[0:01] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners.
[0:09] Commissioner Meieran is joining virtually. Audience members, I want to start by asking you to please
[0:15] silence your electronic devices. I would also like remind people that in addition to the people in this room, we also have
[0:19] people watching and listening online. Please consider your language in comments and testimony today.
[0:41] Today's meeting is a hybrid board meeting. Some presenters and guests will appear in person and some will appear virtually.
[0:44] For those presenting virtually, please mute your mic when not speaking. When presenting, make sure to
[0:46] unmute your mic and turn on your camera. For all presenters, please state your name for the record before
[0:49] speaking or responding to questions. May I have a motion? Approval of the consent
[0:52] calendar. [ Roll call vote ]. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: The consent calendar is approved.
[1:04] Opportunity for public comment on non-agenda matters. This is a time for the board to hear public testimony not for
[1:11] board deliberation. When it is your turn to speak, I will call your name and unmute you or call you to the
[1:18] presenters' table. I'll set a timer for two minutes when you begin speaking and announce when your time is up.
[1:26] We received 14 verbal testimony and 3 written testimony, which was shared with board members and staff.
[1:32] We're going to do virtual testimony first. Which is going to be Chenoa Landry.
[1:42] Chenoa, you can go ahead and unmute yourself and begin. I guess I'll request to unmute you.
[1:58] Chenoa, I've sent an unmute request, but I don't see that you've responded. So, I'm going to move to the
[2:10] next person and we can circle back around. Bri Condon. Bri Condon, you can unmute
[2:24] yourself and begin. >> Can everybody hear me? >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes, we can hear you.
[2:30] >> Okay, thank you. My name is Bri Condon. I currently serve as the executive director at Bradley
[2:38] Angle. The public testimony I would like to offer the board today is this.
[2:42] Voter approved tax measures such as the supportive housing measure were designed to allow agencies to address root cause
[2:51] issues of homelessness. It uncovered that 53% of women on our streets experiencing houselessness have experienced
[2:59] domestic violence. The best solutions embedded in this budget amendment being deliberated today will be
[3:05] crafted when we're all viewing the problem as clearly as possible. Not viewing the issues through
[3:10] mud. For example, Bradley Angle has been accountable to numerous audits that occur every 12
[3:18] months, and our data has been consistently collected and reported. The issue of whether or not
[3:23] community-based service providers should be made to report further outcomes before we receive additional wage
[3:30] allocations isn't an uninformed narrative. Speaking for my agency, we do submit numerous outcome
[3:37] measurements, progress report, and data sets to all of our funders throughout the year. To make things even clearer on
[3:43] this point, I request to receive just contracts that pay a living wage. We do report plenty of data
[3:55] consistently and on time to the Joint Office of Homeless Services. We have a workforce problem
[4:02] stemming from too much work for too little pay. It is evident in courthouses, public service arenas.
[4:11] The most recent increase for staff, approved by the chair, resulted in 19,446 more dollars to our contract spread across
[4:21] direct service teams. Did we receive a full 3% increase? No, we did not.
[4:27] Was this enough to offer a living wage to direct service staff? No, it was not.
[4:33] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Time. >> Referred to as FTE, and now we're referring to them as essential.
[4:39] I urge a yes vote to further extend funds in this budget amendment so we can, as providers, retain and hire
[4:48] experienced staff as soon as possible. Thank you for your time. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Next, we
[5:01] have Danae Shakuma. Danae, you can unmute yourself and begin. >> Hi there.
[5:09] Can you hear me? >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes, I can. >> Hi, my name is Danae Shakuma.
[5:18] I'm an architect that has had the privilege of working with the FTC in Barbie's Village. Just to give a little bit of
[5:26] context for the process of how I've been involved, back in 2019, I reached out to FTC because I heard a rumor there
[5:34] was a big project in mind. My firm has an annual community service scholarship that I wanted to use to benefit the
[5:41] native community in Portland in some way. After hearing her speak, it was obvious she had this huge vision
[5:49] already worked out, but it was all up here. What I was able to help with through this scholarship is to
[5:55] start visualizing that dream and put it on paper. We asked members of the native community to participate in a
[6:00] workshop, both those who have experienced houselessness. We laid out on the hypothetical sites since we didn't have land
[6:15] yet. The design concept for this village, which you've heard a bit about, is based around a
[6:20] cedar tree, which is an important Indigenous symbol in the Pacific Northwest with the idea that each layer has a
[6:28] different role that it plays. So, this village is doing more than just housing people. It's creating stability with
[6:36] spiritual and community gathering places. It has layers dedicated to growth through the wellness
[6:42] services for mental nourishment and the communal garden and kitchens for physical nourishment.
[6:51] Finally on this outer layer, it's creating a safe shelter that protects that growth and stability of the future
[7:01] inhabitants of the village. That's the overall design concept. With that information that we
[7:06] took and gathered from the community, we put in a report. We got an initial cost assessment.
[7:15] From there, it's taken on a life of its own. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Time. >> Next up, is just creating
[7:22] design and construction documents for the homes. We have a team all set to go on that.
[7:26] That's been our process thus far. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Next, we have Natalyn Begay.
[7:33] Natalyn, you may unmute yourself and begin. >> Hi. Can you hear me?
[7:41] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes. >> Okay, great. Good morning. It's great to be here.
[7:46] Thank you for bringing me in this space. My name is Natalyn Begay. I use she/her pronouns.
[7:53] I'm a citizen of the Danae Nation. Currently, I serve as the policy mode lead with the Future
[8:01] Generations Collaborative. I come to you this morning to talk to you about some of the budget needs of the future
[8:07] generations project, which you all know is Barbie's Village. In our request, in our budget request, we did request some
[8:15] renovations that are very much needed in the building where Barbie's Village is going to be housed.
[8:23] One of those needs -- a lot of those needs actually are critical to early childhood programming, to the tiny home
[8:32] village. Some of those needs include our furnaces and air-conditioning for the building.
[8:39] Currently, they are out, and we can't actually inhabit the building when it gets cold in the wintertime, so those are
[8:51] some critical needs that are in the budget for Barbie's Village. We also have some challenges around -- we recently lost our
[9:02] refrigerator that is in our kitchen. Many of the appliances that are in the kitchen right now are
[9:09] from the 1970s, so those definitely need to be replaced. In addition to some of the renovations are flooring needs.
[9:21] Those also need to be renovated as most of the flooring is from the original building in the 70s.
[9:30] Many of these -- like I said, many of these renovations are critical to early childhood programming.
[9:40] The services will be part of the wraparound services to the families who are living at Barbie's Village, but also
[9:46] essential to those programs that are using that space, such as the early childhood -- >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Your
[9:55] time is up. >> Okay. I just urge you all to consider the full budget for Barbie's
[10:02] Village. Thank you so much for your time. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: All right.
[10:04] That's all we have virtually. So, we'll move to in person. We have Richard Perkinds, Ann Pernik, Ann Turner, and Deon
[10:20] Salazar. Good morning. You can begin. >> Morning.
[10:35] I'm Dick Perkinds. Commissioners, when voters approved the supportive housing tax, they gave the county ten
[10:47] years to end homelessness. We have seven left, but those high income households and high revenue businesses are leaving
[10:54] the county, as you know, Chair. Voters approved measure 110 to fund treatment for substance use disorder.
[11:04] Now we have a fentanyl and Meth crisis on our streets. You, chair, are responsible for the county's behavioral health
[11:15] and housing plans. Things are getting worse. There is no behavioral health plan, and we have no person data
[11:27] system so we can accurately scale resources to address the need. Because of these failures, the
[11:33] governor has convened a task force to save the city's largest city. Chair, you sit on that task
[11:40] force. Yesterday, Portland unanimously passed an ordinance banning public use of hard drugs in
[11:48] anticipation of the February special session, which will amend measure 110 to create an involuntary path to treatment
[11:59] for those with substance use disorder. That will save many lives, but only if we have the treatment
[12:05] resources. It appears that everyone but the county board of commissioners understands the urgency of the
[12:14] moment. You have an opportunity today with Ground Plaza and Bybee Lakes to take a step forward.
[12:29] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning.
[12:30] Hello, Chair, commissioners and staff. My name is Ann Pernik. I'm here with advocates from
[12:39] Oregon's physicians for social responsibility and 350PDX. We're the Anns. We're here to give you this
[12:48] climate emergency kit. We've got clear signs of the climate emergency all around. We have extreme heat.
[12:56] We have intensifying wildfires. The problem is clear. Fossil fuels, which are a clear threat to our climate and local
[13:10] health and safety, the solutions are in this kit. There's a report from the county department on the dangers of gas
[13:18] stoves and a safe cities policy binder to phase out fossil fuels at the local level, including building electrifying.
[13:33] Dr. Ann Turner will add more materials into the kit in a minute. After she speaks, we hope you'll
[13:39] accept the kit. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[13:43] you. Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Dr. Ann Turner.
[13:49] First, I want to thank you for bringing a suit against the oil industry for their responsibility in our current
[13:54] climate catastrophe. All fossil fuel industries, including the gas industry, are responsible for the mess we're
[14:03] currently in. As a physician and a member of Oregon's Physicians for Social Responsibility, I want to focus
[14:10] on the problem of the health harms of indoor air pollution caused by gas stoves and ovens and add a few items to the tool
[14:17] kit in this bucket. The first is a letter that Oregon PSR has written urging you to take the next step, after
[14:29] your excellent report, to address this critical health issue. A few facts from this document.
[14:35] Gas stoves emit the same pollutants as vehicle carbon exhaust. Gas stoves leak methane, even
[14:50] when they're off. That's contaminated with Benzene, a known cause of blood cancers.
[14:57] I'm adding several prescriptions from health professionals to you urging you to act. Gas stoves are a health hazard.
[15:08] It's time to phase them out. I urge you to take action to reduce the risk in our county. Gas stoves in the home are a
[15:21] danger to child health and the children most at risk due to poor ventilation and poorly maintained appliances.
[15:30] Gas stoves are a driver of the plague of childhood asthma. This is an issue of climate justice.
[15:39] Please explore Multnomah County's authority under the state and federal laws to regulate gas appliances based on
[15:49] an emissions-based approach. Oregon PSR supports you as the county health authority in taking the next step to address
[15:56] this important health and environmental issue. Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[16:00] you. >> And we hope you'll accept this bucket. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: You can
[16:06] provide it to the board clerk. Next, we're going to go back to Chenoa Landry. You can unmute yourself and
[16:19] begin. >> Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Chenoa Landry. I'm she/her.
[16:31] I'm also a community health worker with Native Wellness Institute. We're part of the Future
[16:38] Generations Collaborative. I just wanted to share today a little bit about our role as community health workers.
[16:46] I'm really honored to be able to speak on behalf of the community health worker team here today. We are part of a
[16:54] collaborative -- I'm including a lot of native nonprofit and organizations in the Portland area.
[17:02] Community health work has been around since time immemorial. We serve as a liaison between the health professionals and
[17:12] community members. We represent our community, so we're also members of the community.
[17:20] And this work has also grown over the past decade or so with the Future Generations Collaborative.
[17:28] We had elders and natural helpers do community health worker training about ten years ago.
[17:35] Since the pandemic has gone, our work has only grown. Having a space to be able to have cross-program work has been
[17:45] really, really beneficial for our community. It's given our community a lot of hope.
[17:52] We provided lifesaving services, such as providing masks, tests, testing, and hand sanitizer, basic needs such as food,
[18:12] clothing, and shelter. A home is also a basic need, but a lot of our community experiences high rates of
[18:20] houselessness. We don't say homeless because these are our homelands. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Time.
[18:25] >> Thank you. Thank you for the space. Appreciate the opportunity. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[18:28] you. Okay. Next, we have in person Suzy Kershner and others.
[18:51] >> Good morning. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Whoever is ready, you can begin. >> Okay.
[18:59] My name is Aaliyah. I reside in old town Chinatown. Here's where we're at. Trimet cleared a couple of yards
[19:12] of the large camp that is underneath the steel bridge, which is considered, what, the pit?
[19:18] That's what you guys are all calling it. We have a problem because they just moved across to the bigger
[19:25] portion, the people that were in that couple of yards. They just moved to the bigger portion, and now we have another
[19:33] problem with a camp that's being built now directly across the street from us on a public property that is vacant and has
[19:43] a fence around it. Right now, there's about 15 tents. You guys have got to figure out
[19:50] another way to do what you're doing because the reporting and waiting until these camps get to an enormous amount of people is
[19:59] an absolute failure. We need to nip it in the bud before it gets to that point to where it's unmanageable.
[20:07] That's exactly what happened in a lot of our neighborhoods, and I have to say that I am concerned about -- I know that
[20:15] there are developers that are very interested in the McCormick pier area of the property. And I'm concerned that this is
[20:24] being intentionally done. The failures to tear these camps down and allowing them to grow and thrive in our
[20:33] neighborhood -- and then I'm watching echelon security guards because they guard the yards and the projects over across the
[20:42] street. We hired them also. People are parking in our parking lot to go buy drugs
[20:50] across the street. I am familiar with these kinds of things. I grew up in northeast-north
[20:58] Portland during the crack epidemic. I'm not unfamiliar. I need people around me to
[21:04] recognize what they're seeing and do something about it before we're pushed out of our neighborhood.
[21:09] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning.
[21:12] I'm the CEO of Living Room Theaters. 120 seconds here is tough to communicate a widespread of
[21:21] issues that address what the county is facing. Downtime and overall Multnomah County's public safety
[21:29] conditions are worse today than they were on January 1st, 2023. Our service no longer has 9:00 p.m. movies because there's no
[21:39] one who wants to come downtown who feels safe to come out after dark. These are interconnected complex
[21:48] problems. It's not just a housing problem. It's not just a substance use disorder problem.
[21:53] It's not just a mental health problem, but you have a collection of services that you all oversee.
[21:58] And I want to specifically come to this thing we've talked about. We've talked about plans and
[22:07] ideas, but we need a vision, a vision for how to tackle these problems. Many people have sat here and
[22:13] criticized about the Chair's plan to fine AMR for their performance. I would argue again that is a
[22:22] complex set of problems. There was a gentleman from Portland fire and rescue from the downtown old town station.
[22:30] He communicated just a recent past weekend they experienced 70 Narcan overdose recoveries in a single weekend.
[22:38] 300 on average every month. Those public safety officials are growing tired of going back to the same problem day after
[22:47] day that doesn't get better. So, you're losing public safety officials from that one problem, and it's the same problem for
[22:55] AMR. They're not responding to a heart attack victim or someone else throughout the county.
[23:02] We need to address these problems systematically and as one. I urge you all to please put
[23:09] politics aside and work together. You're all very smart, and I think you can do the right
[23:13] thing. Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you.
[23:15] Good morning. >> It's my privilege, my pleasure. I'm grateful for this
[23:25] opportunity to speak on behalf of this issue. I am extremely grateful to you as a board for the focus --
[23:34] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Would you mind stating your name for the record? >> I had no manners whatsoever.
[23:41] Thank you. My name is Suzy Kershner. I'm the lead for the Future Generations Collaborative.
[23:52] It's been my privilege to be a part of this cooperative since its inception, but what I'm really here to do is express
[24:00] gratitude for the lands of the traditional peoples where we are and, in so speaking, focusing our attention on the Indigenous
[24:13] community of the Portland Metro area and responding with a reinforcement and support for the development of Barbie's
[24:23] Village within the context of the FTC project that you heard both last week and this week. When I mention the traditional
[24:33] lands of the peoples here, I also mention the fact that Multnomah is one of the peoples. This is a traditional site of
[24:44] gathering and for resolution, so I think it's timely. I think it's appropriate. I think it's interesting to find
[24:51] myself, you know, looking at the solution from the perspective that might look like political differences, but I really think
[24:59] that we have in common the outcome of healthy families and healthy children. And so, I think -- and this is
[25:08] what you are charged with as the commissioners. This is what you are dedicating your time and your spirit to,
[25:16] and I am grateful. Yes, you have a pot of money. There are many deserving people for this.
[25:22] So, I want to encourage -- >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you. >> I want to encourage you to
[25:29] look at the child developmental center that is at the core of this. Thank you so much for today.
[25:35] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Good morning. >> Good morning. It's good to be here as a
[25:49] cross-pollination and dialogue continues. Yesterday at city council, there was testimony from Commissioner
[25:56] Sharon Meieran. Today here in the county chambers, we have city commissioners.
[26:09] Renee Gonzalez is with us. Unfortunately, we have to wait until we get to R1 to find out how we get 40 minutes of
[26:20] information about $17.66 million. When we try to prepare, when we go on the web, there's two pages
[26:34] of nothingness that's a landscape spreadsheet. Even in the little summary here, we find out that Metro, which
[26:43] skims off 5% of the SHS money, has given us a Corrective Action Plan. The short title doesn't tell us
[26:53] whether that $17 or $16 million goes to backfill or if it is part of the unanticipated revenue.
[27:02] We seem to be getting more confusion than progress, but I'm sure you'll have some sharp questions that will hopefully
[27:10] clarify for all your constituents, including the 6,000 people that are unhoused. As Ms. Condon noted, a
[27:19] long-running nonprofit that replies to audits and does their best to inform you, as they seek to serve the 53% of women
[27:27] experiencing homelessness who have encountered domestic violence, they really need some money to retain staff and grow
[27:36] the programs to meet the needs, so it'll be interesting to see what we do for 40 minutes on R1. Thanks, y'all.
[27:42] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you. Next, we have Gerard, Dan Salazar, and Lightning.
[28:06] >> Good morning. My name is Gerry. I volunteer with the revitalize Portland coalition, which is a
[28:17] group of real estate organizations in town. I'd like to speak to the homeless issue, and I continue
[28:23] to think the county needs to maintain a list of the homeless individuals living on our streets so they can provide more
[28:32] individualized care. You, as the county commissioners, are the health authority for the Portland
[28:38] Gresham area. Like any doctor, you ought to keep notes on your patients, and so I think that by-name list
[28:45] needs to include name, Social Security number, next-of-kin, former work history. I think these folks have the
[28:55] potential for rehabilitation, but also any kind of notes you have about drug use, alcohol abuse, and mental illness due to
[29:03] the extent that's diagnosed. Towards that end, I think the issues that are on the table today are funding the Bybee
[29:16] Lakes recovery center and the crown plaza hotel as a place to rehabilitate the homeless. I think that would fit in with
[29:24] collecting that kind of data and asking the organizations that are contracted with you to collect that kind of data in
[29:30] some kind of privileged and confidential way, but in a way so the providers know what the background is of the individual
[29:35] that they're meeting with. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you. Good morning.
[29:40] >> Good morning. My name is Dean Salazar. I'm a resident of Portland. I have seen information
[29:54] regarding the large amount of people who are likely part of the homeless population. Not only is that a major
[30:03] problem, but we are also aware of not getting the proper mental health supports they need before they go houseless and, of
[30:14] course, during as well. I've also lived here for 12 years. When I first moved here, when I
[30:20] was 11 years old, I saw a good degree of houselessness and homelessness, which depressed me.
[30:31] 12 years later, no matter who was in charge, we're seeing this problem worsen. In these times, we keep hearing
[30:39] about the disorder in the joint Office of homeless services and more. That's not good leadership.
[30:48] We need good leadership and we need good government. We need to be able to hold the county officials accountable so
[30:55] that we can have a more timely reporting as well as more accessibility and transparency so that we can move forward
[31:03] better as part of a county, so we can all work together. We've seen the Corrective Action Plan, Metro, squabbling.
[31:13] Enough is an enough. We need to get on this all together as a coalition. We need more transparency and
[31:21] less centralization, in my opinion. We need to make sure we solve this problem within five years.
