Chair Jessica Vega Pederson's State of the County Address
Hello Multnomah County - and hello to each of you here today and watching at home. It’s so lovely to be with you for my final State of the County event. Thank you all for joining us at our amazing new East County Library!
First, I want to thank Library Director Annie Lewis, for hosting us in this amazing space. The Library team has put in so much work to make sure that this event – the first major event at this location – goes just as smoothly as the library’s opening last weekend with over 14,000 visitors. Thank you also to City Club for their support, Metro East media, the Connie Bieberach Trio, and Chris Neal, our multi-talented COO, for emceeing this afternoon and for walking alongside me and my team in the county’s work each day.
I am honored to see so many distinguished guests in the audience, and I’d like your help in welcoming the many elected leaders in the room.
If you are an elected leader, please stand for a moment so we can acknowledge you. I see members of Congress, State Senators and Representatives, Mayors and Councilors from the City of Portland, Gresham, Fairview, and Troutdale, local judges, school board members and last but not least my colleagues on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. Thank you all for being here.
I also see so many of our unelected community leaders, and I’d like to take a moment to recognize all of you.
Please raise a hand if you are a person serving this community at a community-based organization, a faith-based organization, philanthropy, Business Chamber or small business, school district, tribal leadership or other role. Can we please give this group a round of applause for the work they do everyday to make Multnomah County a better place? I’ve had the pleasure of working with so many of you throughout all these years and it’s an honor to see you here today.
I also want to recognize the recent loss of a special community leader, Cayle Tern. Cayle was a tireless advocate for our immigrant and refugee communities, and his memory and the impact he’s made will continue to live on.
Perhaps the most special guests for me personally are my family members: my husband Aaron, my daughter Dabria, my son Xan, my parents, Bob and Laura, and my sisters - who are my best friends - my brother in laws, and my nieces and nephews. Thank you for being here, and for your support through the years. This journey has been unbelievable, and I could not have done it without you.
Dabria and Xander, you continue to be my motivation for doing this work. To stress how long we’ve been in this together, when I first ran for State Representative in East Portland 14 years ago, they were this tall and I could carry them in my arms when going door knocking. Now they’re taller than me and one is nearly off to college. And Aaron, I’m not going to start crying before I even start my speech, but I know you know how much you mean to me, and how you make all of this possible.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to appreciate all the current and former Multnomah County employees here with us today.
From our election workers to our bridge operators, from our librarians to our clerks. From those doing direct outreach on our streets, to those providing care in our health clinics and schools. From the veterinarians in our animal shelters to deputies patrolling our highways and rivers, to hundreds and hundreds of people working behind the scenes – not only do they keep this government running, but they ensure it runs to the standards our community expects.
These public servants are the very best among us. And they show up in the most difficult of circumstances.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your service to the residents of Multnomah County.
I also want to give a special shoutout to my staff, who support the County in big ways and small through long hours and late nights. Thank you for your dedication to public service and our community.
It’s almost ten years to the day since I was elected to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. Then, as now, I was motivated by the many issues my neighbors were facing all around me.
Issues like traffic fatalities and poor air quality; evictions, hunger, and homelessness; health and wellbeing for youth and seniors; safety for those fleeing violence and persecution. And of course, the struggle to find affordable and quality preschool.
As the largest local safety net provider in the State, Multnomah County has a responsibility to address these and many other critical issues facing our community. And in so many ways, Multnomah County continues to deliver, even in the most difficult of circumstances.
From the backroads of Sauvie Island to the streets of downtown Portland. From Multnomah Falls to Multnomah Village. From NW 23rd to SE 223rd, we are fulfilling a mission to provide accessible, high-quality, and innovative public services that create stability, enhance opportunities, and reduce disparities.
Today, with the help of my board colleagues, we are going to bring you closer to the stories you don’t often hear. Stories about the ways we support people – starting with our work in schools to address youth mental health.
Here’s District 1 Commissioner Meghan Moyer, to talk about the County’s School Based Mental Health program and the impact it’s making in her district.
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Thank you Commissioner Moyer. This work is so important, especially in these challenging times for our youth and our schools.
