Board hears recommendations to fill multiple advisory-council vacancies, referrals set for Jan. 28

Washington County staff presented multiple advisory-council appointment and recruitment recommendations during the Jan. 14 Board of Commissioners meeting and asked the board for direction ahead of the Jan. 28 business meeting.

For the Public Health Advisory Council staff recommended appointment of three applicants: Brian O’Connor, Juan Pablo Villalobos Garcia and Christine Legler to regular four-year terms beginning Feb. 1, 2025 and running through Jan. 31, 2029. Health and Human Services staff said the advisory council is appointed by the board to fulfill federal and state responsibilities and to advise the county’s role as the local public health authority; the body is composed of a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 17 members and seeks representation from communities experiencing health and social inequities.

Rebecca Miller, supervisor for Disability, Aging and Veteran Services and the area agency on aging director, briefed the board on Aging and Veterans Services Advisory Council (AVSAC) recruitment. She said AVSAC consists of 13 regular members and up to six alternates and that the county received six applications in the current cycle but two withdrew. Staff recommended bringing three applicants forward for appointment to three-year terms ending June 30, 2028; those candidates include veterans and applicants aged 60 or older, reflecting AVSAC rules that emphasize majority representation by older adults and service consumers.

Miller described applicant backgrounds in general terms that staff provided in the packet: for example, one recommended candidate served in the U.S. Army Reserve for more than 20 years and currently volunteers with the county veterans treatment court; another is a retired lieutenant colonel and Vietnam-era veteran active with the American Legion and homelessness-focused volunteer networks. Staff noted a procedural clarification to commissioners: a county employee may serve on an advisory council provided they participate on personal time and do not represent the county in that role.

The Homeless Solutions Advisory Council (the solutions council) presented four unanimous membership recommendations after a recruitment process that produced 21 applications and nine interviews. Chair Kim Marshall and staff said the council was created in 2024 by consolidating the continuum-of-care and homeless-plan advisory bodies; it includes standing subcommittees (a technical performance-evaluation subcommittee and a lived-experience advisory committee) and works on system integration with behavioral health, law enforcement and public safety. Solutions council nominees to be forwarded to the county board on Jan. 28 include Adam Peterson (Healthshare), Danielle Dawson (executive director, Good Neighbor Center), Kim Hahn (Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue) and Rachel Duke (Community Partners for Affordable Housing).

Commissioners asked a series of procedural and representational questions: several noted the county’s intention to prioritize lived experience and racial equity on advisory bodies, and one asked how the solutions council planned to increase the percentage of members with lived experience. Staff replied that a separate lived-experience advisory committee is compensated and designed to bring those perspectives into the parent body and that not all applicants disclose lived experience at first contact. No formal appointments were made on Jan. 14; staff requested board direction to place recommended candidates on the Jan. 28 consent or action agenda for formal appointment.