[31:27] This is a crisis, the crisis of our time in Portland. Our future is better than this, and I stand by that
[31:35] wholeheartedly. That's why I ask you to seriously consider performing the Joint Office of Homeless
[31:41] Services. Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you.
[31:51] >> Yes. My name is Lightning. I represent Lightning Super Humanity X.
[31:58] The death list, which we saw in the Willamette Week on all the empty and unwanted buildings, the iconic buildings, as you
[32:09] know, 15 have been handed back to the banks, gone into foreclosure, been auctioned off. We have another 20 to 30 in
[32:19] line. If you start calculating the losses of these investors and this money, you're talking some
[32:26] big numbers here, and this will shake the municipalities and shake the city of Portland and shake the state of Oregon.
[32:38] And why that is, is that all these social services that you rely upon are the property tax base, and it's being ripped
[32:49] apart and gutted out in this city. I look at Paula and say, hey, you wanted to use the developers
[33:02] and investors as scapegoats and blame them for everything. At a certain point, people begin to believe that.
[33:10] You have dropped the commercial real estate industry by your comments. By the way you speak about them
[33:21] and what they're trying to do in the cities. What you see out there right now is the result of what you have
[33:26] done, what you have done, the politicians. Again, we have Jordon out there saying, I'm going to revitalize
[33:34] Portland by art. Let me say this to you my good friend, Jordon. I refer to you as the thinking
[33:40] man, but we are in the gates of Hell. The gates of Hell. We're going to have to make some
[33:48] moves to save this city. I'm asking for more property taxes to save this city. Thank you.
[33:58] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you. That's it for public testimony, so I'll move on to R-1.
[34:06] >> BOARD CLERK: R-1 budget modification -- BUDGET MODIFICATION #JOHS-001-24: Increasing the
[34:21] Joint Office Supportive Housing fund by $17.69 million for the Corrective Action Plan. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Approval
[34:24] of R-1. In a few minutes, I'm going to turn it over to Dan Field to present on the budget
[34:30] modification as well as the joint office leadership team. They're going to be able to provide us and walk us through
[34:36] final details for the investments, and then we will have time for the Board to discuss this, but I wanted to
[34:42] start off by just thanking everyone for the engagement into this process. The way that we've had the work
[34:48] sessions, the way that we have been able to really do this in a more transparent, open way is different than how the Board has
[34:56] done things in the past. I just appreciate the engagement people have, the respectful way they have participated in these
[35:02] conversations. I think they've been productive. I think they've been in service total communities who need and
[35:08] deserve these investments that we're going to be making. I also appreciate the fact that we are going to continue to have
[35:14] this type of conversation as we move forward and work on other Joint Office Supportive Housing dollars we're going to consider
[35:24] in the next couple of weeks. It's a process. Any time you learn something new you learn where the bumps are
[35:34] and where you can refine things. I think that's true of this. We're all learning in this. But I'm glad we continue to take
[35:41] the time to question, engage, to think through the different proposals we have as a Board and colleagues.
[35:50] I look forward to the rest of the upcoming discussions as we help set our priorities for moving forward together on one
[35:57] of the most critical issues in our community, which is the crisis of homelessness. I also want to say that our
[36:05] discussions over the last few weeks and our vote today is really the legislative action that we take to move these
[36:11] priorities forward with urgency, with accountability, with transparency so we can continue to improve our response to this
[36:18] crisis. The work that comes after this, which is really the implementation of the Corrective
[36:23] Action Plan, that's the administrative work that's going to be led by the joint office, but what I commit to doing is
[36:30] making sure that this Board has the information that we have to share with Metro in terms of how things are going with the work,
[36:39] how things are going with the investments, how the spending is looking, and making sure this Board is aware of that before
[36:45] shared with Metro or more publicly. I am, you know, looking forward to this conversation.
[36:50] I also want to make sure we have plenty of time for questions and discussion, so I now invite Dan and others to dais to go through
[37:01] the final details and answer questions that we have. Thank you. Good morning.
[37:10] >> Good morning, Chair. My name is Dan Field, director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services joined this morning by
[37:19] Kenoi and Antoinette. I would like to echo a couple of the things the Chair said in introducing our slide
[37:30] presentation. One, we appreciate the direction as well. The joint office staff and
[37:35] leadership team serves at your direction, and you've provided a lot of that over the past few weeks with regard to the
[37:42] Corrective Action Plan. That's been a helpful process for us as well, so as you vote today and set the direction for
[37:48] us, we'll continue to seek your input and guidance as we implement the strategies and the funding requests that you've
[37:55] set. I also want to mention that in the course of the conversations over the last few weeks, in
[38:01] listening to the work session, we've heard you loud and clear about wanting to see metrics and very specific desired outcomes
[38:09] in each of the projects. If you have additional suggestions around metrics and outcomes, we absolutely are open
[38:17] to that input as we begin the implementation process. With that, what we're going to do is ask my colleagues to run
[38:25] through the four major spending proposals that the Chair has put in front of you this morning. And I'll kick it off to Kenoi to
[38:34] start us. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Good morning. >> Good morning.
[38:38] Next slide, please. This actually might be Antoinette's. >> Good morning.
[38:47] For the record, my name is Antoinette Payne. I use she/her pronounces, and I'm the finance manager for the
[38:55] Joint Office of Homeless Services. Thank you for the opportunity to present today.
[38:58] As mentioned in the previous presentation, I won't spend as much time. This slide outlines the CAP we
[39:05] have with Metro around the unspent SHS funding. In column 2, the CAP items initially negotiated with Metro,
[39:14] due to the increase in expenditures, the revised CAP has decreased. The last column has 43.7 million
[39:23] program and 14.4 million in contingencies and reserves, totaling 58.1 million. 40.5 million is in the adopted
[39:37] budget. And the focus of today's presentation is the 17.6 million in column 14.
[39:43] Next slide, please. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Next slide. We got it?
[39:51] Okay, good. >> This slide is a summary of the budget modification appropriating 17.6 million from
[39:58] the SHS underspent for the Metro CAP. Here is an overview of the CAP investments that encompasses the
[40:05] 17.6 million. 4.7 million for the capital investment, the TASS. 10 million for the
[40:12] capacity-building grants. 1.4 million for immediate response client and rent assistance and 1.5 million for
[40:31] CAP investments. >> Good morning. My pronouns are she/her. I'm the director of programs
[40:37] here at the joint office. I'll briefly review each of the proposed CAP investments for board action today.
[40:43] The first proposed investment is focused on the expansion of shelter bed capacity through the development of two additional
[40:51] temporary alternative shelter sites that will be developed and operated in partnership with the city of Portland.
[40:58] This provides a capital investment towards the purchase of 140 sleeping pods and the outbuildings required to provide
[41:08] hygiene and support services on site at both locations. One site will provide 140 sleeping pods, and the second
[41:15] site will be an RV safe parking site. The sites will be open this fiscal year and increase shelter
[41:23] expansion across our homeless services system by 200 additional shelter bed options. Next slide, please.
[41:31] Oh, and here are the key metrics and proposed outcomes that I just spoke about. Next slide, please.
[41:38] The second proposed investment is focused to increase the organizational health capacity and resilience of our currently
[41:46] funded joint office providers to recruit employees, retain their workforce, and deliver on the services they are contracted to
[41:56] provide. Some core components of this investment include grant distribution where the
[42:02] administration and reporting will be managed through philanthropic organization or directly the county.
[42:10] Awards will be allocated on an equitable formula. Grants must meet SHS funding criteria, must explain how funds
[42:24] will increase employee recruitment and retention, and must report on how funds were spent.
[42:30] I'm going to move us on to the next slide so you all can read along with me. We'll focus our metrics on
[42:37] employee vacancy and retention rates. Our provider organizations will report their baseline of vacancy
[42:44] and retentions, and we'll receive attained outcomes on the decrease of vacancy rates and increase in retention rates.
[42:56] This gives our partners the opportunity to determine the most effective way for them to become stronger and more
[43:06] resilient organizations. They have the tools in place in their organizations to be able to expand and retain the
[43:11] workforce needed to really deliver those high-quality and much-needed services in our community.
[43:16] The healthier an organization is, the more immediate and effective the implementation of our investments truly can be.
[43:22] Next slide, please. This is our third proposed investment that will make readily available client and
[43:28] rent assistance to joint office providers with the goal to reduce barriers in housing, retain households facing
[43:38] eviction and homelessness and increases in housing placements. Increase the distribution of short-term and medium-term
[43:56] placements to be able to readily support households with those barriers and get application ready.
[44:03] Some key metrics include over 221 people enrolled into permanent housing -- >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Next
[44:11] slide. >> Shucks. Thank you so much, Chair. I'm so excited that I keep going
[44:20] before the slides. This investment will be 8 million in total, and it will serve 221 people enrolled into
[44:30] permanent housing programs through prevention or placement with the proposed outcome of 80% individuals retained in
[44:37] permanent housing. Next slide, please. And our final proposed investment focuses on the
[44:46] expansion of employment opportunities for people with lived experience of homelessness, providing them
[44:52] with a path to future work while supporting the reduction of trash and waste in our public spaces.
[44:58] Some core components include four mobile teams across the county. These teams conduct routine
[45:04] cleaning routes to pick up and dispose of trash. On these cleaning routes, the mobile teams safely remove all
[45:13] garbage, debris, and abandoned materials from the area. The team is made up of one lead and three crew members, so four
[45:21] total within a team. We'll have four teams total. The lead really focuses on supporting the cleaning route,
[45:28] supporting and mentoring the trainees as they learn job training skills, and the trainees are part of this work
[45:35] readiness program. Participants will learn job-readiness skills and attain that employment history.
[45:43] The key metrics will include at least 25 individuals are lived experience of homelessness, engaging in employment services
[45:49] and supports with proposed outcomes to include 60% of those individuals leaving the training program with employment
[45:56] placement. At least 250,000 pounds of waste will be removed. I want to thank you all this
[46:04] morning for giving me some space to talk about those four proposed investments, and I'll turn it back over to Dan.
[46:09] >> Just a final comment on Clean Start. Commissioners, it was really clear we didn't just want an
[46:19] expansion of the existing downtown Portland focus program. If you have a chance to dig into the details around that last
[46:28] investment, it really is a county-focused program. It's different from what you see downtown.
[46:33] It's mobile teams. They're assigned to all regions of the county. That's an example, I think, of
[46:39] where your feedback and the partnership of a lead organization has been very helpful in designing a program
[46:43] that's going to serve the entire county. With that, I'll turn it over for questions.
[46:48] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Great. Thank you so much for this great information today and all the work in putting together this
[46:54] package. I really appreciate the work of the joint office in doing that. We'll go to the board for
[47:00] questions, for comments. Commissioner Meieran, you're virtual, so we can start with you.
[47:07] And we'll bring you up on screen so everybody can see your face. There we go. >> COMM. MEIERAN: Let me see.
[47:19] I actually -- can you hear me? I'm having some technical difficulties. If you're able to circle back to
[47:27] me, that would be really great. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Of course, yeah. Definitely.
[47:31] >> COMM. MEIERAN: Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: We'll go to Commissioner Jayapal. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Thank you,
[47:37] Chair. Thank you, everyone, for this presentation. I really appreciate it and all
[47:40] the work that's gone into bringing us to this point. I want to appreciate the Chair and her team for answering all
[47:45] of our questions, for the work sessions that we've had. That's been a different practice for us, and I do think it's been
[47:51] productive. Dan, thank you for giving us an example of how the conversations that we had actually influenced
[47:56] what you're bringing forward. I'll start by saying that I will support the package, and I'm going to reiterate some of the
[48:04] comments I've made before because I think they're important and I think they're important to make as we make the
[48:10] decision. I'm keeping in mind and reiterating that one of the main reasons we have underspent
[48:16] funds -- and that's what we're here to decide how to allocate. One of the main reasons we have those underspent funds is our
[48:21] nonprofit providers have not been able to hire and retain the staff they need to provide the services that we need them to
[48:28] provide. So, the community capacity-building grants for me are a clear priority.
[48:34] We've heard this not only from providers themselves, including this morning, but from advocates like Here Together, the Portland
[48:44] Metro Chamber, and the Welcome Home Coalition. The oversight committee is made up from the people from the
[48:55] business, health care, housing services, and nonprofit sectors. The issue was referenced in an email I received yesterday
[49:03] around Bybee Lakes. The email was from an individual who has worked to place homeless folks in their neighborhood into
[49:11] shelters and found that shelters didn't have capacity. They had the beds, but they didn't have the staff to service
[49:18] the beds. All this advocacy confirms what nonprofit providers have been telling us for a very long time,
[49:26] that their workers are significantly underpaid. We also now have two studies that confirm this.
[49:33] One for providers of the sun system and one for joint office providers. For members of the public, I
[49:40] want to read out the median salary for the three positions in shelter systems with the largest numbers of workers.
[49:47] Shelter support staff: $39,250 a year. Case manager 1, $42,848 per year.
[50:16] That's an annual rent of $17,988. I'm going to do the percentages. $43,680 a year.
[50:43] Case manager 1, their rent takes up 42% of their income. For shelter support staff, a vital position, the rent takes
[50:54] up 46% of their income per year. Let's all in this room think about where we would be if those were the incomes and the
[51:02] percentages of our income going to rent that we have to manage. It's not sustainable. So, I've call this wage issue
[51:13] out almost every year I've been on the dais. It's a fundamental problem for the county, and it's a
[51:20] fundamental problem for our community at large. It's a problem because underpaid workers add to our homeless
[51:31] crisis. It's a problem because none of us want to live in a community where people are not paid to do
[51:36] the work that they do. last year, I fought for and was able to get an extra 1% on top of the cola, which only
[51:48] addresses inflation. It doesn't do with the wage gap. We need comprehensive long-term solutions to address wages and
[51:56] other issues around maintaining a strong resilient nonprofit sector. We need other funders, like the
[52:03] city and the state and philanthropy, to participate in developing the solutions. We've kicked the can down the
[52:11] road for decades. I'm excited about the possibility of enlisting a philanthropic partner.
[52:23] There's also other work underway to address these issues. The Oregon solutions project is doing a convening.
[52:31] There's a modernization act that passed the legislature, but we have organizations that can't do the work we need them to do
[52:39] because they don't have the staff, because we don't adequately fund them to pay their staff.
[52:50] This is a great question, and one I've asked every executive director I've spoken to. Part of the answer is
[52:58] situational to this particular moment in time in an incredibly tight market. They are mission driven and want
[53:06] to do the work. A contractor that has run shelters for us for a decade, whose wages haven't kept up
[53:13] because they were already low, is really loath to walk away from the contract and close shelter beds.
[53:19] It's the same reason many workers sign on to do these low-paying jobs. We could ask the same question
[53:26] about why people agree to do jobs at these wages. Because they're mission driven and sometimes because there
[53:33] aren't other jobs available. The fact that providers or workers agree to something that they shouldn't have agreed to
[53:39] doesn't mean that it is right or sustainable. I do believe that I've told Cruz and director field we need to
[53:50] review the contracts to do two things. Make sure what we're paying reflects the true costs of
[53:58] services and we're clear about expected outcomes. Along with pressing for wage increases, I have repeatedly
[54:05] pressed for more accountability in metrics outcomes, but that's a two-way street. We can't old organizations
[54:13] accountable if we don't pay them enough to pay their employees. I think these capacity-building grants are really important.
[54:19] They don't solve the problem by a long shot, but as long as we have these one-time funds, they're a good and necessary use
[54:24] of those funds. And I completely agree there should be metrics attached to the grants.
[54:31] The clearest ones are the ones Kenoi identified for us, and I think we can come up with others as well.
[54:39] The goals will be different for each provider, but they should each be required to tell us what they're going to accomplish with
[54:45] the funding and we should evaluate whether they've achieved those goals. Those are my comments on the
[54:54] capacity-building grants. I didn't say anything on Tuesday about the TASS investments, so I will make a few comments about
[55:04] that. I was not supportive of the city's original plan to have 500-person mass camping sites
[55:10] because I didn't believe those could be managed well. I'm still concerned that 140 people in a managed campsite is
[55:20] a lot to manage well. I think these sites are very expensive related to other options, but we do have to try
[55:25] other models. I did not see expected outcomes with respect to those sites, so I would like follow-up on that.
[55:36] I think with respect to these sites and all of our shelter sites we need to develop outcomes that reflect not only
[55:43] the number of people shelters, but also the rate of housing placement and retention. With that, I will wrap up, and
[55:52] I'll be voting yes on this proposal. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you, commissioner Jayapal.
[56:00] There was a question about when we're going to do public comment. We are definitely going to have
[56:05] public comment on this. I wanted to give the Board the chance to ask any questions. If people want to ask questions,
[56:13] we can have public testimony and then people can make public comments. Commissioner Jayapal, you made
[56:21] very good comments. I appreciate that, but I know that we have many people signed up here to testify.
[56:26] We normally do Board questions first and then we go to public comment. If you have questions you'd like
[56:33] to ask, we can do that and then bring up public comment. Go ahead. >> I'm sorry.
[56:42] It's a general question versus wanting to change the process. I think I'm going to do my comments in a little bit
[56:49] different -- I'm going to have some questions, some comments about the presentation, and then I'll have some final comments.
[56:56] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: After the public testimony? >> Yeah. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Fine.
[57:04] That's great. >> First of all, I have two comments that I want to -- just thank the Chair as a follow-up
[57:11] to the questions that we had at the last meeting about the board and the commission getting the information on our monthly
[57:24] imports and our quarterly reports that we provide to Metro. We get those first as a good
[57:32] governance practice, and I appreciate the commitment to do that. I want to thank you for adding
[57:39] into both presentations some metrics we all can look at. I think it's going to be super important to our community
[57:50] because they have their own set of metrics, and we need to be demonstrating value and that the approaches in the investments
[58:01] we're making are moving us towards our goals. I really want to thank you for adding those in.
[58:07] I think they're a very important addition. A couple of questions and just want to confirm that -- the
[58:20] first one is just an overarching question. I think an earlier presentation we had at the last slide had
[58:31] this is the totality of the -- here's the impact of the totality of the $60 million investment.
[58:40] This morning, we're just focusing on the 17 million because 40 million of it was approved for last year's budget
[58:48] cycle. The totality of, if we make all these investments and they have the effect that we hope they
[58:56] have, the impact on, say, number of people moved off the streets or that are housed or -- I'm noticing this last presentation
[59:07] just doesn't have that slide anymore. I'm wondering if you could speak to that.
[59:12] At the end of the day, the $60 million of investment results in X number of more people off the streets or more people housed.
[59:23] That would be the rent assistance, the shelter -- I want to say the numbers were like 350 and 800.
[59:35] >> Okay. I can take that one. Yes, you're correct. The outcomes associated today
[59:42] were specific to the 17.6. What I hear you asking for is the totality including the 40 million.
[59:47] To be able to give you that, we'll have to circle back to be able to provide number of people served off the streets and then
[59:54] how many people placed, because I want to make sure we isolate all the 40 million. I apologize that wasn't included
[1:00:01] in this presentation today. >> That's okay. That's an important metric. We made a very significant set
[1:00:08] of investments. Granted some of it was in last year's budget, but the collective -- what is the
[1:00:16] underspend going to actually accomplish. >> I appreciate you asking us to keep our eye on that larger
[1:00:22] ball, if you will. One of the challenges has been funding occurs in increments. We're not even done yet.
[1:00:30] Reminding us to roll back up to those high-level metrics is helpful. >> It's a lot of money that's
[1:00:36] going out the door, and so we can look at those -- we'll be able to look at the individual pieces, but then also the larger
[1:00:44] side. I appreciate that. And then a question on slide 7, which is the -- it's the
[1:00:55] providers, the $10 million for providers. Currently, the metric is a percentage.
