Over 50 community members presented their priorities and opinions to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners Wednesday night around the proposed Fiscal Year 2022 budget. Wednesday’s meeting was the second of two budget hearings, the first of which was held May 5.
Before the virtual testimony, County Chair Deborah Kafoury highlighted the priorities of this year’s proposed budget that, at $2.81 billion dollars, is the largest ever. Centered around the COVID-19 pandemic, Chair Kafoury expects this budget to address the “highest and most immediate priorities” of the community and put Multnomah County in a position “to recover quickly and equitably.”
“While we seem to get closer to turning the corner on this crisis every day, the pandemic will continue to have significant long-term effects on the health, safety and stability of our community,” she said.
Community members shared feedback about a wide variety of items and topics in the proposed budget , including the implementation of universal preschool in Multnomah County, homeless services and shelters, woodsmoke curtailment, and support for funding for older residents with HIV.
Additional Funding for Universal Pre-K
Mary King, an economist from Portland State University, helped Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson plan the Preschool For All measure, which would implement free year-round preschool for all 3 and 4 year olds in Multnomah County. Now she and several other community advocates are concerned the measure won’t receive adequate funding after Multnomah County decided against double-taxing business owners.
In her testimony, King described the rationale for the tax break as “flimsy,” pointing out that businesses are already regularly doubly and triply taxed. Universal preschool cannot afford an anticipated 21 percent decrease in funding, she continued.
“These early years are critical for building funds for future needs: a solid reserve to maintain service levels during downturns to mitigate known impacts on infant and toddler care, as well as Head Start and support for preschool providers,” she said.
King ended her testimony by encouraging the board to either remove the tax break or to find another revenue stream that would make up for the funding lost to it.
“We can’t gamble on being saved by the federal government, which has failed our children for decades,” she said.
Leslie McCollom, a parent of young children and a former preschool educator, was one of several others who also voiced their worries with the decrease in revenue streams.
“I am so glad that Multnomah County’s Preschool for All program will start to value early childhood educators as they should, and at a level that will allow them to continue their vital work with young children, while providing their own families with security and opportunity,” she said.
“Training teachers, ensuring buildings are safe for students and staff, and paying educators a fair wage with benefits, these and the others outlined in the plan are essential. So I’m worried about the potential negative impacts should any of these be cut.”
Homeless Services Measure and Alternative Shelter Funding
Several community members testified in direct support of Chair Kafoury’s proposed budget priorities for investing funds from the Supportive Housing Services measure that voters passed in May 2020.
Samm McCrary, a housing advocate who had previously experienced years of surviving outside, recounted her story and underscored the importance of wraparound services. While she homeless, McCrary was connected with REACH CDC, which offered her housing and support services.
“If they hadn’t been there to follow me and follow me in those next two years, I would’ve been right back on the street,” she said. “Thank you for your leadership and I encourage everybody to support the measure.”
David Otte, the principal at Holst Architecture, said the budget “strikes the right balance” between immediate services like street outreach and emergency shelters with longer-term solutions, notably helping people get into stable and supportive housing. He also applauded the Chair for setting aside $3 million in the budget for workforce development.
“Thank you Chair Kafoury for your bold leadership, and thank you Commissioners,” he said.
Other community members advocated for the County to make more alternative shelters a higher priority. When community member Lisa Larson first entered Dignity Village, she had just gotten out of an abusive relationship and was living on the streets for two years.
“I was afraid of my own shadow,” she said. But after finding Dignity Village, a legal encampment that provides a community and life off the street for over 60 community members, Larson’s life transformed.
“Because of the safety of the village, the sense of community we have here, being able to lock our doors, and still have our space, I’m able to talk in front of all of you now,” she said.“Without the village, a lot of us would not really be able to integrate back into the community.”
David Dickson co-leads the Downtown Neighborhood Association’s Good Neighbor volunteer project, where they distribute water, cold weather gear and survival items to unhoused community members living downtown. He encouraged Multnomah County to invest in villages like the one where Larson lives
"I urge county commissioners to double your commitment to alternative shelters to address the humanitarian crisis that surrounds us," he said.
Mental Health Funding for Older Residents with HIV
Jim Clay, a 75-year-old gay man and public health worker, lost his partner to AIDS 11 year ago. Clay spent six years in retirement until returning to the workforce at 70.
Now, he manages Cascade AIDS Project’s Aging Well program, which he designed to support the mental and physical health of older adults living with HIV and AIDS.
“Many of the older adults that I work with are also widows. They live alone, they feel lonely, they’re isolated, and this has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic,” Clay says.
Clay explained that this loneliness can have a profound impact on the physical health of the individuals he works with, who are already living with compromised immune systems. Clay and others from Cascade AIDS Project urged the board to increase funding for psycho, social, and mental health support for older adults living with or affected by HIV.
Chair Kafoury thanked all of the community members for their valuable input as Multnomah County heads into several more weeks of work sessions and deliberation before voting to adopt the budget on June 3.
“Our community stands at a pivotal point between crisis and recovery,” Chair Kafoury said. “That’s why your voice is so valuable to the budget process this year.”