community for Positive Aging is a day center and social hub for older individuals to enjoy meals, live music, games, and more together.
Good in the Hood Festival
On June 28 and 29, my office celebrated at the 31st annual Good in the Hood Festival at Lillis Albina Park. This year’s theme was “Back in Stride” as the festival continues to foster unity in our community. We also brought back our pop-up art stations and shared resources on how we promote an accountable and equitable county government. My office was represented by Audit Director Caroline Zavitkovski, Operations and Audit Director Annamarie McNiel, Senior Auditor Moss Roberts, Senior Performance Auditor Mandi Hood, Performance Auditor Dani Bernstein Performance, Performance Auditor Mical Yohannes, Ombudsperson Cheryl Taylor, Hotline Community Engagement Intern Gigi Bareilles and Constituent Relations and DEI Engagement Specialist Raymond De Silva.
If you’d like me and or staff to attend or speak at a meeting with your community group, simply fill out this form.