Even as state and federal cuts threaten the stability of this program, Multnomah County is committed to its future. We’re backfilling these cuts with County dollars because we know this program is saving lives and making a difference.
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In so many ways, Multnomah County programs and services anchor our community – through upheaval and change, and from generation to generation.
This is especially true of our 18 community health clinics, which serve anyone, regardless of economic status or identity. In just the last year, these clinics have provided essential medical, dental, and pharmacy services to more than 60,000 people. Here’s District 2 Commissioner Shannon Singleton to talk about the huge impact of just one clinic.
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Thank you Commissioner Singleton for your leadership.
How often is a government service woven into the fabric and identity of a community?
This brings to mind for me Mr. Ray Leary and Ms. Jeana Woolley, who are here with us today. They are both lifelong members of the Albina community. They’ve lived through the disinvestment and displacement of Portland’s Black community, and now are partners of the County in revitalizing the Walnut Park site.
It also makes me think of Rachael Banks, born and raised in the neighborhood, who got her first vaccinations there, and is now serving as Multnomah County’s Health Department Director.
This is what we mean when we say “This Work Matters” - it matters to us both professionally and personally.
This work will matter more as the federal government retreats from its responsibility to protect and promote the wellbeing of its people.
Over the past year, Multnomah County has adapted and responded to more than 50 major federal health-related policy and funding changes that posed a risk to the Health Department's mission and operation.
I’m so proud of how our organization has responded. Through a coordinated strategy, rapid policy analysis, and collaboration with partners, we sustained critical services and safeguarded access to care for our most vulnerable populations.
We know our community is counting on these services. Nationally, we see a rise in cases of communicable diseases – including measles, which was declared eliminated in the year 2000 but is now on track to top Oregon’s worst outbreak in three decades.
Cases of food-borne illnesses, tetanus, whooping cough, and hepatitis are also on the rise nationally, posing active threats locally.
Our ability to beat back these routine diseases is a good indicator of our capacity to take on bigger threats. Even as federal support declines, Multnomah County’s public health infrastructure remains strong and we stand ready to respond as threats emerge.
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None of this is possible without partnership. At Multnomah County, we do a lot. But we don’t do it alone.
One of the things that I am most proud of is the way that we partner with community-based organizations to co-create solutions to address the deep and persistent disparities in our community.
Here’s District 3 Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards to talk about one such partnership.
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Thank you, Commissioner, for highlighting this key work.
Multnomah County’s work is aided through rigorous planning with and for the community. Nowhere is this better reflected than in the transformative Library Capital Bond project, which voters passed in 2020.
The basis for the Bond started even earlier, in 2016 when Multnomah County embarked on a facilities planning process to identify the scope of library needs for the next two decades.
Thousands of residents, community leaders, stakeholders, and library staff participated in shaping this future.
We found that the Multnomah County Library system was one of the busiest and most highly-regarded in the country yet had one of the smallest footprints. At the time, our 19 libraries countywide could fit in the space of the downtown Seattle Central Library with room to spare. We also found greater inequities in how library facilities and space were distributed, particularly in communities east of I-205 – including right here in Gresham.
Voters recognized the need and approved the Bond in 2020 to address geographic and historical inequities, and build new, joyful public spaces that are accessible for everyone in Multnomah County.
Here’s Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon, representing District 4, to talk about this investment and what it means for our community.
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Thank you, Commissioner, for your enthusiasm and leadership. And isn’t this a beautiful building!
As you love to say, we’re building America’s favorite county, and the evidence of renewal is all around. It’s found in our diverse neighborhoods, in the library shelves filled with multilingual books, in the patter of little feet and the joyful chaos of storytime, in packed parking lots and community rooms.
People love their libraries! In the last year, that has meant over 2 million in-person visits and this enthusiasm will only continue to grow. And we are off to an amazing start with this library: The door count from Saturday’s opening was 9,250 people. That is almost as many people as the entire city of Fairview.
