Residents press Multnomah County on homelessness, youth behavioral-health cuts and animal-shelter accountability

Several residents used the board's public-comment period to press the commission on distinct, substantive concerns: shelter policy for people experiencing homelessness, proposed cuts to youth behavioral-health positions, and allegations of mismanagement at the county animal shelter.

Jackie Vandross, who identified herself as a Portland State University student and someone recovering from chronic homelessness, urged the commissioners to ‘‘suspend the focus on overnight shelters and redirect those funds into providing housing that is not predicated on sobriety.’’ Vandross said most unsheltered people battling addiction cannot pursue sobriety before having housing and cited low occupancy at sober shelters as evidence that sobriety requirements exclude people who need housing first.

Cie Blondron, who identified as a trans, nonbinary mental-health consultant and Multnomah County resident, strongly opposed proposed cuts to DCS (department acronym used in testimony). Blondron said ‘‘89% of the positions being cut in DCS are culturally specific KSA positions’’ and that ‘‘out of approximately 31 cuts in behavioral health, 23 of those are positions in DCS.’’ Blondron warned those cuts would remove culturally responsive clinicians serving LGBTQ+ youth and communities of color and urged the board to protect direct clinical services.

Speakers Barbara Spears and John Graham criticized Multnomah County Animal Services (referred to in testimony as MCAS), alleging a highly infectious influenza outbreak killed dozens of dogs, volunteers who raised concerns were fired, public donations for veterinary care were unused or misappropriated, and that managers acted in a punitive manner. Spears urged the commission to remove leadership, saying the commission's only solution so far is an expensive building project and announced plans for a public campaign seeking leadership changes.

Shamika Davis, CEO of Us First Oregon, described running grassroots housing-retention services in East County and asked for county support and funding for organizations offering wraparound retention services; she said her nonprofit has been operating for about 3.5 years and currently relies heavily on volunteers.

Commissioners acknowledged the testimony. The acting chair said staff would invite Spears and Graham to a March meeting to dig into raised issues and asked staff to provide an update about the animal-shelter outbreak sequence of events. Commissioners thanked community service providers and reiterated their commitment to behavioral-health supports as part of homelessness responses.

Next steps: staff will schedule follow-up meetings with public commenters who requested them and provide an update on MCAS outbreak response sequencing to the board.