Murmurs: Measure 110 Money Seeping Out

MEASURE 110 MONEY SEEPING OUT: As WW reported recently, the Oregon Health Authority and its 20-member oversight panel are struggling to deploy nearly $270 million earmarked by Measure 110 for addiction treatment. That 2020 ballot measure decriminalized the personal use of most hard drugs and diverted a lucrative stream of recreational cannabis tax revenue to addiction treatment. This week, the agency announced a small step forward: On April 15, it notified providers in the first two counties, Baker and Morrow, of its intention to award funds. The agency expects to make awards to at least six more counties this week, although none yet in the Portland metro area. The backlog is a result of OHA receiving 333 applications from addiction treatment service providers across the state. Each of those applications requires two reviews of more than 300 questions. OHA said in April it had completed 429 of the 666 reviews. Blue Valentine, a co-chair of the Oversight and Accountability Council, says everybody is working as fast as possible. “OAC members want to get funds into the community without further delay.”

THREE EXPO CENTER PARKING LOTS COULD HOLD CAR CAMPING: Staff for the regional government Metro identified on April 18 three portions of the Expo Center parking lot that city officials could use as a safe parking site for houseless Portlanders. Discussions between the city and Metro for a car camping site fell apart late last year because the city wanted a paved lot, but Metro would only offer a graveled one. Earlier this month, Metro President Lynn Peterson revealed to WW that the talks had been revived. This time around, one of the three lots Metro could offer is paved; the other two are not. Peterson and City Commissioners Dan Ryan and Jo Ann Hardesty made a joint request Monday to the Metro Exposition Recreation Commission, which must approve uses of the Expo Center, to greenlight moving forward with a safe parking site at one of the lots identified. The commission will discuss it at their next meeting May 4.

TRIMET ENDS MASK MANDATE: TriMet has dropped its mask mandate, hours after a federal judge in Florida ruled that the U.S. government lacked the authority to require the wearing of face masks on transportation. The ruling had the high-profile effect of ending mask mandates on airplanes and in airports (including Portland International Airport), but it also affected rules for public transit. New York is among the cities that are keeping mask mandates on local buses and trains. Not Portland: “Masks are now optional on our buses and trains due to yesterday’s federal court decision and the new [Transportation Security Administration] directive,” says TriMet spokesman Tyler Graf. “With the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] still recommending that masks be used on transit, we do welcome their continued use and ask that everyone be respectful of others.”

METRO SPENDING BIG ON ADMIN COSTS FOR PARKS BOND: Back in November 2019, voters overwhelmingly approved giving Metro $475 million to purchase new greenspaces and maintain existing ones. Although the agency presented a thorough and specific project list at the time, it has been heavily engaged in outreach and stakeholder consultation since then, resulting in relatively limited purchases of new land and high administrative costs. Last week, the agency presented its annual report on progress to date, noting that through Dec. 31, it had spent $18.3 million of the $475 million. “With little capital investment spent to date, the current administrative rate of 23% of total bond spending to date or $4.17 million, is high,” the report said. But in adopting the report, the Metro Council also approved a plan that staff expects to speed up acquisition and bring administrative costs down to about 10% over the long term.