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everyone and welcome to the regular meeting of the board of molt Noma County Commissioners uh commissioner brim Edwards is attending virtually audience members I want to start by asking you to please silence your electronic devices I would also like to remind you that in addition to the audience in this room we have people watching and listening online so please consider your language and comments and testimony today today's meeting is a hybrid board meeting some presenters and guests will appear in person and some will appear virtually for those presenting virtually please mute your mic when not speaking and when presenting make sure to unmute your mic and turn on your camera for those joining us in person to provide public testimony or to present please turn on your mic when you begin speaking so you see the green button and off when you've completed your remarks so you see the red button uh for all presenters please state your name for the record before speaking or responding to questions I also want to make sure that everyone has a chance to give testimony during our board meetings so um we are I'm going to be um no longer allowing the um practice of people yielding time to others during their testimony it's important that we're able to hear from everyone who wants a chance to speak today and that we hear the diversity of opinions that people have may I have a motion on the consent calendar some moved second second all right commissioner Stegman moves commissioner Singleton seconds approval of the consent calendar commissioner myON I commissioner Singleton I uh commissioner brim Edwards I think that was an I sorry commissioner B medwards was that an i yes oh thank you uh commissioner segman I chair Vega Peterson I the consent calendar is approve opportunity for public comment on non-agenda matters this is the time for the board to hear public testimony now for board deliberation when um it is your turn to speak I will call your name and unmute you or call you to the presenter's table I'll a timer for 3 minutes when you begin speaking and announce when your time is up at which point please wrap up your sentence uh chair we've received seven verbal testimonies uh on non-agenda items um I'll call in person first we have injured and pissed off Glenn Sanders and lightning oh oh gosh in recess e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome commissioner Stegman um can I check your camera and your microphone please e e e me test your uh video on camera e e Marina can you um upgrade Tom Powers and Diana from attendee to panelist thank you yeah just one second sorry you said um Tom Powers and who else Diana pooll okay I'm not seeing Diana yet okay I'll check in with her thank you thank you e e e welcome Diana uh welcome Tom can we test your microphones and your cameras please I can see I can see you Diana can you hear me yes I can hear you thank you great thank you so much okay why don't we go ahead and get started I know um commissioner Marin is wrapping things up but we can move on so let me know when you're all set R now we're all set okay great so we are um going to um reconvene the regular meeting for the mol County Board of Commissioners I want to thank everyone for bearing with us during that recess we had a medical emergency which is being taken care of um so we have moved every um everything to Virtual for the rest of this morning's meeting we do have um a room set up in the multnoma building for those people who were here in person to testify um so people can transition and um still be able to provide testimony virtually so uh Marina I'm going to turn it over to you thank you we'll have three minutes for public testimony um and first we have um Pete Colt Pete if you're able to unmute and begin yes I did unmute um my name is Pete col I'm here representing Karen Cheri and the stadium neighborhood I'm here today to bring your attention to the immense challenges and burdens faced by businesses particularly convenience stores operating within downtown Portland she has been someone who has owned and operated convenience store in the Heart of the City she can testify firsthand to the complex web of rules regul ations and security concerns that make running a successful business here an immense undertaking from the outset convenience store owners in Portland must navigate a Labyrinth of zoning laws license requirements and permitting processes that can be incredibly difficult and timec consuming the regulations surrounding the sale of age restricted products like Alcohol Tobacco lottery tickets add an additional layer of complexity requiring specialized training inventory controls and reporting procedures beyond the regulatory hurdles she's faced and other convenience store owners have faced in downtown Portland they must also contend with the realities of operating in a high crime area the need to invest in robust secur or robust security measures such as surveillance cameras alarm systems and secure cash handling uh protocols represents a significant financial burden that cuts into already thin profit margins and the constant threat of theft whether through fraudulent credit card use or outright shoplifting forces store owners to be ever Vigilant straining their resources compounding these challenges are the difficulties in dealing with disgruntled customers or one-offs and the potential for confrontations that can jeopardize the safety of both employees and patrons owners must invest in comprehensive training and security measures to mitigate these risks all while maintaining a welcoming and customer friendly environment now these are my words a couple of weeks ago a guy pulled a gun on her employee we have pictures of this guy pulling the gun in her store Commissioners I implore you to acknowledge the immense hardships faced by businesses especially convenience stores in downtown Portland these establishments are the lifeblood of our communities providing essential services and economic opportunities let me pause here again and tell you about essential Services Karen who's ripped off quite often by homeless people and drug addicts in the neighborhood she herself cooked Thanksgiving dinner for them and served them the meals herself this is the kind of woman she is yet the regulatory landscape security concerns and operational challenges they face make it increasingly difficult for them to thrive businesses especially those in high crime areas like downtown Portland are unfairly shouldering the burden of funding their own security measures let me add my voice again so are the so are the houses of worship the synagogue the Keith Catholic Cathedral and the Episcopal Cathedral businesses especially those in high crime areas like downtown Portland I'll repeat that are unfairly shouldering the burden of funding their own security measures this places an undue financial burden on companies that are already navigating a challenging operating environment Stadium Hood this is our group Moma County Board is is that this is this there is disportionate finan thank you very much Marina you have a really great day commissioner mirin you're a hero um Miss Peterson see you in divorce court next we have Michelle Mila hi good morning Commissioners uh Michelle Mila with Stadium hood and I too want to if it pleases the board continue with this narrative on behalf of Karen Cher um and Pete left off talking about the U Financial strains that business owners in stadium hood are are are undergoing right now businesses in high crime areas like downtown Portland are forced to allocate portions of their operating budgets toward security measures right out of their own pockets and this diverts CR crucial resources away from other essential business operations like investing and growth improving customer services are providing competitive wages