Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Well, good morning, everyone. I'll now call to order the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners Business Meeting on May 21st, 2026.

County Administrator Gary Schmidt, will you call the roll for us? Yes, Chair, thank you. First, our staff support today, County Council, Billy Williams, Clerk to the Board, Andrew Jiraki. Commissioner West is out of the office today on a pre-planned absence weeks ago, so he's not here today. Roll call, Commissioner Savas. Present. Commissioner Helm.

Here.

Commissioner Schrader.

Here.

Chair Roberts. Here. Thanks, Gary. So if you're able, would you please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? Again, good morning, everyone. And first up is public communication. And testimony is limited to three minutes per person. I'd ask comments to be respectful and courteous. And as a reminder, you can also email submissions for public communication at bcc at clackamas.us. And they'll be accepted as a part of the public record. So first off is going to be in-person testimony first. And our wonderful clerk does just an amazing job moderating this. I'm going to turn it over to Andrew, and you're on, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If you're attending this meeting in person and wish to comment during general public communication, this is your opportunity to please fill out a blue card and deposit it in the box by the center doors. This is a final call. If you're attending this meeting in person and wish to comment, this is your opportunity to please fill out a blue card and deposit it in the box found by the center doors. Seeing none, Mr. Chair, with your assent, I'll move to those attending virtually. If you're attending this meeting virtually and wish to comment during general public communication, this is your opportunity to please raise your hand. I will call on you in the order that I see. Tammy Stevens. Tammy Stevens, I see your hand first. I'll mute you. Please introduce yourself. You'll have three minutes.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you. Please proceed, ma'am.

Wonderful. Thank you so much. Good morning, commissioners. Normally I am Tammy Stevens representing the Hamlet of Beaver Creek. However, today I identify as Rick Cook, as I will be sharing the May Clackamas County volunteers. April showers bring May flowers, allergies and hay fever fears. Also time to praise and acknowledge May's CPO and Hamlet volunteers. Hoodlands CPO Nancy Padberg sprouted early. She's up first. Lots of community ventures to quench her volunteering thirst, providing flashlights and radios to neighbors and friends galore. Fire District, Lions, Senior Center, just a few where she's loved and adored. Beaver Creek, on July 18th, anniversary of 20 years, schedule now so you can lead celebratory good wishes and anniversary cheers. To Pam and Don Furlan, Beaver Creek Range and Hamlet great volunteers, support through media, venues, and giving both deserve kudos and big cheers. Stafford hamleteers volunteering patience and calming peace. A few more months to go until road construction will surely cease. Stafford Road will be safer with new roundabout and bike lanes. We'll take some time to recover from years of road constructions growing pains. Many community planning organizations meet only a few times a year to ponder and decide what issues addressing land they hold so dear. We'll keep up our New Year's resolution, acknowledging great volunteers in front of you, keeping you abreast of their great work, We are half of counties volunteering glue. We wish you luck and Godspeed as you tackle the budget again this year. Kenny Serganak, again, assisting budget committee. Oh yeah, another Beaver Creek Hamlet volunteer. Performance Clackamas should have a spot to award great volunteer members, throw a summer picnic to acknowledge them and their great work before we hit September. So all for now, you've got business to do. We appreciate work you do for us. We'll keep working hard and supporting you. We're helping you drive County's volunteer bus. The end.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

Thank you, Ms. Stevens. This is a final call. If you're attending this meeting in person and have not yet commented during general public communication, please raise your hand. Mr. Chair, I see no other members of the public, either physically or virtually present, wish to comment today during general public communication.

All right. Thank you, Andrew. I'll now close the publication portion, and I'll turn to Gary.

What do you have next on our agenda? Thank you. Next is a presentation declaring May as Mental Health Awareness Month in Clackamas County. Presenting is Mary Rumbaugh, Director of Health, Housing, and Human Services, and Karen Kern, Behavioral Health Division Director of Health, Housing, and Human Services. Go ahead, please.

Good morning Chair Roberts and Commissioners, and thank you Chair Roberts for asking specifically for us to come forward and provide some information about May being Mental Health Awareness Month. So thank you again for having us. I am joined by Karen Kern, our Behavioral Health Division Director, and actually staff from both our public health and our behavioral health division, because this work actually crosses many sectors of the work that H3S does. So May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It is an annual observance to highlight the importance of mental well-being, educate the public, reduce stigma, and promote support for those affected by mental health conditions. We are going to highlight some important work, including providing information about mental health conditions and their impact. our goal is to reduce stigma by encouraging open conversations and fostering acceptance. We're gonna highlight the importance of early intervention and access to treatment and to remind our community about the availability of mental health resources and supports that is just a phone call away. And when we get to that next slide, the phone numbers is our next slide. I just wanna remind folks that phone numbers are that we hope to disperse hope through this conversation because some of the data that we're going to show can be a little bit discouraging at times. So I really hope that we are inspired and feel hopeful at the end of this session. So I'm going to turn it over to Karen.

