Editor’s Note: The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board summarizes successes and failures in state and local public affairs. Peaks and Valleys is published periodically. To read this week’s Valley, go to oregonlive.com/Opinion.
Whiplash aside, Multnomah County Executive Jessica Vega Pederson made the right decision last week when she announced that the county would delay the opening of a new “diversion center” designed to help drug users avoid prison time and access treatment.
Vega Pederson acknowledged last week that too many operational components have yet to be finalized, heeding calls from other county commissioners and neighbors of the proposed center to hold off. After insisting for weeks that the new facility would open on Sept. 1 — the same day that possession of small amounts of drugs will again become a crime — she is now aiming for an opening sometime in October, Noelle Crombie of The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Vega Pederson and other elected officials should be commended for being willing to walk back previous positions and change course when circumstances dictate. Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell, who recently settled a dispute with Mayor Ted Wheeler over jailing repeat offenders of the city’s camping ban, also deserves credit for being willing to try an approach she had previously dismissed.
But Vega Pederson should use this delay to get more feedback from other commissioners and the public, rather than continuing to have the planning tightly controlled by her hand-picked group of local officials. While she noted at last week’s board meeting that there were several hours of public meetings on the diversion center, she did not acknowledge that other county commissioners, kept at arm’s length from the planning, had to force some of those public updates, including a report from county staff that showed the county was not ready to move forward. The resistance and questions come not from wanting the diversion center to fail, but rather from wanting to improve its chances of success.
Unfortunately, Vega Pederson seems more intent on adopting the commissioners’ opinions than welcoming them. She announced the delay just days before commissioners could discuss and vote on a widely publicized proposal from Commissioner Sharon Meieran that called for a 90-day delay in opening and required a fully detailed plan of operations. Both Meieran and Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards noted that they did not learn of Vega Pederson’s decision until after the information was released to news reporters.
The delay also shows why the public is rightly skeptical of the county’s claims that it can add more sobering beds at the diversion center by next March — details are yet to be announced, of course. Vega Pederson has already heard from police that a sobering center is critical to public safety. The difficulties in opening the diversion center on time are a clear sign that the county should move forward with the plan already developed by Brim-Edwards for a separate sobering center, rather than pursuing the more elaborate and abstract vision she has in mind.
Competent execution is important, and this is a huge undertaking. Vega Pederson should try to take responsibility for this undertaking – or be prepared to take responsibility if it fails.
-Editorial staff of The Oregonian/OregonLive
Editorial from the Oregonian
Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. The editorial board includes Therese Bottomly, Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung and John Maher.
Board members meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on current issues. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can provide clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles.