and benefits to employees this financial burden maintains of maintaining a secure environment places uh strains on the profitability and long-term viability of these businesses these businesses also must dedicate substantial resources towards security that are at a significant competitive disadvantage compared to to other counterparts in safer areas or those that do not face the same security challenges this can make it more difficult for these businesses to attract and retain customers to hire and retain talented employees and ultimately remain profitable and sustainable the uneven playing field created by the security burden undermines the ability of downtown Portland businesses to thrive and to contribute to the overall economic Vitality of our Stadium hood Community by placing that onus and of security on individual businesses the local government is also effectively transferring the risk and responsibility for Public Safety from the community as a whole to the private sector and this is particularly problematic for small businesses and medium-sized ones as well because they may lack the resources and expertise to effectively manage these complex security challenges so the taxpayers through their contributions to the local government should rightfully expect that Public Safety and Security measures will be provided as a fundament of Public Service this should be a bottom line this should be a standard that we can all agree with the high cost and risk associated with security concerns in downtown and Stadium Hood can deter potential entrepreneurs from even starting new businesses here and investing in the area and we are working hard to provide the environments for people to be welcomed here who are going to want to come here and start their businesses or to keep them going so we're talking about the stifling of the growth of the local economy that is being compounded by the county we are talking about how the county is limiting the creation of new jobs and economic opportunities for residents by addressing unequal burdens on businesses the County Board of commission Commissioners can help Foster a more inviting and supportive environment for entrepreneurship and Business Development here residents and businesses in mola County also pay for significant uh property taxes and we have this reasonable expectation right the government's going to use those funds to maintain Public Safety and support the local economy failing to provide provide adequate security and crime prevention services in downtown Portland Stadium hood is a breach of that implicit social contract so we're calling you out residents and businesses um in mola County pay their taxes with the reasonable expectation I mentioned okay thank you thank you for your time we appreciate you next we have Laura Curry hi thank you thank you very much uh I'm Laura Curry and I too am continuing the document uh on behalf of Karen Sheri so residents and business owners in Moma County pay their taxes with reasonable expectation that the local government will use these funds to provide essential public services and maintain a safe secure and prosperous Community that's something we all expect when we pay taxes and we live in a city by failing to address the security concerns of businesses in downtown Portland and this affects residents this affects all of us the is effectively breaching this implicit social contract with its taxpayers so taxpayers in monoma County regardless of their location or the nature of their business should have the right to expect a fair and Equitable allocation of public resources including security and public safety measures however the disproportionate burden placed on downtown businesses we are in the sort of Ground Zero of what's going on here to fund their own security solution which is really the only recourse that there is at this moment based on what we are receiving for services from the county this represents a clear imbalance in the distribution of these critical resources taxpayers have a legitimate expectation that their hard-earned money is being used efficiently and effectively by Moma County to address the most pressing Community needs right now that's lacking here we are left to our own devices by failing to provide adequate security support for businesses in downtown Portland which also affects the residents quite and the students the children the professionals the multa County Board of Commissioners are neglecting their responsibilities and lacking transparency in its budgeting and resource allocation decisions residents and business owners take pride in their community and want to see it Thrive and I will say these are my words everybody that has been speaking today on behalf of Karen are out on the streets cleaning picking up needles moving homeless into uh reporting homeless into shelters etc etc this is without any Community county Support when the county fails to address pressing issues like business and personal security it can erode that sense of civic pride and discourage active Community engagement people are moving out taxpayers have become disillusioned and are losing faith in your ability to effectively manage and protect the interests of the entire Community we question why are we paying taxes the economic implication of businesses struggling or leaving downtown Portland due to security concerns can have a direct impact on taxpayers through reduced tax revenue job losses and a decline in overall economic activity people moving out taxpayers have a vested interest in seeing a vibrant and prosperous business community and the government's failure to support that will failure to support that will ultimately harm the tax s themselves the high cost of private okay this is from Stadium Hood uh this is where we're at I want to thank you Marina you've done a great job pivoting to all of this and um okay thank you you next we have Glenn Sanders looks like they're muted Marina I sent a request to unmute okay and I reside in southeast Portland Tony can you rest start your testimony I didn't hear you okay you restart your testimony yes okay sorry um my name's Glenn Sanders um I reside 607 Southeast 157th Avenue in Portland and um the purpose of me coming in here today is to I found maybe a cog in the wheel of getting people off the streets and getting them into treatment that seems to be hampering to me the whole process and I want to make sure that the board is aware of it and I think that they can address it and maybe we can make some serious improvements with it and um I've been actively involved and part and been a part of this homeless thing because previous to this I lived on 100 on Jenny Road and my property for 30 years was Jenny Road and 160 ft of the trail so I've seen the whole Onslaught and if anybody can remember year and a half two years ago there was a whole herd of people back there which is in my backyard and I didn't see anybody doing anything about trying to control them so I started interacting with these people and trying to make a difference subsequently unfortunately I became homeless and I spent a 17 months homeless and I kept to that area 172nd so still intermingling with these people and now that I've moved to 157th it was just a landlord and his son but he decided he was going to help homeless this my that entire front house is filled with an overc capacity of homelessness homeless people in fact if people can think about it it's the house where all the news stations parked in front of us and recorded everything because of all the drug activity and crime that it came to the neighborhood so I feel like I've been in the thick of this thing the whole way and got a that recently started working at Life Works I believe is what it is and I think those are the kind of the really the majority of the Frontline people out here doing this and my friend stated that she