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OREGON DEATHS AGAIN OUTPACE BIRTHS: In 2020, for the first time ever, Oregon recorded more deaths than births. In a new analysis, the Oregon Employment Department noted this week that the trend continued in 2021, with 2,210 more deaths than births. Federal census numbers show half of all states had more deaths than births last year, but only three of 13 Western states did. Among those Western states, Oregon had the highest percentage of counties with natural population declines. That means the state is more dependent than ever on attracting in-migrants from other states and countries. Oregon did attract 24,979 net migrants last year, according to the Portland State University Population Research Center (i.e., more people moved in than out), but that’s down from the average of 31,000 a year for the past decade. “Migration in 2021 was no doubt hampered by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and concerns,” an OED economist noted, “as well as limited housing supply and high housing costs.”
TOP CHILD ABUSE PROSECUTOR DEPARTS: The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office has lost another top child abuse prosecutor. John Casalino was one of three division chiefs until he was demoted by DA Mike Schmidt. He left last month, following in the footsteps of Amber Kinney another longtime child abuse prosecutor. Unlike Kinney, who criticized Schmidt’s leadership in a blistering resignation letter, Casalino appears to have left quietly. In an email to WW, Casalino confirmed he now works for the Oregon Department of Justice. A farewell missive distributed to office staff last month and forwarded to WW by Schmidt’s spokesperson noted Casalino’s expertise in prosecuting child abuse cases and thanked him for his service.
WHEELER CHIPS AWAY AT CAMPING: Mayor Ted Wheeler has again used his emergency powers to ban camping along certain Portland streets—and is slowly chipping away at a larger goal mayoral aide Sam Adams circulated earlier this year to regional, state and city officials. That goal: banning camping entirely in Portland. In that document, first reported by WW in February, Adams wrote: “Using a phased-in no camping approach, the city prohibits all unsanctioned camping. Starts removing camps that have the highest community safety impacts, such as all schools, medical facilities, shelters, ADA violators, and in camps located in higher-speed transportation locations.” Wheeler so far has banned camping along the city’s high-crash corridors, around pod villages, and along streets deemed “safe routes to school” by the Portland Bureau of Transportation. Wheeler made his latest declaration while the transportation commissioner, Jo Ann Hardesty, was on vacation. Hardesty faces reelection this fall against lawyer and small-business owner Rene Gonzalez, who supports the mayor’s declaration and has built his campaign on cleaning up the city. Bypassing Hardesty’s approval on a policy that almost exclusively impacts her bureau is seen by some insiders as a political snub.
SENATOR BLASTS NEW POLICY ON REMOTE EMPLOYEES: Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend) reacted strongly to a story WW published last week that reported the Oregon Lottery was paying travel expenses for two senior managers who relocated to Sun Belt states (“Scratch-Offs,” WW, Aug. 17). The story noted that in addition to avoiding Oregon income taxes, the agency has covered the two managers’ travel expenses back to Salem for meetings—at a total cost of about $2,000 for each manager so far in 2022. “In 2023, I will introduce legislation to end this wasteful practice,” Knopp says. State officials told WW that about 500 employees have so far taken advantage of a new state policy instituted last year that allows employees to keep their jobs while permanently relocating elsewhere. The state policy says that “employees who work under the full-time remote work model must be reimbursed by the agency for travel to and from the central workplace.” Knopp says that’s wrong: “This is deeply unfair to thousands of public employees who do not get reimbursed to drive or take public transit to work.”
ANOTHER DEADLINE APPROACHES WITH ONLY ONE SAFE REST VILLAGE OPEN: This spring, City Commissioner Dan Ryan told WW three safe rest villages would be open and serving homeless Portlanders by Sept. 5. Today, only one pod village is open, in Southwest Portland. Two others are under construction, and another three are still in the planning and design phase. Only one of the villages under construction—a site in Southeast Portland at Menlo Park—has identified a site operator. The Joint Office of Homeless Services has not yet found an operator for the other village. Bryan Aptekar, communications liaison for the villages, says Ryan “sets ambitious goals, and we’re trying to meet those.” He adds that unforeseen construction snafus—such as soft soil at the Menlo Park site that forced workers to dig deeper into the ground to place infrastructure—have resulted in further delays. The city allocated $44 million for the project, which is set to expire at the end of 2024.
A prior version of this story identified the Menlo Park site as an RV site. The Menlo Park will not be an RV site, but instead a pod village. WW regrets the error.
