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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 2014)
BY JAKE THOMAS serving 748,000 residents.' It runs health clinics, senior services; courts, bridges arissa Madrigal remembers the and élections, along with other functions. firs t tim e a television camera People working at the county recall the v was thrust in her face. She scandal as a tumultuous time that remembers a reporter coming to her threatened to tarnish its image and house. She remembers the day the overshadow its work. They also recall spotlight was shone on her and a hefty Madrigal bringing grace to an ungraceful responsibility thrust on her shoulders. situation. She never thought she would see this day, Madrigal is someone Who has but she embraced it. intertwined her life mission with that of In September, Multnomah County the county. She is someone who makes Chair Jeff Cogen announced he was phone calls directly on behalf of resigning his position after being dogged struggling people. She is a non-politician since the summer by revelations that he thrust into the role of a politician. A had an extramarital affair with a county county chair of firsts, she holds the deep employee. He also made another belief that politics can be a powerful force announcement. Under county rules, the to change the lives of people, especially county chair designates their replacement the most powerless. Although the scandal in the event they don’t fulfill their term. challenged her thinking about politics and Madrigal, Cogen’s longtime chief of staff, politicians, she emerged from it with would be succeeding him, Cogen some of her most core convictions cemented. announced. Madrigal had worked closely with “Can you spare a van? Can you spare a condo?” shouts a woman outside of the Cogen since 2006, when she helped Union Gospel Mission as a crowd of manage his campaign for a seat on the Multnomah County Commission. She people participating in the Day of Homelessness Awareness march stream joined his staff after he was elected and kept her position as. Cogen’s, chief of staff past. when he became county chair in 2010. Madrigal is one of the few elected Working at the county, Madrigal earned a officials at the event. It’s cold out, and reputation as an able staffer, someone she’s wearing a navy blue coat and a who didn’t seek the spotlight and whose colorful scarf. She stands at nearly 5 feet behind-the-scene-presence shaped county 5 inches. She has a shock of black hair policy. that has a few strands of gray. At times, Multnomah County is the state’s she wears a look of concern that might be largest county government with a $1.5 from file cold. billion budget and 5,600 employees During the march, she introduces S T A F F W R IT E R M herself to people simply as “Marissa,” leaving oût that she holds one of the most powerful political positions in the region. She.chatswith local activist Cameron Whitten about exercise and the benefits of raw pineapple. Noticing that a high school student, who is shadowing a county staff member for the day, looks cold, Madrigal offers her gloves. “Sorry,” she says to him when he refuses. “I didn’t mean to mom you.” Madrigal lives in the Woodstock neighborhood in Southeast Portland with her husband and two children. It’s the first home they’ve ever owned. She is addicted to her smart phone. She is gluten-free, which she says makes her feel better, even though she realizes it makes her one of “those people.” She usually starts every day with a protein shake and spends time with her kids before arriving at the office around 8:30 or 9 a.m. At the sixth floor offices of the county building, Madrigal jokingly says she instituted a rule that no one could burn food in the microwave. She has a friendly cooking rivalry with Communications Director David Austin. Her coworkers got her a grill as a birthday/housewarming gift. Austin, who has known her since 2007 when he was a reporter at The Oregonian, describes her as a non politician: someone who is authentic and doesn’t put themselves above others. “I jokingly call her my younger older sister,” says Austin, who is older than Madrigal, but has still called her for See MADRIGAL, page 4 Inside Taking a back seat Tent city Crowd Control featured in H ow will housing fa ir in Salem ? videogam e Page 3 Page 7 G rand Theft A uto homeless camp The U.N. expects the world's population to reach 9 .6 billion by 2050. W hat to do? Page 8-9
