FILE - Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, left, speaks at a press conference on July 31, 2024 in Portland, Ore. Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, right, speaks at a press conference at Dawson Park in Portland, Ore., on March 19, 2025.
Conrad Wilson, Troy Brynelson / OPB
With budget season in full swing, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez is picking a public fight with another top elected official over proposed cuts.
He says the proposal hurts public safety. County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson says the cuts are minor compared to other agencies. What’s clear is that both are flexing political muscle.
On Thursday, Vega Pederson released her proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts in July. It’s a $4 billion proposal that gives the county slightly more money to work with in fiscal year 2026. But increased costs are translating into a $15.5 million shortfall and proposed cuts of at least 10% for most county departments — and the elimination of more than 100 full-time jobs.
Public safety in the crosshairs
Vega Pederson has acknowledged the cuts will bring pain, but says her proposed spending plan amounts to a 3.5% increase when it comes to the entire public safety picture. Vega Pederson’s budget does not ask for cuts from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, which operates county jails and patrol, but does call for the district attorney’s office to cut 2%.
The district attorney had a $54.5 million budget last year. That shrank slightly to $54.2 million this year, but budget officials say further cuts are needed to offset rising expenses.
Vasquez took the unusual step of calling a news conference to push back against trims to his office, which prosecutes people charged with crimes and represents victims. Rather than cuts, Vasquez had proposed a nearly $4.5 million increase to his budget.
“I was quite frankly just disgusted by what I saw,” Vasquez told reporters Thursday. “This budget absolutely does not support public safety.”
In their public statements, Vasquez and Vega Pederson have calculated the cuts differently. Vasquez, during his press conference, noted that his office is losing one-time funding that he hoped to see continued. That accounting would cost closer to $2 million.
Vega Pederson’s calculations, however, do not account for one-time funding. Budget officials say that’s standard practice during early talks about funding.
Softening the blow
Speaking Friday on OPB’s “Think Out Loud,” Vega Pederson defended her proposal; she said she has been working with Vasquez’s office and that she’s already taken steps to soften the budgetary blow. She took credit for saving nearly a dozen positions paid for with funds that were set to expire at the end of the budget year.
“I rolled those into ongoing funds,” Vega Pederson said Friday. “That’s going to be built into his budget now from here on going. It will always be part of his continuing service level budget, and so those positions are locked in.”
The full Multnomah County Board of Commissioners will need to approve Vega Pederson’s budget before it goes into effect. Commissioners will have the chance in the coming weeks to propose adjustments before the budget heads to a vote in June.
While Vasquez and the sheriff are independently elected, their budget still is part of the broader county spending plan, which is written by the county chair. Unlike department heads, who are not elected, they have ample discretion over how they spend the actual dollars once they get them.
Early in the budgeting process, Vega Pederson asked each department to identify potential cuts. Vasquez, faced with a hypothetical 3% reduction, sent a list of several positions that included prosecutors in its homicide, domestic violence and treatment court units, among others.
“Currently, those are the positions that will be lost,” Vasquez said in a statement Friday. “As soon as we get a final word on what our budget will be, we will look carefully across the board and make our decisions.”
Though Vega Pederson and Vasquez have clashed over paying for specific positions, that doesn’t mean those specific jobs will ultimately be cut.
Related: Multnomah County chair releases proposed budget
Vega Pederson’s budget includes money for homeless services — like shelters, employment programs and rental assistance — that Vasquez would have preferred to be on the chopping block before his expenses.
“So she is doubling down on some very failed issues that we’ve had in this community, and she’s taking it out of our core funding, our general fund,” Vasquez said Thursday, arguing those funds should instead go to his office or other public safety initiatives. “So, this is a direct move in the wrong direction for this community.”
On Friday, Vega Pederson responded:
“We know that the homelessness crisis is something that is a priority for our entire community to resolve to address with urgency,” she said.
Compared with recent years, the public safety budgets have been steady. The sheriff’s office’s $225 million budget proposal is 48% higher than 2019. The district attorney’s would be 56% higher.
The structure of county government has led to tension in the past between public safety leaders and county commissioners, including past fights over how much overtime jail deputies accrued and how to handle jail overcrowding.