went you um what part of her training was in Washington County and the first thing she noticed is they're offering a program that is a 100 % going to treatment describe treatment things would pay 100% of the rant graduates down 90 80 and so on and so forth and I thought never heard of such a thing and it seemed like it would be very popular looking at the situation with clist I don't know if they're doing the same thing there but Washington County and the time is up pardon oh time is up time time was up oh that was going the other way okay thank you um next we have Karen Cher morning my name's Karen G I want to continue the conversation about um Stadium Hood and the businesses in the area and residents um the high cost of private security can toer new businesses from opening or existing ones from expanding in downtown Portland um business attracts business attraction and retention entrepreneurs and companies looking to establish operations will choose to locate their businesses areas perceived as safer or more conducive to growth putting downtown Portland at a competitive disadvantage you can tell by 10 businesses in less than two years closing in just our little neighborhood alone so job creation and Workforce so we hire within the community and um with these businesses closing down that means that people are going to be jobless they're going to be searching Elsewhere for jobs potentially become homeless because they can't find jobs so that's an issue that we're having right now tax revenue and Municipal budgets businesses are forced to close or scale back operations due to security represents a direct loss of tax revenue for local governments by investing in security measures to support business Community Moma County can help ensure a stable and growing tax base that can sustain essential government functions neighborhood revitalization of vibrancy driving businesses in downport downtown Portland contribute to the overall vibrancy and appeal of the city center attracting residents visitors and additional economic activity however the security challenges faced by these companies will lead to a deterioration of urban landscape which we're having right now so there is numerous examples of local governments providing security resources or financial assistant to businesses in other high crime urban areas Los Angeles operates a business improvement district program that provides supplemental security services including private security patrols for commercial areas Chicago has a business lison unit working closely with local businesses to address crime and security concerns New York operates a dedicated commercial crime unit to assist businesses with crime prev crime prevention and security strategies Houston has a differential response team partners with businesses to identify and address crime issues in San Francisco they have a community engagement division working Clos ly with local businesses to address Safety and Security concerns efficient use of public funds should be investing in proactive security measures and crime prevention in downtown Portland that could ultimately save taxpayer dollars by reducing the need for reactive law enforcement and Emergency Services time is up super quick thank you chair that is all the public testimony we have have uh for non-agenda items thank you Marina let's go ahead and move on to R1 R1 approval of molom County 2025 State Legislative agenda so moved second uh commissioner Stegman moves commissioner myON seconds approval of R1 um so today is the first chance that we have together as a board to look closely at our 20 25 legislative agenda with an upcoming long legislative uh session in store there are going to be many important funding decisions that have a direct impact on the work that the county does and today is really our chance to hear from our government relations team and how we can best position molma County as we move very rapidly to the beginning of session and the pre-work needed the legislature is going to have to make some very difficult decisions with the Statewide needs outweighing a available resources so we all will need to take an active role along with our partners in that work this agenda reflects the tight state budget environment while highlighting the Count's highest gaps and needs um I want to thank this I want to take a moment to really thank Justin Black for all his work and Leadership um um as the former director of government relations um now that he has transitioned to his Deputy coo role um I also want to thank Stacy Cohen who is stepping up um so admirably as the interim director of our government relations team um as well as the entire team to help us bring our legislative priorities policy um and budgetary priorities to light um so I'm happy to turn things over now to Stacy and the government relations team um to hear from them on our agenda good morning good morning chair thank you so much good morning Commissioners um again my name is Stacy Cowen I use she and her pronouns I am the interim director of government relations here at Mol county um I'd like to turn it over to my colleagues and let them introduce myself Tom would you like to introduce yourself morning Commissioners my name is Tom Powers I use heem pronouns I am the state and Regional Affairs coordinator I'll turn it over to Diana good morning Commissioners I am Diana Pol she her Aya pronouns I am the federal and legislative liaison with the office of government relations great thank you so much uh next slide please so today we're going to give you an overview of the upcoming legislative session we're going to discuss some of the main topics that we expect to drive session we're going to talk about some of the budget implications for session as well as give you our legislative agenda for the 2025 session um as the chair said you know given the expected state revenue Outlook and given the potential implications of the national election we're really bringing you a focused agenda highlighting some of the highest priorities for the county um we have left time for questions and discussion at the end of our presentation um and we'll go ahead and kick it off uh Diana why don't I hand it over to you to talk a little bit about the role of government relations next slide thank you Stacy an essential part of our work is coordinating all Communications with the legislature and serving as the main point of contact for legislative matters for Mona County our team plays a central role in ensuring the County's priorities are clearly communicated to the legislature and external Partners while Stacy and Tom are in Salem monitoring hearings and advocating for the county my role is to act as the main conduent between them and our legislative coordinators our legislative coordinators are critical are critical to keeping our departments informed and organized they ensure that departments have the tools they need to meet legislative deadlines their work both prior and during session is an essential to Our Success we coordinate testimony presentations and produce Key Resources like the end of session report together our teamwork ensures the county is well prepared and strategic ly position throughout the legislative session with that let's move on to the key dates for the session next slide I know there's a lot of information on this slide and I just want to draw your attention to a few key items our legislative breakfast is a valuable opportunity to connect with their delegation and inform them of our priorities at the start of the session we will be doing that the morning of January 8th we expect to see bills the week of January 13th and we've included legislative deadlines which help us stay organized as we move throughout the long session I'll also note that the Constitutional end of session is June 29th now I'll hand it over to Tom to provide the legislative over