What does a Multnomah County commissioner do?

Multnomah County is governed by a board of five: a chair elected countywide and four commissioners elected by district. The chair runs the county, overseeing departments, directing staff, and proposing the annual budget. Commissioners don't manage departments. They vote on the budget, adopt policies and ordinances, approve labor agreements with county employee unions, and represent their district's residents. Each commissioner has their own office and staff. District 2 covers North and Northeast Portland. They serve four-year terms and are elected on non-partisan ballots.

The budget

The budget is where a commissioner's vote matters most. Each spring, the chair proposes a spending plan and the board deliberates, amends, and votes on the final version. Individual commissioners shape the budget through amendments that redirect funding, add programs, or cut spending. For fiscal year 2026, that budget totals $4 billion and supports nearly 6,000 employees across 11 departments:

• Health Department ($531M): public health, behavioral health, and substance use treatment
• Department of County Assets ($518M): buildings, facilities, technology, and records management
• Department of County Human Services ($443M): seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, youth, families, and Preschool for All
• Homeless Services Department ($310M): shelters, housing placement, and outreach
• Department of County Management ($263M): budgeting, finance, human resources, and procurement
• Nondepartmental ($239M): Chair's office, commissioners' offices, and countywide programs
• Sheriff's Office ($226M): jails, law enforcement, and civil services
• Department of Community Services ($183M): elections, animal services, land use, and transportation
• Multnomah County Library ($125M): 19 neighborhood libraries
• Department of Community Justice ($118M): parole, probation, and juvenile justice
• District Attorney's Office ($57M): criminal prosecution

The Sheriff and the District Attorney are independently elected. The board sets their funding but doesn't manage their operations. The County Auditor is also independently elected and sits outside the department structure, reviewing county spending and investigating complaints.

Budgets can change mid-year. If revenue falls short or state and federal funding is cut, the board votes on rebalancing measures that can reduce services, close programs, or shift resources.

What the county covers

The county and the city of Portland run separate governments with separate budgets. Metro, a regional layer of government, adds funding and coordination on top of both. The lines between them aren't always obvious.

The county is the lead on homeless services, behavioral health and addiction treatment, and the justice system. The justice system includes the district attorney, the sheriff, the jails, and parole and probation. The county also funds supportive housing and rental assistance alongside the city and Metro.

The county maintains six Willamette River bridges (Sellwood, Hawthorne, Morrison, Burnside, Broadway, and Sauvie Island) and 269 miles of roads, mostly in east county and unincorporated areas. It doesn't maintain roads inside Portland or Gresham. The Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge is a major county capital project.

The county Elections Division runs all elections for every voter in Multnomah County: local, city, county, state, and federal.

K-12 schools are managed by independent school districts, each with its own elected board. But the county runs the SUN Community Schools program, which operates in 94 schools across six districts, connecting families to after-school programs, food assistance, and health services. The county also operates Preschool for All for children under five and runs school-based health clinics.

Public transit is separate. TriMet is a regional agency with its own board. Metro handles regional land use and transportation policy.

Board meetings are held Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. Work sessions are Tuesdays at 10 a.m. All sessions are livestreamed and archived.