during the Weekend, WW The city of Portland signed an agreement on Jan. 8 with Multnomah County that sets strict conditions around the city's involvement in constructing and operating severe weather shelters, it reported.
More importantly, the city stipulated that it would not staff severe weather shelters unless the county hired security guards. The same goes for shelter facilities: the lack of security guards means no city buildings are used for shelter. The city also suspended its assistance in moving homeless people to warm shelters.
WW has now learned that negotiations between the city and the county — which according to Mayor Ted Wheeler's staff have been ongoing for a year now — were triggered in part by an outside analysis commissioned by both governments in the wake of the extreme temperatures (hot and high winds). Hail) that descended on Portland in waves during 2022.
An Alpharetta, Georgia, consultant called iParametrics conducted the analysis and delivered its final version to the city in April 2023. The analysis, a copy of which was obtained WW It was obtained and found that the shelter's response to weather emergencies in the county and city was disjointed, ineffective and a communications black hole.
The report points to another way the county and city have failed to work together to address the region's biggest problems.
“There are currently a myriad of overlapping Department and Office goals and missions that relate in part to emergency shelter,” the consultant wrote. “The lack of a clear legal definition, operational guidance or strategic definition prevents the creation of a foundation on which to build the rest of the response roles and responsibilities.”
The consultant added that where systems were in place, “there was a constant battle to ensure that people who needed to know had the necessary documentation and maintained it.”
The consultants wrote that a small group of senior government officials made isolated decisions about air shelters, and that “there was little clarity about the data that shaped these decisions.”
Volunteers should be identified well before weather shelters open, the consultants recommended, rather than at the last minute — and everyone leading shelters should have an “up-to-date contact list with specific safety and security experts prior to sheltering.” Activation.”
In short, the Chancellor concluded in so many words that the response was chaotic. Thus, the task was to prepare the report.
Municipal spokesman Cody Bowman says the county and city “agreed to pay half the amount for the analysis.” But that, according to Bowman, failed: “The county eventually stopped responding and engaging the contractor.” Bowman says the county has only paid $9,000 so far for its share of the analysis, only a small portion of the total.
County officials tell the story a little differently. Spokeswoman Julia Cumnes agrees that the county agreed to pay for half of the report — which is estimated to cost $83,600 in total — but says the city never billed the country for half of the report. The city “then wanted to expand the scope of work for the contractor who prepared the report, including facilitation duties and other work, and the county refused to provide funding to expand the work beyond the scope of the report,” Cummins said.
Cummins says the county wrote its own analysis of weather emergency shelter operations. The district did not immediately provide its review WW.
The city advanced alone. “Because of their lack of response, we pushed the process forward,” Bowman says. The city finds value in completing the analysis.
At the height of the winter storm that left the city covered in inches of ice last week, the county stood up and ran warm shelters for Portland's homeless residents. On the night of January 16, the county provided emergency shelter to 1,269 people across dozens of facilities. County officials said it was a record number. The shelters then closed on January 17, while ice was still on the ground, sparking intense criticism.
The city has given the county permission to use one of its buildings during the winter — a community center in North Portland — as a warming shelter. As part of a recently signed agreement with county officials, the city did not assist with ground transportation to the shelters.
Sixty-nine percent of volunteer shifts across shelters were staffed by county employees. City employees covered less than 7% of shifts.
