2 0 1 6 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS RACE
Page 8
Z
Yes or No: Would you
support establishing a safe
injection site?
MARISHA CHILDS
Yes. A safe injection site is more hygienic,
and using at a safe injection site/supervised
injection reduces the likelihood for sharing
needles. Further, in the event of some sort
of medical emergency, personnel is there to
respond accordingly.
SHARON MEIERAN: Yes.
MEL RADER: Yes.
Mel Rader’s 5-year-old daughter drew her pin k pet unicorn, who she said was recently bom in
Portland. “My favorite thing about M ultnomah County is raising a child here to develop
innovative thinking, progressive values and an appreciation o f the natural environment,”
Rader said.
QUIZ, from page 7
advocate for more investment in this
area.
We should also look at additional
strategies to promote rent equality
including: (a) inclusionary zoning to
ensure big developers are doing their
part to promote affordable options, (b)
greater fairness in property taxes,
including shifting more of the burden
onto commercial property away from
residential, and (c) fixing the
problem with the ADU tax issue at
th e county.
ERIC ZIMMERMAN
This year, for the first time, the
county has invested in developing
affordable units. I want to invest funds
in this m anner to continue to build
the inventory of the most-affordable
units. This is part of the county’s
responsibility in A Home For
Everyone to address homelessness
and help get people into transitional
and affordable housing. But we also
need to be doing more to address
workforce housing issues so that
struggling families do not end up oh
the street because of evictions, rising
rents or a personal financial setback.
ERIC ZIMMERMAN: No
A
Beyond Portland, Multnomah County encompasses smaller
municipalities all dealing with housing and homeless issues, with the
county often picking up the slack. How will you get other municipalities to
better address these issues? (150 words or less)
MARISHA CHILDS
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BRIAN WILSON
The county made its first direct
investment in affordable housing this
past budget cycle and is expected to
do so again in the current cycle. I plan
to continue and expand direct
investment, partnering more closely
with Portland Housing Bureau (still
the primary agency in Portland
responsible for development of
housing) and the cities in E ast County
to get more units into the pipeline.
Further, I want to work hard on
finding a new, sustainable and direct
source of local funding for additional
affordable units, especially units that
m eet the needs of families. W hether
through a fund created as a byproduct
of some new inclusionary zoning
ordinance or a transfer tax on real
estate sales, new sources will need to
be identified if we want to make an
effort to m eet existing needs and the
needs of the future.
BRIAN WILSON: Yes.
It’s important that all regions/
municipalities recognize this problem. The
issue needs to be humanized with some of
these other smaller municipalities, so that
folks suffering with housing security and
homelessness issues are treated as individual
people, and not just a “problem.” Multnomah
County, as the leader in the area, needs to
work with the smaller municipalities to figure
out why it’s an “us versus them ” scenario. I
think if representatives of these smaller
municipalities saw the individual faces and
heard the individual stories of homelessness,
we might make more progress.
homelessness problem, and it saves money
overall.
We can also promote more housing near
transit lines to increase housing options that
are better connected to jobs and services,
including mixed commercial and residential
neighborhoods.
Finally, we need more cross-agency
collaboration. The causes of homelessness
are varied and dynamic, and the Health
Department must collaborate with housing
authorities so that people facing a web of
barriers can be supported with a web of
services.
BRIAN WILSON
SHARON MEIERAN
Working together and looking at the
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answers regionally is the only way we can
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address this complex issue. As our housing
I . crisis grows, more homeless people are
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moving out of the urban center, and this
I - creates m ote challenges when people
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become even further removed and
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disconnected from services. We need to find
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regional solutions that give people access to
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housing and services they need to be safe,
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healthy and live with dignity. Just like Chair
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Kafoury and Commissioner Saltzman are
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working on a city and county joint office of
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homeless services, we need to engage the
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mayors of Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview
(■
other municipalities in a comprehensive
s
approach that makes better use of
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resources.
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MEL RADER
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Implement a housing-first policy that
provides very basic bousing options for
everyone. It costs far more to provide
services for the homeless than it does to
provide a home for them to live in.
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Using bonding authority, the county
should provide all homeless people with a
basic home, then connect them with medical
resources to stabilize health conditions and
economic services to promote job
opportunities. This approach provides a
compassionate approach to solving our
I believe the answer is in leveraging the
Home for Everyone coordinating committee.
Gresham already participates, but the other,
smaller municipalities only tangentially. As
the Sheriff’s Office expands its patrol
responsibilities in these communities, so too
should county Human Services, thereby more
directly working with these communities.
This is a regional issue; doesn’t stop at any
border. We have to treat it as such.
ERIC ZIMMERMAN
I think it is critical that we find the
resources at the city, county and state levels
to support investment in affordable housing
creation including creative approaches like
land trusts, public bonding or partnerships
with private funds like union pension funds.
