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