Councilors press for county coordination as evictions rise and rental-assistance capacity tightens

Councilors and staff spent substantial time reviewing eviction data and how local and county systems connect residents to aid. Staff confirmed the eviction figure in the slides comes from Oregon court data on cases filed; councilors asked staff to obtain completed-eviction counts to compare front-end filings with final outcomes.

One councilor described the local count shown in the materials as “This is 606 hundred people,” underscoring concern about the scale of filings (the numeric phrasing in the presentation was unclear; staff agreed to provide clarified counts). Councilors and other participants pressed staff on who receives services and at what stage; several noted nonprofit advocates report that, in practice, assistance often requires an eviction proceeding to be initiated before the county program can respond.

Councilors recommended stronger county coordination and possible joint advocacy. Participants suggested assembling multiple cities to request clearer reporting from county departments, and to ask county housing staff and commissioners to explain how rental-assistance referrals are routed and whether funding rules require eviction filings before payment.

Staff also flagged a local program (referred to as Milwaukee Heart/SHS) that appears to be in danger of losing funding; staff said the program has been utilized but lacks clear quantification and recommended meeting with county department staff and commissioners to make a targeted case for continuation.

Councilors asked staff to add a policy discussion to future agendas: compare filed cases versus completed evictions, identify where county capacity is constraining assistance, and explore whether a coalition of cities should seek changes in reporting or funding rules to permit more upstream prevention work.