Clackamas commissioners invite Portland mayor to brief them on shelter funding request after regional debate

Clackamas County commissioners debated a request from the City of Portland for regional support of sheltering and recovery services during their April 7 meeting and agreed to invite the city’s mayor to brief the board before taking financial action.

Chair Roberts summarized a letter from Portland’s mayor (distributed to commissioners) and said Portland’s leadership sought urgent regional assistance. Commissioners expressed both openness to regional collaboration and reservations about sending county taxpayer dollars outside Clackamas County. Commissioner Savis said he had met with the mayor but had not seen detailed proposals and that the shelters described in the letter ‘‘do not appear to line up’’ geographically with county needs; he said he could not support redirecting roughly $4 million from county services without clear measurable outcomes.

Commissioner West outlined the county’s recovery‑oriented system of care and urged cooperation: "We don't turn people away at the door for care and treatment because their address might be on the wrong side of a county border." West recommended inviting the mayor to present to the board so commissioners could assess whether non‑financial coordination or site‑specific partnerships might make sense.

Other commissioners raised questions about shared bed‑use, whether empty treatment beds could be coordinated across jurisdictions, and the potential impacts to Clackamas County’s SHS allocations and oversight. The board agreed to invite Portland’s mayor to present and asked staff to return with recommendations for next steps after that briefing. No funding decision was made April 7.