Politics

Portland’s requirements for homeless oversight board leave committee shorthanded

By Alex Zielinski (OPB)
Sept. 9, 2024 1 p.m. Updated: Sept. 9, 2024 7:16 p.m.
Portland City Council, Jan. 25, 2023. A council decision to ensure members meet certain requirements to join a new homeless oversight board has made it hard for the county to recruit new members.

Portland City Council, Jan. 25, 2023. A council decision to ensure members meet certain requirements to join a new homeless oversight board has made it hard for the county to recruit new members.

Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB

The new 10-person committee convened by Multnomah County and Portland to oversee policy and budget decisions impacting the region’s homelessness crisis will meet for the first time Monday.

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But two chairs will sit empty.

Multnomah County staff say they weren’t able to fill two positions in time because the requirements – which were lobbied for by Portland City Council – are too narrow.

One empty seat is reserved for a Multnomah County resident who pays the Metro supportive housing services tax, a tax on high-income residents that funds programs to help move people out of homelessness. But that taxpayer can’t live in Portland. The second position is for a behavioral health practitioner from an organization that doesn’t hold any contracts with the city or county.

County homeless response advisor Robyn Johnson told county commissioners Thursday that, due to these requirements, “we haven’t been able to identify a sufficient number of candidates who qualify.”

Both of these positions are non-voting members of the committee, meaning their absence won’t delay the new committee’s work to begin addressing homelessness. But it means the work will begin without voices the city wanted at the table. It could rattle an already delicate agreement between the city and county to make progress on homelessness – and add to a growing public distrust in how the two jurisdictions are run.

“I am disappointed this body is convening without two vital voices that will bring fresh perspective to the table,” said City Commissioner Dan Ryan, who initially advocated for the additional positions.

In June, county and city officials renewed their contract to oversee the region’s Joint Office of Homeless Services, which included an agreement to adhere to a new “homeless response action plan” penned by Mayor Ted Wheeler and County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. That plan pledged to halve the region’s unsheltered population by 2026, among other lofty goals.

For years, the city has quibbled with how the county spends money through the Joint Office, a county department funded by both governments. The June agreement was intended to secure the city’s partnership. This meant county leaders were more flexible to proposals introduced by the city, like potentially restrictive committee requirements.

Ryan’s proposal related to a new oversight committee created to ensure the county and city met the goals of its new homeless plan. Per the plan, that group is made up of five local elected officials – two from Multnomah County, two from Portland and one mayor of a city in the eastern portion of Multnomah County.

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Ryan pushed to include four non-voting members to the oversight committee: the CEO of the state’s Medicaid provider Health Share of Oregon, a business sector representative, a non-Portlander who pays into the supportive housing tax and a behavioral health practitioner whose employer doesn’t contract with local government. Businesses also pay into the supportive housing tax. Ryan argued that this would both add a needed layer of transparency for taxpayers who fund programs that address homelessness and remove any bias from health experts. The idea was that, while the five elected officials would be the only ones voting on budget items and policies, these members would be able to share feedback to help inform those votes.

City leaders approved Ryan’s adjustment, along with a fifth non-voting member to the lineup, the director of the county’s public housing authority Home Forward.

The county board approved this change, and agreed to oversee committee member recruitment.

While county staff had no problem finding a business representative to join the committee – Melvin Mark Chief Operating Officer Peter Andrews – they came up empty on the other two.

Fourteen people applied to the two seats.

But according to Johnson, the county policy advisor, most applicants who applied for the taxpayer seat were disqualified because they lived in Portland. She found similar barriers with applicants for the behavioral health seat because, she argued, “the vast majority of behavioral health providers” contract with the county or city.

Johnson said her office is still reaching out to potential candidates to fill both positions. But they likely won’t be in place by the committee’s inaugural meeting Monday.

Chair Jessica Vega Pederson acknowledged the challenge of filling these two seats at the Thursday meeting, and said she’d like to see the city help find candidates who “meet the criteria that they’ve set up.”

A spokesperson for Mayor Ted Wheeler said the mayor’s office is now working to find applicants for these empty seats. Commissioner Ryan said his office also began seeking members this week, and has identified two qualified applicants who have since applied for these positions.

Ryan isn’t thrilled by the decision to move forward with the Monday committee meeting. In an email to OPB, he raised suspicions.

“System change work happens when you shake up the existing system of power, and that starts with changing who has a seat at the table.” he wrote. “I encourage the public to watch this space—pay attention to how your leaders are supporting or stymieing system change in homeless services.”

Under the new contract, the county must show evidence to the city that it’s met certain milestones of the homeless action plan by October 15. The committee will meet at least three times before that deadline to track progress.

If the City Council is unhappy with the county’s results next month, it may vote to exit the Joint Office partnership altogether.

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