jessicavegapederson.com

The challenges we face today demand strong and bold leadership. I first ran for office as a mom driven by a desire to make sure that everyone, no matter their zip code, has access to connected sidewalks, safe housing, and a good education. I’ve never lost sight of these priorities. I spent fourteen years working in the business sector as a technology project manager and the past ten years as a public servant, although I’ve been working to advocate in my community since high school.

We are living through unprecedented times, as our communities reel from the pandemic, face a housing and houslessness crisis, reckon with centuries of racial and social injustice, and witness the devastating impacts of climate change. I still believe that all of us, no matter our zip code, have a right to thrive and that our county Chair should help us get there.

Multnomah County needs strong leadership today. We need a leader who feels the challenges our county faces, who sees the path forward, and who will weave together a coalition to meet the moment and create the change we desperately need. That’s why I’m running for County Chair.

I know small businesses are the backbone of our local economy, they are engines of economic mobility. In my career I’ve worked at businesses ranging from small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. My husband is a small business owner – in fact, since college he’s never worked for anyone but himself – and I know first-hand how rough these past two years have been for small businesses. Government can be a help for businesses through things like PPP, but it also has the power to shut things down in the middle of a pandemic. That’s a huge impact!

As County Chair I’ll work closely with small businesses to make sure that the policies and work we’re doing at Multnomah County takes into account your input. The county can do more to support existing small businesses and help more people start their own businesses.

I’m the proud granddaughter of Mexican-American immigrants, and I understand the unique role that small businesses have in helping immigrant and refugee communities build generational wealth and settle in our communities.

I also recognize that different types of assistance impacts different businesses and owners differently. For example, many BIPOC owned businesses don’t have brick and mortar locations. Many personal care employees/small business owners lease chairs or spaces, and therefore aren’t eligible for certain types of assistance. So there may not be a one-size-fits-all solution to the struggles our small businesses are facing today.

This is why it’s so crucial that elected leaders really take the time to listen and learn from groups like this one. This is something that has been the cornerstone of my leadership style.
The County needs to do more to promote economic mobility, because we know how poverty causes violence, because many of the social determinants of health are tied directly to someone’s economic status, and because helping more people build wealth will reduce the strain on our social services.

I’ve discussed a number of ideas with the City of Portland, BBPDX, Bricks Need Mortar, and Prosper Portland in regards to the city’s upcoming Spring Budget. Those ideas include: $500k for repair fund, which compensates businesses for vandalism and break ins. However, we must be aware that this funding doesn’t cover lost merchandise, and when businesses file repeated claims for such losses they can often end up losing their insurance coverage. I am interested in expanding this fund to include merchandise, at least up to a certain dollar amount. Having businesses sign trespass agreements with PPB , which allows PPB to enforce trespassing on business property without having to contact business owners, a current requirement that both takes time for the police, which is in short supply, and a small business owner on the other end. I understand from Sheriff Mike Reese that this program worked well and was an effective deterrent when last used when he was police chief. The Mayor Wheeler’s office’s proposal to add PS3s (unarmed police force) to do some of the crime prevention and investigation work. The City piloted a PS3 program in North Portland over the summer and it received positive reviews. PS3s patrolled neighborhoods and business districts during the day and at night to discourage crime.

The city can hire more PS3s after the recent agreement with the police union. Working with the city to have PPB conduct patrols of business districts during the night with their flood lights on, and aimed at businesses, to act as a deterrent to criminals. This idea came from Sarah Shaoul, and I think it’s an idea worth pursuing and I’ve talked to the Mayor’s office about this idea. Bringing back a city program that provides business owners with advice on crime prevention strategies. Experts visit businesses, look at vulnerabilities, and recommend signage, lighting, locks, fences, barred windows, etc. to help businesses better protect themselves. This program may be run through or using funds from the Office of Community and Civic Life.