[1:01:06] You said you would be open to a recommendation that we have a percentage but also a number. For example, if somebody has 20
[1:01:19] vacancies and they fill 10 of them, they've made 50% progress. It gives us a more concrete sense of what that is.
[1:01:35] We're going to have the data anyway. If we can just add that, I think it will provide us with more --
[1:01:46] with more deeper information. On slides 8 and 9 on the rent assistance, this is a question and maybe a question for when we
[1:02:00] talk about rent assistance. In terms of transparency for the community, we need to be really clear on where we're moving
[1:02:07] individuals from the streets to using rent assistance into housing versus those that we're catching before they fall into
[1:02:24] homelessness. I think this is a point that we're going to continue to have to differentiate, even though it
[1:02:30] has the same results, because I don't think the broader community views it the same way or understands it.
[1:02:42] We can say we use rent assistance to keep a thousand people housed, and yet if there are still 1,000 people on the
[1:02:58] street that haven't been, there's a question of not understanding. They said 1,000 people received
[1:03:09] rent assistance and then there's this different piece. Just make that differentiation. They're two different things.
[1:03:21] That would be a sort of going forward question. My last comment, I appreciate both the presentation but also
[1:03:30] the briefing about the focus on all the different quadrants in the city by the Clean Start teams.
[1:03:38] Pardon? I'm sorry, the county. Sorry. The four quadrants of the
[1:03:45] county. I know that we all are hearing from our business districts and the surrounding neighborhoods
[1:03:54] and our other places in our community gathering spots that we can all benefit from that and the employment opportunities.
[1:04:04] Those are my questions and comments. I do want to share that I had shared with my fellow
[1:04:12] commissioners that I was going to offer an amendment this morning on day shelters, a day shelter fund, which is something
[1:04:22] I put in my original proposal. It would have been about $3 million to support the city's new daytime camping
[1:04:30] restrictions. I planned to offer that amendment for several reasons. One, unlike everybody else, I
[1:04:37] didn't participate in last year's budget process, so I'm a little bit catching up. And then second, because of the
[1:04:46] nature of how the CAP, Corrective Action Plan, was formed -- frankly, we were informed by the media that the
[1:04:58] Corrective Action Plan had been signed, and as an individual commissioner, I wasn't consulted about the individual components.
[1:05:07] When we had the package coming forward this morning -- again, I feel a real sense of urgency, and I feel the sense of urgency
[1:05:15] from the community about doing something. And we received an email that we could offer amendments this
[1:05:22] morning, whether it was on the CAP or with other SHS funds. Having said that, I want to say that I had a really good
[1:05:31] conversation this morning with the Chair. I feel comfortable that we have a shared concern and commitment
[1:05:42] to providing daytime supports for individuals who are going to be impacted by the upcoming implementation of the city's
[1:05:59] time, place, and manner camping restrictions. But not just the individuals who will be impacted by it with no
[1:06:08] daytime camping, but also the surrounding communities. In addition, as part of that conversation, we talked about
[1:06:18] the fact that next week the impact study that the county has done on time, place, and manner and the camping restrictions
[1:06:26] will be available to us. Originally, I had structured my discussion for the amendment to create this fund.
[1:06:35] It had sort of two components. One was the establishment of the fund. The second was, when we got the
[1:06:42] results of the impact study, a placeholder for funding for that as well. They're really designed to be
[1:06:51] complementary to not just provide supports to the individuals who will impacted by the camping restrictions, but
[1:07:00] the neighborhoods and communities that surround places where individuals are camping. Because they're interconnected,
[1:07:07] I'm going to defer to next week with that discussion because we'll have both pieces of the information and the
[1:07:15] complementary pieces. I will be waiting for that. That will come next week, and I appreciate the conversation this
[1:07:27] morning and the shared commitment to provide supports but also work in partnership with the city.
[1:07:33] I'll save the rest of my comments for after public comment and the final action. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes.
[1:07:40] Thank you so much, Commissioner Brim-Edwards. Commissioner Meieran, have you figured out your technical
[1:07:51] difficulties? >> COMM. MEIERAN: I think so. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: We can hear you just fine.
[1:08:00] We can hear and see you just fine. >> COMM. MEIERAN: Okay, great. Are we doing questions now or
[1:08:09] board comments? >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Well, we'll do questions now. Then we'll take public
[1:08:14] testimony. If anyone has any final comments, they can make them after the public comment.
[1:08:21] >> COMM. MEIERAN: Well, I don't have any specific questions. I do have a proposed amendment. I'm not sure if that would go
[1:08:40] here or if that should go after we finish talking about a bud mod amendment or amendment to the CAP.
[1:08:49] I'm not sure about the process or procedure. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Sure. Hold on, Commissioner.
[1:08:57] I'll ask our legal experts in the room. Does it matter when it is considered?
[1:09:03] >> COUNTY ATTORNEY: I think we need to wait until amendment is proposed. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Does it
[1:09:08] matter when the amendment is proposed, before or after public comment? >> COUNTY ATTORNEY: No.
[1:09:13] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: It's up to you, Commissioner Meieran, of when you want to bring the amendment forward.
[1:09:18] >> COMM. MEIERAN: Okay. Will that mean we have to stop and vote on it? Now I would want -- I would like
[1:09:32] to propose an amendment. Let's just say that. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Okay. >> COMM. MEIERAN: It is slightly
[1:09:45] different from what I shared with Board members just because initially it was going to add funds from the unanticipated FY
[1:10:01] '23 funds, but I understand that that could cause some challenges in notice or something, so I'm going to propose bringing --
[1:10:23] adding the money from a different source. Essentially, it is around the capacity-building portion of the
[1:10:36] CAP. I filled in some introduction to this when I shared with the board, but I know it got to you
[1:10:49] later. It got to you this morning, but I've talked to you all about it. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON:
[1:10:57] Commissioner Meieran, I will definitely give you a chance to talk a bit. Commissioner Meieran moves to
[1:11:06] consider an amendment. Commissioner brim-Edwards seconds. Do we have to vote on it?
[1:11:17] No. Just go ahead. Now you can provide the explanation.
[1:11:23] >> COMM. MEIERAN: Okay. Sorry about this, and I'm sorry I can't be there in person today.
[1:11:32] But basically, since the shift to go to a bifurcated system where Multnomah County with community organizations to
[1:11:48] provide our human health and organization services, these services have struggled. They've struggled to do more
[1:11:56] with less. In particular, frontline employees have been paid less and less while taking on some of
[1:12:02] the hardest jobs in the county that have become even more difficult, stressful, and even physically dangerous than ever
[1:12:10] before. All of this we've known for years, as highlighted in the joint Office workforce wage
[1:12:19] study. We know the system, as a whole, needs to be overhauled and difficult decisions made around
[1:12:26] the support of workers and quality of services being provided. The term capacity-building has
[1:12:33] been a difficult one for me. It's been increasingly used in county budgets to describe somewhat vague investments in
[1:12:41] community-based organizations, but without a clear indication of goals being sought or outcomes to be achieved or what
[1:12:53] that means in terms of the individuals who we are charged with actually serving, who are recipients of the services.
[1:13:01] So, it's been used as a catchall sometimes. The recent joint office audit called out the county's approach
[1:13:11] to contracting with CBOs. There's lack of performance evaluation, outcomes, analytics. Those are serious gaps in how we
[1:13:28] engage with community-based organizations and managing the contracts with them, et cetera. And so, I have said for a long
[1:13:40] time we need to do an overhaul of our contracting system with CBOs, but -- that's going to be a challenge that I hope we can
[1:13:53] meet, but I feel we shouldn't be investing without doing what we can now to address some of those stark realities and address that
[1:14:10] for what has been allocated for capacity building in this CAP. This amendment seeks to recognize the intent of
[1:14:18] supporting CBOs in doing their difficult work while helping to inform their operations and achieve their optimal outcomes
[1:14:26] for the future with the ultimate goal of demonstrating a measurable positive impact on reducing chronic homelessness
[1:14:33] and getting services to the real people living in our community. I propose that we amend the CAP by adding $1 million -- or by
[1:14:50] using $1 million of the 10 million for purposes of completing independent evaluations that will guide
[1:14:58] future capacity-building investments through the joint office. It will be used before
[1:15:06] constructive independent evaluation by a third-party of the practices, policies, and procedures for at least a
[1:15:13] selection, say, ten -- five largest and five smallest -- community organizations receiving SHS funds from the
[1:15:24] county. The purpose will be to specifically identify improvements that can optimize
[1:15:29] the organizations' abilities to meet contract requirements and achieve the results outlined in their contracts with the county.
[1:15:38] Information obtained can be put to use by the organization in the short term and also provide information that can optimize
[1:15:45] the work of CBOs in the longer term, inform future county investments so we're investing wisely, so that we are
[1:15:59] meeting -- we're addressing some of the gaps right now that have been called out in the audit. That's the amendment.
[1:16:11] The amendment is to -- >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you, Commissioner Meieran. Can you just state succinctly,
[1:16:20] just for the board clerk and for the records, what is being proposed and what the funding source is?
[1:16:31] Just a couple of -- >> COMM. MEIERAN: Proposing $1 million from the capacity-building -- the $10
[1:16:42] million of capacity building currently in the CAP to devote to the services, the independent evaluation services.
[1:16:56] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Okay. >> I have a question for the proposer. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: It's
[1:17:04] about the form of her amendment because it looks different. The paper we have in front of us is different from what she's
[1:17:13] actually proposing. Just to clarify, you're proposing to take $1 million from the $10 million that is
[1:17:20] currently being proposed in the CAP to dedicate to capacity building for organizations and using that $1 million for the
[1:17:28] independent evaluation of some of the organizations. >> COMM. MEIERAN: Correct. Correct.
[1:17:35] The $1 million divided by 39 organizations would have minimal impact, but a real evaluation best practices audit.
[1:17:49] It can have tremendous impact and return on investment. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Okay. Thank you so much for bringing
[1:17:55] that amendment forward. We have a motion and a second. We'll now move to discussion on the amendment.
[1:18:01] We'll start with Commissioner Jayapal. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Thank you, Chair.
[1:18:06] Thank you, Commissioner Meieran. I just want to understand better the specific issues that you want to address with this
[1:18:13] assessment. The issues that we are clear on, I think, are wages and contracting practices.
[1:18:20] Those have been called out by the audit, by providers themselves, and are being addressed -- the CAP amendment
[1:18:33] is the capacity building is intended to at least go some distance toward employee hiring and retention.
[1:18:39] We've got management health associates that's doing an evaluation of contracting practices, but I might turn this
[1:18:49] question to the joint office to make sure that's true. I just want to be clearer on the problem that you are trying to
[1:18:57] solve with this assessment. Is it about those issues or is it about concerns that you have around other policies,
[1:19:06] practices, performance of our NGO partners? >> COMM. MEIERAN: It includes those issues, but it is broader.
[1:19:19] It's seeking to -- the thing is we'll get a report on the HMA findings. In talking to some folks, I say,
[1:19:31] okay, yes, this is going to be a big thing for next year's budget. That will take time to
[1:19:35] implement. I feel that we lose time each time we put -- each time we have a bucket of funds in front of us
[1:19:44] and we put off using it for the things we know need to be done to increase accountability and transparency and all these
[1:19:56] things we talk about, knowing that needs to happen, I'm proposing $1 million be used so that we can get started.
[1:20:13] An example would be an organization saying we need a data analyst because we don't have the capacity to do what's
[1:20:25] needed to get the data together for you, as the county, which I hear frequently. I know it's a deep need.
[1:20:34] What this could do is if a third-party organization goes in to help the CBO, hears from them what they need, looks at their
[1:20:46] systems, they can say, oh, yeah, you do need a data analytic sort of system. That would include the software
[1:20:53] for the system. That would include 1.5 FTE to help do it. It would inform what's needed to
[1:20:59] make our investment effective rather than what I see this as, as a one-time only, okay -- the CBOs know what they need, but
[1:21:16] how to most effectively deploy that, I think we can be helpful there. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Thank you.
[1:21:23] I appreciate that. I have a follow-up question for the joint office. We have other funding for
[1:21:29] general capacity building, I believe, in the joint office budget. My question is, are providers
[1:21:36] able to use that other capacity-building funding to conduct the kind of assessment that Commissioner Meieran is
[1:21:43] describing? If they felt they're not sure what they need and think they need a data analyst, is there
[1:21:50] funding available in other buckets for them to do that? >> There is other funding available.
[1:21:55] It's also my understanding they could use their allocation of this funding, of the $10 million, to impart to their
[1:22:06] staff. That would frame the way they spent the balance of their allocation.
[1:22:12] >> COMM. MEIERAN: So, the thing is I don't want to, A, put that burden onto the organizations themselves or say, okay, you're
[1:22:23] going to have to spend your small allotment of funding on doing this extra work and figuring it out.
[1:22:30] I believe it's our responsibility as a Board, as the County, overseeing these organizations, when we've been
[1:22:39] informed that the contracting practices are dysfunctional. We've seen huge disinvestments in organizations with maybe not
[1:22:52] the results -- definitely not the results that seem like they correlate to the additional level of investment.
[1:22:59] I believe it's our responsibility as the County to engage in a coordinated process so we can ensure accountability
[1:23:13] and coordination of efforts and coherence across all of the organizations. Not just one-offs.
[1:23:27] >> COMM. JAYAPAL: I don't have any further questions. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Commissioner Brim-Edwards.
[1:23:35] >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: This is more a question about the actual amendment because I'm interested to know, Commissioner Meieran,
[1:23:42] whether you would be open to a friendly amendment. I would like to counsel on how to offer this because I would be
[1:23:51] supportive of this, but I'm supportive of the proposal that came forward. My understanding, from
[1:23:58] discussions yesterday, is -- and the invitation from the chair of joint office -- we can offer other funds that would be
[1:24:13] allowed. The friendly amendment, Commissioner Meieran, that you would like to offer -- again,
[1:24:19] I'll defer on what the correct parliamentary procedure is, but it reverts to what actually was presented in the written
[1:24:33] document, which is the additional 1 million -- instead of coming out of the $10 million for providers, we keep that
[1:24:42] intact, but it comes from the FY '23 unanticipated SHS revenue. >> BOARD CLERK: Procedurally, we need to do one amendment at the
[1:24:56] time. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: If there's any changes to the amendment, we have to consider
[1:25:03] this amendment as it was originally proposed in its entirety, do the vote on that. If we were to consider a change
[1:25:09] to the amendment, that would be a separate amendment process itself. >> COMM. MEIERAN: Am I allowed
[1:25:22] to suggest that my own amendment -- >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: The amendment as it's been moved and
[1:25:35] seconded is using $1 million from the currently proposed $10 million for the capacity-building grants.
[1:25:41] That's what's under discussion for the Board. We have to consider that in its entirety as it was moved and
[1:25:47] seconded. Again, you can always have a second amendment subsequently around changes.
[1:25:59] If that were to be brought forward, there's another question around -- what was publicly noticed is the fact
[1:26:06] that we would be considering the CAP amendment and the underspending of the supportive housing service measure dollars.
[1:26:16] That's a different service that hasn't been noticed. How we would do that consideration, I think we need
[1:26:23] to have better explanation around what that would look like. >> Can I speak just a moment?
[1:26:33] The commissioner hadn't got her whole amendment out. When there was a request for a second, she hadn't presented it
[1:26:42] yet. I was basing it on this. That's why I was trying to get a clarification.
[1:26:47] After I seconded it, it was a different amendment. >> COMM. MEIERAN: Can I offer a clarification here?
[1:26:54] My intention was to offer the amendment that you've all received that is what Commissioner Brim-Edwards
[1:27:04] intended to second -- and literally, right before my doing this, I got an email from Jenny suggesting for some notice
[1:27:19] reasons that it wouldn't be -- I do not understand what the challenge is, but the only reason that I actually changed
[1:27:28] the amendment was because I was told with a notice issue I could not make the amendment around unanticipated revenue.
[1:27:41] So, I would intend for the unanticipated revenue, that that can be used to do additional capacity building to fill the
[1:27:56] gap. I do not intend to take funds, in the big picture, away from community-based organizations.
[1:28:03] My intent was not to do that. It was procedurally very murky. I thought we could bring forth amendments that would allow us
[1:28:14] to take the unanticipated -- to consider the unanticipated funds as part of this. That's where my confusion
[1:28:24] stemmed from, and so -- >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Why don't we go to our lawyer to provide some guidance on the
[1:28:39] issues surrounding which funding is being used for the proposed amendment. >> COUNTY ATTORNEY: I've got the
[1:28:46] APR up, and that's what I'm relying on. Though I don't necessarily know what funding sources everyone is
[1:28:52] relying on. What we've noticed the public is what's listed in number 7 on the APR, which says what revenue is
[1:28:59] being changed and why. It talks about unspent SHS revenue from fiscal year 2023. It specifies that funding
[1:29:05] source. I don't know exactly if Commissioner Meieran is proposing a different funding
[1:29:12] source. If so, that's where the noticing issue would come in. If we've noticed the public a
[1:29:17] specific funding source and we're changing that, for the amendment, that would be the notice problem.
[1:29:24] That would be the issue I've seen. >> Just a point of clarification.
[1:29:32] I had two long discussions yesterday about a different amendment but about the same concept.
[1:29:39] Trying to be respectful of the Chair putting forward a CAP proposal and the guidance we received from the Chair's staff
[1:29:47] is that it was SHS funding. It's all going to the joint office, and whether it's underspent or under anticipated,
[1:30:00] it's funding this SHS funding that's going through the joint office. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: I
[1:30:07] appreciate that. It's the same funding. Because of the way it was noticed, talking about unspent
[1:30:12] revenue, that is the funding source. I would say what would the process look like if people
[1:30:18] wanted to consider a different funding source than what was noticed. >> COUNTY ATTORNEY: One option
[1:30:24] would be a unanimous consent item. I think you're familiar with that.
[1:30:28] This could be proposed today. A unanimous consent item, you know the process for that, because that can come on the
[1:30:34] calendar without notice. Another option would be to bring it up next week, at next week's meeting.
[1:30:40] Those are the two options on the table. >> COMM. MEIERAN: Let me make it easier.
[1:30:45] I apologize for any -- for the time that this has taken, although I think these are really important issues that
[1:30:59] bear discussing because it bears on accountability. I will bring this forward in a different form next week.
[1:31:09] We'll clarify and just avoid the confusion here, move along, and withdraw my proposed amendment. Is that allowable?
[1:31:22] There's some very confusing -- there's a lot of confusion here about what we were allowed and not allowed to do.
[1:31:31] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you, Commissioner Meieran. I'll check with our attorney. Can a person who has brought
[1:31:38] forward an amendment withdraw it before there's a vote? >> COUNTY ATTORNEY: I believe so.
[1:31:46] Yes, she can withdraw it. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: We will allow it as long as the person who seconded it agrees to the
[1:31:54] withdrawal of the amendment. >> Before I agree to the withdrawal, I'll just state that I'm supportive of the concept.
[1:32:05] I wouldn't support taking a million dollars out of the providers. I'm sorry you got put in that
[1:32:11] position because I think it's very important work that needs to happen. I also think when we have agenda
[1:32:19] items that are coming we need to be clear with everybody about what exactly the rules are. If we're told we can offer
[1:32:26] amendments, then that's something we rely on. From a governance standpoint, it will make us more effective and
[1:32:38] also have everybody have the same set of rules and understandings of what can be offered.
[1:32:45] With that, yes, I agree as a seconder. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Okay. That's wonderful.
[1:32:48] We will consider the amendment withdrawn. We'll continue the discussion on the R-1.
