Transition plan announced for Cascadia

From Public Affairs:
Multnomah County, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare and state officials released a transition plan that will transfer some mental health programs to other service providers. The move was a result of more than two months of in-depth financial analysis and evaluation of the service capacity of Cascadia and community mental health providers.

“The county and state are committed to making this work, ” said Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler. “This is a positive first step. Further changes are likely in the future.”

Read more and discuss: Transition plan announced for Cascadia

» June 17, 2008 - 1 comments - Human Services, Jeff's Blog, Top Stories

Video: Final two options for a new library in North Portland

Tomorrow is the meeting where Jeff will hear your preferences between our last two sites for a new library in North Portland. If you can't make it, we still want to hear your opinions. Watch the short video about the locations. Google maps will allow you to see actual images of the locations, just click "street view:"
8226 N Denver 2133 N Argyle

Tomorrow's meeting starts at 7pm at the Masonic Temple, 8130 N Denver Ave. Please let us know which site you prefer!

Read more and discuss: Video: Final two options for a new library in North Portland

» May 28, 2008 - 24 comments - Community Involvement, Front Page News, Jeff's Blog, Karol's Blog, Libraries, North Portland, Videos

To supporters of 1000 Friends of Oregon

Supporters of 1000 Friends of Oregon:

Thank you for letting me know that you support protecting Oregon's agricultural lands. I welcome your postcards, emails and comments here on my website.

I’m honored to represent Multnomah County along with commissioners from Clackamas County, Washington County and Metro to designate urban and rural reserves in the tri-county area. We are working collaboratively with a goal of coming to a unanimous decision on what shapes our region over the next 50 years.

My colleagues and I are committed to coming to unanimous conclusion and have not taken any options off the table. That said, I personally and professionally remain committed to creating a sustainable future for Oregonians and that influences my contributions during this process.

Thank you again for talking time to share your thoughts with me. You can stay informed here at the Metro urban and rural reserves website.
You are also welcome to comment here on my website.

Sincerely,

Jeff Cogen

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» April 18, 2008 - 0 comments - Community Involvement, Front Page News, Jeff's Blog, Sustainability

Thank you, Mayor Potter for Ending Portland’s Deeply Flawed “Exclusion Zones”

Mayor Potter recently decided not to re-authorize the city’s three “Exclusion Zones” that allow police officers to prohibit a person from entering, or being present in, large parts of the City of Portland for up to 90 days if they are suspected of drug or prostitution offenses. The idea of the zones was to provide the Police with an efficient tool for confronting elusive criminal activity. To some extent the Exclusion Zones achieved that goal, but at a cost that is far too high for our community to tolerate.

Exclusion zones allowed a significant penalty to be meted out to people not only without requiring them to first be convicted of a crime - but without even requiring that they have been arrested at all. This turns the fundamental notion of “innocent until proven guilty” so far on its head that our founding fathers must be spinning in their graves.

Second, these zones impact different groups within our community quite differently and serve to inflame the tensions between the Police and members of Portland’s minority communities. African Americans, in particular, have been disproportionately impacted by the way Exclusion Zones have been applied. A Police Bureau report issued in 2006 showed that African Americans who were stopped by Police were almost twice as likely to get exclusions as whites.

Finally, even if the individual being excluded actually committed a crime that merits punishment, Exclusion Zones don’t take criminals off the street they just move them to different neighborhoods around town for a few months. This limited benefit pales in comparison to the negative consequences of Exclusion Zones

We live in an era when the most basic civil liberties upon which our country was founded have come under unprecedented assault from our Federal Government. In Portland we must not succumb to the temptation to sacrifice liberty in the name of efficient law enforcement. Exclusion Zones simply aren’t worth it and I commend Mayor Potter for ending it there.

Discuss: Thank you, Mayor Potter for Ending Portland’s Deeply Flawed “Exclusion Zones”

» September 27, 2007 - 0 comments - Community Involvement, Jeff's Blog, Public Safety, Top Stories

Car-Free - easier said than done, especially with kids

I pride myself on trying to live “sustainably” so when I was asked to join the “low-car diet” program this summer and minimize my personal car use for a month I signed up without thinking much about it. After all, I like riding my bike (especially in the summer when the weather is nice!); have 3 bus lines near my house and could still use the County’s Fleet or Flexcar to fill in the gaps. No problem, I told myself.

Well, two weeks into it I have come to an embarrassing realization: my auto addiction is harder to kick than I thought.

Read more and discuss: Car-Free - easier said than done, especially with kids

» July 17, 2007 - 3 comments - Front Page News, Jeff's Blog, Sustainability

Jeff turns in his car keys

Its time again for brave Portlanders to turn in their keys and try Flexcar and other modes of transportation for a month. Our own Commissioner Jeff Cogen is participating and will be blogging about his experience here on our site. Will he bike, bus, MAX, carpool? Only time will tell, dear readers. Keep checking back for occasional updates.

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» July 10, 2007 - 1 comments - Jeff's Blog, Sustainability, Sustainability

Here Comes the Sun!

Burning fossil fuels is the root cause of global warming. Most of us know and accept this as fact.

Something you probably don’t know: Multnomah County government uses 42 million kilowatts of electricity a year, the majority of which come from power plants burning fossil fuels. In other words, we’re part of the problem. The good news is that we can be part of the solution, too.

Read more and discuss: Here Comes the Sun!

» June 28, 2007 - 23 comments - Jeff's Blog, Sustainability, Sustainability