We also need to look at the alignment of
services across jurisdictions to help stretch
dollars further and ensure services are
effectively delivered. Last, we need to better
understand how policies in individual
jurisdictions are affecting housing and
homelessness in the region as a whole. If
some localities are conducting camp sweeps,
those homeless individuals can be displaced
to another community. Similarly, failing to
develop affordable housing near employment
opportunities will have an impact on
struggling families - driving up
transportation costs and hurting quality of
life.
Street Roots • April 22-28, 2016
Street Roots • April 22-28, 2016
A FEW OF THEIR FAVORITE THIN®
O
Each candidate was asked to select a ocal artist - professional or amateur - to draw his or her favorite thing
about Multnomah County. Their submil sionsareon Pages 8-10.
C Story question: If Multnomah Cowiiy’s budget projections showed a
severe deficit by 2017, what would be your approach now to prevent or
mitigate that situation? (150 words or less)
MARISHA CHILDS
It would really depend on where the deficit
was coming from. What agencies or
departments have the largest budgets, and
how are they spending those portions of the
county’s budget? I would work closely with
the auditor’s office to see where changes and
reductions could be made. I would be
transparent about that projection, and work
with partners to chip away at that projected
deficit.
SHARON MEIERAN
We must be prepared for an eventual
downturn in the economy. No m atter the
timing, we must invest our resources wisely,
truly understand where our money is going
and focus on our core mission. I will work to
avoid duplication of services and ensure that
our limited dollars are being used to help the
most people. I will also ensure that we
leverage our information technology to create
efficiencies without making our systems more
complex than they need to be. Finally, we
must invest in housing at the front end,
because the return on this investment in the
long term will enable people to live and
function even in difficult times. If we are able
to address these fundamental issues now,
when we have the resources, we will be very
well-placed to weather the storm when the
inevitable downturn occurs.
MEL RADER
I would seek to find funding to support
critical programs. Opportunities for funding
include:
(a) Refer a proposal for general obligation
bonds to pay for low-income housing, (b)
advocate at the state level for a reform of the
property tax system, including increased
taxes on commercial properties, (c) use of
targeted excise taxes such as a tax on
e-cigarettes at the same level as regular
cigarettes to pay for addictions treatment
programs, and (d) implementation of a
construction tax as now allowed within the
inclusionary zoning legislation.
I would also seek to find savings in current
programs with the highest opportunity being
to (a) reduce enforcement of nonviolent
crimes to save money in the corrections
systems and (b) negotiate with health systems
to take on some of the health services
currently paid for through general fund
dollars.
BRIAN WILSON
A range of things. I’d look for non-
essential program s to temporarily suspend,
and divert any savings to mission-critical
programs, especially front line health and
human services and law enforcement. I’d
work with county employee unions to try
and temporarily cap labor costs, just as we
did in 2006. We’ll have to dip into the
savings account, too, and probably try to
raise cash through sale of non-essential
county assets.
.
ERIC ZIMMERMAN
I will fight to maintain current service
.levels by ensuring we are not expanding
programs today that have to be cut tomorrow.
We need to focus on essential services, paying
attention to those most in need. A bad budget
is usually accompanied by a bad economy,
translating in more need for county programs.
We will need to work with county employees
to minimize the impacts of cuts and prioritize
programs. We will also need to look for ways
to save money through innovative approaches
and better use of data to understand what is
working and what is n o t
C Complete this sentence with
a. For medicinal purposes only.
b. To decompress after a stressful
day.
c. Recreationally. Hey, it’s legal.
d. Rarely.
e. Never.
MARISHA CHILDS:
e. Never.
BRIAN WILSON
e. Never.
SHARON MEIERAN
e. Never.
ERIC ZIMMERMAN
e. Never.
MEL RADER
d. Rarely.
7
Make one promise to the
1 city’s people of color that
you will deliver on as
commissioner. Street Roots wi
check on its status every year.
MARISHA CHILDS
I will work to ensure actions are taken
now, that data supports, what many in
communities of color know: generally
speaking, people of color in Multnomah
County have a lower quality of life. I want
to see an Office of Civil Rights created in
Multnomah County. I want better training
at the Sheriff’s Office and in jails for
cultural competency and trauma-informed
care. I also want to see this training in the
District Attorney’s Office. This kind of ■
training needs to be monitored regularly,
to see that changes are truly happening,
and not just relying on the word of the
department heads. For example, in jails,
the inmates (not just staff) need to be
heard from, to hear about their
experiences in jail. The social services
agencies also need to treat the county’s
people of color with respect and
understanding.
SHARON MEIERAN
First, we need to openly and directly
acknowledge the serious racial inequities
that exist in our county. On a broad level,
and m ost importantly, I promise to
engage and listen and be an ally in
working to actdress these inequities. On
a more specific level, I will ensure that
my own staff reflect the diversity that is
our county. I will also ensure the voices
of people of color are an integral part of
all policy discussions and
implementation.
MEL RADER
Find significant funding to implement
Multnomah County’s new Community
Health Improvement Plan that will be
finished in September 2016.
