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Multnomah County plans to open its deflection center for people arrested for drug possession on Oct. 14, without a so-called good neighbor agreement in place to guarantee conduct of operations there, according to a letter from County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson obtained by WW.
“Working closely with you in recent weeks on a good neighbor agreement to support Multnomah County’s Coordinated Care Pathway Center has been very valuable to us,” Vega Pederson wrote to Good Neighbor Agreement Committee today. “We also realize that his collaboration has been challenging. We recognize that our timeline hasn’t matched yours. In responding quickly to our statewide call to action to stand up deflection systems following the passage of House Bill 4002, our pace has been necessarily quick.”
Multnomah County had planned to open the deflection center, now called the Coordinated Care Pathway Center, on Sept. 1, the day that arrests resumed, according to a law passed by the Oregon Legislature in March that overturned much of Measure 110, the 2020 referendum that decriminalized possession of illegal drugs.
The move drew immediate opposition from members of the committee, including the Central Eastside Industrial Council, which represents businesses in the neighborhood around the deflection center on Southeast Pine Street, just off of Sandy Boulevard.
“The CEIC and the rest of the committee has been very clear that we will not support the opening of the center without a good neighbor agreement in place,” CEIC executive director Carolyn Holcomb said in an email to WW just after learning about the plan.
“We are disturbed by this development, which represents an abandonment of the Good Neighbor Agreement Committee that the county called upon, ostensibly, to get public feedback,” said David Watnick, a lawyer for the Escuela Viva Community School, a nearby preschool. “It appears that the county has used that process to create the veneer of public engagement without actually implementing a single suggestion or request that the committee provided.”
In her letter, Vega Pederson sought to allay concern about security around the center, which sits amid a cluster of businesses that includes Escuela Viva and the ultra-luxe Soho House. Merchants and residents have protested the center, saying that the county placed it there without considering that people brought there from around the city for deflection might remain in the area.
“Security will remain on site 24/7 and patrol the perimeter of the facility and parts of the surrounding neighborhood,” Vega Pederson wrote. “As discussed, those patrols will be able to report suspected criminal behavior and high-impact encampments, and will be able to intervene under Oregon’s Good Samaritan law. In addition to security, we are committed to safety and clean up beyond the facility.”
Vega Pederson urged committee members to stay in negotiations, which occur weekly.
“We recognize that despite good faith efforts, it is very unlikely that we’ll have a good neighbor agreement finalized for a while and that this is likely to feel unsatisfactory to you,” Vega Pederson wrote. “Still, we come to you with a request: That you stay at the table and continue the development of the good neighbor agreement even as the center opens and becomes operational.”
In a press release that didn’t mention the lack of a good neighbor agreement, the county said the deflection center will be open from 7 am to 11 pm on weekdays and 7 am to 3 pm on weekends.
“These hours reflect peak demand times for deflection services based on the first weeks of the law change,” the county said. “Hours may increase depending on staffing availability.”
The center is housed in a disused printing warehouse that the county is retrofitting for temporary use. The remodel is expected to cost as much as $2 million. The county aims to open a permanent deflection center in 2026.
Local law enforcement officers referred 71 eligible people to the county’s deflection program, run without a central location, between Sept. 1 and Oct. 4, the county said.