It’s incredible that with the opening of this East County Library, we’re almost at the end of the Bond Program. In just five and a half years, Multnomah County has successfully completed 18 building projects - with the final two to be completed by the end of this summer.
These projects have increased our total Library space by more than 50%! Most impressively, we’ve accomplished this ahead of schedule and on budget.
Thank you to the Multnomah County Library, and specifically the Library Capital Bond Team! This is what our community and our voters expect, and proof of the County’s ability to deliver.
If we make promises as a government or public official, we must deliver on them. This has been a personal and professional North Star for me throughout my time as an elected official - and it is with this focus to deliver on our promises that Multnomah County continues to lead.
I’m proud of what the County has been able to accomplish over the past few years. Here are just some of the examples I want to share today:
Since the first day I took office as Chair, we’ve been working hard to address a long-standing crisis in the infrastructure of our Animal Services division. In response, we put together an Animal Services Strategic Plan and have addressed 90 of the 108 recommendations from that plan – while also kick-starting the work to reimagine Animal Services at a new, expanded facility in future years.
In the last General Election, despite acts of intimidation – including an arsonist who sought to set fire to a County ballot box – our Election Division successfully executed the most complicated election in the region’s history, with the introduction of ranked-choice voting for the City of Portland. I have just as much confidence that the same will be true this year when Multnomah County elected offices also shift to this new voting process.
When our County jails were running out of space and reaching crisis levels, we invested in recruiting and retaining Sheriff’s Office deputies – and I am pleased to say that today, our staffing capacity is as stable as it’s ever been. I want to thank Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O'Donnell for her leadership and partnership in this work.
When state law rapidly re-criminalized drug use and possession, we worked with law enforcement and mental health partners to stand up a brand new Deflection Program in a matter of months – offering pathways away from incarceration and toward treatment.
In the first year of the program, law enforcement made 606 referrals to deflection. One of these people was a U.S. Army Veteran with several disabilities who had not slept in days. Although initially resistant, he agreed to be admitted to the center’s Sobering Unit. After sobering, he worked with a clinician to connect with a detox center, additional Veteran’s specific services, and finally, a direct transfer from detox to a 90-day residential treatment program. We wish him a successful road to recovery. And we’ll continue to adapt and improve this work to serve others like him.
This story is a prime example of the role of Deflection in the County’s behavioral health services continuum. In the coming years, this continuum will continue to grow with the completion of the permanent Sobering and Crisis Stabilization Center. This center fills a longstanding need and adds to a network of substance abuse prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery programs provided by the County in collaboration with more than 100 community partners. I want to thank District Attorney Vasquez and our law enforcement partner for their ongoing collaboration in our Deflection work.
These and other County services are needed now, more than ever.
As neighbors struggle on our streets, in need and want of services and stability.
As families stare down eviction notices, unsure of who to call or where to go next.
We need both strong partnership and swift action to address the dominant issue facing our community: homelessness.
I took office knowing that addressing homelessness would be my #1 priority - and it has been. This is an issue I’ve worked on every single day of my tenure as Chair.
I know that if we work together, there is little we cannot do. And yet, when I came into office, the County, the City of Portland, the East County cities and our community partners, including housing providers, hospitals and health systems, and the criminal justice and legal systems – were not aligned in our work to address homelessness.
We did not have shared goals, a shared strategy, an oversight structure, or a clear understanding of the true scale of the problem. Now we do.
Setting the table for this collaboration has been one of my proudest achievements in my tenure as Chair.
In 2024, together with the City of Portland, we created the Homelessness Response System, and launched a strategic reset of the community’s response to homelessness: the Homelessness Response Action Plan.
That two-year roadmap guided partners in sheltering or housing over 23,000 people by the end of 2025. This record amount of support represents a 46% increase in people sheltered or housed compared to the two years prior to the plan.
In just two years, this has become a launch pad for Multnomah County to pursue deeper partnerships to better align services, including among County departments. These partnerships are preventing homelessness before it happens, getting people access to the care and services they need to remain housed, and gaining insights across data systems - like our new initiative with Health Share to combine healthcare and homeless services data to better serve people across both systems.