There has been a large segment of county employees that has never stopped going to work during the pandemic, and that is our front line workers; the people who are working in our health department, in our jails, in our public health and emergency response departments who have been responding to covid. These people have been going to work in the McCoy Center, in Old Town the whole time, so there are many county employees who’ve never stopped. At the board level, we have been back to work in the building since the fall. We’ve been coming in at least two days a week for our board meetings. And even though we do have the option to do it virtually, I try to be there every single time in person because I think it’s important, and I think it’s a good statement to my team and to county workers. And it’s great, definitely when I’m there, at the county building, I’m going to food carts and restaurants nearby and taking advantage of the business in the area. So you can see the multiplier effect it has when people are working downtown, and the benefit that has on the small businesses in our community. And we are working on increasing the number of days we are in the building. 

Housing & homelessness is one of the two greatest crisis facing our community, alongside the surge in gun violence. First and foremost, thousands of our neighbors are living unsheltered on the street. And many of them are struggling with mental health and addiction challenges that are often caused or exacerbated by the effects of living outside. I acknowledge the deep and on-going impacts that this crisis has on our broader community, our small businesses, and those whose livelihoods depend on attracting customers off the street. I’ve walked up and down 82nd avenue, talking with Asian and Pacific Islander-owned businesses about how hard it has been for them to have to try to work with, and often clean up after, campers on their property. This crisis requires a comprehensive approach that focuses on keeping people housed, helping people off our streets, and ensuring access to critical support services so people are successful in housing. That means using rental assistance, rapid rehousing, and vouchers to keep people from becoming homeless. It means expanding our shelter capacity with traditional shelter, pod villages, and safe rest and safe parking sites; It means scaling-up behavioral health services and permanent supportive housing to keep those who require additional support housed. We need to do more to address the accumulation of garbage on our streets, which has gotten much worse due to the pandemic. I have supported using ARPA dollars to clean up our streets. Needles are a significant problem, I’ve seen that first hand as I’ve joined clean-up teams across Multnomah County in picking up trash and needles. As a commissioner I’ve successfully fought to locate four new major needle disposal drop boxes across Multnomah County, and as Chair I’ll be eager to partner with the City of Portland, Metro, the state, and our hospital systems to expand both needle disposal resources and clean-ups. Expanding access to behavioral healthcare is key to solving this crisis, and in order to do that we need to address the workforce crisis that stems from years of underinvestment in the system and has been deeply exacerbated by COVID-19. As County Chair, I will work to raise the wages and increase recruitment of behavioral healthcare workers, lower caseloads, and better integrate our behavioral health system into the county’s broader array of services to ensure every community member who needs access to behavioral healthcare can find it. Last, this crisis is particularly acute for Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, so I’ll work to support and expand the number of culturally-specific providers throughout our community.

We won’t solve our homelessness crisis by pitting shelter and housing against each other. This crisis requires a comprehensive approach that focuses on keeping people housed, helping people off our streets, and ensuring access to critical support services so people are successful in housing. That means using rental assistance, rapid rehousing, and vouchers to keep people from becoming homeless. It means expanding our shelter capacity with every tool at our disposal, including traditional shelter, pod villages, and safe rest and safe parking sites; It means scaling-up behavioral health services and permanent supportive housing to keep those who require additional support housed.

We do need to accelerate shelter expansion but essentially criminalizing homelessness by requiring a one-size-fits-all enforcement of anti-camping laws, could hurt, rather than help people in their transition to stable housing. Let me be clear, permanent supportive housing IS a priority, and yes, we’re helping create investments in long term affordable housing at a significant level, but we are making significant strides in other tools as well. The County is the one jurisdiction that has opened shelter beds over the last 5 years. With the relaxation of COVID restrictions, that # can double almost overnight. I have personally been involved in opening 2 new county shelters just in my district, with a Safe Rest Village and a WeShine mini-village soon to open as well. The Joint Office of Homeless Services has placed >1,700 individuals in permanent housing, with >300 people housed through the Supportive Housing Services measure. We’ve had the largest expansion of shelter in Portland’s history in the last 5 years, more than doubling the number of publicly funded shelter beds and expanding our traditional congregate shelter strategy to include alternative shelter, tiny home villages, and motels. Just since July 1, the county has created the addition of 312 shelter beds in Multnomah County. That includes an alternative shelter, Beacon Village PDX, and our hybrid shelter at Arbor Lodge.