overview next slide thanks so much Diana so with the 2024 general election and the caucus leadership elections behind us we have a good sense of the legislative landscape for the 2025 full legislative session so within the executive branch Governor Tina kotek will continue she's midterm for her first term currently however we do have three new Statewide executive officials we have Dan Rayfield the former house Speaker starting as attorney general in January we have Tobias Reed the former State Treasurer starting the position of Secretary of State and then Elizabeth Steiner who was a longtime Senator will be in the incoming State Treasurer looking at the legislature in the Senate there will be 18 Democrats serving and then 12 Republicans serving in the 2025 legislative session that means there's a super majority of the democratic caucus within the Senate a super majority is 60% of 30 which is 18 the Senate leadership will be uh Senate President Rob Wagner who will be returning uh pending a full vote of the senate for his second term as the Senate President he represents Lake iGo a portion of Washington County as well as portion of Southwest Moma County we also will have minority leader Daniel Bonham from the Dows he's a republican represents the 12 uh member Republican caucus he also represents a portion of East multnoma County which is basically um from the Hood River County border all the way to about Troutdale and then in the position of Senate Majority Leader there's a new uh elected leader who's Casey jamama senator jamama represents East Portland uh he actually represents basically the area from 205 to the border with Gresham so he has a large amount of of mola County in his district as well as a portion of Clackamus County so we have portions of Moma County in each of the districts of the Senate leaders turning to the House of Representatives we will see 36 Democrats out of the 60 members and then 24 Republicans in the 2025 session so similar to the Senate there will be super majority in the House of Representatives for the Democratic caucus within the house leadership speaker Julie y will be coming in for her first full session she was elected at the tail end of the 2024 legislative session so she's been speaker for a while but has not had the full legislative session until 2025 uh minority leader Christine drayen will be returning for the Republican caucus currently she is a representative elect she's a previously elected represent ative and was uh elected to come back in the 2024 election and then once that happens she'll be the Republican leader and then for the house Democratic caucus Majority Leader Ben Bowman will serve he is the uh representative from the tiger area so turning to the Ways and Means Committee that has two pretty powerful co-chairs who have a big hand in determining the state budget and Moma county has two uh Representatives will be serving in those positions so we have Senator Kate Liber who represents Southwest Portland for the Senate co-chair of Ways and Means Committee and then representative ton Sanchez who represents northeast Portland as the House of Representatives co-chair and we'll move to the next slide please and talk about the budget Dynamics so as we move the with the 2025 session starting in just a month here's a look at the state budget Dynamics we know that the 2025 session will set the banial budget for the state that banial budget will go from 2025 to 2027 and we're seeing increased cost for existing programs as well as the end of the one-time monies that the state has used from the American Rescue plan act or arpa so we're seeing perhaps more in the revenue forecasts but that's being met with at least as many increased costs so it's going to be a tight budget here we're hearing from legislative leadership and the co-chairs that there's not going to be a lot of money available for new programs we're going to have a struggle to continue the funding that we've seen for the existing programs and the critical services that the state provides one interesting Dynamic with the state budget right now is that we have a new state Economist and so the most recent uh economic forecast was in uh December and the new uh uh forecaster is named Carl rodana so he kind of took a relook at the way the states done the forecast made some adjust adjustments to the forecast model and we'll kind of see how that plays out over the coming forecast into the session but right now it looks as if there will be more general fund resources uh into the future but again those will be met with those increased costs and you'll see the reserves and the kicker projections there we have the state of Oregon has a substantial amount of reserves um that will continue um and there is still a kicker projected for the 2025 tax year due to the previous uh projections that were made in the 2023 legislative session and so I'll please go to the next slide and we'll talk about the issues so coming up in the 2025 session the stage is being set in a number of ways for what are the top priorities for the state legislature the governor has top priorities each caucus will release their legislative agenda and we'll see how that all shakes out as bills get introduced uh right now we have the legislative days down in Salem so a lot of committees are meeting to introduce their committee bills and we're starting to see some of those potential issues overall I want to highlight the State Transportation investment package it is really a priority of the governor the presiding officers of the legislature and the co-chairs of the joint Transportation committee that in 2025 we see a substantial Transportation investment package that means ensuring that the state highway fund and other transportation resources can be sustained and increased to meet the demand that we're seeing and to uh counteract Trends such as inflation and you know more Vehicles going away from gas and using electricity so Transportation will be a huge uh topic we'll talk about more Transportation initiatives during the agenda balancing the state budget I just talked about the budget um but that will be one of the central challenges of the 2025 session the governor released her budget about a week ago and we saw three key initiatives that she wanted to focus on in the budget housing and infrastructure that will remain a top priority across the board Behavioral Health Services and Workforce and then school funding and then uh education and literacy in general um today later today in fact the legislature will be holding a special session it's a one-day session to pay the Wildfire bills that have acred over the last few months to fight the wildfires that were prevalent across the state this year so that will be a topic in the 2025 session is how do we prevent wildfires and also come up with funding mechanism to pay the bills that for the Wildfire costs that will approve over the years Community resilience is a topic that's related to that as well uh a lot of Representatives and caucuses have brought up affordability and the cost of living hearing from constituents around their concerns with you know being able to pay the bills essentially um finally I just want to touch on federal government impacts uh we know that the Statewide leadership and perhaps the legislature will look to um find ways to insulate some of the Oregon values on immigration abortion and other topics as the incoming Federal Administration may have a different take on those and uh might have conflict with Oregon's you know current laws so um that will be a topic to see how Oregon can increase protections for the laws that we already have on the books that protect the Oregon values that we have and I will uh ask for the next slide and turn it over to Stacy great thank you so much Tom so now I want to turn our attention to our official legislative agenda and really