Portland officials agreed Wednesday to continue working with Multnomah County on efforts to curtail homelessness, although some city commissioners are unconvinced that the revamped partnership is the right move.
The contract, known as the “homelessness response system agreement,” passed on a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Mingus Mapps and Dan Ryan voting no.
Even with Wednesday’s approval, if city officials aren’t happy with the progress under the new approach by October, they might torpedo the agreement entirely.
City commissioners added two stipulations to the partnership as reformulated by the county commission late last month. The first is that both the city and county review the success of the homelessness initiative on Oct. 15.
“It is my sincere hope that the new steering and oversight committee will successfully meet the milestones set forth here by the Oct. 15 deadline,” Commissioner Rene Gonzalez said. “I want to be clear, if they do not, my support will be lost.”
The city proposed 12 goals to be met by that time, including launching dashboards to show quarterly updates on shelter bed availability and spending. They also expect the county to secure 200 apartments for rapid rehousing and provide a detailed plan for how the county’s homeless services department will add 555 shelter beds by the end of the year.
The ultimatum follows years of distrust between county and city officials on homelessness and related issues. As part of the agreement, either party can exit at any time.
Gonzalez voted warily in favor of the new partnership after county Chair Jessica Vega Pederson addressed his concerns about tent and tarp distribution in Portland. She asked the county-run homelessness services agency, which would be renamed under the new agreement, to pause tent purchases last week until further notice, but she later clarified that she will allow it to distribute the tents it has on hand.
The other caveat added by the City Council, originally brought forward by Ryan but later amended, expands a key oversight committee made up of five elected city and county officials, which would launch under the new agreement.
The city’s change adds five non-voting members: one business representative, one high-income earner who pays the Metro homelessness services tax, a behavioral health expert and the CEOs of both Health Share of Oregon and housing provider Home Forward.
Ryan said oversight of the homelessness strategy was his greatest concern about the deal. His original amendment would have added three voting members to the oversight committee, but it was altered to add the five non-voting people instead.
“I’m confident that I gave this council every opportunity to get me to a yes on this vote,” Ryan said. “Portlanders deserve better — everyone sleeping outside tonight deserves better.”
Officials have been negotiating terms of the new homeless response agreement and the 55-page plan attached to it since last year. The revamped city-county response aims to set clear goals such as moving 2,699 people living on the street into shelter or housing in the next 18 months.
Mayor Ted Wheeler argued that the agreement is the only sensible way forward because the county is responsible for mental health care, addiction treatment and housing navigation services, and Portland is not.
“I’ve heard a lot of reasons why we should not support this (intergovernmental agreement), and I respect all my colleagues in the decisions they have made.” Wheeler said. “What I have not heard over the course of the last year is, ‘If not this, then what?’ What is the viable alternative?”
Mapps has been a strong opponent of the agreement from the beginning, raising concerns about how Portland’s money will be spent. The contract requires a buy-in of $25 million from Portland this year, and $31 million a year in the two years after that. City dollars will represent less than 10% of the $400 million homelessness abatement budget for this fiscal year.
The county has laid out spending plans for the first year but has not outlined how funds will be used in the future.
“It is a bad business practice for the county to ask for $31 million a year in city funds without a clear plan for how those funds will be spent,” Mapps said.
Vega Pederson defended the agreement Wednesday, and said it “directly addresses how the city’s investments will be prioritized.” The agreement states that city funds will be used to support programming for adult shelter, staffing and program costs for outreach and engagement, among other things.
“It would be a bad business practice for this (intergovernmental agreement) to bind future elected bodies, especially when we expect results and progress on the homelessness crisis, and want to ensure that we can continue to be responsive and strategic,” she said in a statement.
City and county officials have been at odds for years over how to address homelessness. Wheeler briefly threatened to end the Portland-Multnomah County partnership in May last year if the county did not help pay to operate the city’s safe rest villages. Vega Pederson later agreed.
Portland Commissioner Carmen Rubio said Wednesday that she saw the accord as a strong step forward for both local governments.
“With this new agreement, we are redefining our relationship with Multnomah County to one that is more accountable and transparent,” Rubio said. “Now is the time to lean in and double down on getting people out of tents and into shelters and get them into the services they need.”
The agreement will likely go back to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners for approval July 10.
— Austin De Dios covers Multnomah County politics, programs and more. Reach him at 503-319-9744, adedios@oregonian.com or @AustinDeDios.
Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
Ad Choices