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Two recently elected members of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners proposed new rules this week to diminish the vast authority of the county chair.
Commissioners Meghan Moyer and Vince Jones-Dixon are seeking public comment on the changes to how the five-member board operates, which include giving commissioners more power to place items on the board’s agenda. The new rules would require majority consent to end a meeting or cancel one, and board members would be required to state conflicts of interest before meetings and could be precluded from voting.
“Multnomah County’s current board rules are confusing and do not align with the county’s stated values of inclusivity and transparency,” Moyer and Jones-Dixon said in a press release. “The revised rules will make it easier for residents to participate in county decisions.”
Their push coincides with recommendations for reform from ManageWise, a firm run by former City Auditor Mary Hull Caballero, engaged by the county to help update its governance.
County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson welcomed discussion of both sets of proposed rules.
“It’s very timely and very good that commissioners are bringing forward their proposals because we’ve been having this conversation around rules,” she said. “I think we’re going to have a robust and comprehensive discussion.”