Statements that investment in homelessness and housing are an either/or proposition further push the false narrative that the County doesn’t believe in shelter. It also ignores the reality of what we’re doing: providing supportive housing, not just housing. For me “housing first” does not mean “housing only;” it means housing plus wrap-around services, the services people need to find stability and success. That’s why I worked to help pass the Metro Supportive Housing Services Measure, which has already helped hundreds of people off the streets and into homes, permanently. Those funds have also allowed the County to fund and open new shelters since July. And whether it’s traditional shelter or housing development, those services have to be within reach. What we are talking about is how we are serving people so they can be successful, whether it’s getting off the streets into a temporary shelter or going into

Our behavioral health system is broken and we are facing a workforce crisis. When it comes to accessing behavioral health services, there should be no wrong door. All paths should lead to a single point of contact for mental health needs, one that will track follow ups, success rates, and satisfaction. One that will expand “patient-centered” services, like walk-in models. I will use revenue from the Support Housing Services measure to hire formerly homeless peer support specialists to provide assistance to those who need care. I will expand our mobile crisis services, such as Portland’s Street Response Team, to reduce police contact with those suffering from mental health issues. I will continue to expand our mental health services in schools, as our children are experiencing rising rates of anxiety and other mental health issues. I will raise wages and increase recruitment of behavioral healthcare workers to lower caseloads and expand the number of culturally-specific providers throughout our community. Lastly, we need further investment and coordination with our federal, state and healthcare partners, to improve and mend parts of the behavioral health system not under the county’s control. As County Chair, I will use my experience and relationships with our state and federal partners to advocate for the investments and policies we desperately need.

The addiction crisis in our County is closely tied to mental health. Unfortunately, mental health issues and the inability to access care are growing problems throughout all of our society. Oregon ranks dead last when it comes to rates of mental illness compared to access to care. We rank second in the nation when it comes to rates of substance abuse, and last among states when it comes to access to care. Dead last. The consequence of untreated mental illness and substance abuse is too often chronic homelessness (where we rank fifth). In order to address homelessness, we will need to dramatically improve our mental health system and addiction treatment services, which will be a top priority for me as County chair. Here’s my plan. ‍ First, we need to bolster the effectiveness of our crisis line, which serves as the primary point of entry when people are seeking help for themselves or for others. We must increase the resources and assistance available for those who contact the crisis line. The line must offer extensive help, including direct navigation and follow up to eliminate any chance of people falling through the cracks. ‍ Too often, people are shuffled from agency to agency and asked to navigate bureaucratic processes. But this is asking too much. Those calling are often struggling with stress, mental health issues, alcoholism, drug use and/or trauma. Not addressing their needs can lead to eviction and homelessness, worsening or triggering further severe trauma and often self medication. ‍ To better meet the needs of our neighbors, we must increase staffing for the crisis line, provide the line with additional resources to help callers (particularly with access to housing or rental assistance), follow up with people to ensure that help and navigation has been successfully provided, ensure the line is consumer friendly, be able to serve people speaking all languages and of all ethnicities, and provide multiple pathways into the system (phone, email, and walk-in options). ‍ Other points of contact, such as 211, rental assistance, public safety officers, hospitals, Portland Street Response, homeless navigation teams, must be able to directly transfer people to our mental health crisis treatment services, ensuring that “there is no wrong door” when trying to access these services. ‍ Second, we must bolster our mental health care systems and meet the needs of the whole person, including physical and mental health, as well as substance use issues. People seeking help must be provided with robust, patient-centered care without wait times. That will require: Reducing wait times for critical and life saving services. People in crisis cannot wait, and people currently have to wait up to six weeks for services, which is unacceptable. Providing mental health and/or addiction treatment services, both inpatient and outpatient services, that are effective, “people centered,” accessible, and culturally and linguistically specific. Expanding low barrier, community-based services, linguistically and culturally specific services, and peer support. Boosting pay for behavioral health care workers across the spectrum of services, including peer support specialists and certified recovery mentors, will improve recruitment and retention, and build a pipeline for the growing need for behavioral health care providers, especially culturally- and linguistically-specific providers; Expanding co-occurring mental health and addiction treatment for people who are chronically homeless. There is a shortage of services that treat co-occurring conditions, which is a particularly acute problem for those living on the streets. Reducing the backlog in the state’s mental hospital, which is overwhelmed and clogging up the mental health system. Reducing this backlog can be done by expanding our ability locally to treat the aid and assist population with outpatient treatment options. ‍ But other improvements and investments are needed throughout the system. For example, we will use new sources of funding and revenue from the Support Housing Services measure that voters approved in May 2020 to tie together and expand our wrap-around services with the understanding that providing treatment, employment supports, housing, healthcare services will help our homeless neighbors get back on their feet. ‍ We will also grow our long term transitional housing for people in early recovery from addiction, as well as those participating in services. We need to invest in a continuum of housing needs from providing a short term safe and stable place to go, to a permanent home. There are many effective models for transitional and supportive housing. We must invest and remove barriers to expand access to these services. Transitional and supportive housing enables someone to work towards a permanent home with wrap-around supports. We know what works – it’s time to invest. ‍ I will increase oversight of our systems and track race and ethnicity data to ensure that we fund effective programs for all of our communities, particularly our most vulnerable populations. ‍ I will expand alternative shelter, housing, and safe rest options to give those most reluctant to go to traditional shelters an opportunity to improve their living conditions. Providing behavioral health, addiction treatment, transportation assistance, case management and other critical services to address all of their needs will ensure that our neighbors can transition into stable housing. ‍

