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A citizen activist seeking to combine Multnomah County and the city of Portland into a single government has sold out a 100-seat discussion of the matter to be held tonight at Lucky Labrador Beer Hall in Northwest Portland.
Mattt Zmuda, a software engineer, started his organization, MultNoMo, to seek enough signatures to initiate consolidation under a state law that allows it. Zmuda says folding Multnomah County government into Portland’s is the best way to drag the city out of its economic malaise.
The idea has precedent; Jacksonville, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; and San Francisco have all consolidated with the counties that surround them.
Such a move would eliminate duplication of administrative departments, remedy confusing jurisdictional boundaries for services, and bring more accountability, claims MultNoMo’s website. It would also save taxpayers money.
Zmuda, a Pittsburgh native who moved to Portland in 2014, says urban blight drove him to start the effort. “Every time you go out, you’re rolling the dice on whether it’s going to be a traumatic event or not,” he says.
As evidence of inefficiency and conflict between the two governments, Zmuda cites the city-county fight over which is responsible for public safety at the Central Library downtown. The county operates the building, but city police patrol the streets around it.
The county’s press office declined to comment.
MultNoMo needs 21,963 signatures by July 20 to start down the road toward consolidation. Zmuda invites people to join a waitlist for the Jan. 22 event, which was first reported by the NW Examiner.