Thanks, Mary. Chair, commissioners, thanks so much for the time on your agenda today to talk about this important topic. I am Karen Kern, your Behavioral Health Division Director with H3S. And as Mary said, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Each year, individuals and organizations come together to raise awareness and advocate for better mental health care and resources. Mental health awareness plays a crucial role in reducing stigma and raising awareness of mental health conditions and normalizing. Normalizing these conversations around mental health creates a more compassionate community where individuals feel empowered to seek help. and ideally seek help early. Before we start off, we're going to be discussing mental health and suicide today. Whenever we have those conversations, we want to make sure that folks in the room, folks online understand that support is always available. A few of these resources you can see listed here on the slide, Mary, said, you know, phone number, text, whatever, equals hope. We're here for you 24-7. So please do feel free to use those resources if you need them. And then next slide. Okay, I'm gonna linger on this slide for a little bit and provide you with some relevant statistics. These data come from the State of Mental Health in America 2025 report, NAMI, and the National Council on Wellbeing. The data show that Oregon is experiencing a very high level of mental health and substance use concern compared with other states. Oregon ranked 51st, and that ranking includes the District of Columbia as a separate entity, or last nationally for overall prevalence of mental health and substance use concerns. There are several specific indicators that reinforce this concern. You see some of them on the slide here. Oregon ranks 49th for adults reporting serious thoughts of suicide, 48th for adults with a substance use disorder, and 47th for youth experiencing a major depressive episode. Oregon also ranked 47th for youth substance use disorder and 36th for youth reporting a serious risk of suicide. Despite the overwhelming need, nearly 30 million people across the U.S. don't have access to affordable, comprehensive mental health and substance use treatment. And what we know is that one in five adults struggle with a mental health condition, more than one in seven youth have a mental health disorder, 50% of all lifetime mental illness such as depression or anxiety occur Symptoms come on younger than 14 years old and then 75% of all people with mental health disorders have an onset before 25 years old. So really early intervention is critical in supporting the overall wellness of our community. Behavioral health problems are more common than heart disease, lung disease, and cancer combined, yet we know that the average delay between symptoms and onset of treatment is 11 years, meaning that people actually start feeling symptoms and then on average wait 11 years before seeking help. And I think the stigma around mental illness and substance use is one of the things that keeps people from seeking that help. The issues can be just as disruptive as medical issues, but they're typically invisible to general public, so it makes it that much harder. And then research also shows that early detection and treatment of mental health disorders can have a significant positive impact on the lives of the people that experience them. Early intervention is key in supporting awareness, normalizing symptoms or experience, and ensuring access to services. Unfortunately, we're in a climate of funding constraints and deprioritization of prevention and early intervention, and so it's becoming harder for us to reach young people early. Wow. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. Okay. We know behavioral health challenges can increase suicide risk when someone feels overwhelmed, hopeless, isolated, lonely, just unable to see a way forward. Depression, anxiety, trauma, substance use, serious emotional distress, all those things make it harder. to cope with everyday stressors and seek help. This slide demonstrates that Oregon has the ninth highest rate of suicide in the nation, but also that Clackamas County's rate of suicide is higher than both the nation and the state averages. Suicide risk often increases when behavioral health struggles are combined with, as I said before, different stressors, loneliness, financial stress, chronic pain, grief, relationship conflict, or limited access to support. And these data from the Clackamas County Medical Examiner demonstrate that Clackamas County has actually experienced decline in unintentional overdose deaths over the past several years due to very intentional efforts to stem the flow of opioid use and the opioid crisis and that we also have lower rates of accidental overdose than the state and the nation, which is really wonderful news. However, our rate of suicide is not following the same trend. Our rate of suicide is higher than the state and the nation. Multiple studies show that compared with the general population, people who use alcohol or drugs experience substance use disorders are at an increased risk of dying by suicide. And the risk of death by suicide increases 8.1% with the use of alcohol or drugs and 11.2 times for people with alcohol and drug and tobacco disorders. All right, so we know that barriers remain even when services exist. So there are a lot of services out there, but for many Oregonians and for those in our local community, having insurance does not necessarily mean that you have access to services, whether it's Medicaid or private insurance. People may still face high costs, co-pays, long wait lists, limited provider options, transportation barriers, or just difficulty finding somebody taking new patients, and we see that all the time. And then... How do we support our Clackamas County community? Our crisis line is available 24-7. That number was on the first slide, the 655-85. And anybody who's looking for help or just wanting to talk to somebody about whatever's going on for them. There's no rules about using that line. Just call it. Our mobile crisis response team is also available to go out into the community and meet people wherever they're at. and they help people navigate mental health challenges that may or may not be relating to suicide risk. We're moving into our fourth year, coming up pretty soon, of operating mobile crisis response team, and we've increased our reach and visibility in the community so that calls for mobile crisis support have jumped 67% since 2023. Okay, this is a kind of busy slide, but I added it in because it shows with the most recent data available how our Clackamas County mobile crisis response team is performing in comparison with the state averages. So you'll see the little gray vertical bars, vertical lines will represent statewide data, and then the green horizontal bars represent our Clackamas County team. In this sort of middle swim lane to the left, you can see that for our team, the majority of calls from mobile crisis are coming from families, friends, or individuals themselves, whereas statewide data show most calls for dispatch coming from the emergency department or law enforcement. And locally, this just means that law enforcement is freed up. to manage public safety concerns rather than mental health concerns. And then in the chart just to the right of that is your dispatch data. You can see that the local team is exceeding the state average in the number of responses where they're able to deescalate the individual or provide them with support or resources while they're still in the community rather than getting them to a hospital, which then reduces reliance on hospitals or emergency departments to manage mental health crises. And then next slide, please.

Oh, yeah, look at that.

Thanks, Andrew. We also support the community through our urgent walk-in clinic, which is available to see anyone needing help Monday through Friday, 9 to 7. And then over the next year, we're introducing and testing some new strategies to improve the level of service available through the walk-in clinic. Our crisis stabilization center, which opened in December of 2025, is available 24-7, 365 access for that. Crisis stabilization center is through our mobile crisis team or currently through law enforcement. If people would like to access the crisis stabilization center, they can just call the crisis line 24-7 and then mobile crisis will respond and help get them there. And then coming up in next year's data, we're not quite there yet because we've only been operating, I think, coming up in six months, we'll be able to show how the Crisis Stabilization Center is facilitating some of those individuals who might have otherwise gone to the hospitals or even jail. So look for me to come back next year and show you that data. There's one more before that. Yeah. We are one of the only counties in Oregon who provide post-vention support following a death from suicide in our community. And what that means is we reach out to people who have, to families who have had a suicide death in the family and offer our services. In 2025, we offered support following 42 deaths and provided an average of nine to 10 counseling sessions to 13 families who are interested in that service. And we also provide care coordination for adults and children struggling with behavioral health issues to ensure they get connected to the appropriate level of care. And then, in partnership with our sister public health division, who's here in the audience, mental health promotion in the form of free mental health awareness and suicide prevention trainings are available to organizations, to school, to law enforcement, really anybody who's interested to better equip community and identifying when someone might be struggling and where in our county they can go for support and then the last thing we are hopeful that we are going to have an even better opportunity to support our rural communities through the rural health transformation grant which we are applying for literally as we speak right now the application is going in this grant is a joint H3S effort between behavioral health, public health, social services, and our health centers. And it'll address many of the top identified unmet needs in our rural communities related to behavioral health care and access. I've covered a lot of ground before we get to questions. I just want to say, again, in honor of this month, I hope you'll join me in raising awareness and reducing stigma around mental health by having some of these conversations wherever you can.

And thank you. All right. Questions, comments from my colleagues?

Go ahead, Commissioner. Yeah. Question on the kind of intrigued by the data slide you had. And it's not displayed here, I don't think, unless I'm mistaken. But I'm just curious, if you were to take one of those years with green bars on the deaths, if you will, is there a percentage of that that we know we've had touch points with our department in any way, or our services, and if so, of that of that block of folks, what's our success rate, so to speak, in prevention, right? I mean, obviously, if they're in the green bar, they've taken their lives, right? But I'm just kind of wondering overall, with those who have been touched that are not that statistic, do we have any kind of measurement to see how effective our services are versus those who are not getting any services or not aware of us at all?

Yeah, so what I'm hearing is individuals who might have a suicide attempt that didn't result in a fatality.

Right.

Yeah, I would ask.

Should I stand?

You have to come to the table, please.

