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COUNTY CHAIR RELEASES FOOTAGE OF ARGUMENT OUTSIDE LIBRARY: Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson asked District Attorney Nathan Vasquez on Monday to release security video taken before a stabbing Aug. 25 outside the Central Library. Vega Pederson wrote there was a “serious discrepancy” between the Portland police account of what occurred and what is reflected in the footage, adding that the information shared publicly “appears to rush to judgment around a serious incident involving young Black people despite the existence of video footage and statements that are more complicated.” DA Vasquez fired back, telling the chair she could release the footage herself. He also announced that a grand jury had indicted three young people on charges related to the stabbing. So, on Monday evening, Vega Pederson made the footage available. The video, which does not show the stabbing itself, does little to clear up the controversy of what did or did not occur that day. “My request and subsequent release is intended to address the narrative discrepancy and media coverage,” Vega Pederson said, “not a determination of innocence or guilt regarding those involved.”
NEW OHSU PREZ WARNS OF MONEY PROBLEMS: Oregon Health & Science University says it lost $133 million in the fiscal year that ended in June, far more than OHSU had projected. “That’s a lot,” new president Dr. Shereef Elnahal told staff this week at an OHSU town hall where, in a congenial manner, he discussed the dour financial picture. “We have a systemic problem here, folks,” he said. Presenting slides from a stage, he said OHSU’s operating margins— revenues minus expenses—in recent years ranked quite low among comparable health institutions. OHSU, he noted, is not a for-profit company, but the trajectory isn’t sustainable. Since 2019, Elnahal said, OHSU core revenues increased 6.4 % annually, while core expenses climbed 9.1%—largely driven by higher salary and benefit costs, which rose 10.5% annually. Going forward, he said, such a shortfall would make it harder for OHSU to reinvest in its people or facilities. Elnahal, who started in the top job at the major Oregon medical institution just last month, proposed to mend the situation through a “culture of shared financial responsibility.” He said he wants to tightly control administrative cost and staff growth and grow in strategic areas while also avoiding layoffs. “We can get through this without another reduction in force. It is totally possible,” Elnahal said. “But in order for us to do that, we have to take joint ownership now of this issue and plan and execute together.”
CITY COUNCIL KEEPS HITTING WALLS: The Portland City Council could not agree last week on yet another basic procedural question: what items should and should not go on the consent agenda before the council. (The consent agenda typically consists of noncontroversial or routine items bundled together for quick approval to speed up council meetings). At issue last week was whether approval of advisory body and committee nominees should be placed on the consent agenda if unanimously approved by a policy subcommittee. Councilors fell along familiar fault lines on the issue: Members of the progressive caucus, called Peacock, took issue with placing nominations on the consent agenda. More centrist members of the council said not doing so would slow down the council’s work. “There are three members of Peacock on the Finance Committee, and if you don’t trust me, you’ve got part of your caucus, as well,” Councilor Eric Zimmerman told Councilor Sameer Kanal. Zimmerman added: “I don’t know what future we have if this tiny little thing has to continuously get pulled off consent.” Kanal took issue with Zimmerman’s comments, retorting: “The comment that this is the tiniest thing is particularly concerning. These boards are much more important than they’re often treated as.” To that, Councilor Olivia Clark said the council needed marriage counseling. Councilor Candace Avalos bit back: “I often hear this debate being shrouded in this concept about we have to trust each other. My job isn’t about trusting all of you. My job is to speak for my constituents and to weigh the decisions in front of me.”
SCHOOL DISTRICT MULLS SEISMIC RETROFITS: In May, Portland-area voters approved the largest school bond in Oregon history, $1.83 billion for Portland Public Schools. Part of the bond’s overwhelming success came from a last-minute effort by parents and advocates to have the district earmark funds for seismic retrofits. A Portland School Board resolution in May set aside $100 million of the $190 million in deferred maintenance funds in the 2025 bond for “imminent risk” projects, but committed the remainder to seismic upgrades. (School Board members have emphasized cost savings from high school modernizations in the district should mean more money for seismic projects.) An August report by Holmes Consulting Group, which PPS commissioned, identified and prioritized school projects based on seismic risk scores. That report determined it would cost the district about $118.6 million to retrofit unreinforced masonry buildings (the most at-risk structures) and about $902.9 million for all PPS schools. The district is now in the last phase of determining how it will prioritize buildings. The Holmes report recommends two strategies: a campus-by-campus approach that would address the most at-risk buildings, or one that would retrofit the most at-risk parts of more buildings. Staff in the district’s Office of School Modernizations recommends a hybrid approach that would allow the district to maximize available grants while doing the most good for the most students. Specifics were not immediately available in the memo. On top of Holmes’ seismic risk scores, PPS senior chief of operations Dr. Jon Franco wrote that the district would apply its own criteria to determine which schools to retrofit, confirming that PPS officials would consider “anticipated impacts of potential school consolidation” as they select buildings for upgrades.
