Multnomah County’s new vision, mission statements cost $250,000

Multnomah County recently unveiled a new seven-sentence declaration on its vision, mission and values for which it paid $250,000.

Officials framed the updated description of the county’s mission and priorities as a means to help employees feel more connected to their work for the county and as a pivotal step to shape its future plans.

Consulting firm Coraggio Group, with the help of county staffers, surveyed thousands of employees from across 11 departments to draft new guiding statements. The county hasn’t updated them since 2013.

The county paid the consulting group in three installments for its work — two $82,500 payments and one last check for $85,000 — according to the contract obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

“This work to provide a better, more up to date structural foundation is directly related to how we’ll meet the challenges of today and the challenges of tomorrow,” Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said at a board briefing last week.

It’s common for local governments to issue mission statements and to update them periodically. Washington County did so recently as part of its new 20-page strategic plan — a document intended to guide how the government operates. Officials unveiled that work in April, and it was done through a contractor as well. However, the county paid around $36,000 for the entire plan, officials said.

Per the contract with Multnomah County, Coraggio was responsible for handling background research, reaching out to county employees through surveys, interviews and focus groups and drafting what consultants learned into the new vision, mission and values statements. Coraggio also compiled an 89 page report outlining the steps it took to complete the project, which took it a full year.

Coraggio’s final product represented the first phase of the county’s work on a strategic plan, to be carried out by a new unit under the county’s Chief Operating Officer Serena Cruz. The branch has a $2.7 million budget this year.

“Having the guiding principles spelled out allows us to step confidently into the work of creating a foundational and indispensable organizational plan,” county officials said in a statement.

Portland hasn’t renewed its mission statement recently but could do so next year as a new mayor and city commissioners are ushered in, spokesperson Cody Bowman said. City officials adopted new values in 2020 but did so without hiring a contractor, he said.

Multnomah County officials said the high price tag for their project covered “a robust, phased engagement process” with county employees. The county narrowed down the list of contractors to four and eventually chose Coraggio because the firm is local and had led similar work, officials said.

Coraggio made the statements more concise than the 2013 versions and weaved in additional language around diversity, equity and inclusion. The firm also removed the mention of the county Board of Commissioners from the mission statement to encompass all county employees. The consulting group worked with a committee of 14 county workers who volunteered to help guide the process.

Staffers who contributed to the revamped principles said it was an opportunity to unite county workers.

“I was interested in, ‘How do you have a scope as large as the county and make everybody feel welcome, a part of something and that the commitment the county is making is for everybody,’” Carolyn Manke, a behavioral health employee, said at the board briefing.

— Austin De Dios covers Multnomah County politics, programs and more. Reach him at 503-319-9744, adedios@oregonian.com or @AustinDeDios.

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