Deborah Kafoury: Portland Has "A False Sense of Success As A Green City"

The County Chair also criticizes Sheriff Dan Staton for inordinate use of force against black inmates.

Most years, the Multnomah County Chair's "state of the county" speech is a chance to list achievement and offer a rosy outlook.

This isn't most years.

Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury struck a cautionary tone in Friday's state of the county address, lamenting the state's lax environmental regulations and the racial inequities inside the county jails.

"We have become a victim of our own self-image and forgotten the hard work it takes to be worthy of that image," Kafoury said. "For example, we have an incredible and ultimately false sense of success as a green city."

Kafoury singled out the high concentrations of heavy metals discovered six weeks ago around two Portland glass companies.

"There are so many questions," she said, "and as an elected official I have to admit that I couldn't offer reassurance when my own sense of outrage was—and still is—so great at the complete failure of state regulators to protect the health of our neighbors, not the health of businesses."

Kafoury also pointed to inequality in the ability of people to afford rent in Portland and surrounding suburbs. Then she turned her attention to Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton.

Staton has been under scrutiny since WW reported a tort claim alleging he used sexually demeaning language to describe local officials (including Kafoury's chief of staff). Stanton's troubles expanded when WW reported he fired the county analyst who produced a report showing deputies inordinately use force against black inmates in the county jails.

Here's what Kafoury said Friday, with Staton in attendance at the speech:

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