[1:32:57] For everyone on the Board who may be considering coming to amendment, I would just check in with our legal department as
[1:33:04] you're considering making proposed amendments. We don't traditionally do a lot of amendment making individually
[1:33:11] as a Board, but there seems to be appetite for that, which is fine. I will say, harkening back to my
[1:33:18] experience as a state representative, any time we had an amendment that we were proposing on a bill, it was not
[1:33:25] just consulted, but legislative counsel wrote the amendment. I would say that as a point of order.
[1:33:32] I think it would be really helpful for our attorneys to provide guidance to the Board on the process and procedure for
[1:33:40] bringing forth amendments so we can be on the same page so people do feel they have the right information that they
[1:33:47] need. I appreciate the -- and I want to encourage, Commissioner Meieran, for bringing this
[1:33:58] forward. With that, we're going to return to consideration around the underlying proposal.
[1:34:10] Commissioner Meieran, I believe you said you didn't have any questions on this. >> COMM. MEIERAN: I don't have
[1:34:15] questions. I will have comments, but I would like to make those after the public comment period.
[1:34:23] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: We'll move on to Commissioner Stegmann. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Thank you.
[1:34:28] I would just like to address the Board, and I appreciate the Chair's office giving us the opportunity to have these work
[1:34:34] sessions and have full transparency. I think that's been really beneficial.
[1:34:38] I would also ask for that same courtesy from my fellow board members. When amendments are dropped
[1:34:45] literally at even 24 hours before, it does not give me enough time to research, to understand.
[1:34:56] I would just ask that we have more notice of these amendments so they can be properly scrutinized and vetted.
[1:35:05] >> COMM. MEIERAN: Yeah, I apologize. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Commissioner Meieran, I'm speaking.
[1:35:13] Thank you. It is my turn. >> COMM. MEIERAN: It is. Okay.
[1:35:17] >> COMM. STEGMANN: As a courtesy, if we're going to be transparent, let's be transparent.
[1:35:25] I would ask and expect that my fellow commissioners, as I will make every effort, if I have an amendment -- we just wasted an
[1:35:35] hour of time when I think all of this could have been avoided. We have these poor people who want to bring a proclamation
[1:35:41] ahead, and we're nowhere near being done. I'll get back to where our conversation was because I do
[1:35:49] have some questions. Okay. Back to the TASS sites, one of the concerns I have around the
[1:35:59] villages, when we work with the city of Portland, is I'm told the safe rest village is made by the city of Portland.
[1:36:14] There are many houseless individuals living near that site, but those folks living there don't have access to the
[1:36:23] safe rest village. I would like to see some type of caveat, something that says that there is a better system that
[1:36:34] addresses who and how people get referred into those TASS sites. I don't know if any of you can answer that, so I'll give you
[1:36:46] that opportunity. >> Let me make just a quick statement, and then I don't know if Kenoi has a response to that
[1:36:54] or not. You're not incorrect. The SRVs have grown up over time under city leadership.
[1:37:05] We are moving quickly to close gaps. The Chair staff and I are meeting regularly to understand
[1:37:13] and strengthen the connections between the joint office work and the SRVs, including the intake and the referral process,
[1:37:19] so I don't believe we have a uniform process right now for intake and referrals across all SRVs, but we're working in that
[1:37:27] direction. >> Yeah. I'm going to make a little point of clarification.
[1:37:31] It's our first responders as well as our navigation workers that can refer in, and so we have one provider as an example
[1:37:38] that not only does it -- they have a certain percentage that they can refer into their operated SRV, and then another
[1:37:46] portion that's taken from our first responders. That includes navigation workers from our three provider agencies
[1:37:53] at this moment. We actually hold the function of referring within the joint office.
[1:37:58] We have folks and we are contracting out to do that. We work alongside the city of Portland and those first
[1:38:05] responders as well as our outreach providers. It's actually a clarification point that we do have contract
[1:38:15] providers that are able to refer in as well. It's a select group of those navigation workers.
[1:38:24] Maybe I can get clarity and work on those folks that you're mentioning. >> COMM. STEGMANN: This is a
[1:38:29] different conversation, but I would like to have a larger conversation to understand how the referrals work because this
[1:38:34] has ramifications when we look at acquiring other properties and geographic equity. We have to decide are we going
[1:38:44] to have services in one part of the city or the county, and yet the people that are living in that neighborhood don't have
[1:38:52] access to those resources. That's what I'm getting at. >> We can follow up on the referral process and outline it
[1:39:00] for you. >> COMM. STEGMANN: I appreciate that. Do we know the locations of the
[1:39:04] TASS sites? Have those been determined? They have not? >> I don't think they've been
[1:39:09] finalized or publicized, but we're looking at some other folks. I have not been notified about
[1:39:16] the final selection. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Okay. Obviously, I'm really concerned about the timeline.
[1:39:24] We've heard that it's taking a long time to get these sites up, so I would like to know when those sites plan on being up.
[1:39:32] I'd also like to know who the service provider is and have they been selected. Do we know?
[1:39:42] >> Not to my understanding. >> No. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Okay. I'm supportive of the CAP.
[1:39:48] These are the things this Board needs to be updated on that I would like to know. Then going to the capacity
[1:39:58] building. I think Commissioner Brim-Edwards brought up a good point.
[1:40:13] When we talk about rental assistance, that's such a broad -- we need to be specific. Is it emergency rental
[1:40:20] assistance? My understanding is when you've received an eviction notice. Is it preventive rental
[1:40:27] assistance where maybe you're just behind two or three months, but you haven't received an eviction notice?
[1:40:34] Whatever that terminology is, could we adopt that and use it and be more clear rather than just a large bucket?
[1:40:42] >> Yes. If I can mention, I know the last time you asked that question.
[1:40:46] We focused primarily on those housing placements, and we refined that proposal to be able to address the eviction
[1:40:54] prevention as well as new placements. I hear you. We use short term, long term,
[1:40:59] and emergency. When we come with proposals, we'll ensure those are identified.
[1:41:03] >> COMM. STEGMANN: Then I saw -- I've heard of short term and long term, but then I heard medium.
[1:41:12] >> That was my error. >> COMM. STEGMANN: What's the definition of short and medium? >> Up to 24 months.
[1:41:20] When we think about long term, it's permanent supportive housing structures. I misspoke earlier.
[1:41:28] >> COMM. STEGMANN: You do this work every day, so you're grounded in it and we're not. When we hear these
[1:41:35] interchangeable terms, we get confused. At least I do. No worries, Kenoi.
[1:41:41] Thank you. The other thing, I wanted to thank you for putting in all the metrics.
[1:41:46] Yes, that's absolutely what we want when we're talking about the capacity building, is knowing how many people did you
[1:41:52] retain, how many people did you hire. I did have a question about when -- maybe it was in the
[1:41:59] slides. I forgot. I don't know. When are these reports going to
[1:42:03] be required back to the county? >> The reports from the providers on how they use the capacity-building grants?
[1:42:11] >> COMM. STEGMANN: Yes. >> I don't know that we have that specified yet. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Okay.
[1:42:15] If we can get that timeline so we have a clear expectation, that would be great. And then going to the
[1:42:22] employment. Dan, you said this money would be spread out throughout Multnomah County.
[1:42:31] Can you maybe talk to me about east Multnomah County around the employment portion? >> I'm glad to share with you
[1:42:37] the proposal. It's not final, but we have a proposal. We shared that with Commissioner
[1:42:42] Brim-Edwards for the coverage within the county. It includes specific geographic divided up among four different
[1:42:53] teams, including east county. These are a little bit different than what you see downtown. These are mobile units.
[1:43:01] They'll have a designated patrol throughout the week, different sites each day. Those four teams have been
[1:43:12] divided equally across the county. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Okay. That's great.
[1:43:15] I would ask -- because I think sometimes different commissioners get different information -- could there be
[1:43:23] some kind of standard that if I ask a question or Commissioner Brim-Edwards asks a question that could be shared with the
[1:43:31] entire Board? >> We can do that. We didn't share the central city proposal that outlines the four
[1:43:39] quadrants with anybody. We're glad to do that all at once. I think it would save us a lot
[1:43:46] of questions and heartache and backtracking. Okay. That was all my questions for
[1:43:51] now. Thank you all so much. I just want to appreciate -- I know you're working hard, and
[1:43:58] you've been up before us many times and you'll continue to be, but I do want to recognize the important work that you've taken
[1:44:05] on and I do appreciate it. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: We're going to move on to public testimony.
[1:44:10] Before you leave, I did want to clarify about the TASS sites. What we're doing with the CAP is obviously the capital
[1:44:18] investments for the pods, for some of the buildings and facilities for the SRV. We've had commitment from the
[1:44:24] city, as we were having the conversations about what these investments could be, working with Metro to make sure we were
[1:44:31] being able to make investments that we would be able to get into implementation within the next year.
[1:44:37] The commitment is to do this in the next fiscal year, and I think that was part of the presentation that Kenoi gave as
[1:44:49] well. We have a proposal from one board member with our unanticipated revenue.
[1:44:55] I think we can follow up with the questions you had, Commissioner Stegmann, around the unanticipated revenue and
[1:45:03] what operations may look like. Commissioner Jayapal, did you have a follow-up? >> COMM. JAYAPAL: I was going to
[1:45:12] follow up on timing. There is a finite time frame. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes, exactly.
[1:45:17] Thank you so much. We'll now move to public testimony. How many folks do we have signed
[1:45:24] up? >> BOARD CLERK: We have nine people signed up. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Everyone
[1:45:31] can have two minutes for public testimony. And we do an elected official in the room who would like to
[1:45:36] testify, so why don't we start with Commissioner Gonzalez, who is here? >> BOARD CLERK: We'll start with
[1:45:43] Commissioner Renee Gonzalez. >> Good morning. Sorry for the informality. You caught me on a bike ride
[1:45:52] into the city today. We're going to do a PSR ride-along. Can you hear me okay?
[1:46:00] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes. Thank you for being here. >> So, I am here to speak on behalf of Julia's proposed
[1:46:07] amendment, in particular for support of Bybee Lakes and the city's TASS sites. I've had an opportunity to spend
[1:46:14] a good amount of time with the folks out at Bybee. Trauma-informed, holistic support, behavioral health, as
[1:46:28] well as high expectations. I think it's a really positive path forward for our community as we confront these complex
[1:46:37] issues associated with homelessness. We appreciate increased support from the county on TASS sites
[1:46:42] and look forward to future support there. Very happy with how things overall have progressed.
[1:46:51] We are spending close to 20 million on TASS sites directly. This is a part of the city's $500 million investment annually
[1:46:59] on the homeless challenge. This is an exploding part of you are city budget. It includes everything from
[1:47:05] direct response, including shelter, as well as certain indirect costs associated with cleanups and other supports.
[1:47:15] It does not include the cost to our 911 system, to public safety, and indirect costs on our BOAC and Portland fire.
[1:47:27] We're investing substantial dollars in this area to do our part. Any support we can receive from
[1:47:33] the County is much, much appreciated. One last plug here. The city stood up a program
[1:47:42] called Portland Street Response largely funded with ARPA and one-time dollars. We would encourage you to
[1:47:50] consider in the future fiscal year the additional program to support with the joint office of homelessness.
[1:47:58] With that, I'll keep it short and sweet. I'd love to hear any questions. I can't answer all the technical
[1:48:05] questions, but I was asked to speak on behalf of the city. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: We really appreciate you being
[1:48:12] here, Commissioner Gonzales, and appreciate your testimony today. >> Thank you all. >> BOARD CLERK: Next, we have
[1:48:21] Cole Merkel and Andrew Hoan. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Good morning. >> Good morning.
[1:48:35] Chair, for the record, my name is Cole Merkel. I'm here to testify in support of several of the priorities in
[1:48:45] the Corrective Action Plan that are outlined in the 2023 Here Together road map. Thank you for including both
[1:48:53] client rent assistance and the employment programs in the CAP. We can prevent people's homelessness much faster if
[1:49:00] they're not becoming homeless in the first place. The employment services will help keep our city clean.
[1:49:06] But I do want to talk about the key priority in the road map, which is to grow and retain our workforce.
[1:49:12] That's why I'm urging you to immediately pass the $10 million in capacity-building grants. While working on the front lines
[1:49:19] of homelessness can be rewarding, it involves long demanding hours to support people in crisis, making do on
[1:49:28] shoestring budgets, and learning low to modest wages. This is personal for me too. These factors are contributing
[1:49:35] to a major labor shortage that's adding pressure on an already exhausted workforce. The clearest and most recent
[1:49:43] example can be found in the joint office classification compensation and benefits study. 78% of employees surveyed said
[1:49:52] they would leave their current organization to an increased salary elsewhere. There are dozens of anecdotes
[1:50:03] that illustrate the challenges we hear every day. For example, the worker who shared how their pay is not
[1:50:09] commiserate with their time and skill they put in. Quote, with the cost of living having take -- many have taken
[1:50:17] on a third job because their current pay at this job isn't enough to keep things afloat. Nobody doing this lifesaving
[1:50:28] work should have to make the gut-wrenching decision between buying groceries and making rent.
[1:50:36] You have the opportunity to make tangible changes for our frontline workers. Please vote yes on that $10
[1:50:42] million package and get the funds out into the hands of our nonprofits. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[1:50:47] you. Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Andrew Hoan.
[1:50:53] We're part of the affiliate families of the chamber. I'm here to urge you to support several of the proposed
[1:51:02] allocations within the budget modification. Just to reiterate, absolute clear support for making sure
[1:51:08] that our frontline workers are appropriately compensated. In the spirit of the amendments offered, we think the pairing of
[1:51:16] significant reform to the contracting services of the county and the joint office is critical.
[1:51:22] It will make possible for our frontline providers to have access to the resources to have clear and transparent contracts.
[1:51:30] I would urge you to support the proposed $4.7 million to support the purchase of 140 pods and RV vehicles parking program for two
[1:51:37] sites as part of the city of Portland's temporary safe shelter sites. This is the first step to become
[1:51:45] a full partner in the TASS program. I call on you to approve the additional funds.
[1:52:03] We simply cannot offer to lose shelter services and see those go offline. I want to make sure that you
[1:52:14] finalize payment the SHS funds for the city's most current priority for the reestablishment of the dropoff sobering center.
[1:52:32] The loss of the center can be seen on our streets every single day. The fentanyl crisis on our
[1:52:38] streets is the single biggest threat to the vibrancy of downtown Portland and the city as a whole.
[1:52:45] Last week, there was a panel on measure 110 looking for common ground. One of the key areas of
[1:52:51] agreement is that under state law public intoxication is still an arrestable offense. They cannot arrest these
[1:53:07] individuals if they don't have a place to take them to sober up. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you.
[1:53:12] >> BOARD CLERK: Next, we have Andy Miller joining virtually. You can unmute yourself and begin.
[1:53:18] >> Good morning. I'm Andy Miller. I'm the executive director of our Just Future.
[1:53:25] We provide a continuum of responses to homelessness, including shelters, supportive housing, and employment
[1:53:30] programming centered in east Portland and Gresham. I'm here this morning to support the CAP and especially the
[1:53:36] capacity grants. As you know from the recent audit, comp study, and from testimony this morning -- thank
[1:53:44] you, Commissioner Jayapal, for your poignant testimony -- providers are struggling to operate because contract
[1:53:54] revenues have historically run below what's needed to fund livable wages. This underfunding puts our whole
[1:54:02] homeless system and the people it supports at risk. We struggle to meet the minimum thresholds for staffing each of
[1:54:09] our three shelters, and we've gone too many months with major vacancies. The effect of this is it burns
[1:54:16] out staff and it leaves people waiting longer than they should to receive the help they need and deserve.
[1:54:23] Over half of our employees tell us they can't meet their family's basic needs on the salaries they earn, and our
[1:54:32] employee emergency fund that we had to create gets drawn down prematurely every fiscal year. These are untenable conditions
[1:54:43] for our organizations and our community to solve our most critical public policy issue. We're grateful for the 8% cola
[1:54:50] of this commission awarded in the current budget year, but it's important to note that percentage was not awarded to
[1:54:57] all funding sources administered in our county contracts. Our overhead pays for essential contract functions.
[1:55:09] We support an allocation formula that makes whole all those sources that were not awarded the full county cola.
[1:55:18] We know you all understand this issue well. We've spoken to each of you. Our shared goal of a
[1:55:22] high-performing system relies on the great people who do the critical work every day and night, and we encourage you to
[1:55:31] invest the full 10 million in front of you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you.
[1:55:34] >> BOARD CLERK: Next, we have Laura de Lovato, who is joining virtually. You may begin, Laura.
[1:55:45] >> Great. Thank you. Hello, Chair and commissioners. My name is Laura.
[1:55:52] I'm the executive director of Northwest Pilot Project. We work in Multnomah County to help extremely low-income and
[1:56:02] vulnerable older adults to find housing and navigate the often complex system of accessing rental housing.
[1:56:12] We don't own or operate housing, so it's important to us that we build networks throughout the community with housing providers
[1:56:20] and with other service providers. I'm testifying today in support of the Corrective Action Plan
[1:56:29] and especially in support of the $10 million allocation for capacity-building grants. As my colleague Andy Miller
[1:56:39] said, the sector has been struggling to meet the wage needs of our employees to be able to attract and retain the
[1:56:51] best staff that we can. The work that we do at Northwest Pilot Project really is social work.
[1:56:59] That word "social" is really key. We build relationships with our clients and depend on those
[1:57:09] relationships for successful outcomes, ie, long-term stable housing for our clients. The capacity-building dollars
[1:57:22] through these grants would allow us to increase wages, to have better retention mechanisms, and potentially increase our
[1:57:33] capacity to be a stronger partner in the community and ultimately serve more seniors. We are in support of a
[1:57:44] transparent and clear allocation process and are looking forward to learning more about the details.
[1:57:50] And we're also supportive of metrics. Thank you. >> BOARD CLERK: Next, we have
[1:58:01] Charles Johnson, Scott Moore, and Aaliyah. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Good morning.
[1:58:18] >> Good morning, Commissioners. You've probably heard of a death by 1,000 cuts. It's just a phrase.
[1:58:24] In Multnomah, we have death by 39 community-based organizations. Oops, it's 40 community-based
[1:58:37] organizations because we're going to make Bybee Lakes part of the pool. Is transition projects a
[1:58:47] community-based organization? Nobody knows. We get some teeny, weird numbers about people who've gone into
[1:58:57] housing, and then we were at slide 10, we had a planned failure rate of 20%. We have retention of 80%.
[1:59:13] Maybe there's a system of guesstimating how many people we house can retain their housing, but it's not encouraging to come
[1:59:20] in here and see that the plan is a 20% failure rate. I think so the community taxpayers and constituents are
[1:59:40] very skeptical that giving those community organizations $10 million to improve their HR services and their wages are
[1:59:48] going to move the needle. That's what we, as citizens, want to see. We want to see consistent,
[1:59:57] reliable moving of the needle and a plan that says that that's going to work. And if you're going to have --
[2:00:07] hey, community. We're just going to fund 39 community-based organizations. Please make it easy for us to
[2:00:12] know their names, whether they have 95 employees, which is what I think the joint office has -- I have no idea how many
[2:00:21] employees transition projects has. How do they scale their HR? It's not working, and it's not
[2:00:28] just because those frontline workers are underpaid. Give it more thought. Find the million dollars to fund
[2:00:33] the study. Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you.
[2:00:36] Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Aaliyah. I live in old town Chinatown.
