An Update from Jeff

Dear Friends,

With the holidays in full swing, and 2012 just a stone's throw away, now is the time to reflect on the year behind us and look forward to the possibilities ahead.

2011 was full of challenges and triumphs for Multnomah County. Our organization battled through a tough economy and budget cuts made at both the state and federal level threatened the preservation of vital services to county residents. But by turning a critical eye inward, being innovative and remaining loyal to the chief mission of service, the county has learned to do more with less.

In the new year we will continue to fight to serve our community in the most efficient, cost-effective, transparent and responsible way possible. But in order for a that to happen, we need to hear from you. In 2012, I encourage you to engage in your local government: attend county board meetings, sit on one of our citizen committees and regularly reach out to the board of commissioners on issues that matter to you most.

Together we can shape this community to reflect our collective values.

Sincerely,

Jeff Cogen signature

It's no secret that the road to restoring the rapidly deteriorating Sellwood Bridge has been a long one. After facing numerous obstacles, including design changes and the failed Clackamas County ballot measure, the last two weeks have brought about nothing but good news and substantial progress in addressing one of the biggest transportation problems in our region.

On Tuesday, Dec. 13, it was announced that after a competitive application process, Multnomah County was awarded $17.7 million in federal grant money from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help eliminate a majority of the $23 million funding gap needed to complete the project. [Read more]

As part of our ongoing efforts to fuel economic growth in our community, Multnomah County recently unveiled a new microloan program that enables local lenders to provide more capital and business assistance services to help small businesses thrive.

I'm happy to announce that we have made great headway on this initiative and would like to bring two exciting developments to your attention.

County selects microlenders

After undergoing a lengthy vetting process that included being evaluated and interviewed by our local small business community, two expert microlenders have been selected to distribute nearly $1 million in loans to small businesses across Multnomah County owned by residents that are at or below the median family income. Major factors taken into account during the hiring process included ensuring that lenders had organizational values consistent with those of the county and that they were as committed as we are to making sure a diverse pool of applicants receives the money.

[Read more]

Multnomah County is Oregon's most populous county with about 735,000 residents. Multnomah County is governed by a Board of four elected Commissioners and one Chair. Multnomah County employees provide citizens a wide range of health and human services, public safety services and other government services.

Multnomah County values the privacy of personal information and will not sell or otherwise disclose your email address, except as provided under Chapter 192 of the Oregon Revised Statues pertaining to Records; Public Reports and Meetings.

The opening of the Crisis Assessment and Treatment Center to serve individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.

Banning the toxic chemical BPA in reusable beverage containers countywide like baby bottles and sippy cups.

Restructuring our organization in order to save money and

improve efficiency through our Multnomah Evolves work.

The hiring of our Economic Development Director to promote job growth and further the county's anti-poverty mission.

Generating more than 50,000 servings of fresh local vegetables for county residents in need through our County CROPS Farm.