I am pleased to say that in December, our plan was updated and renewed with approval from both the Portland City Council and the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. I want to thank both the HRS team and our Homeless Services Department for their leadership.
Our system and collaboration is stronger than ever. With homelessness increasing, it’s easy to lose sight of the value of these supports, but it’s critical to understand how many more people could be living on our streets without the safety net we’ve built.
At this very moment, a record number of over 9,200 people who were formerly homeless are supported in stable housing because of our combined efforts. And over 83% of the people we place into housing remain in their home 2 years later.
In the past year, we’ve prevented 4,600 evictions, provided shelter for thousands more, and every month, hundreds of people will go from homelessness to housing thanks to our services. Just imagine, without these efforts, there could be almost 14,000 more people living on our streets.
This work is making a difference. For the first time since I’ve been at the County, we are seeing a year-over-year decrease in deaths among people experiencing homelessness. According to the latest data, fewer people died on our streets in 2024 compared to 2023, with the largest reduction on record since Multnomah County began its analysis. We still have a long way to go in eliminating deaths on the street for people experiencing homelessness. But this shows us that the right investments and strong commitment make an impactful difference.
Providing a bed for the night is important. Providing a bed for a lifetime is a solution. In the coming year, with budget cuts looming, we must prioritize smart, data-informed investments across the continuum of support, without over-resourcing any one element at the expense of the healthy functioning of the rest of the system. Thankfully, we now have the plan, the partnerships, and the people to do just that.
The stakes could not be higher for our region.
We know that our economic recovery depends on a healthy and thriving Downtown Portland, and Multnomah County will continue to be a key partner in these efforts.
This means a continued County investment in programs and services making a difference downtown – like our Behavioral Health Resource Center, which has welcomed over 130,000 total visits since opening less than four years ago. This year, my budget ensures there will be no loss in days or hours of service at the BHRC.
In the direct aftermath of COVID, when our downtown was struggling the most, I made sure that the County was part of the solution to bring tourism and visitors back to Portland. We committed $12 million directly to Visitor’s Development Fund for the work of attracting conventions and big events to our community.
And of course, the County is committed to the Moda Center remodel, to keep this economic engine running and ensure that the Blazers, the Portland Fire, concerts and cultural events all continue to be hosted right here in Multnomah County.
As I wrap up some of the work I’m most proud of, I need to make sure to say how proud we should all be of the ways that our whole community has shown up this past year in solidarity and support of our most vulnerable neighbors.
We showed up as families were being torn apart by masked Federal agents. To this day, breadwinners, parents, grandparents, children are being harassed and kidnapped on their way to work, school, or to seek care. In response, I declared a State of Emergency, and the Board worked urgently to strengthen our sanctuary status and allocate $250,000 for support and legal assistance for impacted families.
We showed up again when the Federal Administration made an unprecedented and unconscionable move to cut off SNAP food benefits for roughly 143,000 residents in Multnomah County.
Response partners from every corner of Multnomah County hopped onto daily calls to coordinate our work. And together with my colleagues, we allocated $100,000 to help community organizations purchase and distribute food for thousands of community members.
The emergency food distribution effort concluded last month. After a five-week run, over 1,800 food boxes were distributed to families at a rate of seven pallets per week. I am so thankful to our Department of County Human Services, Health Department, Office of Emergency Management, and the many community nonprofits and mutual aid groups who partnered to make this possible.
We don’t know what threats this federal administration will bring next, but know that MultCo is prepared and stands with our community.
As I said when I was first sworn into office as a County Commissioner ten years ago, “Our problems aren’t new. So our solutions need to be.”
In the history of Multnomah County, I think there are few greater examples of this than the County’s Preschool for All program.
I am incredibly proud of this work, which I have steered since my earliest days in office, and which continues to maintain enormous community support and backing. I know there are many Preschool for All advocates with us today, and I want to thank you for your role in bringing this program to life and defending it against ongoing threats.
This program is incredible because it fulfills the belief that our government can meet the needs of our community in new, innovative and thoughtful ways – with urgency and at scale.