[2:00:43] I'm definitely in favor of you increasing people's pay because I know it's the people on the ground that are seeing the worst
[2:00:51] of things. It's not Carmen Rubio who has seen people destroyed by drugs. These people that are doing this
[2:01:01] work, they deserve every dollar they get. I do want to say that I do think it is very important to keep
[2:01:10] track of what the stats are on who is actually housing people and where the money is going. I have concerns about where some
[2:01:20] of these places are going, in places in my neighborhood. Some of these tiny villages are low barrier, which brings more
[2:01:30] drug addicts that are actively using in our neighborhoods. I think we need to be mindful of that.
[2:01:37] I still don't understand we have not erected large utility tents with around the clock narcotics anonymous meetings as a form of
[2:01:47] emergency detox so these people have someplace to go and get drug treatment in, what is it, three years they've been waiting
[2:01:56] for detox centers to be built? If military personnel can be in these tents for years at a time, I don't think it's unreasonable
[2:02:04] to think that taking people off of the street and moving them there, until we can get a more brick and mortar place for them
[2:02:11] to be -- I just think we could be doing better with the things that we're doing. And we need to really focus on
[2:02:22] not just getting people the wages they need, but also increasing the wages of people who manage these places.
[2:02:31] Not increasing their income, but I don't know. Somebody said something about we're all sketchy.
[2:02:41] We're very sketchy about anything y'all say at this point and I think y'all know why. Thank you.
[2:02:47] >> BOARD CLERK: Last, we have Lightning. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: We have one more.
[2:02:52] >> BOARD CLERK: Just kidding. Sorry. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Go ahead.
[2:02:55] >> Hi. My name is Scott Moore. In regards to the capacity building, the conversation has
[2:03:05] been going since Tuesday, which I listened to with great interest. I have to say there was no
[2:03:10] discussion on wages and behavioral health or social services or in health care -- it's not complete without the
[2:03:18] conversation around rates. Rates, rates, rates. I don't hear anybody talk about the word rates.
[2:03:25] I wanted to jump up like Norma Rae and scream rates. Providers and private insurance companies, and Multnomah County
[2:03:40] general funds -- higher rates equal higher wages. The nonprofit sector in Multnomah County has been tasked
[2:03:48] with caring for both the physical and behavioral health of the most vulnerable and marginalized people living in
[2:03:54] the county. The Board should prioritize all funding policy and decisions to building capacity for
[2:04:02] community-based organizations to bill wherever possible for their services. To be able to receive services
[2:04:23] through long-term supportive housing services, such as long-term rental assistance, not the short term.
[2:04:29] Those are important. Those would be the secondary important things to fund and help build policies through.
[2:04:34] Specifically, through continued and long-term support of measure 110, behavioral health resources networks.
[2:04:41] Do not allow that to be taken away because people are upset about the streets. That is a huge problem.
[2:04:47] What this man had to say from the chamber, it's true. Let's all work together as community-based organizations
[2:04:53] and business to really control that problem. Yes, build tents. Get things ready.
[2:05:03] Help people have immediate services to have NA meetings right away, but let's get these things done.
[2:05:13] There are things that can get done. >> BOARD CLERK: Last up, we have Lightning.
[2:05:25] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Good morning. >> Good morning. My name is Lightning.
[2:05:29] I represent lightning super humanity X. Actually, on the SHS measure, I've been very pleased so far up
[2:05:38] to this point. Again, I approve of what you're trying to do on the capacity-building grants.
[2:05:46] I think Commissioner Jayapal brought up some really good points today. Otherwise, I was kind of on the
[2:05:51] fence for this. After listening to her points, I'm absolutely for this. Again, Commissioner Gonzales
[2:06:02] came in on the Portland street response. I really hope that you're going to end up funding that.
[2:06:10] Again, I've asked for 5 million one-time only and then 5 million ongoing for the Portland street response.
[2:06:19] When we mention Bybee Lakes, all I think about that and the jail is when Jordon ended up buying that property.
[2:06:29] Now we're having discussions on continuing. In my opinion, he's followed through with everything he's
[2:06:36] stated. I've met with Jordon on what was a property in the past called Linden Farms.
[2:06:44] I tried to sell that property to him. The reality is that when Jordon says something, it gets done.
[2:06:53] If Jordon is involved in a project, his word is all he would need to say to me to know it's going to be done right.
[2:07:06] That is who he is. Again, when you're talking Bybee Lakes and him following through on what he said he would do with
[2:07:14] that property -- although, Marty bought it first and transferred it to Jordon. The reality is he's followed
[2:07:22] through with everything he stated he would do. As far as funding an organization like that, you
[2:07:31] don't even need a third party to analyze that if Jordon is involved. It gets done right.
[2:07:37] Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you. All right.
[2:07:41] Thank you for the public testimony today on this measure. We'll go to the Board for final comments, and we will start with
[2:07:49] Commissioner Brim-Edwards. >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: Great. Thank you very much. Just before I give my final
[2:07:58] comments, I just want to say to my fellow colleagues I apologize that I got here a few minutes late.
[2:08:06] Two things happening. I'm learning how the system works, but also -- I think you'll find I'll be offering
[2:08:16] amendments in the future and not because I disagree, but sometimes I have something additional that I might want to
[2:08:23] add or amend. It also requires then us getting underlying documents so we know what it is we're voting on and
[2:08:35] whether it actually addresses the issues we thought it was addressing. I apologize to the Commissioners
[2:08:41] for getting that late. Again, I appreciate the conversation I had this morning. I would ask in the future we
[2:08:48] have a process that we get the documents early so we can have those conversations and they don't all get compressed.
[2:08:56] With that, I want to say I am going to be supporting these investments this morning because it makes important moves and
[2:09:02] takes action on three areas I think are critically important as we decide how we're going to make meaningful impact across
[2:09:09] our community relative to the very generous amount of SHS funds that this county has to disperse.
[2:09:17] So, first, as I've said many times, I'm very supportive of the county funding for the shelter beds and sites that the
[2:09:32] city is standing up. It's important. I look at district 3. It's important that those sites
[2:09:40] get set up. There's unsanctioned camping and people without basic services throughout district 3 and a
[2:09:49] heavy concentration in a lot of the natural areas in the eastern portion of district 3. I'm supportive of moving ahead
[2:09:59] as quickly as possible with standing up the shelter sites and providing support. I think those sites are going to
[2:10:07] immediately help people transition from the streets to having basic services, stability, safety, and getting
[2:10:13] them on their way. I really appreciate the partnership with the city. I think it's a good model for
[2:10:19] us. We both have an interest in changing what's happening on the streets, and I appreciate
[2:10:29] Commissioner Gonzales coming here this morning and speaking to that partnership and hope it's ongoing.
[2:10:37] Secondly, I also want to speak to my appreciation for the geographic parity and their approach to the Clean Start
[2:10:48] Program. District 3 would benefit from the trash cleanup, graffiti removal, and other services that
[2:10:58] would be provided through that investment. Also, the workforce development connection is a really important
[2:11:03] component to it as well so that individuals who don't have a work history or who have been stabilized through housing or
[2:11:19] temporary shelter can start work and employment and get back into the workforce and meaningful employment.
[2:11:26] In addition, the third reason I'm going to be supporting today's package is this action incorporates better transparency
[2:11:34] both with the Board and our community with the metrics that have been established. It's going to allow us to take
[2:11:48] necessary steps to evaluate whether our investments are doing what we intended them to do and whether we should be
[2:11:55] doubling doing or modifying or doing something differently. I think it's an important milestone to be adding those
[2:12:03] investments at the front end that we all have seen and agreed to, to get regular reporting. For those three reasons, I'm
[2:12:15] going to be supporting this morning's investments package that's been brought forward. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[2:12:21] you, Commissioner Brim-Edwards. Commissioner Stegmann. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Thank you, Chair.
[2:12:26] Thank you for the discussion about the amendments. I know the Board will be having a retreat later in October.
[2:12:32] I'm hoping we can talk about what an appropriate timeline to receive those amendments in advance at that meeting.
[2:12:41] If I don't receive an amendment within 24 hours at least before the Board meeting, I'm not going to have enough time to entertain
[2:12:50] it. At a minimum, as a courtesy, I would ask for at least 24 hours and look forward to having a
[2:12:58] deeper discussion at our Board retreat. You know, we've been really in the weeds and it's a good thing,
[2:13:05] but what's really exciting is, really, we have never been so united as jurisdictions, as a community, as the business
[2:13:16] community, nonprofits, providers, so this is really, I think, an important moment in time for us to recognize.
[2:13:24] You know, we always talk about, quote, the pathway out of poverty. Sometimes it doesn't ring --
[2:13:31] it's a little bit hollow, but I think the investments that are on the table today actually do provide a pathway out of
[2:13:39] poverty. Rental assistance and the workforce opportunity is so vital, and I'm really pleased to
[2:13:48] hear there's going to be geographic equity in east Multnomah County. And the TASS, we've heard the
[2:13:57] community complain about the disharmony between the city of Portland and Multnomah County. Please.
[2:14:05] We are working side by side with the city of Portland. We have listened to our community, and we will continue
[2:14:13] to do that and work in partnership with anybody who wants to move forward and have significant solutions as we
[2:14:22] address homelessness. And finally, the capacity for the organizations, I'm really, really excited, although, I do
[2:14:32] want to remind folks this is simply a down payment. There is and should be and will be more to come.
[2:14:40] To me, it is just a show of good faith that we say to our providers, look, we recognize the challenges with workforce
[2:14:48] that you all have, and we are committed and you are the foundation of how we're going to reduce homelessness in our
[2:14:56] community. So, I am very pleased to support the CAP spending, and I want to thank everyone who has worked so
[2:15:05] hard. Chair, again, I want to really appreciate your leadership and your transparency through this
[2:15:14] entire process. It's been really refreshing and appreciated. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[2:15:19] you. Commissioner Meieran. >> COMM. MEIERAN: Hi. Thank you.
[2:15:29] Just briefly, I appreciated Commissioner Brim-Edwards points that she made earlier in requesting clarity about some of
[2:15:42] the procedures. I apologize similarly and particularly to Commissioner Stegmann, recognizing you need
[2:15:55] that additional time. I have made the proposal for quite some time and have been speaking with you all about it,
[2:16:05] and so -- and we were informed by the Chair's office we could make amendments, and so I put all of that together in coming
[2:16:16] this morning with that amendment, but I think it will be a good opportunity to have the Board retreat and to have
[2:16:24] some clarity and standardization for processes and procedures, which has been missing for far too long.
[2:16:35] I will be voting no on the CAP today, and it is for reasons of both process and substance. I feel that despite lofty goals
[2:16:53] that I absolutely support, the language used, the way of reaching some of those are pulled from really what I
[2:17:02] consider the playbook of the status quo. And it's about urgently spending money versus meaningfully acting
[2:17:08] and showing -- requiring measurable outcomes. And I think about the big categories of dysfunction the
[2:17:20] joint office highlighted around accountability, data analytics, and transparency. And the CAP, for me, had them
[2:17:31] all. And I recognize -- this sounds like a very different experience from Commissioner Stegmann, but
[2:17:42] for me, from the beginning, I didn't learn of the CAP until I read about it. When I did learn about it, it
[2:17:51] was presented as a done deal with negotiation performed behind closed doors and finalized even before the Board
[2:18:01] approved the spending, which seemed backwards to me. Although, we were informed -- initially, I was told it was a
[2:18:12] done deal and the spending plan was the spending plan. Then we were told we could theoretically change the CAP,
[2:18:22] but it would be difficult and it would be best if we didn't. Here we are and we're voting on exactly what was proposed.
[2:18:33] And it's not perfect or it has these really great goals, and it's only a small amount of money compared to the
[2:18:42] unanticipated revenue, which we can deal with in a couple of weeks. But, for me, $17 million is not
[2:18:52] a small sum, and the vast majority of that substantial sum will be spent on capacity building.
[2:19:03] Commissioner Brim-Edwards alluded to being new to the board. I can understand, not having
[2:19:17] been on the board for six years, hearing similar words being used in similar context in the past. This was borne out in the
[2:19:31] audience. I sincerely hope I will be proven wrong and that I will see robust outcomes and
[2:19:39] demonstrations of how effective this $17 million will be, particularly the $10 million for capacity building, but I've
[2:19:48] gotten to the point where I can trust but verify. I will await that verification. I spoke to process, but the
[2:20:04] areas that provided a challenge were, number one, capacity building, and again the audit alluded to the investments in
[2:20:16] our community-based organizations. And I truly support the organizations, and we need to
[2:20:26] create the systems in which they function most effectively and where they can be supported and where they can get the money
[2:20:37] that they need to invest most effectively in their people and organizations, but I do not see that in this CAP.
[2:20:51] Again, hopefully something will prove me wrong here, and I hope the organizations do get what they need.
[2:21:00] Shelter capacity. I've been arguing for a robust shelter ecosystem with alternative system for ages,
[2:21:12] including larger camping sites, like thinking outside the box. And I absolutely support the TASS, but the process around
[2:21:24] making the decision of how much and how to spend that on the pods was not in a way that I felt it was giving me the
[2:21:38] specific information needed to say, oh, this is the best use of the CAP underspent funds. I hope -- I support the Tass.
[2:21:52] Again, I hope this will lead to significantly increased shelter capacity, but recognizing it's still -- even the TASS is a drop
[2:22:02] in the bucket. And so, for all of these, rent assistance, I've raised major audit concerns about how we even
[2:22:14] understand where that money is going, who is getting that money, where the retention is, how we even think about doing
[2:22:25] retention since this is one time only. We don't have the systems in place, and we have the proven
[2:22:31] track record of failing to use this money effectively, and so the rent assistance I have similar concerns.
[2:22:50] In a world where too often we're governed by the press release rather than the depth and analysis that needs to go into
[2:23:02] all these decisions, I do want to be clear I support CBOs hugely. I support the TASS.
[2:23:08] I support Clean Start. I know rental assistance is a fundamental component of an effective solution to a
[2:23:19] homelessness continuum. But I believe the CAP, as written, is fundamentally flawed.
[2:23:31] It's about spending funds as quickly as possible, which is the way it's always been, rather than a plan for responsibly
[2:23:39] using taxpayer dollars. And so, with respect to my colleagues, in appreciation to the Chair and all the people and
[2:23:49] teams and all the advocates, one way or another, I will be voting no. Thank you.
[2:23:54] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you. Commissioner Jayapal, I know you already had comments.
[2:23:59] >> COMM. JAYAPAL: I do have a couple more comments, Chair. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Briefly. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: I made
[2:24:05] comments out of order. I apologize. If you didn't hear them, please rewind.
[2:24:11] Listen to them. I do want to say a couple of things about process. I, too, am looking forward to
[2:24:16] the retreat because I think there are some issues we need to iron out so that this Board functions at its highest and
[2:24:24] best capacity. In terms of the process with the CAP, I just want to say for my part it's been clear from the
[2:24:31] beginning that although the CAP was negotiated between Metro and the Chair's office, as is required and set out by the IGA,
[2:24:42] this Board has always had the power and today has the power to vote not to approve it. That was a point that I actually
[2:24:50] called out for the supportive housing services oversight committee so that they were clear also on the fact that
[2:24:59] something that's negotiated by the Chair and by Metro doesn't deprive the Board of its power to approve a budget modification
[2:25:07] and to approve the spending of the funds. That's it on the process. Then on the substance, I do want
[2:25:12] to say there are without a doubt any number of systems' issues that need to be improved. There is without a doubt
[2:25:20] additional investigation, data analysis, outcome measurement that needs to be done, and it is an emergency, so we are in a
[2:25:34] position where we have to take action. We can't stop in order to wait to put the ideal systems into
[2:25:42] place. I appreciate the Chair and the Chair's office to get us here. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Really
[2:25:59] briefly, because we are so far behind time and we've had people waiting for a couple of important items still on our
[2:26:07] agenda -- I think people should plan on we're going to be here until 1:00. I will say that we have -- for
[2:26:14] me, there were a couple of key points in putting together this CAP proposal, the use of the underspending.
[2:26:23] One was in the conversations. This was a negotiation between the County and Metro according to the IGA.
[2:26:30] Their concern as well as mine was making sure that these dollars that were supposed to be used in our community in the
[2:26:34] last fiscal year were able to be put out into the community in a very timely manner while also having the impact on the crisis
[2:26:43] that we need to see. In considering what these investments should be, it was listening to our partners,
[2:26:51] listening to stakeholders, listening to other jurisdictions about the most critical needs right now in our community.
[2:27:11] That is why we are investing in capacity building for our providers because they have been saying we want to do the work
[2:27:18] that you have given us. We are in a crisis right now with our workforce. We are in a crisis right now
[2:27:23] with retention. We are in a crisis with being able to function and the way to do that.
[2:27:28] That capacity-building grant was directly related to the calls that we have heard from them and other community members around
[2:27:36] that need. In a similar way, we know we want to make this county, this city, a place that is beautiful
[2:27:40] and livable and we are all are proud to be a part of. We also know we want to give people that next step in their
[2:27:48] path to stability, and employment is an incredible way to do that. Bringing together those concepts
[2:27:58] with the investment implementation programs was a really wonderful way to do that. Again, I'm really glad this is
[2:28:07] being matched by a $1 million grant from the state. Finally, rental assistance. We know so many people are
[2:28:17] continuing to live on the edge when it comes to eviction risk and comes to being able to have the resources to move into
[2:28:27] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you, Commissioner. So, I just really briefly, because we are so far behind
[2:28:35] time and we have people who have been waiting for a couple of really important items still on our agenda -- I think people
[2:28:40] should just plan we're going to be here until 1:00. I will say that we have -- for me, there were a couple of key
[2:28:50] points in putting together this CAP proposal. The use of the underspending, one, was in the conversations.
[2:28:59] This was a negotiation between the county and Metro according to the IGA, and their concern, as well as mine, was making sure
[2:29:11] these dollars that were supposed to be used in our community in the last fiscal year were able to be put out into the community
[2:29:14] in a very timely manner while also having the impact on the crisis that we need to see. So, in considering what these
[2:29:20] investments should be, it was listening to our partners, listening to stakeholders, listening to other jurisdictions
[2:29:28] about the most critical needs right now in our community. That is why we are investing in partnership with the city for
[2:29:35] capital for the next two TASS sites, which we know makes a Significant difference in providing part-time who are
[2:29:40] currently unsheltered on the streets safety and stability. That is why we are investing in capacity building for our
[2:29:47] providers, because they have been saying, we want to do the work that you have given us. We are in a crisis right now
[2:29:52] with our workforce. We are in a crisis right now with retention. We are in a crisis with being
[2:29:59] able to function and the way to do that. So, that capacity-building grant was directly related to the
[2:30:05] calls we have heard from them and other community members around that need. In a similar way, we know we
[2:30:10] want to make this county, this city, a place that is beautiful and livable and we all are proud to be a part of, and we also
[2:30:20] want to give people the next step in their path to stability and recovery and housing, and employment is an incredible way
[2:30:27] to do that. Bringing together those concepts with the investment employment programs was a really wonderful
[2:30:35] way to do that. Again, I'm really glad this is being matched by a $1 million investment in the state to
[2:30:41] increase the power of the investment that this Board is going to be making. Finally, rental assistance.
[2:30:46] We know so many people are continuing to live on the edge when it comes to eviction risk, comes to being able to have the
[2:30:55] resources to be able to move into permit housing. That's why getting ready for housing and being successful in
[2:31:02] your applications, providing the short and medium-term assistance is very critical now, especially as the AARP dollars are moving
[2:31:11] away. I was really proud to put this forth. I appreciate the dialogue and
[2:31:14] the communication that we've had on the Board. The conversations we've had have had a very real impact in how
[2:31:23] these investments are moving forward and what they're going to look like and how we measure them.