Chair, commissioners, hello. I'm Gali Murray, I'm the Suicide Prevention Coordinator, and I sit in the Public Health Division, and we partner closely with Karen's division. So to answer to your question, Commissioner, the answer is we don't really know kind of factual information, but for individuals that have had touchpoints in our system, We do know that we have a very elaborate plan of particular workflows and pathways for those individuals, particularly in our health centers and our behavioral health division. So anywhere we're operating clinical direct care, it's very clear when someone endorses suicidal ideation. or has had an attempt, they kind of, there's like a certain trail they are put on with support from our staff. The folks that are in that bar that have taken their lives, we know some of those folks have been in our system, and when unfortunately we do lose someone to suicide that has been in our system, we take a very deep dive in better understanding where the opportunities may have been to close gaps that exist and so other deaths don't happen. So we take those obviously very seriously for a variety of reasons, but one is to close gaps that may exist so that doesn't happen again.

I think that's why the postvention services come in, because we know that where there has been a death due to suicide in a family, it is more likely that there might be another death in that family. And so we really want to provide services to the family of that person as well to help them move through it and then figure out what resources are available. And then the other thing I'll need is, I'll add is that with our crisis stabilization center, again, it's super new, but we are gathering data around people that come to the crisis stabilization center due to potential suicide thoughts or ideation. And so we will have some data around that around, you know, how do we help them basically not get to a point where they've completed suicide.

Yeah. Thank you for that. I know my experience with people I know is anecdotal in all of this. You know, that's why I was asking for something as more help demonstrate the value of investing, you know, at a statewide local area into, you know, this critical need for behavioral health.

Well, I think that's why we sort of like with the whole point of Mental Health Awareness Month and why we keep driving home like the stigma reduction, the early intervention, the opportunity to have those conversations because, When you think about, I think I mentioned that it's 11 years between, you know, A, half of the folks who develop a mental health disorder develop it by age 14 and 75% by age 25. So we know that, like, these are early occurring issues for people. And then if you're waiting 11 years to get help, largely, I think, due to the stigma or just unawareness of resources or just being afraid to ask or say something or you know, this is a failing in me and I should be able to handle it, whatever it is, you know, the more that we make information and like normalizing the situation available for folks, you know, the more likely it is that people will seek help sooner.

If I could just add, I think there's a myth that it's really the health system or behavioral health system.

Is your mic on?

I think there is a myth that it's just the health system or the behavioral health system that can intervene, when in fact, the reason we're very purposeful about putting some of this work in the public health system is that any of us can intervene. And that's why we've historically really promoted training for anybody around mental health first aid, question, persuade, refer, QPR, because anyone struggling, you can actually help them. What we want to really give you all, all of us who are listening, is the tools, including those phone numbers, right? So you can get professional assistance if you see a loved one, a family member, a church member, struggling. So I do think Mental Health Awareness Month really does highlight that this is not a system prevention. It really is anybody can intervene and support.

Can I just add to what Director Romero said is that you saw the data of Clackamas having a higher rate of suicide than the nation, than the state, and so really what I always say when I see that graph is what we've been doing, thank you Andrew, what we've been doing historically has not worked, is not working. We cannot rely, we cannot continue to, rely on the same systems and individuals if we want different results. So similar to the slide with the unintentional overdose deaths, we handled that epidemic, that crisis, which again, we haven't solved entirely, but we've seen a decrease and that's because of very intentional efforts and funding. We have not done that for suicide yet. And we will continue to see these numbers grow and grow until we are more intentional as a state and a nation to support those efforts. Yeah.

All right.

Just a couple comments. First, this is just an area and population I care deeply about.

And I've got to keep it together here. And there is hope, right? And I know it's so dear to me because throughout my career as a deputy, I responded to suicides as a detective, right? And it is tragic. And... Shifting gears, you know, I chaired the statewide safe schools task force and our whole thought was okay We need to make the building secure right that was the issue. Guess what? We looked at the data. It wasn't that it was that kids were hurting themselves self-harm suicide depression and You know, it is really sad to see where we are as a nation where we rate as a state. I mean, it's just so I think I think everybody has either knows somebody, has a family member, they struggle with it. I get calls all the time like, oh my gosh, you know. So I just, I guess my hope and just that we care about people that struggle and I think Galliera Starr, she's taught me so much over the years of really how to have the conversation. And I think that's what's really important, is taking it out of the shadows, right? And one of the tools she taught me, and I'll just say it as Lib, I had always started off with, how are you? And they go, okay. And I go, no, really, how are you, right? And trying to get past that door. And I think that, I mean, to the point I would even say, hey, have you thought about taking your life? And or trying to, on a scale from one to 10, you know, how much have you thought about this? You know, if they say, I'm like eight. you know, then really trying to instill them to take advantage of the resources, right? And I've seen so many people turn themselves, turn it around. And I think that the part is that people escalate, right? And they can be up here. That's why it's so important for families to remove guns and other things to really, that they will come out of it, right? And I think sometimes they don't feel like they will, right? And so, you know, you've done a great job. I always want to give a shout out to... all the social workers, the counselors, the crisis workers, the folks that work on those lines that really care about people. It's a difficult job to be on the phone and the other person is saying, hey, I'm ready to do it, and to really navigate those people off that edge. And so I do admire all the people. My daughter even got into it, so she's a social worker. I think you must have followed Gally's leadership there. So I know I kind of get emotional about this, but I think, most importantly, the message is there is hope. I can't encourage you enough to call 988, also the 655-8585. And I also encourage, you know, families that are having a hard time struggling with it, you can also call and get help to kind of help you navigate this. It's not anything that's easy, and it changes from day to day to hour to hour sometimes. So just encourage people to reach out. It touches... every every category of Population in our community and we we have to turn the tide around this issue. So thank you all I really appreciate you presenting on this and Commissioner Sabbath said another comment.

Yeah, it's always want to try to end this note on And on a positive note, especially on this, you know in the essence of hope right and And again, my experience is anecdotal. I'm not a professional in this area by any means, but those who have got the help, and I'm really talking about the professionals do the diagnosis and then do the, be able to provide or prescribe treatment, that if they take the meds or that treatment, it's, I've seen, I mean, Some great benefit. I'm going to get emotional too. But it works if they can stay on the meds. And sometimes people fall off the meds and they don't take them. So then we see them like a relapse, if you will. But the hope is that there's treatment out there that does work in most cases. So I think that's the encouraging piece, is really getting them to there. I know that someone I was trying to help At the time, they had a hard time even getting an appointment because there's very few people out there that have the training and the professionals to do that, psychiatrists, psychologists, and those that are allowed to prescribe. So, yeah, getting them in the system in those touch points is the first step. But having all of that continuum, really, of getting all the way to treatment is important too. So, thank you, Chair.

Yeah. All right. So anything else before we kind of close on this?

I'll just add, like, you don't need to be a mental health professional to support somebody that's having a mental health crisis or just not feeling 100 percent. You know, all you got to do is ask the question, are you OK? And then assist them in dialing 988 or the 655-8585 number. It's as simple as that.

