The truth is Multnomah literally has no idea what it’s doing. First it couldn’t spend enough money fast enough; now it says it doesn’t have enough money and needs to cut lifesaving services. Two years ago its highest priority was creating shelter beds; now its highest priority is closing them.
This is not a “perfect storm of factors” leading to worsening homelessness, this is uninterrupted incompetence leading to tragedy.
The County *still* does not have a baseline count of how many people are living outside (a By-Name List), so it has no way of knowing how many people are actually homeless.
The County *still* is not measuring factors that tell us whether anything it is doing is working.
And the County is cutting some of its most valuable services - treatment, recovery housing, and workforce training - while throwing its government partners under the bus.
All of this boils down to failed leadership and no plan. Meanwhile, we are beginning a political race for county chair, and none of the current candidates thought it necessary to share an actual plan when they announced their intention to run.
It is not enough to want to be county chair to lead Multnomah County. We need people who actually want to *do* something. Unless, of course, that something is hiring the guy who helped lead LA’s homeless system into a multibillion dollar lawsuit and dissolution of its joint office of homeless services. That’s not qualified work experience, it should have been a quick reference check.
We do not have to settle for this accelerating spiral of nonsense. There is a way forward that can get better outcomes (read: save lives) while spending less. And it doesn’t involve throwing human beings out of shelters and onto the streets like garbage.
It involves a plan with clear leadership, measurable outcomes, meaningful goals, accurate data, coordination, and relentless accountability.
The race for county chair doesn’t have to be yet another fight about who wants to be something rather than do something.
It’s time to put an end to this tragic farce and start our County’s path to recovery.
https://t.co/REVBqXpIW8
Home | PDX Public Safety Read the Truth Project’s report on public safety in Portland and the need for increased police staffing. https://t.co/iERki5kpIa
🚨 NEW: Fox’s @BritHume says Iran’s stance in the peace talks shows President Trump was CORRECT on their nuclear ambitions: “Here Iran is, badly battered, militarily crushed. They really don’t have any cards here other than the Strait of Hormuz which we are acting on.”
“Yet they came into this negotiation absolutely refusing to give up their nuclear weapon ambitions which was the bottom line for the President and his negotiators.”
“If that doesn’t emphasize that President Trump was correct in assessing in the beginning of this that Iran was still going for a nuclear weapon and it was something the world could not afford, then I don’t know what could.”
Oregon Supreme Court reverses child sexual abuse conviction on privacy grounds - Another absurd decision from the Oregon judiciary. https://t.co/q7zXlLXwJC
Going to the Senate floor and the Governor this week. Let’s hope she doesn’t allow her DOC to release dangerous criminals before that happens. That means you Mr. Severe!
HB 4041 :: Not perfect, but it will restore sanity on the credit for time issue that mistakes by DOJ have allowed dangerous criminals to be released early. On to the Senate! https://t.co/L7WOiQ5157
Multnomah County drops 623 cases after Oregon Supreme Court public defender ruling - How much longer are the people of Oregon going to put up with the public defender work slowdown that local judges and the Governor have permitted to go on for years? https://t.co/zDAtKoa9Qj
HB 4041 passed out of House Judiciary on a 5-3 vote and now goes to the House floor. It corrects the mess created by the Oregon Department of Corrections giving inmates more credit for time served before they were sentenced than they actually served. Testimony by the Truth Project and crime victim Karen Garrison from Jackson County was critical to the result.