Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness Shelters topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Gresham councilor tells Multnomah County community objects to Cook Plaza shelter; board paused site for 90 days
Summary
Gresham City Councilor Kathy Keithley urged Multnomah County commissioners to heed community concerns during a 90-day pause on converting Cook Plaza into a pod shelter and day center, saying Rockwood already hosts a high concentration of shelters and residents want a different approach.
Kathy Keithley, a city councilor from Gresham, told Multnomah County commissioners during public comment that the county's 90-day pause on converting Cook Plaza into a pod shelter and day center should be used to seek community-driven solutions rather than defaulting to timelines and previously committed spending.
Keithley said Gresham already hosts eight shelters and that adding Cook Plaza would increase that concentration in the Rockwood neighborhood to nine. She said Rockwood is among Oregon's most diverse and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and that the community has invested more than $40 million in revitalization efforts. “We greatly appreciate the 90-day pause and the opportunity to convene and hear from our community,” she told the board, and asked the county to use the pause to find a solution that builds long-term buy-in rather than returning to “business as usual.”
The county chair had placed a 90-day pause on the Cook Plaza project so Commissioner Jones Dixon could convene East County community members; Keithley said the convenings produced clear results and that Gresham residents and neighboring jurisdictions largely opposed adding another shelter in Rockwood. She told commissioners the pause gave residents a needed opportunity to be heard and urged the county to weigh community input ahead of timelines or sunk costs.
Keithley said Rockwood already has four shelters and would have five if Cook Plaza moves forward, and that neighboring jurisdictions had asked for services but had “none” to offer. She said the county's community briefing on the convenings would be delivered to the board the following week.
Her remarks occurred during the meeting's public comment period; the board did not take formal action on Cook Plaza during this session. Commissioners and county staff said a briefing on the results of the convenings would be presented to the board at a subsequent meeting.
Keithley provided her name and role for the record when asked by the chair and left written materials with county staff at the meeting.