I would also add, too, that some people do need treatment and need medication, but oftentimes what we need as human beings, just like Cher pointed out, is just someone to listen. Like, hey, how are you doing? You're emotional up there. Just check in on you, Cher. Yeah. We just need to be seen as human beings and recognized. Some people do really benefit from mental health care and treatment and need that. But a lot of people just need to be seen and feel valued and be recognized by other humans. So I think my challenge and ask to everyone who's listening and those of you here is maybe reach out to someone who you haven't for a while. Say hello when you're walking in the building or out in the world. ask how are you and actually don't use it as a greeting like how are you chair and that awkward pause of like I'm really asking you like how are you so really just engage connect that's really that's protect that's that's an upstream protection around mental health and that doesn't cost anything that's right great thank you both very much thank you thank you very much all right Gary

Thank you. Next is a public hearing. Approval of a supplemental budget resolution for fiscal year 2025-2026. Fiscal impact is a net increase in appropriations of $18,956,801. Funding is through beginning fund balance, taxes, charges for services, federal, state, local funding, other revenue sources, inter-fund transfers, and $3,950,000 of county general funds. Elizabeth Comfort, Finance Director, will present. Go ahead, please.

Thank you. Good morning, Chair and Commissioners. Elizabeth Comfort, Finance Director. And today, before you, is a public hearing to review and hopefully approve the supplemental budget. This is our fourth one for quarter four for the fiscal year. There are opportunities that come up and recognition of increased budget needs that we need to formally recognize via a resolution. So as... Administrator Schmidt mentions $18,543,801 in increased appropriations, and this is per Oregon local budget law found in ORS 294 requires the supplemental resolution to come before you to make these increases. There are 14 funds across 11 departments, and I'll go through each of these 18 briefly for you. Item number one is a net increase of zero. A non-departmental within our general fund is recognizing just over $4 million of reduction in contingency to program it to transfer authority to the offices of county council and to the sheriff's office. TO MEET THEIR OPERATING EXPENSE NEEDS. THESE EXPENSES HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED AND APPROVED AND SO THIS IS A LEGAL TRANSFER OF THOSE FUNDS. ITEM 2 IS 290,000 FOR THE OFFICE OF COUNTY COUNCIL WITHIN THE GENERAL FUND RECOGNIZING 400,000 INCREASE IN GENERAL FUND SUPPORT TO COVER 110,000 DECREASE IN FEE REVENUE AND THEN ADDITIONAL 290,000 INCREASED IN OPERATING EXPENSES. Item three is just over four million again for the sheriff's office within the general fund. Three and a half million is an increase in general fund support as well as 312,000 increase in state operating grants. and then a recognition of $450,000 for justice court fine revenue. And those will cover unanticipated operating expenses and special payments. Item four is the connecting for the justice court transfer of $450,000 to recognize that increase in fine revenue to transfer to the sheriff's office. Item number five is 173,000. It's in our miscellaneous pass-through account within the general fund, recognizing that amount to pass through for an additional special payment via IGAs and state statutes in the transportation department. Number six is two and a half million dollars. This is recognizing an inter-fund transfer from the community services fund for spending authority. This is a reimbursement for the county fair multi-purpose building that is being built. You had approved a resolution for the state funding the other day and so this is just pre-funding those expenses. Item number seven is a net zero. It's in the operating levy fund for the sheriff's office, reducing contingency by 3.1 million. It's gonna cover operating expenses of that same amount. Number eight is 3.6 million. This is the other side of the previous entry from the community services fund, recognizing that inter-fund transfer. to create a $2.5 million transfer authority to the county fair, as mentioned, and then also a $1.1 million increase in contingency for a future grant funding use that's already in motion but it won't be used until a later time. Number nine is $186,551. This is to recognize the Sheriff's Office forfeiture fund beginning balance and then also additional federal revenue of $106,500 to support increased operating expenses. Number 10 is also a net zero. This is the Library Services Fund. They're reducing their contingency of $772,000 to increase the operating expenses of the same amount. This is to finalize the expense for the Oak Lodge Library. Item 11 is just 6.7 million. This is in the Road Fund, recognizing an $806,000 increase in federal revenue, about two million in other revenue, and 3.9 revenue in Interfund transfers, and reducing contingency by $2.4 million. And this supports additional operating expenses and special payments of a variety of projects that have been approved. Number 12 is $50,000 change. This is in the property resources fund. This is recognizing an increase in other revenue sources, revenue sources by 50,000 to support operating increases for additional costs. Item number 13 is a net zero change. This is in the countywide transportation SDC fund, reducing contingency by 3.3 million to budget for transfers to the same amount to cover local matching funds for eligible projects. Item 14, also a net zero change. This is in the Clackamas Health Center's fund, reducing contingency by about two million to increase operating expenses by that same amount for project costs at Lake Road and Sunnyside clinics. Item 15 for net zero is in our transient lodging tax fund, recognizing a reduction of operating expenses by $100,000 and a special payments for 1 million to increase transfers by 1 million for a tourism grant to the community services fund. Number 16 is just about $200,000. This is the capital projects fund, recognizing the beginning balance to cover increased operating expenses for professional services. Number 17 for 97,400 is in our technology services fund, recognizing an increase in charges for services by that amount to cover contract costs previously approved. And our final is number 18 for net zero change. The self-insurance fund is reducing their contingency by $5 million to increase operating expenses by that same amount for claims expenditures. And I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Great. Go ahead, Commissioner.

Yeah. Thank you, Chair. As I kind of mentioned Tuesday, and Andrew, if you could bring up number seven again, I'll just focus on one instead of several. But overall, not just on number seven here, but all of these, just giving you my 15-year perspective here, typically we also hear the word is, oh, we're recognizing new revenue. And this time it's less of that, and it's more about contingency to cover costs. And I think the theme here is that unfortunately that we are burning contingency and pretty soon at this pace we're not going to have any contingency left. So that's just the writing on the wall and again a theme and a pattern here that is really important. Elizabeth, on number seven here, Andrew's got it on the screen. I just want to just validate here what I'm seeing just to help make my point. So on the tax line, it says $24,910,000. So that's the total of the tax or the levy collects total for the taxes in that year, right?

That is correct. The budgeted revenue collection amount.

And the operating expenses, you know, again, the delta, you're showing it there. The operating expense is actually $29 million. And so there's a delta there where obviously costs are exceeding that. I totally understand that. It's not about how or why. But it's also important to recognize that even though we are... you know, again, inflation and all the other factors we've learned here, that the sheriff's levy also has vacancies. So had those vacancies been filled and we paid them, that number, that $29 million would be higher. It would be a higher number if that was the case. So I do think in light of what took place on Tuesday, Tuesday evening with the voters on our measure, I think it's important that we somehow, again, I'm not here today on this one, but maybe later I'll want to bring this up, how we kind of address this in a way that people have a better understanding and maybe a little bit more transparency around all the things that factored into the levy so that we can be successful in our next attempt. So thank you, Elizabeth. It was not a question for your work here, but I just want to point out that these numbers are real numbers. It's a real challenge. Thank you, Chair. Back to you.

