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Dear Friends,
With another budget season well underway at Multnomah County, our organization has been hard at work. In the face of this ongoing tough economic climate, my board colleagues and I have had to make hard decisions year after year in order to preserve the vital services the county provides to its 748,000 residents. Accomplishing this has not been easy, but thanks to the strategic approach we've taken in tackling the county budget, as well as the hard work and sacrifice of county employees, we will be able to avoid drastic cuts in 2014. As I continue working with my fellow commissioners, county departments and residents, we will stay the course of shaping a Multnomah County budget that champions the public.
Stay tuned for upcoming public hearing dates where you can weigh in, following the release of my proposed executive budget later next month.
Sincerely,
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 In honor of the Broadway Bridge's upcoming 100th birthday on April 22, Multnomah County recently launched a website called HappyBirthdayBroadwayBridge.com.
Website visitors can learn all about the Broadway Bridge, get details about the big April 21 celebration being thrown by our friends at the PDX Bridge Festival, and even leave their own Broadway Bridge birthday greeting right on the homepage.
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The Broadway Bridge
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Completed in 1913, this Willamette River crossing connecting Old Town/Chinatown to Northeast Portland was the world's longest bascule bridge - a type of drawbridge - at the time of its opening. The Broadway Bridge remains one of the only moveable bridges of its type in the world. And in November 2012, it earned a listing on the National Register of Historic Places alongside Multnomah County's Hawthorne, Burnside and Morrison bridges.
Be a part of history and join our community in celebrating the Broadway Bridge!
Visit HappyBirthdayBroadwayBridge.com
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Last month, the county's Purchasing Division presented an annual report to the Board County Commissioners that highlighted the division's achievements in 2012. Highlights in the 56-page report include recent strides the county has taken in promoting social equity and economic development by providing opportunities on major projects to local Disadvantaged Business Enterprises and Minority-owned, Women-owned, and Emerging Small Businesses (referred to collectively as DMWESBs). For example, during construction of the East County Courthouse, more than 33 percent of the project's construction work was awarded to Minority-owned, Women-owned, and Emerging Small Businesses, exceeding the initial MWESB participation goal by 13 percentage points.
 | | From left: Tamiko Lawrence of Oregon Tradeswomen; county Purchasing Manager Brian R. Smith; Connie Ashbrook and Irais Gandarilla of Oregon Tradeswomen; and Sophia Cavalli, county Purchasing supervisor. |
For engineering services on the Sellwood Bridge replacement project, $2.1 million in contracts was awarded to 20 DMWESB subconsultants.
For construction of the Sellwood Bridge, a comprehensive diversity plan was developed for all phases of construction, including a 20 percent DMWESB aspirational target for the ongoing project. And as of June 2012, more than $8.1 million has been awarded to DMWESB subcontractors, accounting for more than 50 percent of all subcontracting.
In 2012, overall contract awards to MWESBs by Multnomah County reached an all-time high, increasing for the fourth year in a row from 14.3 percent in 2008 to 38 percent.
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With major state-initiated changes ahead for early childhood programs and healthcare, Multnomah County held a forum March 6 to help demystify these reforms, gather public input and define the county's role in both efforts.
The forum, which drew more than 75 people, featured speakers from Multnomah County; the State of Oregon; the state's largest coordinated care organization based in Portland, Health Share of Oregon; and the new public insurance marketplace corporation, Cover Oregon.  | |
Addressing the crowd during the county's March 6 forum.
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Regarding early childhood learning, forum attendees learned that, starting this September, all children in Oregon will take a kindergarten assessment in their first six weeks of school. Currently, children are not assessed until second grade. This move is part of a statewide effort to ensure all children are ready to read in first grade and are reading at a third-grade level in third grade.
Multnomah County will play a key role in this early learning work due to the services provided through the county's library system, as well as the SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) Service System. In the case of healthcare reform, the State of Oregon has begun addressing the issue of healthcare costs and lack of coordination by creating coordinated care organizations (CCO), or regional hubs that create a better network of care around patients. The changes will transform the payment system, coordination around patients and community collaboration. [Read more]
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Whether you have a passion for food access and security, know a lot about health and nutrition, or know a thing or two about land use and planning, the Multnomah County Food Advisory Board wants your input.
Now through Monday, March 25 please apply for a seat on the Food Advisory Board and provide your valuable insight on how the county can best leverage our local food system to improve our delivery of services.
The Food Advisory Board seeks community leaders and professionals who specialize in areas such as hunger prevention, land use and planning, homelessness prevention, health and nutrition, economic development, community organizing and more.
Members will be appointed by the Board of County Commissioners and serve on the Food Advisory Board for two-year terms starting in April 2013.
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Multnomah County is Oregon's most populous county with about 748,000 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.
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