'Vulnerable people' in jeopardy due to Multnomah County budget cuts, public defender says

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — During a packed public hearing on Wednesday night, critics brought their concerns about a proposed Multnomah County budget that is grappling with a $77 million shortfall.

This comes after County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson's proposed $4 billion budget that put a number of programs either on the chopping block or facing major reductions.

Last week, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez roundly criticized the budget for what he described as putting their car theft task force at risk of shutting down, despite being successful in reducing car thefts.

Now Oregon's largest provider of public defense services is leveling its own criticism at the budget for completely different reasons.

Carl MacPherson is the Executive Director of Metropolitan Public Defender. He testified their office now faces a 77% cut. He said his office helps secure legal representation for some of the most marginalized members of the community, including those struggling with addiction, mental health and homelessness.

"These are services that the county needs that we cannot provide without the funding, and will not be providing without the funding for our office. It is also going to put in jeopardy more than 15 people at our office that provide excellent, dedicated, empathetic help to services to the most vulnerable people in our community," MacPherson said.

This comes during what Oregon lawmakers described as a statewide shortage in public defenders.

"We are the advocates for people who are struggling. They need people on their team, case managers and legal services like legal assistance and attorneys and investigators to be able to help them access those services and maintain stability within the community," MacPherson said.

The public hearing was nearly full to the brim with about 200 people in attendance. Dozens of other people testified, including people within the homeless community services field, bringing up a range of other issues.

Vega Pederson contends that her proposed budget includes initiatives for keeping people off the street and allocates more money and resources for public safety. And yet, multiple people pleaded time and again in public testimony asking county leaders to fight for programs that they said are vital to the health and safety of the community.

Wednesday was the first budget listening session for the county. The final budget is set to be adopted on June 12.