All right. All right. Not hearing any other questions, it sounds like the next step is open it up for a public hearing on this item. So, Clerk, you want to moderate that for us?

Yes, Mr. Chair. If you're attending this meeting in person and wish to comment on this specific item only, this is your opportunity to please fill out a blue card and deposit in the box found by the center doors. Mr. Chair, seeing no members of the public physically present with your assent, I'll move to those attending virtually. If you're attending this meeting virtually and wish to comment on this specific item only, if this is your opportunity, please raise your hand. This is a final call. If you wish to comment on this item, please raise your hand. Mr. Chair, I see no other members of the public physically or virtually present. I wish to comment.

All right. Thank you. I'll now close the public hearing and turn to my commissioners if they have any other questions or comments. Seeing none, may I have a motion?

Sure. I move we approve the supplemental budget.

Second.

All right. Commissioner Savas has moved to approve the supplemental budget. Commissioner Helm has seconded that. Any further discussion? Seeing none, clerk, will you please call the poll? Commissioner Schroeder.

Aye.

Commissioner Helm.

Aye.

Commissioner Savas. Aye. Mr. Chair. Aye. Motion passes four to zero, Mr. Chair.

All right. Thank you. Thank you, Elizabeth. Gary, what's next? Thank you. Next is the consent agenda for the Board of County Commissioners. Andrew, would you please read the consent agenda?

Consent agenda for the Board of County Commissioners. Item A, elected officials. One, approval of previous business meeting minutes for the Board of County Commissioners. Two, approval of an amendment with the Oregon State Marine Board for recreational boating enforcement on county water bodies. Amendment value is $130,148 for one year. Total agreement value is $757,056 for two years. Funding is the Oregon State Marine Board. No county general funds are involved. B, county council. One. Authorization of written consent to legal representation by Cable Huston in condemnation and litigation. No fiscal impact. No county general funds are involved. C, health, housing, and community services. One, approval of an amendment to an intergovernmental agreement with the Oregon Health Authority to add funds and update eligible expenses for outpatient, geriatric, rental assistance, and civil commitment services. Amendment value is $641,489.27 for 18 months. Total agreement value is $18,750,261.79 for 18 months. Funding is the Oregon Health Authority. No county general funds are involved. Two, approval of a local subrecipient grant agreement with Columbia Care Services for residential treatment services. Agreement value is $260,000 for 18 months. Funding is the Oregon Health Authority. No county general funds are involved. 3. Approval of Professional Services Agreement with Northwest Permanente for Associate Emergency Medical Services Medical Directors. Agreement value is $366,000 for five years. Funding is the American Medical Response Agreement System Enhancement Funds. No county general funds are involved. 4. Approval of an amendment to the Revenue Intergovernmental Agreement with Oregon Health Authority for the Rural Health Transformation Program. Amendment value is $117,000 for two months. Total agreement value is $6,668,969.61 for two years. Funding is the Oregon Health Authority. No county general funds are involved. Approval of an amendment with Catholic Charities for Supportive Services at Good Shepherd Village. Amendment value is $1,095,166 for one year. Total agreement value is $4,348,765.55 for four years. Funding is Supportive Housing Services measure funds. No county general funds are involved. Six, approval of an amendment to a subrecipient agreement with Friends of Canby Adult Center for older adult meal delivery and transportation services. Amendment value is $275,075 for 14 months. Total agreement value is $1,229,311 for four years. Funding is the Oregon Department of Human Services. No county general funds are involved. 7. Approval of an amendment to a subrecipient agreement with the City of Gladstone for older adult meal delivery and transportation services. Amendment value is $74,500 for one year. Total agreement value is $318,123 for four years. Funding is the Oregon Department of Human Services. No county general funds are involved. 8. Approval of an amendment to a subrecipient agreement with the City of Sandy for older adult meal delivery and transportation services. Amendment value is $103,234 for 14 months. Total agreement value is $451,321 for four years. Funding is the Oregon Department of Human Services. No county general funds are involved. Nine, approval of subrecipient amendment with Hoodland Senior Center for Older Adult Meal Delivery and Transportation Services. Amendment value is $127,668 for 14 months. Total agreement value is $522,168 for four years. Funding is the Oregon Department of Human Services. No county general funds are involved. 10. Approval of an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Oregon City and the City of Gladstone for the High Rocks River Rescue Program. Agreement value is $11,630.45 for five months. Funding is through public health fee revenue. No county general funds are involved. Mr. Chair, that concludes the Board of County Commissioners' consent agenda.

All right, thanks, Andrew. Does anybody wish to remove any item from the consent agenda? All right, seeing none, may I have a motion?

I move we approve the consent agenda as read. Second.

All right, Commissioner Schrader has moved to approve the consent agenda as read. Commissioner Helm has seconded that. Any further discussion? I had one comment I wanted to make, and I saw that there were a number of senior centers, Sandy and Canby and Hoodland, and I just would like to find out, and maybe we already do provide some services to Malala. As you know, we've had Malala Senior Center representatives come here and talk, and I would just like for my own, I guess, knowledge, do we provide anything to that Malala Center? So I don't know that answer. Not that I want to remove anything from the consent agenda. More or less a follow-up, if you could help me on that here.

I'm pretty sure we do, but we'll confirm that for you.

All right. Thank you. Not seeing any other comments. Clerk, would you please call the poll? Commissioner Savas. Aye. Commissioner Holm.

Aye.

Commissioner Schroeder.

Aye.

Mr. Chair. Aye. Motion passes 4-0, Mr. Chair. Okay, thank you. I'll now recess as a Board of Commissioners, convene as a Water Environment Services Board of Directors. Gary. Thank you.

Next is the Consent Agenda for Water Environment Services. Andrew, would you please read the Consent Agenda?

Water Environment Services Board of Directors Consent Agenda. Item A, approval of resolution authorizing a loan agreement with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for the Hoodland Facility Plan Update. Loan value is $100,000 with 100% principal forgiveness. Loan funding is the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. No county general funds are involved. Mr. Chair, that concludes the Water Environment Services Board of Directors Consent Agenda.

Thank you. Any of my fellow directors wish to remove any item from the Consent Agenda? Seeing none, may I have a motion?

I move we approve the West consent agenda. I'll second that.

All right, Director Helm is moved to approve the West consent agenda as read. Director Schrader is second of that. Any further discussion? Seeing none, clerk, will you please call the poll? Director Savas?

Aye. Director Schrader? Aye. Director Helm?

Aye.

Mr. Chair? Aye. Motion passes 4-0, Mr. Chair. All right, Gary?

