PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran wants to delay the opening of the county’s diversion center in northeast Portland because there is no “comprehensive safety plan.”
On Monday, she requested that a resolution be placed on the agenda of a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. The resolution calls for the opening to be “suspended.”
Read Meieran’s proposed resolution below:
District leaders have drawn up a tight schedule to open the diversion center by September 1, the date Recriminalization of drug possession comes into force in Oregon. Under the new law, counties are encouraged to “refer” drug users to treatment to avoid criminal prosecution.
Last month, a majority of county commissioners voted to rent and renovate the building at 900 SE Sandy Blvd.to accommodate his diversion program.
Meieran told KATU News that she was citing inadequate public safety planning for the surrounding area as the reason for postponing the opening.
“I think we need to take a step back,” Meieran said. “The county likes to equate spending money with having an actual plan.”
KATU asked the office of County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, who pushed for plans for the diversion center, for comment on Meieran’s proposal.
“The Chairman’s office received the resolution today and will review it,” a spokesman said. The spokesman did not say whether Pederson will add the resolution to the agenda for Thursday’s meeting.
The county has allocated $740,000 to hire two private security guards to provide 24-hour security at the center for the first 10 months after opening, the spokesman said.
A local neighborhood organization, the Buckman Community Association (BCA), said it has not yet taken a formal position on the proposed diversion center.
“At this point, like many others, we still have many questions about the actual deployment plans, the follow-up procedures after people are dropped off, the deployment of police and their selection of people, and especially how this will impact the adjacent daycare, businesses and residents,” a BCA co-chair told KATU in an email Monday.
A nearby preschool threatens to sue the districtto prevent the district from opening.