[2:31:31] With this investment that we're making, with the $40 million we did in the budget, we have to be looking at all of these things
[2:31:40] holistically and making sure the impacts we want from the investments we're making today, the investments that we've
[2:31:48] previously made and in the next few weeks are really having that impact. I think that is the desire on
[2:31:53] the Board. It is incumbent on the board to be watchful of that, ask that is the expectation we have for the
[2:31:58] joint office for providing us with that information. With that, can we have a roll call vote.
[2:32:05] [ Roll call ] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Commissioner Meieran, are you able to unmute?
[2:32:30] >> COMM. MEIERAN: Aye. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: The supplemental budget modification is approved.
[2:32:35] All right. So, we are going to -- we are at lunchtime. We have two more things to
[2:32:42] consider today. One is a proclamation that is regularly scheduled. We also have something that
[2:32:46] we're going to consider by emergency because people for the proclamation who have been waiting for a long time, we're
[2:32:52] going to move to the proclamation. Then we'll consider something by emergency.
[2:32:55] With that, can we move on to R-2? >> BOARD CLERK: R-2, Infant Mortality Awareness Month
[2:33:06] proclamation. >> So moved. >> Second. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Approval
[2:33:15] of R-2. All right. So, thank you so much for being here today.
[2:33:21] I really appreciate the chance to have this proclamation in recognition of Infant Mortality Awareness Month.
[2:33:33] I appreciate all the presenters for being here today and for being incredible advocates for the community around this topic,
[2:33:39] so thank you for all of that. I think whether you're a parent or not infant mortality touches and impacts all of us.
[2:33:47] It is disproportionately higher among Black and Native American and Indigenous populations in Multnomah County, which means we
[2:33:59] have to do better on this. The health disparities reflect per 'tis tent and systemic as well as individual social
[2:34:07] disparities, including within our health care system and delivery of medical care. Notably, for Black and
[2:34:13] African-American infants parental education and income do not serve as protective factors against infant mortality.
[2:34:21] This underscores the need for more comprehensive health care for postpartum people, including dismantling systems that
[2:34:31] perpetrate medical racism and discrimination. Investing in the health and well-being of pregnant people
[2:34:39] leads to increased birthweight, which is why our health department and partners are focused on expanding what
[2:34:48] pregnancy and postpartum care includes to ensure all people have affordable easy access to doula and lactation care.
[2:34:56] We invest in these programs because they are our best chance to impact what's possible for people creating families in
[2:35:03] Multnomah County. Because we know investing in this care is an investment in healthy, thriving future for all
[2:35:08] of our children. I'm pleased to turn this presentation over to Desha Reed-Holden from our Healthy
[2:35:16] Birth Initiatives program. Thank you for your help. >> Thank you. Good morning.
[2:35:22] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Good morning. >> Or good afternoon. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Good
[2:35:26] afternoon. >> Do we have our slides? Thank you. Thank you.
[2:35:52] You can go to the next slide. September is Infant Mortality Awareness Month. Health birth initiatives was
[2:36:03] established to reduce infant mortality here in Multnomah County. You can go to next slide,
[2:36:09] please. So, five of the leading causes of infant death are birth defect, preterm birth and low
[2:36:18] birthweight, sudden infant death syndrome, injuries, and maternal pregnancy complications. 2 through 5 are things we can
[2:36:26] actually address within our community by putting the right supports in place for our families.
[2:36:33] Next slide, please. >> Adverse birth outcomes by race in Multnomah County. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Would
[2:36:49] you mind stating your name for the record? >> My name is Chantell Reed. I use she/her pronouns.
[2:36:57] I apologize. I've been here and paying attention and am readily excited.
[2:37:04] I'm so happy to be here today to talk about this very important issue. Adverse outcomes, specifically
[2:37:10] by race and ethnicity, severely impact those individuals and persons in the African-American, Black, and Native American
[2:37:25] communities. Low birthweight and preterm birthweight. Preterm birth specifically in
[2:37:34] African-American women, 12.4 times amongst women over a short-range of time. Infant death in African-American
[2:37:49] women and Native American women also are exacerbated in those areas. >> Next slide, please.
[2:38:01] When we talk about education and income not being enough, education and income are usually indicators of whether or not
[2:38:10] someone has Medicaid or a private insurance, and so, with that, we can see that a Black mother with a master's or a
[2:38:21] doctorate is likely to have a birth outcome in regards to preterm or low birthweight that is close to a white high school
[2:38:30] graduate. This is data that was just shared this year at a national level.
[2:38:37] Next slide, please. And so, what we know that reduces or -- reduces or eliminates risk for our families
[2:38:47] are having birth and postpartum doulas and lactation support. On this particular slide, we have information about some of
[2:38:55] our families have shared what their experience were with having doulas that provided support for them around their
[2:39:03] pregnancy and postpartum time, including education about breastfeeding, safe sleep, which reduces the risk of SIDS, and we
[2:39:16] won't talk too much about breastfeeding because you did the world proclamation for breastfeeding two weeks ago.
[2:39:26] In creating birth plans and things like that that we know statistically improve outcomes, doulas are instrumental in being
[2:39:33] able to provide support there. It reduces the need for interventions during birth that can impact the well-being of the
[2:39:43] infant and mother after birth. You can go to the next slide. And so, around lactation, we have quotes here from families
[2:39:53] who shared about getting lactation support. One of the big things that came out of these conversations was
[2:39:59] the ability to have someone who could come to their home. That's what community-based lactation counselors do.
[2:40:04] It's the resource that they give similar to that of a doula. While we know having a doula alone, even if they're not
[2:40:11] trained to provide lactation support, is something that statistically has been proven to increase the rate of
[2:40:18] breastfeeding initiation in families, we know it's important for families to have the support that they need to continue for
[2:40:24] as long as they want to or as long as they can with breastfeeding. It's beneficial for mom and
[2:40:30] beneficial for baby. Research is still coming up to show how long the benefits last in regards to breastfeeding.
[2:40:37] And so, when we look at what the benefits of having lactation counselor are they include having help meeting your goals
[2:40:48] based on where you are, providing education and creating a breastfeeding plan similarly to the way that you would create
[2:40:55] a birth plan, and advance to make sure you have all the pieces in place that you need to have the experience that you're
[2:41:04] striving for. Next slide, please. Normally, when we come and do our proclamation each year, we
[2:41:11] share about the work HBI is doing to reduce infant mortality in our community, but this year we really wanted to emphasize
[2:41:20] what we know to be the gaps. Those gaps include not having adequate access to doula and lactation support.
[2:41:29] We are, indeed, Multnomah County employees, so we get off a certain time, but we know our families need that support
[2:41:37] around the clock in a way we cannot provide. And so, through our program and building partnerships with other
[2:41:43] community organizations, we have been able to partner more of our parents with doulas. It's been great for our Medicaid
[2:41:50] population. However, because Black moms and babies don't have the protective factor of education and income
[2:41:57] and we do serve all people regardless of their income in Healthy Birth Initiatives. We know access to doulas and in
[2:42:09] our privacy insurance communities are still a barrier. Even when they have advanced degrees, we know it's not enough
[2:42:21] for just our Medicaid population to be able to have access to doula support. Most pregnancies around the
[2:42:26] world are still unplanned, so people are, indeed, figuring out -- moving things around to accommodate a new life coming
[2:42:36] into their families in a lot of cases. With that, the cost barrier of needing to pay $1500, $2,000,
[2:42:45] $3,000 for a doula can be a huge barrier, but everyone deserves to have that support. Not just Black moms.
[2:42:51] Everyone deserves to have the support in order to be able to have a healthy birth experience and a healthy postpartum
[2:42:58] experience and breastfeeding experience that will empower them to feed their babies as long as they can or as long as
[2:43:04] they desire to do so. And so, we do a lot of systems advocacy work and outreach within healthy birth initiates
[2:43:13] through our case managers, through our program coordinators and our program specialists. With that, we do encourage our
[2:43:21] families to get doulas. We do partner them with doulas. We're constantly working to find new ways to be able to fill that
[2:43:29] gap for our private pay, but we need help with that. We need help with that. And we know with the Medicaid
[2:43:38] insurance being in place now we see there's room for us to expand to be able to sure that all families have access to this
[2:43:47] without cost being such a huge barrier as it is today. And so, some of what we have been doing through Healthy Birth
[2:43:55] Initiatives is working to figure out what we can do and what we can support that will allow us to improve outcomes for all
[2:44:04] families. Because if Black families have the widest disparities, we know anything that benefits our
[2:44:12] community is going to benefit every community across the board. That's what we're striving for.
[2:44:16] Next slide, please. >> Hello and good afternoon, Chair and Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to
[2:44:27] speak about the recognition of infant mortality awareness. My name is Ashley coon. I'm Danae from New Mexico.
[2:44:35] I'm with Future Generations Collaborative program. I'm here to talk about native culturally specific programming.
[2:44:43] Next slide, please. As most of you already know, the FGC is a collective impact partnership between native and
[2:44:51] native-serving organizations, tribes, community members, education institutions and systems.
[2:44:57] Together, we address public health issues impacting the native community with a culturally congruent trauma and
[2:45:05] healing approach. We seek to promote family well-being through traditional means.
[2:45:10] Families are offered workshops and gatherings. It is the combination of collaboration and care that
[2:45:18] strengthen the health of our Indigenous families. We are so grateful to Multnomah County and the health department
[2:45:24] for making investments into the community like this. Oh, sorry. Next slide, please.
[2:45:29] We're recognizing the need for culture programming. Because of partnerships like this, we were able to receive
[2:45:36] funding for this center and its expansion. We hope with continued funding we're able to carry on with the
[2:45:43] important work. It is a future generation collaboratives own trauma and heeling-informed implementation
[2:45:51] of the national help me grow program which is geared to our native culture needs and traditional practices.
[2:45:58] Our structure continues to adjust to the meet the needs of the community. As native people, we are proud,
[2:46:06] respectful, resilient, and strong. We draw strength from our traditional practices and value
[2:46:10] those in our community as relatives. To support these values and cherished ties, we offer a
[2:46:18] holistic approach where we prioritize family well-being through the relationship of connection and collaboration.
[2:46:23] Our direct family support nourishes and uplifts families through two means. Weekly connected play circles
[2:46:31] and through one-on-one support. These two modes contribute to supportive factors, such as community engagement, peer
[2:46:38] connections, early detection, and developmental screening, concrete support, social-emotional competence,
[2:46:46] protecting and honoring culture, a safer environment, respect, and nurturing health. We want to ensure providers are
[2:46:59] aware of the importance of cultural congruent practices. Our model also allows us to build in and upon programs'
[2:47:07] cultural awareness, which better supports access and breaks down barriers that prevent families from receiving the care they
[2:47:13] need and want. Our team currently partners with providers such as WIC, FGC, Multnomah County Library, and
[2:47:23] other community partners. We meet with our partners through two modes. First providers join us and play
[2:47:30] at our connect and play circles. When present, providers are building direct relationship with families.
[2:47:39] Secondly, we meet monthly for the latest news. This type of connection and collaborative relationship shows
[2:47:47] our families that we care. We hear their wants and needs. We uplift their voices. We want everyone we collaborate,
[2:47:55] families, community members, and providers to feel invested in ensuring families are receiving equitable health care to help
[2:48:04] with preventive measures. Cultural programming is a must. Again, thank you for your recognition and continued
[2:48:12] support. It's greatly appreciated. Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[2:48:16] you. >> So, I want to say we know that a healthy baby starts with a healthy family.
[2:48:27] If we give families held The starts and all the support that they need, we know this will build healthy communities.
[2:48:35] The importance of raising awareness for infant mortality really builds on us being able to support where we go on the
[2:48:46] foundation support of who we are as a community. When Desha first came to me and said, listen, we want to be able
[2:48:53] to do this because we want to build pillars and be able to provide longer sustained support in our community, I said
[2:48:59] absolutely I support it. As a doula myself, when she raised awareness that doulas in our community are supported by
[2:49:08] OHP, but they're not supported by private insurance, this is something we wanted to elevate and we wanted to make sure we
[2:49:16] raise to attention. Staff members of the county would not have those services accessible to them.
[2:49:22] So, this was something that we wanted to say. Like listen, we need to shout it from the rooftops.
[2:49:28] We need people to understand that being able to have that support and being able to have those services available to them
[2:49:34] will limit the issues that we have and the concerns that we have with infant mortality and reduce those rates in our
[2:49:41] communities. We are committed. We are going to continue to move these initiatives forward, but
[2:49:46] we want to make sure that we continue to make reductions and we make strides and continue to support families in making sure
[2:49:56] that the numbers that we see now don't continue to plague us in the future. So, I have been charged with
[2:50:02] reading our proclamation, and I want to make sure that we have that opportunity to do that today.
[2:50:10] I have it here before me, and it reads as such. Before the Board of county Commissioners for Multnomah
[2:50:21] County, our proclamation, September 23rd as Infant Mortality Awareness Month. The Board of commissioners finds
[2:50:30] that Multnomah County is committed to reducing infant mortality and improving the health outcomes of Black and
[2:50:36] Indigenous parents and babies through respective clinical practices and interventions. September is Infant Mortality
[2:50:48] Awareness Month, an initiative that supports and inspires people from around the nation to take action in support of the
[2:50:53] goal to improve the health and well-being of women capable of birth, infants, children, and families.
[2:51:01] Infant Mortality Awareness Month is an initiative intended to celebrate infants living beyond their first year of life.
[2:51:07] Racial inequities rates persist among Black, African-American, and native Indigenous communities in Multnomah County
[2:51:15] and are the result of barriers in health care, support, employment, and community settings as well as racial
[2:51:23] ethnic discrimination within health care systems. Statistically, Black African-Americans are the only
[2:51:30] group where prenatal care and education do not serve as protective factors against infant mortality.
[2:51:45] Significantly reducing the likelihood of preterm birth and low birthweight all while combatting the effects of racism
[2:51:53] on health during the pare natal period, and increasing breastfeeding initiation and longevity by providing support
[2:52:04] during pregnancy, postpartum, and to all birthing people. We are exploring how to provide lactation support for all
[2:52:16] residents regardless of insurance by building on the strengths and wisdom of our communities.
[2:52:21] Raising up needed changes to support health for bays, birthing people, and caregivers of babies and the importance of
[2:52:29] reducing racial disparities and birth outcomes for babies. National Infant Mortality Awareness Month provides
[2:52:36] opportunities for our community to get involved and support Multnomah County health department, parent child family
[2:52:44] health, healthy babies initiatives, and the opportunity to encourage government agency, health care systems, and
[2:52:55] academic institutions to work together to engage in equity efforts in our communities to eliminate disparities and
[2:53:00] overall reduce infant mortality in our county. The Multnomah County Board of commissioners proclaims
[2:53:09] September 23rd as Infant Mortality Awareness Month in Multnomah County, Oregon, in recognition of the celebration
[2:53:16] of the importance of each child born in our community celebrating their first birthday and living healthy and rewarding
[2:53:22] lives. Adopted this day of September 7th, 2023. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes,
[2:53:30] it's still the 7th. Thank you so much, Chantell. We'll go to the board for any quick comments.
[2:53:36] We'll start with Commissioner Stegmann. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Thank you all so much for being here.
[2:53:40] I did have -- before I make comments, I had some questions. I think it's on slide 4 where it shows the percentage of
[2:53:49] birthweights, preterm birth. This is from 2019 to 2020. Which way are the numbers going? Are they going in the wrong
[2:54:00] direction? Are we making any strides? We have begun to start making strides.
[2:54:06] Some of the interventions that the team has been putting into place -- we're starting to see some improvements, but we're
[2:54:13] looking for some continued support, some continued access. I see someone sitting in the audience who has expanded what
[2:54:22] that looks like on the criteria for entering the programs, but it is, of course, the community partnerships and expanded
[2:54:29] criteria that's allowed us to be able to make some strides. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Well, I appreciate that, but I'm
[2:54:35] saddened that we're not making better progress as a community. Clearly, we need to do that. And it's really unfortunate that
[2:54:43] education and income do not provide the protective factors that other races can take advantage of.
[2:54:53] Some of the things I really liked about your program, the focus on fathers. That's awesome.
[2:54:58] That's really great. And then also just having culturally-specific programming for the FGC and our Black
[2:55:07] communities. That's amazing. And, you know, I think this just further supports what this Board
[2:55:13] has done by declaring racism as a public health crisis, and clearly the outcomes that you're showing is showing us support
[2:55:23] that this is a public health crisis, but I'm really excited that you're here and would look forward to seeing how we can
[2:55:30] make bigger leaps in giving folks the services that they need to make sure that all of our youth can live past
[2:55:40] 1-year-old -- being a 1-year-old. Thank you all so much for coming, and I apologize that you
[2:55:46] had to wait so long, but I'm really glad that you're here. Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[2:55:52] you. Commissioner Meieran. >> COMM. MEIERAN: Thank you. Wow.
[2:56:00] I thank you as well for just this profound and crucially important presentation and all the work that you do every day.
[2:56:13] As a mom and a health care provider, I am very passionate about this issue and have been aware of and just horrified by
[2:56:30] the deep disparities for Black and Indigenous mothers, and recognizing that these statistics just starkly -- those
[2:56:42] represent people and infants. It's unacceptable. The systemic inequities in health care quality is
[2:57:01] prevalent. I want to express my deep gratitude to you and your colleagues for your work, for
[2:57:07] providing these Rays of hope with the kinds of services that you provide and the way you provide them and your effort to
[2:57:15] bring this to us so we can recognize the severity and depth of the problem and the opportunities and hope that you
[2:57:26] bring. Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you, Commissioner Jayapal.
[2:57:31] >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Thank you, Chair. Thank you all so much for the presentation and the work.
[2:57:35] A couple of things strike me. The numbers obviously strike me. I was going to say shocking, but they're not shocking because I
[2:57:41] think we know the impacts of racial disparities on health outcomes. I did a quick google search to
[2:57:48] look at what the low birthweight rates worldwide are, and it's 1 in 10. It's a random website, so I'm
[2:57:58] assuming it's accurate. [ Laughter ] >> COMM. JAYAPAL: The fact that the wealthiest country in the
[2:58:05] world has low birthrates -- and I just picked one of the stats -- that are on par with the whole rest of the world, I
[2:58:13] think, is an indicator of how poorly we're doing as a country. The other thing that strikes me is the importance and the
[2:58:19] effectiveness of traditional practices. I think in both of your testimony and the work that
[2:58:24] we're doing with Future Generations Collaborative, the doulas, that's really, really important and wonderful.
[2:58:31] I hope you know that this Board is really supportive of those practices. I did want to follow up on the
[2:58:37] Medicaid issue or rather insurance issue. People on privates insurance have to pay a co-pay or --
[2:58:46] sorry, it's been a long morning. They have to pay for service, for doula service. What are the strategies for
[2:58:52] changing that? Is it that we would fund people who are on privacy insurance? Is it a legislative change?
[2:59:01] Is it a Medicaid waiver change? >> Right now, there is no co-pay. There is no co-pay.
[2:59:10] There's no coverage at all. We're hoping it's a legislative change. That's Desha's work.
[2:59:15] >> Yes, a legislative change because right now it's not covered at all. Outside of getting lactation
[2:59:23] support outside of a hospital, there's no private insurance coverage for that as well, so a person would have to pay that
[2:59:29] out of pocket. As a doula myself, someone came to me and wanted my services. You pay it one time per
[2:59:37] pregnancy, but it's 1500. That rate is contingent upon what that person charges. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Which is
[2:59:45] prohibitive. >> Exactly. It's cost prohibitive. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Anything we
[2:59:50] can do to support that legislative change, please let us know. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[2:59:54] you. Commissioner Brim-Edwards. >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: This presentation -- sorry it had to
[3:00:00] wait -- really spoke to me as a mom of three and as somebody who would reside -- and if I look at this chart -- because of my race
[3:00:15] and income and education level would be one of the most privileged, the least likely to experience an infant death or
[3:00:22] low birthweight child. So, when I think about that, I think about, just as a mom, the heartache that comes with not
[3:00:35] being able to celebrate your child's first birthday, which, as a mom, would be the ultimate heartache and heartbreak.