Aye. chair would you please reconvene as the board of county commissioners I apologize your script is incorrect that's no problem I'll now reconvene as the board of county commissioners at this time thank you next is county administrator update that is me I'd like to recognize our county employees and programs that we provide Today, I want to honor and recognize the Daily Journal of Commerce has recognized or announced its top project awards for the Pacific Northwest region, and we are getting three of them here at Clackamas County. They are the Clackamas County Courthouse Project, the Oak Lodge Library and Concord Community Center Project, and the Short Stack Milwaukee Housing Project that we led in coordination with the City of Milwaukee. This is pretty significant. Recognized by the Daily Journal of Commerce, a very, very well-known business journal and association, have recognized outstanding projects in the Pacific Northwest, and we're getting three. There will be a banquet held at the Oregon Convention Center in June, and our staff will be there to get those awards. So thank you to our amazing staff for their work on these massive projects, authorized by you, of course, Board of County Commissioners. Next, a process update. There are no board meetings next week because the board will be meeting as the Budget Committee of Clackamas County starting on Tuesday, May 26th at 8 a.m. and followed by Wednesday, May 27th and Thursday, May 28th and ongoing until the work is done. There is no board business meeting next Thursday, May 28th because of the Budget Committee meetings. The next meeting of the board at its business meeting will be Thursday, June 4th. That is my update today. Back to you, Chair.

Okay, it's now Commissioner Communication and I'll turn to Martha.

Well, I wanted to talk a little bit today about the Regional Waste Advisory Commission because I see, Gary, that we have a letter from you that's going directly to the administrator. Marissa is her name, I think.

Marissa Madrigal. I wrote her a letter from the staff perspective and she has responded, which I afforded to you.

Okay, I haven't seen the response yet, but I wanted to point out that one of the things, the most important things that our staff has recommended is that they have an MTAC involved in this. And what is the MTAC for folks that are here? A technical advisory committee, largely because MPAC, JPAC, those other folks, often have a technical advisory committee of staff that get together from various jurisdictions to discuss the technical aspects. Because one of the issues we have, other than Paul, who has a mind like a trap and gets every detail, we're generalists, okay? So, you know, we're doing so many multiple things that generally in something that's established of this size and importance or the region, you just only have the electives who are making decisions based on population. You know, what Metro is giving us, we also have a system, and this needs to be in that system, where we have technical advisory expertise across the system that everyone is involved in. So we, as electeds, get the technical information we need in order to make sound decisions. And so we're highly... recommending that that comes to fruition. And one of the things that they wanted them to focus on, I'm reading from what you've said, Gary, here, the evaluation of best practices and efficiency options, a revisit of central overhead costs, how to manage organics disposal costs, separate wet and dry waste fees, and prioritize the wet waste transfer SFP project to bring clarity to transfer roles that can help costs and ensure that they reflect an excellent value. We also would like to continue to have funding for business food scraps, technical assistance. And that is it. So that's gone to Metro. They've had a response. I'll read that and report back to you. But I think having a technical advisory committee is going to be essential for us to move forward successfully with Metro on some of the increases that we're seeing with waste disposal, whether it be dry waste, wet waste, and again, how they're managing our transfer stations. I think that's going to be extremely important. So that is my report for today. So thank you. I'll yield the podium.

All right. Thanks, Martha. Commissioner Salvas.

Yeah, just to continue the conversation on the issue that Commissioner Schroeder just brought up, would a letter from us, you know, trying to endorse the MTAC? There used to be something like that in the past, I thought.

Was there not? Not that I know of. I'm new to this committee. So I'm aware of that, but as I said, we're making decisions where there's a disconnect between the Metro staff and how they're getting information to us in a timely manner that gives us some clarity. I mean, when you're talking about raising fees for things, again, they're responsible for that, but we are also responsible. And we have run numerous entities, particularly like water and environment services where we've been extremely successful in keeping rates within a specific range. And this is not only the elected that are concerned, also the contracted waste haulers are also very concerned with how this is being managed and handled. And the meetings are being handled well. It's just the structure of how we get the information. Right. Yeah.

Well, I should probably circle back. I thought there was a, I don't know if it was a committee per se, I thought it was, but where the... The haulers and all the industry people could sit with Metro staff.

They do. That's still ongoing where the haulers are there. But we're the electives as decision makers. And we'd have to depend on the haulers at this point for any technical information. So we want our staff to be at the table as technical experts. You know, that's the real issue that we're dealing with here. Okay. Okay.

Didn't Gary's letter, Gary, didn't your letter address that? Yeah.

It did. There is a regional committee that meets to address this to advise the Metro Council that our staff sits on and the regional haulers and Commissioner Schrader is the elected representative. They all make recommendations to Metro. It comes back to you as a board for you to decide if you're going to accept what Metro decides. There's a whole process here. So we're just kind of at the starting phase of it. Yeah. Right.

Okay. Thank you. So back to my comments. I'm going to focus on one and then leave it there. And I'm going to raise a question. I shared this with the chair before the meeting. As a result of the election, the sheriff's levy in particular, and some of the comments that I got literally that evening, a lot yesterday, and also reading comments on some of the, I won't say blogs, but on some of the social media with regard to that, you know, I'll digress a little bit saying, you know, what I've learned in 26 years, whatever it is, of public service in an elected capacity is that when you put anything on the ballot, you know, you typically work hard and message. And I'm not saying we didn't do that. But under tough economic times, I think you need to try three or four times harder to message out there. So people know what you're doing and why you're doing it. And, you know, historically, you know, I know that Happy Valley went out for, you know, a measure a long time ago for a levy for public safety and it failed. And then the mayor at the time, you know, got people riled up and educated everyone and it passed. And I'm hoping that in this case, our case here, that that'll happen here. And, you know, Fire District for the Sandy annexation, the first time they put on the ballot, it didn't pass. They did more messaging. And it was successful Tuesday night. But the comments, I think, and the math, and the math I was pointing to earlier, I think that it would be helpful to people to understand why the delta is between what the current millage rate is, the current levy, and the promise, as I called earlier this last year, what I called the promise of what was the deliverable in that levy. And then the reality and all the factors, inflation being one of them, but not the only one, I think it behooves us to basically tell the story. And I think it's really important to understand that, you know, as... accounting measures or accounting strategies or budgeting strategies or just cost allocations internally are refined and getting better that you discover things and say whoops we discovered this or you know so on so I think I know that, Gary, just nod if I'm correct. I do know that the budget committee next week does not have to cope with this directly because if it doesn't pass, period, it's the next budget cycle that we actually feel the impacts. So we've got time. So I know that. But I do know that, and I think, again, reading the comments that People see both sides of the equation. You can say that, yes, we need more. And I think the public says, OK, then maybe you could do a little bit less on the other side of the line, the other equation. Maybe you could cut a little bit here. And I know that we've been doing that. But I think how we message what we've cut or message how we will cut And then why we need to ask and giving the voters a choice, I think is something that we need to be a little bit more transparent and communicate better. And I don't think that, I've seen the sheriff's levy better communicated in the past, but these times are exceptionally difficult, right? I think the financial pressures, and I think, again, it really demands a lot more work on our part sheriff's part, really, more so than the county's part. But again, we're partners in this. It's our citizens we're all serving. But I'm just wondering if my suggestion that I mentioned to the chair earlier was I think to set the tone right, as soon as possible to address some of the hysteria out there right now that I see, that I'm hearing, to get in front of this as soon as we can. I mean, if it was not budget week, I would be asking for a work session or under issues to at least air what the situation is or prepare a conversation on how we're going to tackle this to help arrest any of that escalation of comments or concerns. So is it possible that between... and I think our budget committee needs to hear it as well. Is it possible between now and the budget meeting to have a one-hour discussion about our potential strategies, not a strategy that we're set on because we haven't decided anything, but potential strategies and some of the communication? I really think there's some things that we ought to get in front of as soon as possible, and I don't want to see us wait two weeks or three weeks and then have a very stressful budget meeting week with all these unknowns out there. So I'm trying to be as transparent and forthcoming as possible in light of this. So is there a possibility that we could find an hour before the county budget meeting process starts to at least let everyone know and message to not just the budget committee but to everyone how some ideas and how we're going to tackle this and maybe some information to explain why the percentage is what it is for the increase to meet the same level of service originally promised. So, Chair, I'm putting that on the table. Sorry, I kind of mentioned it again, but I think it's really important. If there's no agreement here and we can wait a week or two, that's fine, but I want to be as forthcoming as possible.

