MultCo commission primary: Something to think about
PoliticsWith the primary next month, May is a consequential month for Multnomah County.
I had dinner with friends over the weekend and was surprised at how opinionated they were about the county commission race. Most people I have talked to over the years have barely registered county commission races. I know I was pretty indifferent to them for years.
That indifference may have come from a few places:
It's a Democratic county, for one. I don't know what would have to happen for a Republican to win a seat here. So if your politics only descend to the partisan level, then maybe it doesn't seem worthwhile.
Second, I don't think people really view county government as consequential. I'm regularly appalled at how much of the political discourse I see is fixated on individual Portland City Council members or Ted Wheeler over things the city has partial, marginal, or no control over.
Whatever the cause, I think we've suffered for it, because the county matters a lot where some of our biggest problems are concerned.
But here were my friends, who are very aware of who is running and what they think the stakes are. They said it has become obvious to them that something needs to improve at the county level, and I hope more people are where they're at this year.
Over the years, as I've written about the homelessness crisis in Multnomah County, I've asked people to look beyond asking the question "is a Democrat in office," and asking instead, "is the right Democrat in office?"
By "right Democrat," I mean, "yes, someone aligned with your values, but also one willing to challenge the dysfunctional status quo in this county."
I'm willing to say "dysfunctional status quo" because I live with someone who actually worked for the county's Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS), and now is now a director for outpatient mental health services for the state's largest Medicaid provider. She works regularly with the JOHS and many, many area non-profits in and around the homelessness crisis.
So every time the Oregonian or Willamette Week runs a new article about JOHS mismanagement or bad operations, she knows the players in the story by name, can tell me what the reporting got wrong (or missed), and sometimes says "if I felt like burning all my bridges, I could tell that reporter which dates and names to make public records requests on."
And that has also given me some social access to people in and around the problem. The rancor between city and county is stark and obvious, the blame-shifting and finger-pointing is chronic, and the dysfunction is widely understood no matter who you're talking to.
Among political normies and people not working in policy, though, the focus remains on the city; ignoring how much money flows through (and gets stopped at) the county level, unaware of how much decision-making power around the homelessness crisis has rested with the county.
So I hope if you're a liberal, progressive, true-blue Democrat, or whatever, you will actually vote in this primary after taking a look at the candidates and doing some reading on them to learn who seems like they would be a voice for better governance than what we've seen.
This is a Democratic county. "Your team" is getting into office. I promise. Your chance to do better than we have is in the May primary.
I'm not ready to endorse anyone, by the way. I'm still making up my mind and have the benefit of sharing a dinner table with someone who knows this county inside and out and has the most informed opinion on these people and their connections and networks of anyone I know. I'll have plenty of help doing my reading.
It's just important to me that people take the step of moving a little upstream in their voting activity this year, read their voter's pamphlets, and do a little research rather than letting county elections remain an obscure, uninteresting part of their political lives.