News Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen held a "heated" meeting with Portland Mayor Charlie Hales this afternoon, saying he's "shocked and concerned" that the mayor's proposed budget eliminates funding for a a 16-bed mental-health crisis center where Portland police can take people in mental distress—but rarely do."I shared with the mayor my feelings," Cogen says. "The idea that the city—which is currently ...   More

News Clean Water Portland and Healthy Kids Healthy Portland—the "No" and "Yes" campaigns on fluoride—held their first community meetings over the last two weeks as both sides geared up for battle over Measure 26-151, a city council-approved proposal to fluoridate Portland's water supply, which faces a referendum vote in May. WW stopped by both events to eat both sides' food, drink both sides' booze ...   More

Cover Story The Central Library in downtown Portland is a gorgeous 1913 building with 17 miles of shelves, ornate marble staircases and an eco-roof planted with flowers. The flagship branch of the Multnom   More

News The City of Portland fired a shot across Multnomah County's bow on Wednesday, opening what promises to be a prickly skirmish over whether the county will put a library taxing district on the November ballot. The city's Office of Management and Finance, overseen by Mayor Sam Adams, says that ballot measure will hurt the city, and yesterday it said why. The OMF brief says that creating the Multnomah ...   More

News Multnomah County Commission Chair Jeff Cogen drew the ire of Multnomah County Library supporters a month ago when he said he wouldn’t support a proposal to enact a special library tax on the May ballot. Instead, the county planned to ask voters to renew an existing library levy of 89 cents per $1,000 for another three years.But at a press conference today, Cogen announced that he'd changed his ...   More

News Recent public opinion polls paid for by the Library Foundation, the nonprofit that helps support the Multnomah County library system, showed that there is less than 50 percent support among voters for a measure to create a library taxing district, according to sources familiar with the numbers.Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen told county employees last week he would oppose sending a taxing district ...   More

News New water bottles for everyone!As expected, the Multnomah County Commission will move forward with a countywide ban on some plastic food and drink containers containing the Bisphenol A, a chemical linked to a number of adult illnesses and developmental problems in infants, and better known as BPA.A draft of the order names "baby bottles, children’s spill proof cups, sippy cups, sports bottles, thermoses," ...   More

News Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen announced this morning he will not run for mayor of Portland in 2012."After thinking about it, I've decided there's a lot still to do at Multnomah County," Cogen said. "It does not feel like the right time to walk away."Cogen was seen as a strong potential challenger to incumbent Mayor Sam Adams, should Adams decide to seek re-election. Cogen had said he was considering ...   More

News While ballots are still being counted in Tuesday's election, one high-profile local politician is already looking to the future.Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen told WW earlier this week that he was waiting until after the election to begin seriously exploring whether to run for Portland mayor in 2012. Besides running the county, Cogen had also been working on the campaign to pass the Portland Public ...   More