We clearly have public safety challenges across our county, and we should be using every tool in the toolbox, and using the right tools in the right circumstances. We need to be fighting this crisis on all fronts, including coordinating with the cities of Portland and Gresham. We need to adequately fund our sheriff & district attorney’s office to meet the needs of providing justice in our community. As a county commissioner, I have already directed additional funds to the DA’s office to hire more investigators and public attorneys to address the increase in gun violence cases. As County Chair, I will have frequent conversations with the sheriff & DA offices and other public safety partners about what is needed to make sure the system is functioning as it should to provide justice. I will do collaborative budgeting with all of our departments and the DA and Sheriff’s offices to make sure we’re looking at our public safety investments across the board. And I will advocate for more state resources to help us with the public safety crisis Multnomah County is facing. Courts have been at a slow pace because of covid. As cases have picked up, we are feeling the impacts of being understaffed throughout the criminal justice system. We now face a critical shortage of prosecutors and public defenders. As Chair, I will make sure any one part of this system isn’t a road block, and all systems are working as they should be. While incarceration should be used as a tool for public safety, when it is necessary, it’s critical that we’re providing diversion and treatment resources when that would better address an individual’s underlying issues. There are people who do need to be off the streets and I will work closely with the sheriff’s department and the DA’s office to make sure we have capacity to keep the public safe, while also working to ensure we are using the right tools in the right circumstances. There’s no one size fits all approach. My approach is a balanced approach; to make sure all parts of this system are adequately funded to keep everyone in our community safe. I am also considering a proposal this budget cycle to dedicate money to business owners in Multnomah County who have been victims of crime, whether that’s graffiti, vandalism or theft. We are working right now to see how we can allocate funding in a way that business owners can replace and repair their businesses without impacting their insurance rates. I am interested in working with Bricks Need Mortar and other small businesses to explore ideas around this kind of investment. We have to be doing the work to make sure people in our communities are safe, but we need to address systemic injustice in our justice system that has had disproportionate impacts on people, and I am going to continue to do that work as Multnomah County Chair.

As county chair I will ask departments and divisions to review and evaluate their programs annually, to determine effectiveness. I will not be afraid to ask for budget cuts to redirect resources to more pressing issues. I will not hesitate to eliminate programs that aren’t working or whose funds could be better spent elsewhere. And I want to improve the rigor of our budget review process and the data we collect to better determine what is and isn’t working. The county has a number of mandatory functions: property tax collection and assessment, elections, animal control, public safety and the operation of our jails. We also receive federal state funding for a host of issues – behavioral health; services for those with disabilities, as well as seniors; housing assistance. The county’s budget is a mix of mandated functions and a hodgepodge of revenue streams. But I have been diligent as a commissioner in reviewing spending. I have great relationships with our state legislature. And I am very well versed in how the county’s budget works, and our upcoming liabilities and opportunities for new investments. I believe I am by far the most qualified candidate to scrutinize our budget, redirect funds, and work with partners to find resources for our community.