[3:00:46] I loved the presentation. There's some really proactive tangible things that we can do to change that.
[3:00:55] The doulas and the lactation consultants. I think it's interesting that the private insurance market
[3:01:03] doesn't cover that because it just reminds me of many of the other things women have had to fight for from commercial
[3:01:12] insurers that are not covered. In some cases because they might be viewed as primarily things that women would need.
[3:01:24] Like Commissioner Jayapal, sign me up to help advocate for those changes. It used to be -- my mom just the
[3:01:34] other day took me on her memory lane of the day I was born. In those days, a mom sometimes stayed in the hospital for a
[3:01:41] week or two. Much longer. Now my experience with my kids is you were there for 24 hours
[3:01:46] and then you're home. Having a lactation consultant and a postpartum doula, I think, would make a world of
[3:01:59] difference. It's not necessarily intuitive knowing what to do and being able to provide support for your
[3:02:05] infant child and help them reach that critical first milestone. I really applaud the work that you're doing and hopefully
[3:02:16] changes we can make so more individuals have access to that and the financial barrier is not something considered extra or a
[3:02:26] side benefit that you might need but really an integral part of a woman's overall health care that she receives.
[3:02:34] Thank you. >> Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you.
[3:02:37] Thank you, Chantell and Ashley and Desha for all the work and bringing the proclamation forward today and for setting up
[3:02:51] the problem statement. We have work to do. We have really work to do on a systemic basic level to fix
[3:02:57] this, and it's also wonderful to hear about all the work that is happening to change that and I thank you for that.
[3:03:03] It's good to hear for the data we have it seems we're going in the right direction. We need to continue to reinforce
[3:03:10] and support and fund the efforts that are making those changes. And again, I'll join my colleagues in lifting up this
[3:03:20] issue about the disparities. The starkest thing for me was education and income isn't a protective factor for Black and
[3:03:28] Native American population. I think it speaks clearly to the systemic racism we have in our medical care and how we need to
[3:03:35] all be working to change that. So, just appreciate all the work so much on this. Thank you for your patience in
[3:03:41] being here today. I really appreciate the chance this Board had to really still consider and lift up this issue,
[3:03:46] so thank you for that. >> Thank you, Chair. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Can we have a roll call vote, please?
[3:03:56] [ Roll call ] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: The proclamation is approved. Yea.
[3:04:09] [ Applause ] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you all very much. >> Thank you.
[3:04:17] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: So, for our last item, I want to bring forward an item. This Board may act on an item
[3:04:23] that is not on the agenda notice if at least three commissioners vote in favor of a motion to immediately consider the matter.
[3:04:32] For the matter to be adopted, all commissioners present must vote in favor of the item. May I have a motion?
[3:04:45] Consideration of a unanimous consent item. The board clerk will now take -- do we need to take a roll call
[3:04:54] vote at this time? The board clerk will now take a roll call vote for consideration of the matter.
[3:05:01] [ Roll call ] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Consideration of the matter is approved.
[3:05:12] >> BOARD CLERK: You see one budget modification appropriating 1.5 million for Bybee Lakes for an emergency
[3:05:24] contingency request. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Approval of UC-1. Board, this is the consideration
[3:05:34] of appropriating $1.5 million for Bybee Lakes for an energy contingency request. The proposal before you today is
[3:05:43] the same as the APR that was shared with the board yesterday afternoon. No changes have been made to
[3:05:47] that document. We consider today's emergency action to provide funding for Bybee Lakes Hope Center,
[3:05:55] providing $1.5 million from county contingency funds in support for 175 shelter beds through the end of the year.
[3:06:03] Because we don't have time to wait and cannot risk the loss of a single bed in our shelter system right now.
[3:06:10] We cannot and should not continue to argue over the past. Not doing so and putting that kind of method behind us has
[3:06:18] been one of the hallmarks of me coming into this position and as chair. Instead, I want us to look
[3:06:24] forward to the future together in partnership. That's why my door has always been open, because I've always
[3:06:30] believed there's a place for diversity of shelter resources as we think about how we have to respond to the homeless crisis
[3:06:39] on our street. I know we have to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, which is why the budget
[3:06:44] modification in front of you requires Helping Hands to meet with our CFO monthly and to provide access to their
[3:06:51] financial records for fiscal monitoring. It also requires Helping Hands to put together a financial
[3:06:56] recovery plan by October 20th and engage consultants to lead independent assessments of the current financial and
[3:07:04] operational situation and develop recommendations for the long-term sustainability of Bybee Lakes center.
[3:07:10] We have all, I think, toured Bybee Lakes. I think we have all seen the good work that we do, but the
[3:07:15] fact is that running a shelter inside of a half vacant former jail is just expensive. It's an expensive building to
[3:07:27] operate. But again, we cannot use the shelter bed. I want to move forward in
[3:07:34] partnership with Bybee Lakes to find what is the best path moving forward successfully. Multnomah County needs to move
[3:07:45] people inside with urgency, to potentially help expand the capacity at Bybee Lakes Hope Center.
[3:07:51] Today's motion her questions us to do this. We are united in making sure this happens.
[3:07:59] Our contract will stipulate that by bee increases its occupation rates in the coming months opinion their goal is to get
[3:08:08] back to within 80% occupation in two months and 09% occupancy in three months. They will meet those benchmarks
[3:08:19] and likely exceed them. From here, I look forward to continuing to work with the Bybee Lakes Hope Center
[3:08:26] leadership to assess the organization's financial and operational situation with the hope that together we can
[3:08:30] continue supporting those living unsheltered in our community. I want to thank all of the many, many community advocates who
[3:08:36] reached out over the past weeks to express your thoughts, concerns, and support, and to every member of this board for
[3:08:45] your partnership in consideration and moving forward to consensus to maintain shelter capacity.
[3:08:50] Now I would like to welcome Mike Davis, CEO of Helping Hands, to testify first on this issue and answer any questions in board.
[3:08:57] Good afternoon, Mike. Thank you for being here. >> Thank you. Do I have just two minutes or
[3:09:03] more? >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Let's aim for three and see how we go. >> Okay, perfect.
[3:09:09] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: But you'll be able to answer the boards questions, so it's a little bit different.
[3:09:17] >> My name is Mike Davis. We operate ten other facilities in Oregon, but today I'm here representing the participants
[3:09:26] that call Bybee Lakes Hope Center their home and the 30 employees that are there to support them.
[3:09:33] I want to first thank the Chair and the Commissioners for taking the time to learn about us, to come out and take tours, to
[3:09:40] understand our program and how we do things. I think it's very important, and I also want to thank you all for
[3:09:48] taking the time for working with us, working together to come up with a solution to help us in this near term.
[3:09:56] I do want to clear up some misconceptions while I'm here. We have always offered emergency shelter.
[3:10:02] That's the entryway into our long-term program. It is 30 days. In that emergency shelter, we
[3:10:09] offer navigation services for people. Navigation services are designed to help figure out a way to
[3:10:15] divert people from going back to the street. We at Bybee Lakes, since January of this year through August of
[3:10:23] this year, have diverted 75% of the people that have come through our doors from going back to the streets.
[3:10:28] In that same time frame, we've helped 2,007 people in our building. Also, to address the comment
[3:10:38] that you had about "it's too expensive to operate in that facility," we've been taking efforts to decrease the cost.
[3:10:48] It's expensive to power the building, so we've worked to apply for Portland clean energy fund grants to be able to help
[3:10:55] mitigate those costs by putting solar panels across 155,400 square foot. We've also worked to replace our
[3:11:04] chiller system, which is outdated and inefficient. We'll see reduced costs based off those things as well.
[3:11:14] We're taking steps to reduce those costs, but we need time because the system out there of applying for grants and being
[3:11:20] able to work to get the funds that we need to do those capital projects takes time. I thank you for considering
[3:11:26] giving us some more time. Once we reopen to intakes, our wait list right now has 96 people on it.
[3:11:36] We have 19 mothers. We have one father. We have 45 children on that list that we'll work to get into that
[3:11:44] building as quickly as we possibly can. It will take us a little bit of time because there's a process
[3:11:47] to bring people in, but we'll work through that process as quickly as we can and get these people off the street that have
[3:11:54] been waiting. I do want to share a little bit about the people that we do serve there because I know, as
[3:12:00] we have conversations and we talk about beds and we talk about buildings, the investment in the people gets lost
[3:12:07] sometimes. And so, let me share a couple of the people that we're helping at bay -- buy bee lakes.
[3:12:17] A veteran nurse has always been housed, has not had a problem but was scammed. Didn't learn about it until they
[3:12:24] received a letter from their landlord evicting them and asking for $30,000. That's the kind of people we're
[3:12:32] helping at Bybee Lakes. A mother with two young daughters. She's young herself.
[3:12:38] She looked me in the face and said, I am here because I want to break this cycle for my daughters.
[3:12:45] Those are the people that we're trying to help. You know, when folks come into our building, one of the first
[3:12:53] questions we ask is do you have health insurance. If the answer is no, we get them on OHP.
[3:12:57] We work really hard to do this, and we work really hard to get initial medical evaluations done.
[3:13:06] They have opportunities to be able to work on those chronic health concerns that they have that they've never been able to
[3:13:11] address on the street. One of the people came in and had hep C. Went through all the treatment
[3:13:20] of going through that, and it was found out they had cancer as well. They got to spend the entire
[3:13:24] time going through all the treatments at Bybee Lakes Hope Center to ensure when they do leave our building, they'll be
[3:13:34] successful in sustainable housing. Part of our program is ensuring people have the basic life
[3:13:39] skills that may have lost or have never been taught so they can be successful when they're leaving our facility and going
[3:13:44] into sustainable housing. So, I do want to thank the community that has reached out on our behalf.
[3:13:53] I've heard thousands of people have written in, called, testified, and we appreciate that support.
[3:13:59] And I'd like to thank the Chair once again and the Commissioners for recognizing the vital services that Bybee Lakes Hope
[3:14:06] Center provides here in Multnomah County and working with us to start creating a partnership because that's what
[3:14:13] we'd like to see, a partnership between us where we can work together. Thank you again very much.
[3:14:19] I'm happy to take any questions that you have. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you so much.
[3:14:22] We'll go to the Board to see if any folks have questions. We'll start with Commissioner Meieran.
[3:14:35] >> COMM. MEIERAN: Thank you. First of all, I want to commend Helping Hands and your board for coming to our community's aid
[3:14:46] years ago by hoping the Bybee Lakes Hope Center. It's a data-driven transitional housing facility with shelter
[3:14:53] that has served thousands of people experiencing homelessness to date. Despite never receiving county
[3:15:02] funding and despite the many naysayers and skeptics who were in the county itself, we, on this Board, myself, the
[3:15:14] community owe you a tremendous amount of gratitude, so thank you. Bybee Lakes -- my understanding
[3:15:23] is you asked for two sort of tiers of funding months ago. More emergent funding would be needed to keep your doors open
[3:15:31] and ongoing funding. I look forward to a third tier. You've also mentioned some serious innovation that I think
[3:15:41] could be accomplished in our partnership, so that will be exciting to consider. I do want to speak to the
[3:15:56] process of how this came about that we're sort of voting on this at literally the last minute to get this funding for
[3:16:04] you, and I know the Chair in her introduction said we don't have time to wait. I believe the Chair's office has
[3:16:14] known about this need for months and has had plenty of time to get information, negotiate, and invest in advance proactively at
[3:16:26] the very least in the emergent needs of the facility. So you wouldn't have to, for months, face this potential
[3:16:34] cliff and the potential of closure. Rather than respond for the first time to do things so we
[3:16:42] could avoid that stress, including on over 1,000 constituents who did write in to us, which I so appreciated.
[3:16:53] It was a meeting that was a week or a week and a couple of days ago that the Chair proposed an investment for the emergency
[3:17:03] funding that I think had already been rejected by Bybee Lakes and only then, when I imagine that was maybe brought to the
[3:17:14] office's attention sounded like there were some real negotiations. It sounds like the process has
[3:17:23] been unnecessarily protracted and only at the literal last minute today are we at a place where this could Board could
[3:17:31] actually vote to support, which I have been planning to do all along, something that could have been done months ago.
[3:17:39] I apologize for the stress and frustration that I imagine has been felt by so many, but the bottom line moving forward is
[3:17:52] are we going to be able to do this in time. I certainly hope so today. I fully support allocating this
[3:18:01] $1.5 million to maintain services at Bybee Lakes in the short term, and we shouldn't stop there.
[3:18:09] I will continue to advocate for additional funding for Bybee Lakes over the coming weeks as we decide how to spend tens of
[3:18:16] millions of dollars of unanticipated SHS measure revenue. I support having a potential
[3:18:24] third-party organizational assessment of Bybee Lakes. As I mentioned in my remarks for the CAP earlier, I actually
[3:18:35] think this should be done with all our providers that contract with the Joint Office of Homeless Services.
[3:18:42] Hopefully, we'll get to a place where we have that kind of due diligence with all our partners. Most departments don't have the
[3:18:55] resources to hire a consultant to do that organizational assessment, which could help identify efficiencies,
[3:19:03] strategies to retain workforce, et cetera. The county can, and I believe should, pay for these
[3:19:11] assessments as this can guide us in making strategic investments. I look so forward to our partnership, and as noted, I
[3:19:21] will be voting yes. Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Commissioner Jayapal.
[3:19:27] >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Thank you, Chair. Since I got the order wrong last time, let me just clarify.
[3:19:32] Are we doing questions and comments right now or just questions? Because I have both.
[3:19:36] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Do we have any people signed up for public testimony? >> Yeah.
[3:19:40] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Let's just do questions for right now. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: First of all, thank you, Mike, for being here.
[3:19:47] I know you spent time with my team answering some of my questions. I really appreciate it.
[3:19:52] I do have a couple of additional questions. One is for you and one is for our staff.
[3:19:58] I'll start with the one for you. In the original or the August 7th request that we received from Helping Hands, it
[3:20:07] specified -- there was a $3 million ask probably for capital, but there was one -- sorry, let me put my glasses
[3:20:16] back on. There was an ask for 500,000 per quarter for operating funds, was what I understood.
[3:20:26] The Chair's proposal today is 1.5 million over four months, which is 375,000 a month versus the 167 that the 500 would have
[3:20:38] translated to. Can someone explain the difference? Because it seems what we're
[3:20:42] voting on today is roughly double what the ask was. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: We had put a proposal before to Bybee
[3:20:51] Lakes estimating about what 75% of their operating funds would be with the hope that they would be able to find other funding
[3:20:59] sources for the last 20%, 25%. I think in further discussions that we had with Bybee Lakes about this they needed the 1.5
[3:21:09] million to be able to continue operations through December. During that time, we would be doing the additional work on
[3:21:16] looking at the financial and management operations and long-term sustainability of the organization, but it was really
[3:21:24] just kind of like -- we were trying to do the best guess of what it could potentially look like for us to support them.
[3:21:35] For future conversations, we just had a better picture of what they needed. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Maybe now I'll
[3:21:42] throw it back to you, Mike. Was there something that changed between the time of that letter and today that the ask is now
[3:21:53] for 1.5 million per four months? >> The change came about because there were concerns that we've heard at different county
[3:22:03] meetings that there has not been time to talk it out with the larger proposal. While we didn't have the luxury
[3:22:16] of being able to wait for multiple workshops for that happen, we had to look at, okay, what can we do to ensure we can
[3:22:24] keep our doors open through the end of this year. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Right. When you sent us the request in
[3:22:29] August, that was $500,000 per quarter, and this is now 1.5 million for four months. On a monthly basis, what we're
[3:22:41] funding today is double what you asked for in August. >> There's also $3 million up front.
[3:22:45] That was a one-time fee, and then the 500,000 a quarter. There was the money up front so we could get hold of our bills
[3:22:55] as well as have the ability to pay for operations as we continued on. There are things that happen at
[3:23:02] an organization when you get into this emergent situation where hiring freezes. We are short staffed with people
[3:23:13] in development. That would help us build out the ability and capacity to be able to do this fund-raising.
[3:23:19] As part of this investment the county is making a lot of the major donors that are paying the tax that have told us we're not
[3:23:28] donating to you because we pay this tax will work with us once again. We'll be able to bring in
[3:23:33] additional donations as well from that, and so we do see that we need this kick-start to get going, but long-term
[3:23:40] sustainability is our ultimate end goal. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: I really appreciate that.
[3:23:45] Again, I appreciate the fact that you've had a drop in those private donations. I'm not really asking about
[3:23:51] that. I'm asking about the cost of operation. Maybe what I heard you say is
[3:23:56] this 1.5 million isn't just for the ongoing cost of operating the facility, which is -- that would be the $500,000 per
[3:24:06] quarter that you identified in August, but the 1.5 million is maybe covering liabilities that exist on top of the ongoing
[3:24:12] operating costs? >> Yes, we do have some liabilities that we do have to take care of, so that we can get
[3:24:19] whole as an organization, so that way we can continue to move forward. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: The 1.5
[3:24:25] million is existing liabilities and ongoing operating costs for the four months left until the end of year.
[3:24:31] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: It was basically everything needed to keep their doors open through December 31st.
[3:24:37] >> And keep the power on and keep the water going. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Thank you. I think I understand that.
[3:24:41] A question for Christian. I think the proposal is that we take this funding from contingency.
[3:24:47] Just want to circle back to understand -- the proposal is we take it from contingency and then we backfill with
[3:24:56] unanticipated revenue, although we'll still have to vote on that. I want to understand what's left
[3:25:02] in contingency. >> I'm the budget director. I use she/her pronouns. What that would lead in
[3:25:15] contingency is roughly $350,000. In the contingency for uncertainty, we started with above 2.2 million.
[3:25:26] After the actions that we took last week and then this proposal today, it would leave about roughly $350,000 in that
[3:25:41] allocation, and then we have our routine contingency that we keep for routine emergencies. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON:
[3:25:50] Commissioner Brim-Edwards. >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: I've got three questions. I've got comments, but I'll do
[3:25:56] those later. I have two questions for you and one for the Chair. First, with the stabilization --
[3:26:09] you all have the funding to stabilize your operations. These are a bit more forward-looking questions.
[3:26:17] You have funding to stabilize your operations. You actually have capacity, based on our previous discussion
[3:26:21] that we've had, to actually expand what you could do beyond what you currently are doing. That's correct?
[3:26:28] >> Yes. >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: Yeah. This is about in some ways not only what we currently have but
[3:26:35] also on the future, the future potential. And then your lease ends on April 2025.
[3:26:47] In terms of a longer-term investment moving forward, could you speak to what the planning is?
[3:26:55] When I think about -- matching investments, especially if they're capital investments with the term of the life of the
[3:27:05] capital investments if the county were to make other investments at Bybee Lakes, how are you approaching and thinking
[3:27:15] about potentially matching investments that are made with the current termination of the lease at April of 2025?
[3:27:27] >> So, if I could first go back to your capacity question. The Chair mentioned we have 175 beds, and that's the target
[3:27:36] we're utilizing for these dollars we're talking about today. We actually have over 300 beds
[3:27:41] up and built and available at Bybee Lakes, but there's additional cost for us to be able to run those additional
[3:27:48] beds, so that's our target of growth as we're going forward. We also sit on 17 acres. Commissioner Brim-Edwards has
[3:27:56] talked before about putting some of these tiny homes out there. Once we shore up what we're doing at Bybee Lakes, we
[3:28:03] definitely want to have conversations about how we can expand those capacity at Bybee Lakes itself.
