The Task Force is focused on the geographic areas of “Portland’s Central City.”
Your survey responses may be used as part of recommendations from the Task Force, as well as other community decision-making purposes. Your participation and input is valuable as we work to develop a set of near-term, achievable strategies to revitalize the Central City.
The questionnaire should take less than 15 minutes to complete.
“PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon’s behavioral health crisis reaches every corner of the state. Now, leaders from all levels are working together to figure out how to fix it, thanks to a push from residents and neighborhood associations seeing the impact every day.
It’s a crisis felt across the state, especially hitting home for the McMurtry family, whose son Kenny struggled for years with psychosis and mental health issues while trying to get solid, continuous help. They thought they found their answer when approached by the Multnomah County Early Assessment and Support Alliance.
“The program was designed and funded just to provide two years of support. How stupid to waste that investment by not having something next to offer,” Christy McMurtry, Kenny’s mom, said. “This was the first crack he fell through.”
After more struggle, he ended up homeless the last few years and nearly two weeks ago, died of an overdose just days before his 34th birthday. It’s stories like theirs prompting a desperate push for change, as neighbors rallied city, county, state and federal leaders together, going beyond jurisdictions for a behavioral health forum on Monday.
“This is not a single jurisdiction issue. People think the city is responsible for everything but so much of behavioral health is the county, the state, it’s the feds. We wanted to bring people from all levels of government together and we wanted them to hear each other,” David Dickson with the Downtown Neighborhood Association and organizer of the forum, said. “Every day that we walk out of our homes or our businesses, we run into people on the street. It’s a terribly disheartening thing to see so much tragedy going on in our streets.”
When it comes to overhauling behavioral health in Oregon – ranking near the bottom in the U.S. for treatment – action is needed on many fronts, from housing to addiction services. One issue brought up by many in Monday night’s forum revolved around compassion and changing how to civilly commit people in need of help.
“We don’t feel comfortable holding people because we cannot say they are at imminent risk of harming themselves or others. That is too high of a standard,” State Rep. Maxine Dexter, who serves Portland, said. “We are failing our community by not changing this statute.”
While discussing, many learned that changing that particular issue would come from the state level. But as the issues trickle down, further services like treatment, housing, etc., would come from other levels, like Multnomah County.
“We need treatment, but we don’t need treatment unless we have places for people to go after treatment. Because or else, they’re going to keep cycling into the ERs, the streets,” Multnomah Co. Commissioner Sharon Meieran said. “We need the experts in behavioral health to be driving the work, and elected leaders to put the money in and help implement and make it happen.”
As for what she could do in her current position with the county, she went on to say, “We need a system, and we need to build that and that’s kind of a long-term thing. We need a plan at the county. There’s work on that. I started that, it got cut short during COVID, but I want to bring that back and finalize it.”
While some changes like creating sobriety centers – beyond detox and treatment – could be done more in the short-term with locations and staffing, other solutions like actually establishing a statewide system for behavioral health will likely take lots of work and collaboration, lasting years down the road.
KOIN 6 will continue to follow up on all efforts being made.”
Register here to watch the forum video on-demand.On Monday, September 18 from 3-5 pm, the Downtown Neighborhood Association joined five other central city neighborhood associations, Neighbors West-Northwest, and the Revitalize Portland Coalition to sponsor the forum :Portland’s Behavioral Health Crisis: Seeking Solutions”.______________________________________________________________________________ The city we love is crying for help. We have neighbors living unsheltered on our streets, many suffering untreated from mental illness and others seeking escape from their desperate situation through life threatening drugs. Despite hundreds of millions of federal, state, and local taxes available, we seem to be making no progress in solving the problem. People continue to suffer and die, and Portland’s precious quality of life and economic vitality hang in the balance. Portlanders are searching for solutions. We see the problems on Portland streets every day, but answers lie far beyond the borders of the Rose City. County, metro, state and federal laws and budgets must be navigated if we are to arrive at solutions to our behavioral health crisis. This challenge cannot be solved solely by our elected leaders. It will take all of us working together with our leaders to bring our city back. The forum will feature a panel of six elected leaders representing our west side neighborhoods from all levels of government: ______________________________________________________________________________
– Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler – Multnomah County District 1 Commissioner Sharon Meieran, representing Downtown and West Portland – Metro President Lynn Peterson – Oregon House Representative Homeless Committee Chair Maxine Dexter, representing Downtown and most of West Portland – Oregon Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber, representing a substantial portion of Downtown and SW Portland – A member of Oregon’s Congressional Delegation (not yet confirmed)
Each of these leaders defined the problem, explained their role (county, city, etc.) in addressing the problem, and proposed solutions in collaboration with other leaders.
Prior to the forum, the public was invited to submit questions that focused on finding solutions to Portland’s behavioral health crisis and those questions were presented to the panelists.
Sponsors: Neighbors West Northwest Downtown Neighborhood Association Pearl District Neighborhood Association Old Town Community Association Goose Hollow Neighborhood Association Northwest District Association Southwest Hills Residential League Revitalize Portland Coalition
Many DNA members have expressed interest in reporting and tracking issues in our city. Below is a list of resources as well as information and assistance to help resolve issues.
The kid includes cleaning solvent, gloves, safety glasses, cleaning rag, small nylon scraper, small bucket and a link to an instructional video. To request your kit, email graffiti@portlandoregon.gov
For graffiti on the face of traffic signs, report online or 311
ADA ramp repairs will be under construction in April 2022, as part of the Willamette River Crossing Project.
ADA ramp repairs require week-long closure in April
The pedestrian and ADA ramp between S Harbor Drive and SW Naito Parkway will be closed for repairs during daytime working hours in mid-to late-April 2022. Contractors working for the Water Bureau will repair damaged handrails, remove garbage and hazardous materials, and cut back vegetation. During ramp closures, pedestrians will have access to the nearby staircase, and people using mobility devices will detour north to SW Columbia Street.
Ramp closure timing and duration
Work on the ramp is expected to take two to five weekdays in mid-April. We will update the project website with specific dates once those are available.
Ramp closure hours
The ramp will be closed during working hours, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The ramp will be open during evening hours.
Pedestrian detour–use staircase
The staircase connecting SW Naito Parkway and S Harbor Drive will be open to pedestrian use during ramp repairs.
ADA detour
During this closure, the ADA-accessible detour will be through Tom McCall Waterfront Park, crossing SW Naito Parkway at SW Columbia Street.