the process for developing our legislative a agenda really begins at the end of the last uh legislative um session we work really closely with departments to identify needs both in the funding and the policy buckets we work really closely with your offices to understand your priorities um this year we also had an opportunity to meet and seek feedback from the newly elected Commissioners who will begin their term in January and then we really work to balance all of that and take into account the political environment in Salem and really determine what is possible in the upcoming legislative assession um we aim to craft an agenda that identifies priorities while allowing our team to be nimble and the most effective during a legislative session so uh jumping right in in the area of Behavioral Health first and foremost we are a safety net provider and payer in our community this really drives what we advocate for so this session we're going to be focused on increasing investments in the behavioral health system and expanding the behavioral health Workforce we're working in Coalition seeking Capital funding to increase targeted capacity in our region using the recently released public Consulting Group it's a Statewide Gap analysis to identify initiatives that were underway and projects that were in the development Pipeline and I'll I'll just say that this Regional approach seems to be received um really well in our conversation so far with legislative leaders we'll also be advocating for a package of proposals aimed at addressing Behavioral Health Workforce shortages specifically those that serve populations in the with the highest Acuity we expect to see proposals this session really focused on developing capacity in higher ed we saw that reflected in the governor's recommended budget things like tuition assistance and loan repayment there's also an interest in seeing provider rate increases as well as policies like supervision support so and we know that in order to move the dial we really need to see several of these proposals passed just one or two options is really not going to make the difference that we need to see next slide please in the area of uh Public Safety we'll advocate for full funding to implement some important Justice reforms so this is going to include things like funding for Community Corrections um which includes the uh fully funding the um uh I'm sorry which includes funding uh identified in the recently completed cost study so you'll recall that this is the analysis done every six years by the Department of Corrections it shows the true cost to counties to provide services to folks on probation and parole there'll be in a conversation about continued funding for deflection this is that connection between law enforcement and the behavior Ral health system that was established in House Bill 402 from last session as well as efforts to continue to address the shortage of public defenders in Oregon we'll continue to advocate for improved efficiencies in the State medical examiners program and support continued funding for the East Metro Outreach prevention and Intervention Program this is a program that's led by the city of gram and it offers a variety of services to provide um uh youth with Afterschool opportunities Recreation opportunities as well as culturally responsive case management for high-risk youth helping them to succeed uh next slide please um in the area of Housing and shelter there's going to be a discussion around continued State funding to maintain and possibly expand local shelter capacity as well as continued discussions on how we prevent folks from falling into homelessness and the programs that help keep folks in their homes there's going to be a discussion on how we move folks more quickly from homelessness into stable housing and then provide services for folks who've been chronically homeless um as Tom mentioned the governor identified housing and homelessness response as one of three top priorities for her office um so we really expect this to be a prominent theme this session next I'll go ahead and turn it over to Tom thank you Stacy could we get the next slide very good so Transportation infrastructure and resilience I mentioned earlier that 2025 will be a critical session for transportation funding across the state we hope to have a transportation package we think it's critical that there is a package and that it adequately funds both the state and local Transportation Systems we need this package to stabilize Local transportation funding in particular to M maintain Moma County's Bridges raal roads uh streets and to promote safety resilience and Equity throughout the transportation system mlma county is particularly reliant on the state highway fund so we want to make sure that there is an investment in increasing the state highway fund and that we keep the distribution of the State Highway fund going to cities and counties as a part of the transportation package we'll also be advocating for funding for the earthquake ready Burnside Bridge Project we have been Lo leveraging local funds looking at federal funds and we want to see State investment for this project as well so we can be realized and make a real difference on other topics within this paragraph We want to promote state and local efforts to make our communities more resilient to climate change uh and seismic events that we know will be coming there will be a good number of efforts this session W ranging from Wildfire prevention to the critical energy infrastructure Hub to Emergency Response funding and then finally on Emergency Medical Services there's going to be a continued effort on modernizing the EMS system and I think this session the goal is largely to focus on Workforce Recruitment and Retention as well as looking to find some long-term funding mechanisms for EMS across the state and with that I will turn it back to Stacy thank you so much Tom all right next slide please so in the area of Human Services we will continue to advocate for missing murdered and trafficked Indigenous persons as well as for Statewide funding for immigrants refugees Asylum Seekers and newcomers the importance of this work was made more Urgent by the likely policies of the incoming Federal Administration there's also going to be a discussion about continued investment in public health modernization and we will continue to advocate for increased State investment in HIV early intervention prevention and Outreach next slide there'll be a discussion on investments for Children and Youth including preschool and Afterschool programs and we will continue to fight hard to make sure that we have the funding needed to provide ID Services intellectual and developmental disability services to vulnerable populations and to make sure that case load counts are reasonable we will advocate for increased investments in services for survivors and Folks at risk for domestic violence sex trafficking and victims of crime there will also be a package of policies to support pregnant and postpartum individuals and their infants such as expanding sud treatment for pregnant people and establishing a program for housing stability services for pregnant and postpartum folks through that really vital year of a f a child's first year of life and then lastly we'll lend our support to a Statewide ban on flavored tobacco you'll recall that there was an effort last session that almost made it over the finish line so that will again be back um up for discussion this legislative session all right and next I'll turn it over to Tom to wrap us up thank you Stacy so the final slide of the agenda here is governance and revenue want to talk about a general sense of these issues right now but in particular starting off with State funding assistance for the County assessment and Taxation funding or functions so the state has continually