Yeah, I can appreciate the sense of urgency, and Gary and I talked about that a little this morning. kind of looking at the timeline behind this, and I might even have Gary kind of touch on that. I think that the other thing I believe is important is to bring some specific data to this conversation, because I think not having that, we're kind of a little bit shooting in the dark and want to make sure we're, have the information in front of us to look at what those options might be. So I think it's, and then I think the second part of the discussion might be is And this is my own kind of personal thoughts is that, look, I mean, the voters were very loud and clear that right now or the increase period is something that they're not able to support. And I had concerns going into this because of the economic climate. I think I expressed that, that this is a difficult time. We have seniors struggling, people on fixed incomes, and on top of that, outrageous gas prices and power, PG's gone up, natural gas is going up, and the people are struggling just to survive. And so I think with all of that, the county wasn't the only one that didn't pass. There were other issues out there that went down and flames as well. So I think part of which is, I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO HAVE SOME CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND TO KIND OF SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS AND WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS. AND I CAN APPRECIATE YOUR URGENCY IN WANTING TO DO THIS. I KIND OF HAVE THAT SAME FEELING. After talking to Gary, we kind of strategized that maybe we kind of line things up.

Gary, could you talk about that a little bit? Yes. So I suggested to the chair earlier this morning that on June 2nd, when you next meet as the Board of Commissioners, we can devote almost all of your issues time to have this discussion. I know that's a week and a half from now. I'm concerned about timing for next week. As you know, all of the budget meetings are notice to the public 14 days in advance. So we cannot change those. You could choose to meet Monday, which is Memorial Day. I just need to give staff time to change their plans if you choose to do that. On Tuesday, everything is booked and advance notice of a public hearing. You could meet at 4 o'clock on Tuesday. County Budget Committee kicks off with my budget message and then adjourns for the day So you can meet right after that which would be before you hear presentations on Wednesday Wednesday is booked solid and you have a public testimony that night Thursday is budget deliberation. You could take a break during that for the board to meet So I advise you if you cannot wait till June 2nd, which is my recommendation then Tuesday May 26 at 4 p.m. Or Thursday May 28th you carve out time during the Budget Committee deliberations. I

Chair, thank you, Gary, for that. I'm kind of inclined to advocate for the Tuesday evening or Tuesday late afternoon. And here's, again, I want to just clarify what I foresee the purpose of the meeting. Number one is to maybe explain a little bit better why we are where we are and why the rate was set and then what some of the factors were that led into that so people understand that. And number two is at least if we could possibly give some kind of Understanding and direction as to so that staff can prepare for a more detailed session in the first week of June I think it would just help us lay the groundwork and let people know we're taking this seriously You know, I don't want to use the word emergency meeting because it's not technically an emergency meeting but I do think there's there's urgency to this and I think that we if we can get in front of it as soon as possible we can allay some of those concerns out there and dispel some of the rumors out there that I think need to be dispelled as soon as possible.

Martha, your thoughts?

Well, I would be open to that. One of the things I think why these are failing is the fact that there are also issues out of our control that we can't manage. I think the war, I think the gas prices, those are things that are being driven at a macro level by you know, the federal government. So that's been part of the concern. And I did share your concern as we were looking through the supplemental budget today that we are now supplementing from contingency things that we had never had to supplement before. That was very glaring to me as we went through that. So I'm open to it if we think we have the physical stamina to You go that long. My only concern is after, you know, those full days, it does get pretty tiring. Will we be at our best in terms of decision making? That's what I would ask. And I mean that just for our own, you know, whatever.

Go ahead. Well, I think it's a good idea to get ahead of it, and I don't mind having a conversation on Tuesday at 4 o'clock. I don't know that we're going to be making decisions that day, but it's certainly the start of a conversation that can continue into the next week. But we do need to get ahead of this and kind of explain what will happen if... if we put this out again and it doesn't pass, where we're going to be. So I'm totally open to that. Four o'clock is not. Now, if you're talking seven or eight o'clock at night, yeah, I'm out. Just keep going. But I'm fine to do it at four o'clock just to start the conversation. then if we need to gather information for the following week on June 2nd, I think we could. So, yeah, I'm good with that.

So, Chair, two more things on this. I just want to just put out there, I should have said it earlier, number one is that I think it's imperative we get... Sheriff Brandon Bergen or staff here obviously for this I need to be part of the equation. I I want to take the positive energy And the collaboration that the work group that we had here shortly that Commissioner Helm and I sat on with the Sheriff's Office staff and others I want to keep that going and I think that this is my main point here and If we don't at least get in front of this and have some understanding I don't want that tension and hysteria to upset the Budget Committee discussions because all these unknowns so I think I think it'll bring the temperature down so I'm trying to do I we don't want to see the The difficulty that we've seen in the budgets Conversations as years past I want to keep it calm professional collective and thoughtful Yeah, I think

I guess my concern and I really Martha kind of touched on that is I'll just take us all back to last year's budget. And it's a pretty exhausting day with really a lot of focus. And I anticipate it's probably going to go long anyway, right? So I just am concerned we're biting off more than we can chew. If you really look at it, we're talking, what, 10 days to June 2nd, right? And it's really not that far out. And I think... You said the purpose of this is why where we are. And that in itself is a pretty big discussion. And so... So, I mean, yeah, if we want to have a brief discussion on what I think you said Tuesday at 4, you know, we could have that. I would just probably say, I would say you've got to put some parameters on it on how long it's going to go because, you know, we have important work to do as well, I mean, to get through this. Yeah. So I guess that's kind of where I'm at. Gary, so what do you, I mean, you could put another hour onto it, but I think going beyond that after a long day is probably not going to be super productive is kind of my belief.