This program could not have come at a better time. Since 2008, the cost of meeting basic needs for a family of one adult, one preschooler, and one school-age child in Multnomah County has climbed by a staggering 223%, rising from $32,000 a year to $105,000 annually.
It’s no wonder that we’re seeing so many young families struggle. The rising cost of living means that today, far too many households are not making enough to meet their basic needs.
In Gresham where we stand now, half of households fall under the ALICE threshold. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed. These are households whose income is above the Federal Poverty Level and earn too much to qualify for public assistance, but are still unable to cover basic expenses.
Preschool for All provides direct relief for young families at all income levels at a time when they are most financially burdened – saving families an average of over $18,000 per child, per year – while ensuring parents, and especially mothers, can pursue employment and training opportunities that can lift the family out of poverty.
This past summer, through a series of public hearings, meetings, and work sessions, we had a chance to hear from hundreds of people who shared the life-changing impact Preschool for All has had on their families and communities.
One of the most powerful testimonies was from a mother of a three-year-old, who is in recovery and working in the field of behavioral health.
Following years of shuffling between homes and from one precarious childcare situation to another, her son was accepted into the Preschool for All program this school year.
Of that experience, she said, “I am super excited to have a safe place for my child to go. It’s more than just a place for him to thrive and learn. It’s a place where I can rest my mind and know that my kid is in a safe environment. I’m doing all of this so he can have a better life than I did, and so I can learn from my mistakes and my past. I just want him to have a chance I didn’t.”
Preschool for All is giving that chance.
Preschool for All is giving every child a chance to reach their full potential, regardless of their background. It’s not only the wealthiest families who have the comfort of knowing that their children will have the best possible start with excellent preschool – that’s now true for every family in Multnomah County.
Our thoughtful rollout of the program has meant that during this expansion period, we’ve been able to reach those families that most need it: 74 percent of children enrolled are from lower income families. 65 percent identify as Black, Indigenous, or Children of Color. And 30 percent speak a language other than English at home.
In addition to the support for families, Preschool for All is giving a chance to hundreds of preschool teachers and staff who can now make a dignified living doing this very important work – with wages as high as $39 an hour for lead teachers. Given that most workers in the field are women, Preschool for All is effectively the biggest economic development program for women in the County’s history.
Preschool for All is also giving a chance to entrepreneurs and small business owners who might otherwise not have access to the capital they need. Since launching in 2024, the program’s Facilities Fund has provided nearly $31 million in grants and loans to over 60 different preschool programs.
Preschool for All gives Multnomah County a chance to be the best place for a young family to live and thrive.
I am proud to have led the program’s conception and largest expansion.
This next school year, we will serve the most children yet, as the program nearly doubles to over 7,000 seats, across 188 providers and 347 site locations.
With this expansion, it is clear that Multnomah County is ahead of schedule in delivering free, universal Preschool for All.
Our families are counting on us, and I want to give a huge shoutout to the County’s Preschool & Early Learning Division for their expertise, dedication, and ability to deliver under the most intense scrutiny.
When people ask: What is the state of Multnomah County? – we can proudly say we’re in a state of transformation.
Throughout my time, Multnomah County has delivered change in the most difficult of circumstances - and I fully expect that to continue.
We approach challenges with ambition, creativity, and the willingness to fight for what we believe is right. This is what has given us the strength to navigate so many remarkable and unprecedented challenges in recent years - and also what gives me hope for the future.
Today, as we take stock of our County, let us be proud of the fact that our County government is as strong as it’s ever been.
Let us believe in our ability to deliver the future our children and grandchildren deserve. We have every right to dream big dreams on their behalf.
Let us renew our faith in government and in each other. To anyone who has doubts - look at the space we’re in right now, and consider the countless heroes who made it possible. This includes you, our voters, who have boldly demanded change at the ballot box – from libraries to preschools.
It includes our community partners and providers. And of course, it includes the heroes who work at Multnomah County.
These are the people who have delivered, and will continue to deliver the change we all want to see.
Multnomah County will continue to deliver for our community. We are here for everyone and always will be.
Thank you to each of you for being here with me today.