BRIAN WILSON
Bird dog the implementation of
recommendations that come out of the
MacArthur Foundation findings, whether
the county advances to the next round of
study or not.
■ the following options:
I smoke marijuana
•Sharon Meieran submitted this artwork from her
favorite artist - her daughter Ella.
Page 9
2 0 1 6 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS RACE
ERIC ZIMMERMAN
We need to create more pathways for
children of color to gain skills and
leadership opportunities that they can use
to succeed in life. The Summer Youth
Connect program is a critical resource to
offer such skills to youth in the
community. It has only survived thanks to
the dedication of Loretta Smith to protect
i t I commend Commissioner Smith for
that work, and I’m proud to have her
endorsem ent in this race. I know that
Commissioner Smith will be forced to
leave her seat in 2018 due to term limits,
and it is my promise to pick up the
mantle from h er and protect this critical
program.
How will you ensure young people of color will succeed in
" Multnomah County? (150 words or less)
MARISHA CHILDS
The county needs to provide
opportunities for young people of color,
including after-school activities and
vocational training. This would also include
opportunities for young people of color
leaving jail, to make sure that they have
opportunities and do not just end up back in
the criminal justice system. This would
require a re-allocation of funding, away from
punishment for committing crimes, to
preventing crimes in the first place.
Young people of color also need to see
positive examples of leaders of color. I hope
through myself, other people of color with
interest in county and city leadership, and
other leaders of color in the community,
that young people will benefit from such
examples.
SHARON MEIERAN
We need to engage youth and their
families early on. We definitely need to
promote school-based programs that
provide mentorship, education, parenting
support, leadership training. But we actually
need to start even earlier than school to
meet people where they’re at, and provide
effective programs that directly respond to
the needs of traditionally underserved
families and communities. I will work with
community leaders and young people of
color to understand the challenges they face
and implement programs that will have the
m ost impact. Ultimately, 1 believe we
ensure the success of our youth when we
can assure the financial security and
economic viability for communities of color
and offer meaningful pathways to higher
education, training, apprenticeships and
mentoring, jobs and housing/
homeownership. We must find ways to
ensure our county values, models and
invests in these opportunities.
MEL RADER
The wage gap between whites and people
of color is greater than it’s been in many
years with African Americans earning 76
percent and Hispanics earning 74 percent
as much as whites.
The exact causes of these disparities are
complex, but it’s critical that we address the
solutions we can at the county by:
• Continuing to increase the minimum
wage by looking into repealing Oregon’s law
that prohibits us from determining what our
livable wage should be
• Advocating for labor unions’ priorities
including expanding hours for existing part-
time employees rather than hiring more
part-time staff to avoid paying benefits
• Serving undocumented residents with
dignity and care
Another way to increase economic
opportunity is to expand affordable
childcare. This would allow all working
parents to better provide for their families
and reach their professional goals, and it
would also reduce the likelihood of
children’s future interactions with public
safety and corrections departments.
BRIAN WILSON
Using our amazing library system to help
catch all kids with early reading programs
to ensure they have the best chance for
success staying in school and graduating.
ERIC ZIMMERMAN
I strongly support creating more
opportunity for the youth of color, such as
the Summer Youth Connect Program
referenced above. We also m ust expand
internships and other entry opportunities
for youth of color to join the county
workforce. T here is also a critical
conversation about children of color in our
community and closing the achievement
gap so that young people of color graduate
from high school ready to succeed. That
includes better parental support and early
childhood education in a culturally
conscious way. It also includes poverty
reduction and helping working families
avoid displacement, which can harm a
child’s education and uproot them from
support in the community. And finally, we
must work with law enforcement to provide
better community policing that helps kids
avoid criminal behavior and that reduces
the number of our youth that enter into the
juvenile justice system.
Q Pair the issu,e with the sentiment. Use each sentiment only once:
a. Great idea
b . Good idea
c. Needs work
d. Nope
1. Sell Wapato Jail
Appointed (not elected) sheriff
3 . Rent control
4 . Regional Air Quality Bureau
2.
MARISHA CHILDS
1. Sell Wapato Jail - d. Nope
2. Appointed sheriff - c. Needs work
3. Rent control - b. Good idea
4. Air quality bureau - a. Great idea
SHARON MEIERAN
1. Sell Wapato Jail - a. Great idea
2. Appointed sheriff - b. Good idea
3. Rent control - c. Needs work
4. Air quality bureau - d. Nope
MEL RADER
1. Sell Wapato Jail - c. Great idea
2. Appointed sheriff - b. Good idea
3. Rent control - c. Needs work
4. Air quality bureau - a. Nope
BRIAN WILSON
1.
2.
3.
4.
*
Sell Wapato Jail - a. Great idea
Appointed sheriff - b. Good idea
Rent control - c. Needs work
Air quality bureau - d. Nope
ERIC ZIMMERMAN
1. Sell Wapato Jail - a. Great idea
2. Appointed sheriff - b. Good idea
3. Rent control - c. Needs work
4. Air quality bureau - d. Nope
Continued on Page 10