[3:28:10] That's a conversation that would be in partnership with the property leaseholder. They would be a part of that
[3:28:18] because any change we make to the building we have to talk to Schnitzer properties first. As far as your second
[3:28:26] question -- I'm sorry. Can you remind me? >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: [ Inaudible ].
[3:28:37] The life of the investment extends beyond what your current lease is. >> We're in constant
[3:28:44] communication with Schnitzer properties and with Jordon himself about the property itself.
[3:28:49] I have no doubt about that lease renewal. If Jordon has other ideas of what he wants to do, I can't
[3:29:00] share those publicly. That would be for him to share. We expect to be in this building for a very long time.
[3:29:05] Our organization has been in operations for over 20 years. We've been providing these services across multiple
[3:29:12] counties, and we're working it out here. It takes a little bit of time to go through the growing pains
[3:29:20] we're going through. When people are going through the program and having access to day care so they can get
[3:29:27] employment, getting mental health help and substance use disorder treatments on site, getting classes for basic life
[3:29:33] skills, like financial literacy, all of those things happen right there on site. And so, it's a vital resource.
[3:29:41] We need to keep that going. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Just to clarify. In addition to the 175, you have
[3:29:51] capacity for another 300 inside the structure. >> No, there's a total of 318 beds there.
[3:29:57] They're built out. The linens, everything. >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: Another 125 and then the possibility of
[3:30:06] something else [ Inaudible ] a larger property. >> Correct. >> BOARD CLERK: Excuse me,
[3:30:17] sorry. Commissioner Edwards, is your mic on? >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: No, it's
[3:30:26] not. Do I need to repeat the question? Thank you for the information.
[3:30:30] We have the potential of another 125 plus another additional potential outside if that's negotiated.
[3:30:37] The last question I have -- and this is more of a timing issue because I know organizations, when you start contracting,
[3:30:48] there is a cost to starting a shutdown or a slowdown and then to restart again. I'm optimistic we're going to be
[3:30:59] moving with speed this fall, but I'm curious about the December date, how the four months got picked.
[3:31:08] Previously, there has been a whole host of other conversations with longer timelines.
[3:31:17] With the four months of what I consider bridge funding ending in the middle of December and the middle of winter, I'm
[3:31:24] curious -- we'll have an opportunity with unanticipated revenue potentially to talk about the longer term and that
[3:31:31] would be the point in time if we were going to do something beyond December 31st? >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: I think
[3:31:38] it's, one, to have time to do the financial management third-party evaluation on the functions of Bybee Lakes to
[3:31:46] further the conversations that are happening right now about the use of the site, what's capable but there, what the
[3:31:57] capacity is, and to give Bybee Lakes the opportunity to apply for some of the RFPs and contract availability with the
[3:32:05] joint office to become a funded partner, a funded organization through the Joint Office of Homeless Services, to get the
[3:32:16] funding stream through the more traditional mechanisms of how we fund organizations. >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: Are we
[3:32:22] confident that whole process can happen -- I'm completely supportive of the financial evaluation, but that whole
[3:32:28] process could happen within that -- again, heading off a cliff at the end of December in the winter -- I want to be
[3:32:38] assured that we have adequate time to do that process. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yeah. >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: Not
[3:32:45] saying what the outcome is, but the timing would not be the barrier. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes.
[3:32:51] That's been part of the conversations we've been having about engaging with the departments and specifically the
[3:32:59] Joint Office of Homeless Services about what the possibilities are in the next couple of months.
[3:33:05] >> COMM. STEGMANN: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mike, for being here, and thank you for forwarding the
[3:33:09] lease. I appreciate that. I just wanted to clarify. This money would continue to
[3:33:16] fund 175 beds. Not the full 318. Is that correct? >> Correct.
[3:33:21] The Chair mentioned the ramp up to that, and we expect we'll meet that with no problem. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Would that
[3:33:28] ramp-up occur within this year? >> The ramp-up to the 175 beds? >> COMM. STEGMANN: To the 175. >> There are 30-day, 60-day,
[3:33:40] 90-day benchmarks we have to meet. That's going to more than meet --
[3:33:48] >> COMM. STEGMANN: You have capacity for 318 is what you're saying. >> Yes.
[3:33:52] >> COMM. STEGMANN: We can have further conversation about that. And I'm also curious -- just to put it on your radar.
[3:34:00] As we look at this unanticipated funding and looking at your lease -- I appreciate Jordon Schnitzer and the commitment
[3:34:08] he's made, but I don't know what that looks like. To have some kind of assurance if we make larger, longer-term
[3:34:18] investments, how can we be assured that your lease will continue? I don't know if you can answer
[3:34:24] that now or later, but that's something I would want to know. >> I definitely understand your concern with that, and I'll
[3:34:30] carry that forward as I meet with them on a regular basis and talk through that and decide how we respond to you.
[3:34:39] >> COMM. STEGMANN: Thank you. October 20th, is that when you're supposed to be reporting back to us on the financial
[3:34:45] recovery plan? Is that correct? >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Sorry. Can you repeat that?
[3:34:50] >> COMM. STEGMANN: I thoughts I saw somewhere October 20th is when a financial recovery plan is due.
[3:34:58] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes. That's exactly right. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Bybee Lakes you'll be reporting back to us
[3:35:04] on what your financial recovery plan is on October 20th? >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: We are supposed to receive that.
[3:35:16] >> COMM. STEGMANN: Okay. Great. Great. I know you have shut down your
[3:35:22] intakes. Hopefully, you can restart. Is it just a flip of a button? How long does it take for you to
[3:35:31] start opening the intake again? >> We did open our intakes in the rural communities when the governor and someone else
[3:35:40] stepped up with funding for us. I'll have to meet with the staff there. I haven't had opportunity to
[3:35:46] talk with our facility director at that location about that because I needed to see what the outcome of this meeting was.
[3:35:54] Because I cannot provide false hope to those people that work there and are participants in our building.
[3:36:01] >> COMM. STEGMANN: We would hope within weeks? >> Yes. >> COMM. STEGMANN: Okay.
[3:36:06] That's great. Maybe if you speak overall -- once we have the financial recovery plan, can you speak to
[3:36:18] how you are in this financial position, how you got to this place of having to shut down? I just kind of wanted an overall
[3:36:27] understanding of how we got to this point. >> Sure. Since Bybee Lakes opened in
[3:36:34] 2021, we were awarded navigation center status. We were one of eight in the state, so we received funding
[3:36:42] from the state in the form of $2 million and in 2022 we received $1.4 million for our services provided as a navigation center
[3:36:53] in the city of Portland. With the change in the Governor's directive on homelessness in the state of
[3:37:03] Oregon, that pot of money has been expanded to a lot more organizations. We expect we'll receive about 2,
[3:37:11] maybe $300,000 out of that pot of money. We've not been told what we'll receive at this time.
[3:37:20] Last year, we received one-time ARPA funding from the city of Portland. We did make a request there, but
[3:37:26] we have not received any funds in that manner as well. And then also with the opening of Bybee Lakes in October of
[3:37:34] 2020, we had major funders that were buzzing to be a part of opening with six-figure donations towards capital,
[3:37:44] towards operations once we were opened up, but we hear from them that this SHS tax is really hitting them and that's where
[3:37:55] their investment is going for homelessness is through that tax. It's kind of a triple whammy
[3:38:02] that we're getting hit with the state of emergency, with one-time funding, and then with the SHS tax.
[3:38:08] >> COMM. STEGMANN: Great. Thank you for that. I appreciate that. That gives us a larger view of
[3:38:12] what's happening. I have toured your facility and think that you all are doing really great work.
[3:38:18] I'm very pleased that this Board can hopefully step in and preserve those 175 beds and even expand to the 318 as soon as
[3:38:29] possible, so thank you for being here. >> Thank you, and we do have a tour coming up soon, be so I'll
[3:38:33] see you soon. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you so much. We'll go ahead and open it up
[3:38:39] for public testimony at this time. >> BOARD CLERK: We have three people signed up for public
[3:38:43] testimony. America Vicente, Eric Cole, and Suzy. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Let's
[3:38:54] have two minutes for public testimony. Thank you. Good morning.
[3:39:02] >> Hi. Good afternoon. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Oh, good afternoon.
[3:39:06] >> Can you hear me? >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes, we can. >> Should I go ahead?
[3:39:14] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Yes, please. >> I'm an economist. My work with a multilateral
[3:39:21] institution allows me to be exposed to multiple countries and situations, especially in developing countries and with
[3:39:27] colleagues in conflict settings. As discussed today, we are facing a humanitarian crisis in Portland.
[3:39:38] Unfortunately, many people cannot function on their own without supervision and many are living outside on the street.
[3:39:46] Additionally, many of them are falling into addictions, providing a great business opportunity for drug traders
[3:39:54] that are operating in the elicit economy and are not taxed or regulated. I am really grateful that you
[3:40:01] are supporting Bybee Lakes by providing them funding and support to ensure the financial processes align with public
[3:40:09] sector guidelines. I believe that you should also look at ways to replicate models that can reach economies of
[3:40:20] scale for shelters in a similar set up as Bybee Lakes. Based on my observations, very few organizations are able to
[3:40:29] take people out from the streets more sustainably. Based on my experience, operations across all providers
[3:40:37] need to be data driven, goals need to be quantified, and results-based financing methodologies implemented.
[3:40:47] It didn't look like the plan you presented for Multnomah County takes these factors into account.
[3:40:53] Lastly, I learned that members of Multnomah County are going to be visiting Portugal as part of measure 110.
[3:41:01] I'm Spanish, and Portugal is our neighborhood. As it happens, both Portugal and Spanish went through deep prison
[3:41:09] and mental health reforms -- you should learn more about the them. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[3:41:16] you. Thank you very much. Good morning. >> Good morning.
[3:41:19] Thank you, Madame Chair. Thank you, members of the Commission. I'm Eric Cole.
[3:41:25] I'm with the Revitalize Portland Commission. As an industry and as Portlanders, I think we all
[3:41:32] share the same goals, which is to see our region thrive again. I am here in support of this emergency resolution.
[3:41:40] We have supported Bybee Lakes from the very beginning and are very supportive of their efforts going forward.
[3:41:49] Commissioner Jayapal called this an emergency. We agree with all of you that it's time to treat it as an
[3:41:54] emergency. I wanted to make a couple of points. You've heard a lot of context
[3:41:59] this morning, but two things that didn't get brought up earlier. As we heard yesterday at the
[3:42:06] city council in Portland, we've seen a major uptick in violent property crimes in recent weeks. You can hear and see the
[3:42:14] patience wearing thin on the business owners, the residents, and the neighbors downtown. It's been quite palpable in the
[3:42:22] last two weeks, so it is an urgent situation. We've also been hearing from some of our top employers in the
[3:42:29] area who are expressing their employees do really want to return to the office more days a week.
[3:42:37] What's preventing that, however, is their employees are not able to walk, commute, bike commute to the office the way they used
[3:42:46] to. They're not able to go out to lunch the way they used to. I give you that context because
[3:42:51] it's important that these issues are all connected, and with the amount of taxpayer dollars that Multnomah County is accountable
[3:43:03] to, we think you hold a great bit of responsibility along with other jurisdictions in turning the crisis around.
[3:43:09] These funds, this opportunity with Bybee Lakes, is an opportunity for the board to change some of that dynamic and
[3:43:15] address this crisis head-on. By bee checks so many boxes of what we need the community. Just encourage you to support
[3:43:26] it. Thank you. >> BOARD CLERK: Suzy, are you still here?
[3:43:30] There she is. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Good morning or good afternoon. >> Good afternoon, yes.
[3:43:44] Thank you, Chair, and Commissioners for the opportunity to tag on to which I didn't complete.
[3:43:51] I wanted to sit through this because I appreciate, I truly do, the time that you are dedicating.
[3:44:01] Where there is a multilayered solution, what I have heard today are so many of the solutions that are people
[3:44:07] carrying with a good heart and good anecdotal stories. I would like to sort of summarize by mapping the
[3:44:15] positive. When we shift to a more positive focus and shift away from houselessness and hopelessness
[3:44:24] to considering homing and creating that nurturing nest, all of these holistic comprehensive programs can do
[3:44:35] this. I think language is important as we move forward in mapping the positive of this story.
[3:44:43] We shift our thoughts to consider those things that we understand about addiction is that which happens to us and we
[3:44:56] self-medication. The lessons to learn from Portugal, there were some powerful lessons.
[3:45:06] One of the things I've been disconcerted to here is it doesn't work. Well, that's because funding was
[3:45:14] withdrawn. We need to build this out over time. We look at that continuum of
[3:45:19] care, that sustainability. At the heart of that is the understanding of why do we self-medicate and also
[3:45:25] understanding the neurodiversity behind challenges to behavioral health and mental health, who are our people.
[3:45:34] I would like to lift up our hands right now. I'm looking at you right now, Sharon, to say thank you to you
[3:45:41] and the Board has given to our previous proclamation. That's where we are right now. Again, just thank you, but
[3:45:50] center it on the children and the families for the future generations because you, Commissioner -- as a
[3:45:56] Commissioner, you champion the rights of our children around colocation. I'm hoping at your board retreat
[3:46:04] you bring this all together and bring it to our families. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you.
[3:46:08] Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Is that all the public comment?
[3:46:14] Wonderful. We'll go to the Board for final comments. Commissioner Meieran, I think
[3:46:19] you made your comments at the beginning. >> COMM. MEIERAN: I did. I have just a couple more.
[3:46:26] I just really appreciate -- >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: All right. We're going to have --
[3:46:34] >> COMM. MEIERAN: Those last three speakers really just all had something so important and powerful to add to the
[3:46:44] conversation, so I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who has been advocating and weighing in.
[3:46:53] It has really made a difference and goes to really the heart and soul of this work. Thank you.
[3:47:02] >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank you. Commissioner Jayapal. >> COMM. JAYAPAL: Thank you,
[3:47:09] Chair. I want to start with my thanks to everybody who has testified today and also to the many,
[3:47:13] many, many people who have written in about this funding. I want to let you know the degree of support you have
[3:47:20] expressed has had an impact, so thank you. I do support the proposed approach of providing bridge
[3:47:27] funding while we do our due diligence into management operations and the sustainability of helping hand
[3:47:37] and is Bybee Lakes. I support it because it fills a really important gap into our shelter-to-housing continuum,
[3:47:48] which is a need for our emergency shelter but also transitional or stabilization shelter and housing.
[3:47:53] That gap is one of the priorities that I specifically identified in my list of proposed investments for
[3:47:59] unanticipated SHS revenue. I support this approach, and I support additional investment in the kind of programming that I
[3:48:06] understand Bybee Lakes to provide, but I think there are questions about the financial model operations and we need to
[3:48:13] do our due diligence. A couple of things that rise to the top for me, first, as the chair alluded to, whether the
[3:48:19] cost of running shelter at that facility is simply too high and whether that's part of the reason we're in the situation
[3:48:26] that it's in. We need to compare cost to other facilities, but that cost number does jump out.
[3:48:36] Second, I think we need to better understand whether Helping Hands can develop other revenue streams, as most of our
[3:48:42] providers have to do, and how long that will take and what it will take, or whether we're really talking about the county
[3:48:50] taking on fully funding the organization on an ongoing basis. That is a very significant lift
[3:48:54] and very significant ask. And we would, I think, come back to the question of whether the overall cost structure in this
[3:49:01] particular facility makes sense. So, we need to do our due diligence on those and other issues.
[3:49:06] I'm confident that some of the columnists who are urging us to fund the program would also really call us out if we did not
[3:49:14] do our due diligence and problems emerged. I appreciate Bybee Lakes and the information you've provided.
[3:49:20] I think do an external review in this case does make sense, even though we usually do internal reviews of this kind of all the
[3:49:27] time and regularly for other providers. And I think with that I am done. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank
[3:49:34] you. Commissioner Brim-Edwards. >> COMM. BRIM-EDWARDS: Thank you.
[3:49:39] I'm excited we're voting on this this morning, even if I feel like it's at the very last moment.
[3:49:49] I'm excited to vote for it because I've visited Bybee Lakes and talked to the people who have received support from
[3:49:56] there. When I think about all the different shelter options and housing options and transitional
[3:50:03] housing and the housing models, there's different models for different people. And I think it's important that
[3:50:10] we recognize that, that there's not one size fits all. There used to be a heavy reliance on just a particular
[3:50:18] shelter model, and I think we are recognizing that there's different needs for different communities and different types
[3:50:24] of supports people need on their journey from the streets to permanent housing. And I think today's action
[3:50:33] speaks to that. Also, I want to just note that I've had an opportunity to talk to staff at Fabian K-8, which is
[3:50:42] the nearest elementary school to Bybee Lakes. The fact that families with children, with elementary school
[3:50:52] children, can have their children even in a state of what would be considered a somewhat unstable situation, that they
[3:51:02] have the stability of being able to go to the same elementary school every day and be school kids like everybody else is, I
[3:51:13] think, another really unique feature of Bybee Lakes. So, I'm going to be supportive. When we put our proposals
[3:51:24] forward for the unanticipated revenue, taking more action on shelter space to ensure individuals have shelter with
[3:51:33] basic services, like bathrooms, showers, and safety, was at the top of my list. As I think about it today, we've
[3:51:42] already taken action on the city's shelter sites or a portion of that. We're going to have an
[3:51:48] opportunity, I think, to discuss micro villages and our other long time shelter providers. Today, we're looking at the
[3:52:00] potential for bridge funding for Bybee Lakes. I propose funds for 500 additional shelter beds and to
[3:52:07] retain currently shelter beds and specifically called out the 175 shelter beds at Bybee Lakes and funding a potential
[3:52:16] expansion there. Again, this is on the current state but also a potential opportunity in the future.
[3:52:22] This investment provides a shorter-term bridge than I would have hoped for, but I think it's a very important bridge because
[3:52:34] I do think it allows us -- we can't afford to lose any shelter beds, so I really appreciate we have an opportunity to retain
[3:52:42] those 175 and that it also gives us, as a commission, a bridge to the future to have that future discussion as we move to the
[3:52:54] next batch of investments, which we're going to be doing the next couple of weeks. I will be advancing more funding
[3:53:00] for Bybee Lakes because I do believe we need to continue to make investments in a whole variety of different shelter and
[3:53:08] housing options. Bybee Lakes should be in the mix. And, as other commissioners also
[3:53:14] explained and shared, understanding the financials, doing our due diligence, will be an important component of that,
[3:53:23] and we're going to need an answer from, at least my perspective, the lease aspect and the terms of the lease.
[3:53:38] If we're going to be making a longer-term investment, whether it's through the RFP process or through some other way, that we
[3:53:49] really understand what the return on investment would be because April 25th is going to roll around before we know it.
[3:53:57] Understanding that and what the terms are will give us a much better understanding of Bybee Lakes' financial future and
[3:54:06] whether they can accommodate an actual expansion or if this is just a retention of current beds.
[3:54:13] I'm an enthusiastic yes because coupled with the early action on the TASS sites on retention of shelter beds and future shelter
[3:54:30] beds. >> Thank you, chair. I am very pleased to support this $1.5 million to Bybee Lakes
[3:54:39] because quite simply it's the right thing to do. It will give us the opportunity to preserve and potentially
[3:54:45] expand additional beds, and it will give us the needed time that we need to determine our long-term investments and
[3:54:54] complete our due diligence. I am very supportive of this. Thank you. >> CHAIR VEGA PEDERSON: Thank