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As Multnomah County commissioners race to pass their $4 billion budget, they got a missive from across the river.
City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez wrote to County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and the board yesterday to protest their allocation of money for tents, tarps and syringes, the distribution of which Gonzalez has opposed in the past.
“I am concerned that the Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS) plans to further invest substantially in tents and tarps, without clear parameters as to how such materials will be distributed and tracked in the City of Portland,” Gonzalez wrote. “Our community is overwhelmed with encampments, including unsanitary conditions and environmental damage, violence and other crimes, and debilitating drug use that such encampments bring to public spaces in our city.”
Fires at encampments made from county-provided tents endanger firefighters, wrote Gonzalez, who oversees Portland Fire & Rescue. His letter arrives as county and city officials are engaged in a delicate conversation over the future of the Joint Office, which is funded by both governments but controlled by the county chair. That negotiation, as WW reported this morning, is starting to look more like divorce proceedings.
Multnomah County’s press office didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment.
“I also hold deep concerns about proposed increase of drug paraphernalia,” Gonzalez wrote. “The FY 2024-25 budget proposes distribution of 5 million syringes from the Health Department. This is a 49% increase from the number of syringes distributed during this current fiscal year. While we understand the intent of harm reduction is to limit the spread of communicable diseases, we believe any significant increase without clear shared guidelines for distribution is a mistake.”
Gonzalez, who is running for mayor, says he hears regularly from Portlanders who say they don’t feel safe bringing their families to parks for fear of stepping on used needles.
“As Multnomah County and the City of Portland further align goals and objectives in managing the dueling crises of unsanctioned camping and drugs on our streets, it is our hope that the county budget will reflect the community’s top concerns, rather than the continued contribution to prolonging them,” Gonzalez wrote. “I understand a draft budget note may be in the works to address these issues and look forward to reviewing a draft of that note.”