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Public commenters urge county action on life-expectancy gaps, school mental health cuts and eviction prevention
Summary
During public testimony several residents and school staff urged Multnomah County commissioners to acknowledge life-expectancy disparities between ZIP codes, to restore funding for school-based mental health providers, and to preserve an eviction-prevention contract serving thousands of tenants.
Several members of the public used the board’s public-comment period to urge commissioners to act on health, housing and school mental-health concerns.
Britney Pressey, identifying herself as a concerned citizen, told the board that data from zipcodeexam.com show life-expectancy gaps of more than a decade across nearby Portland ZIP codes: she said 97219 averages 86 years, 97214 averages 77 years and 97209 averages 73 years. Pressey asked commissioners to acknowledge those disparities, to review health data for all Portland ZIP codes and to use that information to guide planning and investments that address social determinants of health such as housing, walkability, education and access to care.
Sarah Forrest, a clinical social worker at Cleveland High School, testified against proposed cuts to school-based mental health providers, saying the providers are often the only accessible mental-health clinicians for uninsured students and that they reduce absenteeism by providing care on campus. She urged the board not to cut school-based services at Cleveland High School and across the city.
Kim McCarty, executive director of the tenant organization Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT), told the commissioners that Multnomah County informed CAT that a five-year eviction-prevention contract with the county will be eliminated due to budget cuts. McCarty said CAT’s tenant-rights hotline and tenant-education program cost about $100,000 per year, counselled over 2,000 tenants in Multnomah County, and provides legal counsel and rent assistance when funding is available; she asked the county to restore the contract line 25-13-1 (eviction prevention support).
Caroline Bleckman, a school social worker at Benson High School, described the Benson Wellness Center — a certified school-based health center operated in partnership with OHSU under an MOU involving Portland Public Schools, Multnomah County and others — and said cutting the county mental-health consultant could jeopardize the clinic’s certification. Bleckman cited Oregon Health Authority reporting that Benson’s behavioral-health visits rose to 332 in 2023–24 from 179 the previous year; she said many students served by the county’s mental-health consultant are BIPOC and Latinx, and that bilingual services are essential.
Other speakers used the public-comment period to raise housing and quality-of-life complaints. The board clerk confirmed six sign-ups and the clerk called four speakers to the table at once during the allotted three-minute public-comment slots.
Why this matters: county funding choices influence access to eviction-prevention services, school-based mental-health services, and public-health interventions tied to neighborhood conditions. Commenters requested the board preserve or restore funding and to use available data to target disparities.
What the record shows: the speakers’ remarks are part of the public-comment record; the board did not take immediate action during the comment period but later considered budget items and grant carry-forwards in the meeting agenda.
Ending: speakers asked the board to treat the testimony as a call for county staff and elected officials to prioritize investments for communities facing shorter life expectancies, to preserve school-based mental-health staff, and to restore eviction-prevention support that local tenant organizations provide.