provided a a grant called the CFA Grant CFA stands for County assessment funding function funding assistance and that Grant has not kept pace over the years with the costs we all know that costs are growing up going up including for assessment functions and so we want to see the state start to make sure that that Grant is increasing proportionately with the cost that we're seeing that'll be a big focus of the county as long as as well as the association of Oregon counties has made this a prior prity for the 2025 session turning to campaign Finance you're aware that the count has add a campaign Finance program for a few years the state adopted a campaign Finance program in the 2024 short session it's shaping up right now but it's already clear that there's going to need to be changes to that program uh in uh statute and we're hoping to see how we can align and clarify the roles of those two programs so that um it's clear for the users of this system and those who are participating where uh where possible so that these systems can be clear enacting protections for property owners uh we are seeing an emergence of what's called deed fraud so uh folks are submitting invalid Deeds to Properties or recording documents that are not valid we need to see more protections in the statute uh so that recording officers and clerks can detect invalid documents and take the necessary steps to prevent you know those deeds being recorded on recording we and assessment and Taxation we're also supporting a straightforward and Statewide approach to returning the financial Equity to former Property Owners this issue is about the property tax foreclosure system responding to a recent US Supreme Court decision we want to make sure that there's a consistent approach throughout all 36 counties and not a peac mail approach and then finally we want to continue to ensure the local control of the County's land use zoning and other government enforcement priorities this is continuously going to be something that we're looking for as legislation emerges uh but also ensuring that the County's work is not preempted by the state and with that I will turn it back to Stacy thanks Tom uh next slide so maybe before we hand it over to questions I'll just start by saying thank you so much to all of you and to your offices for your help in developing this agenda and then I also want to take a moment just to say a special thank you to all of our legislative coordinators we have Partners in each of our departments they do incredible work to help us get ready for session and they do me even more incredible work during the legislative session responding really quickly to all of the items that come forward that impact the county so thank you so much for all of the work that they've done up to this point and all of the incredible work that they're going to do during the legislative session um and then with that we're happy to answer questions thank you so much um everyone for the presentation and the the walk through of the agenda I know there's been a lot of conversations about putting this together um I know that um you've been um meeting not just with our board members but with the commissioner alect who are coming in um so I just want to thank you all for this work and I know that this is just the beginning of the the huge amount of work um that's going to happen with a long session as all of the bills start coming in and all that preparation happen so I really appreciate everything that's happened so far um I want to give our board a chance to ask the questions so we will um start with commissioner myON for any questions or comments excuse me thank you um I am oh my gosh uh just trying to get my bearings sorry um so first of all I want to thank um thank um thank you Stacy and also Tom for um your great work in putting together a legislative agenda and um you know as it this really is second to last board meeting and you know everything is striking me as like okay this is that's it and um I just want to express my gratitude to you and and to Justin of course um for just all of your hard work rep and your representation of us and doing such a great job um at the State uh for all the years that I've been here well that you've been here with me I guess we overlap something um but but you've been phenomenal and have been um of such value to the county and just uh personally have really appreciated connecting with you and talking to you about these issues um um I think that you know I just had a couple of thoughts and some questions about about some of the specific areas but one of the things in general I think about is you know I'm just I'm hearing this a lot from a lot of the diff the Departments and in different areas and yeah the revenue situation is is not looking good and you know our approaches seem to be that there's there's a tendency to circle the wagons and try to protect existing programming above all else um and I I feel that that's not a productive path to go down that's we should be thinking in a different way about our programs and how to do this work um that it's we need to be thinking how to be how to be um implementing programs more effectively uh more cost effectively and create the systems that are more efficient and streamline um so we might need a new program even in this budget cut scenario that that does something new even as we realize that we need to cut a longstanding and maybe beloved program that's actually not um doing what it's supposed to do and case in point is um the chai early intervention for example um where we we haven't evaluated it when we finally do it's like oh we shouldn't keep reupping this because it sounds good we need to really look closely and so I know there's going to be a lot of tension I imagine especially at the legislature where they're thinking similarly and we need to push back for the programs we need that will have better outcomes for our residents and um so thinking about I mean nowhere is that more um well I guess actually it's everywhere it's Behavioral Health it's homelessness um and housing so for Behavioral Health you'd mentioned um Stacy I think that you started with the the county is a safety net provider and payer um how are we a payer like I know I it was very clear for the first few years that I've been um serving but I'm not as sure how were the payor or a payor um for Behavioral Health now yeah I appreciate that question commissioner myON I think that it has so much to to do with the service delivery that happens within the county I think you know kind of reflecting on your initial comments right that if we are not spending the limited dollars that we have efficiently then we're never able going we're never going to be able to expand programs sort of into the spaces that we need to and I think as we were reflecting on this agenda you know first and foremost my main priority is to make sure that the state is fully funding the county for the work that we are required to do and then you know I I I I agree with you and that desire to push back and make sure that we're expanding to meet the increasing need that we see and I think that's reflected in the capacity bullet point and so I do think that it is a a delicate balance I think that we have a lot of smart folks who are helping to inform those conversations about how do we spend the dollars that we have more efficiently and then how do we make sure that we're expanding where we can investing Upstream so that we can save dollars to be able to reinvest Downstream so I'm I'm not sure if that answers your question I think from a government relations perspective that's probably the best I can do no I I appreciate that this might be just the medical term of our thing or whatever the when I hear payer I think insurance provider like I hear that so then I you know I was thinking about the ccos because we used to that