My recommendation remains the same. Please wait until Tuesday, June 2nd. I really, really need you all to respectfully refocus on the budget of the proposed budget of the year ahead. As Commissioner Savas said, the levy is not impacted until July 2027 because the voters will be paying the same rate at the end of the current levy this year, this November. So we're really looking ahead to July 1st, 2027. Totally understand the need to get on top of this. You'll definitely be talking about it all next week. But if you do demand, so first chair, it's your decision. Two commissioners can overrule you, but per the board rules, we have 30 days to schedule it. The other two don't get to pick the date. So I just want to say that. We could have a short meeting of 30 minutes, maybe on 4 o'clock Tuesday, May 26, just to say, what do you want staff to bring back to you on June 2nd? That would be okay. That gives staff time to prepare for June 2nd. How about we do that?

Is that all right? Yeah, well, look, yeah. Yeah, of course, you know, I'll take it. I will say that Tuesday, because it's more the district's day, right? It's the least, it's a less complicated, stressful day of the entire budget week. So if there's a day of the week to do it next week, it is Tuesday. It's not Monday. So for all the reasons that it'd be stressful that the chair kind of talked about and tiring, that Tuesday is not so much as it is going to be from Wednesday forward.

Agreed.

That is accurate, yes.

Yes.

So how about we set aside half an hour to kind of help identify what we want. Yes. We'll notice it for 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26th, or immediately following the county budget kickoff, around 30 minutes for the board to give direction to staff. What information do you need for the following week, June 2nd?

And please invite the sheriff and her financial staff. Yes. That'd be great. Will do. All right, Paul, do you have anything else? That is it. I didn't want to change the focus of this whatsoever, and so, Chair, I yield back to you. All right, Commissioner Helm.

Yeah, so I'm really glad the primary is over and I just want to say thank you to all those who supported me. It's going to run off, of course, and so I'll see you again in the fall or at the end of the summer. Last night I attended the second county parks meeting. This is, that first meeting was just kind of our overview of what we were going to accomplish during having these meetings throughout the year. This, they kind of dove into assessing a lot of the parks. They went out and did on-site assessments. A lot of them had the same issues as far as upkeep, maintenance. You know, there's many, I don't want to say disrepair, but there's a lot of them that are not in great shape and they could use a lot of TLC. That said, it was also brought up during the same meeting, land acquisition, and should we be acquiring more parks land, county parks land? And my worry with that is we're not taking care of the ones we have, so maybe we shouldn't be out not shopping for new, but if sometimes this one that was brought up was one that was being offered to us at no free, but the cost to... to get it up to speed and then to run it would be pretty enormous. So anyway, I voice my concerns. I would really like to see the money that we do have go into taking care of the parks that we already have. Or if we have parks that are, we have land for parks that we're not using at all, and if we can offload those and use that money to kind of help. You know, the number one complaint was... a lot of our parks are not ADA accessible. And if somebody goes to a park and they're in a wheelchair, can they get down the path to the restroom or port-a-potty? And parking lots are not taken care of. There's invasive weeds, shrubs, et cetera. So anyway, we covered a lot of ground last night. And they're taking that information back and they'll come back to us with some more recommendations. and decision-making later and then tonight I want to mention that It there's the Damascus at Damascus Centennial Park. It's roads routes and safety from 6 to 8 p.m And this is our little local Get together we're going to have this is a one second open house to explain to people that the money that we took in from The disincorporation time, 2016 to 2026, the 10-year time period where we got the 20% of the 50-30-20, is now going to be dispersed, and it will be used to fix roads, and it will be used to fix local access roads, which is going to be a one-time fix. So anyway, just for those of anyone out there from the Damascus area is listening today, 6 to 8 p.m. tonight at Damascus Centennial Park. And they are also going to have, this was at my request, they're going to have the renderings of Sunrise Corridor. There's always, when we talk about transportation at our little local meetings, Sunrise Corridor always comes up. So we'll be able to kind of talk about those. So that's happening tonight. And other than that, back to you, Chair.

Right. Martha, you had a comment.

Yeah, I just wanted to say the last part of the last parks, county parks, that we pulled together was the Madrone Wall, which has become a hiking. And one of the things I might mention is that the National Guard had a lot of, you know, they did a lot of work for us there. And so one of the things, and they've expressed an interest directly in helping, you know, move things forward.

fix things we talked a lot about that last night and there's a lot of 501c3 organizations there's rivers of life there's ant farm for you know bringing in people to help take care of what we have and kind of get it get them up to speed so that they're easier to maintain a lot of our parks are really hard to maintain and they don't get a lot of foot traffic so we have sometimes the wrong plants planted they're very high maintenance plants well we could put in low maintenance plants native yeah More native, right? So, yeah, we talked about that, and actually Madrone Wall came up, too.

Yeah, that was, I remember working on that one, and that was, they wanted to make it into a gravel pit, but we have people that was using it for climbing, and it has a great view over it. But, yeah, that would be great. They're eager. They are so eager to help us. So I don't know how that works, Gary. Does it go through your parks committee, just, you know, makes a recommendation and then brings it to us?

Yeah.

Okay.

So there's a parks plan that they have.

County parks. County parks plan. Yeah. Okay.

All right. Anything else, Martha? All right. A couple things. As I had mentioned, I was out at the Port of Portland Terminal and just wanted to highlight some of the things there and really how, as we're all out working with different businesses in the county and trying to encourage them on the import-export avenue. So I was impressed. I mean, it's 210 acres. They have seven cranes. They have eight tracks that Burlington Northern has. They're the only major container terminal on the Columbia River system. 650 nautical miles stretch between the Puget Sound and San Francisco. They do about 1,600 cranes. deep sea vessel transits annually and their numbers are substantially down and I'm really trying to encourage businesses that it is cheaper to use the Port of Portland out of versus shipping up to Washington. So just hopefully our board and perhaps some staff can go do another visit. Sounds like you've been there before, Paul. So I want to say that and then just a comment about honoring those who served on coming up Memorial Day and military and really just taking time to remember all of our veterans and thanking those veterans out there that have served and those that are serving and just how much we appreciate their service. So kind of closing with that. And I will turn it over to Gary. Do you have anything you want to add before we kind of wrap it up? He always has something.

Thank you for the get a good rest this weekend and bring your stamina and patience and brilliance next week for the budget committee meetings. Our budget is not as bad as the rest of the region. You should know that thanks to your leadership. But you do have some very important and difficult decisions to make. And we'll talk about the levy next week as we discuss, but in more detail the following week. Thank you, Chair.

All right. Well, with that, on behalf of the board, thank you for joining us. And this meeting will be adjourned.