we used to be the Medicaid administrator and so that's what I I think of as payer um not not just are doing our the services we directly provide so that actually was um clarified for me what what you meant so thank you um and you know i' i' would like to see this more robustly built out as a behavioral health PRI prioritization and maybe you know especially as the incoming Commissioners are here and thinking about this and with the you know work that our Behavioral Health division Health Department are trying to do to inform uh board members more effectively about the role of the county in Behavioral Health and what we actually are responsible for doing and what we do um that that this can be a more robust sort of legislative agenda here uh in terms of infrastructures and projects in the pipeline and I this one makes me nervous um just in the way it plays out because I feel like um like what we saw with deflection what we see with a bunch of mint money going out with Behavioral Health in the past it's like there's this m massive scramble to get all this money out the door and if you happen to know someone and have the secret password like you'll get let you'll get put on the list to be the project you know the projects that that's in development that gets into this Pipeline and is considered by legislators and if not then you're out of luck and we have a lot of organizations doing incredible work that need to be considered thoughtfully um and in a planful way and you know you mentioned that that sort of a lot of this you know we're talking about all of this is received well with legislative leaders and again I feel like the legislative leaders and a couple of sort of The Usual Suspects who show up and keep getting money from the county from the state are in it and everyone's like okay yeah we're doing it but what I'd like to see is received well with like all of our Frontline partners and um you know sober PDX that has an incredible holistic and um geographically sort of Equitable and distributed plan for substance use disorder a a Continuum in our entire County and in the whole County and so um you know it's what I offered in a budget amendment that wasn't passed this past budget that's what I'd like to see again more planful and and I see a sense of scram rambling do you does that does that make sense like does that seem like the legislators will be that will be able to have a plan together yeah to request projects or I appr scattershot I appreciate your comments commissioner I it does feel like it's planful and I just want to clarify when I say that it's well-received what I mean for that is that the legislature wants to see that we are having conversations with folks not just in Mol county that Regional approach we got that conversation from uh I'm sorry we got a question from speaker fee on on Tuesday specifically asking who are you talking to who else outside of molom is concerned about these issues they want us working outside of silos they want us talking to folks and that's what I was trying to point to is that they were pleased that this is not we are not coming forward with just a multnoma specific request so I I think it actually gets exactly to what you're saying is they want to know that we're having these conversations and working with Community part ERS working with other local governments okay all right I think I'm just maybe Miss misinterpreting some of the uh those um I I appreciate the clarification because that is super important um and I know that you know Washington County and clamus County are doing um exceptional work uh around Behavioral Health and we could learn a lot from them um so so that's great and you know just working with AOC and um co-chairing Health and Human Services really learning a lot frankly from all of the counties and we share so much um and what we need Even in our different um you know whether we're Urban rural Frontier uh and a lot of counties are doing things well and having great results so um yes we should definitely be working with our governments um great thank you Commission I just went for time purposes because we I okay one okay let thank you let me just one other um you know I wanted to really Elevate you know we talked about this and um the efforts around the CI Hub and um the fossil fuel Financial Assurance policy can you go into a little more detail on that because this in my mind is one should be one OFA County's highest priori not just as a general seismic resilience but like this specific item and I know there's Talk Amongst legislators and and the governor's office I believe around this so can you share some of what you you're hearing about this yeah Tom yeah thanks thank you Stacy yeah so commissioner myin on the CI Hub yeah we've got the on the infrastru structure paragraph you're right it's the promoting climate and seismic resilience we're seeing that as inclusive of efforts around the critical energy infrastructure Hub as well as other you know issues that are associated with that um we're seeing this conversation really take off in the house Emergency Management and veterans committee in the state legislature they um almost always have a topic on or an agenda item on this issue during their legislative days there was one just this last Tuesday um they regularly have reports from different departments such as the Department of Environmental Quality the department of energy um and so most recently they were talking about a report from 2022 Senate Bill 1567 which was around seismic stability some of the reports that had come in from facilities a lot of those were incomplete so that's still very much um in progress but they're also looking at other policy options on that so you know what is the uh threshold for needing to be a part of this program could it be decreased so that there will be more facilities included could it be more of a Statewide program um could it be looking at smaller facilities as well and so there's the financial Assurance policy in the mix but there's a large spectrum of efforts around the CI Hub and related issues around seismic resilience toxic air inhalation um and we wanted to make sure that the county has a footing within our agenda to kind of flexibly respond to all of these issues within the context of that committee and any other proposals that we may see filed by individual Representatives or Senators we know representative tuy Tran who's the chair of the Emergency Management committee has been very focused on this um along with outgoing Senator Michael demro who um was the original sponsor of 2022 Senate Bill 1567 you know those two are probably handing off some proposals that we'll see emerge in the 2025 session and So speaking you know greater to greater than just the one proposal knowing that there will be a mix of proposals or a spectrum of proposals in the 2025 session that's why we went with that particular language and if I could just add commissioner I think what Tom and I intend to do is watch the discussions at the county so we have this item in our agenda um we have the item around local control and then of course if the county and if you all take additional actions forther either narrowing or clarifying or taking a position on a top IC like ciub then of course that uh is something that Tom and I can adjust and um uh you know adjust our advocacy in our lobing so if there's additional actions at the board we'll be watching that closely and of course act ingly thank you and I um I appreciate that and there will be I think on our on our final board day there will be a resolution that um uh um commissioner Singleton and I will be co-sponsoring um that will be uh elevating this and really um voicing the board's um the urgency of this issue and the importance and uh asking for expedited treatment and the expedited for the new board coming in to finalize the ordinance and I spoke with Senator demro yesterday or the day before about this and he's really excit he's drafting something that he says he's going to be working with with representative tranon and that this is a high priority but I want to why I think it's sort of is separate and even apart from the general that General legislative agenda is because of its first of all its potential impact and second of all because there is such a commitment from this board to um see this policy through and um want to make sure that that's um that's somewhere um not anyway thank you so much um I really appreciate you and um all the work you do thank you uh commissioner Singleton thank you uh thank you all for uh making time to meet with me as well and get me up to speed um and have the opportunity to weigh in um I think uh even before I was able to be sworn in so I just appreciate the work that gr has done to make sure that uh the incoming folks are included in this agenda um a couple of items I just want to highlight um one around the behavioral health Workforce in particular um you know I mentioned uh last week about the need for the support services around the workforce and I hope that as we're looking at this package we look to success from Future Ready Oregon and how we can provide U make sure that those supports like child care food Access housing security are addressed for folks as they're going through this training for uh Behavioral Health Workforce um also I want to particularly name that uh the long-term rent assistance uh component uh was specifically something that I had uh asked for us to really move forward and uh part of why is that this program is specifically for uh youth aging out of care and we know this is one of the only upfront kind of Upstream Investments that we can do to prevent um adult homelessness and often chronic homelessness um we have about 50% of Youth who become homeless by the age of 26 when they age out of care um so I appreciate us really looking at that and really coming back to the state uh when we moved that bill it was only $5 million for the whole state and so it's time to add some dollars to that so we can actually invest in our youth um excuse me uh one other piece is just on the transportation um I've spent the past two years working in transportation and uh we have a number number of big projects in this region uh prior to becoming a candidate I was uh thankful to work on the Burnside Bridge Project and really appreciate particularly the workforce Investments there and the connection to our anti-poverty programs um I think we have an untapped opportunity to change uh people's income by working with labor and working with the investments from the state the federal government and the county in Workforce Development and get people out of poverty and into these family wage jobs excuse me um so I really look forward to working with you all to move that forward I've had some great conversations with labor about this as well uh so I think there's some really good work we could do to change people's lives uh so I just want to appreciate that and let me know of course uh how I can be helpful as session moves forward thank you thank you commissioner commissioner BR Edwards morning thank you to the team uh for all the work that's been done to create um what I view as um a very focused agenda that prioritizes issues um that are important to County residents um I don't have any questions per se I guess I'll just uh share what I see as um priorities um within the the focused agenda I look forward to champing the public safety and also the homelessness and housing investments um including the full funding for Community Corrections and public defenders and um deflection uh we know we need partnership um and would benefit from the partnership of state state Investments and also them um maintaining their commitments um around um Community Corrections and the partnership that the counties have had with the state um I'm also interested in continuing Champion the state funding uh to maintain and expand local shelter capacity um yes Mol county has um access to the Metro shs uh funds um but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't also receive um like all the other counties uh support from the state um I would also want to just um reinforce some of commissioner Myron's comments about uh the CI hubs um I'm glad we're um going to have a uh resolution before us so that we can sort of share our com share our commitment as a county to um taking action on that um and uh given the I think Statewide importance to this um I'm going to be interested in what issues come up um at the state level that either Advance our interests or um potentially make it harder um so I do think it's important that we keep an eye on what's happening at the state level as we're building um our sort of County based response to the C CI Hub issue and I I also want to call out um just Elevate um support for um state senator uh Lisa Reynolds initiative relating to pregnant postpartum women and their infants um as part of our work um to support um Healthy Beginnings and a healthier community and then I think finally I just want to state that I'm looking forward to working with I think we're we've got a um a strong team that will be heading into the legislative session look forward to working with the Commissioners our local legislators um but also finding places in which mola County has common interest with other counties and um using uh the board seat um that Mama county has that I'm currently serving in as a a way to find um common ground with other counties because when we have Collective voices and work with other counties especially on things um for example like Public Safety in which we have common interests um that we really can I think uh have a a more effective presence in Salem so I'll be interested in um also working with the commission on areas in which we think we can partner with other uh other counties and AOC on so that's it I really thank the team I'm looking forward to the legislative session I think we um have the potential to have a um very effective session working on the issues that are most important to County residents thank you so much commissioner commissioner Stegman thank you chair uh thank you all to the government relations team uh Stacy Tom and Diana I know that you all have continued to get so much funding into malom County and just really want to appreciate literally the millions of dollars that you've ensured as well as Justin and congratulations Justin in your new role so I think what I've heard um in this agenda is Workforce and I'm really glad to hear because as you all know Behavioral Health uh EMS uh at the end of the day we don't have enough Workforce from our Corrections so I'm really excited to hear that there'll still be a continuation to figure out how to get a more appropriate formula for our Corrections Our Community Corrections as well as our public defenders um I did have a couple questions around the um which I totally support uh the East Mal County Youth Outreach uh and the violence prevention program and I didn't know uh are we supporting does gram have a specific ask or do you have more details on what we're supporting in in that area so commissioner I could try to take an answer to that question so for the city of Gresham they are working on a legislative agenda that would I think double the current amount that goes to uh the EM OPI or emop program this East malt Loma Outreach prevention Intervention Program I think they're looking for four to5 million for that program in the 2527 bium so that will be a priority for their Coalition um to see if they can realize that funding through the budget process great thank you Tom I appreciate that and then on the um State medical examiners I was wondering how uh that interacts with our Malt N County Medical Exami